14 DAY TRIAL // Conceived based on Nvidia's reference design board, but with components and cooler shroud design made by MSI, the GeForce GTX 980Ti V1 is MSI's version of Nvidia's latest product for the custom-made graphics cards market.
The decision to design its own cooling system and the general choice of components, except the PCB, without the main chip was to maximize its earnings. The PCB, however, will be made according to MSI specs, but very different from the stock version, however.
The heatsink under the shroud is almost identical to Nvidia's NVTTM (Nvidia time-to-market) version although the blower and cooler shroud, this time being a silvery plastic version is, allegedly, based on Military Class 4 Components. Not a terribly different version from the stock version, obviously, but MSI makes it.
The general specs are also underwhelmingly similar with the stock Nvidia, having clock speeds of 1000 MHz core, 1076 MHz GPU Boost, and 7.00 GHz memory speed.
Don't be fooled
However, it's worth mentioning that GeForce GTX 980Ti V1 is just a mid-thru-performance version of the stock Nvidia graphics card. If you wanted a beefed-up version of the card, MSI announced the GTX 980 Ti GAMING 6G which, as the name implies, is a more gaming-oriented GTX 980Ti.
Coming with a core clock of 1178 MHz, boostable to 1279 MHz and having an overclock memory speed of 7100 MHz, it's clearly more on par with other powerful aftermarket cards on the market. The GTX 980 Ti GAMING 6G also comes with top-tier MSI Twin Frozr V cooler that offers excellent cooling performance at a much-reduced noise.
Overall, MSI walks in line with the other aftermarket Nvidia graphics cards manufacturers, in boosting the stock version performance for a little edge in competition. Although not a true monster like the X4 Ultra from Inno3D, MSI brings a "decent" GTX 980Ti to the public offering nothing more and nothing less than what Nvidia would sell you. Neither extreme cooling for some crazy overclocking operations nor some smart fan functionality for increased energy efficiency.
What you see is what you get. And for some this is probably enough.
