14 DAY TRIAL // NVIDIA is expected to finally release the GeForce GTX 980 and 970 graphics cards next week, and we're not surprised to see it so reluctant to reveal actual photos and information about it. Fortunately, it has OEMs.
Usually, this wouldn't be such a big deal. After all, both NVIDIA and AMD have a number of partners that sell graphics cards based on their GPUs and the reference designs of the video boards based on those GPUs.
The reason we're paying tribute to OEMs right now, so to speak, is because they are the ones responsible for most of the pre-release information and image leaks.
Case in point, MSI has released a teaser photo of its upcoming GeForce GTX 980 Gaming high-end graphics adapter based on Maxwell architecture.
The visible traits of the GTX 980 Gaming
MSI only released one teaser photo this week, although it did unveil one last week as well. The former (the newest one) shows the board from the front and side, while the other showed it from the top edge.
Because of that, we can tell that the GeForce GTX 980 Gaming, and likely every other GTX 980 board, has two six-pin PCI Express power connectors.
The GTX 980 also possesses a SLI connector and a sizable heatsink, plus a pair of fans. This is, after all, the twin Frozr V cooler.
The fans have a diameter of 100 mm and use propeller blades, plus dust removal technology, ensuring low noise and high performance for a good, long time.
Admittedly, MSI never called this the GeForce GTX 980 Gaming, but the red and black color theme has historically been associated with it.
The specifications
They haven't actually been revealed, but we can safely assume they are at least partially similar to the ones of the Galaxy GeForce GTX 970. Not sure how many CUDA cores to expect (GTX 970 has 1,664), or TMUs (138), but the ROP count should be the same 32.
Moreover, the memory interface is bound to be of the same 256 bits, while the clock of the VRAM (4 GB most likely) could very well reach 7,012 MHz.
As for connectivity, MSI has chosen to give the GTX 900 video card a pair of DVI ports, one HDMI, and one DisplayPort (or are those two DisplayPorts? Not altogether certain).
Do keep in mind that the attached photos only have the render of the card. The actual video board will look a bit different.
