Reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Graphics Card Pictured

The first pictures of the reference-designed NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 graphics card have been revealed. The GeForce GTX 980 will be the flagship graphics card of NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 900 series followed by the GeForce GTX 970 and GeForce GTX 960.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

Taking a look at the front of the card we can see that NVIDIA is using their newer NVTTM cooler on this card, unlike the GeForce GTX 970, which uses a reference design that is carried over from the GeForce GTX 660 / 760 cards. This is most likely because NVIDIA will actually be selling the GTX 980 themselves and they might not allow AIC partners to even sell the card till after they launch it first. We have seen the NVTTM cooling solution on the GeForce GTX Titan Z, GTX Titan Black, GTX Titan, GTX 780 Ti, GTX 780, GTX 770 and GTX 690. The GeForce GTX 980 will be using an updated version of this cooler that has the all-black naming of the card on the shroud near the I/O plate and an all black heatsink. This version of the cooler was introduced with the GTX Titan Black. The cooling solution makes use of a vapor chamber that is cooled off by the blower fan towards the end of the card.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

NVIDIA has also included a blackplate on the card, this has been carried over from the GeForce GTX Titan Z. We can spot two SLI fingers that will allow for 4-way SLI functionality. Power to the card is provided by dual 6pin PCI-Express power connectors. Display outputs include DVI, HDMI and three DisplayPorts.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

Taking a look at the PCB of the card we can see it has a design that is very similar to the GeForce GTX 780 Ti. Eight memory modules can be spotted that confirm that the card will have a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. These eight modules equal 4 GB of GDDR5. The card will use a 4+1 phase VRM for power delivery.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

The GeForce GTX 980 is based on the NVIDIA GM204 “Maxwell” silicon which is said to be more efficient than previous Kelpler designs. The GM204 package looks roughly just as big as GK104. NVIDIA is expected to announce the GeForce GTX 900 Series this week.

Source: VideoCardz | News Archive

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