MSI GTX 980 Gaming - Watercooling EK-FC980 GTX TF5 vs. Aircooling
Category : Aircooling vs. Watercooling
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 18.03.15
Meanwhile EK Water Blocks also has a full-cover watercooler for MSI's latest and greatest GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G graphics card in its portfolio. For us this is reason enough to have a close look at the cooler itself. Apart from that we want to know if there is any performance when aircooling or watercooling the card.
As we already mentioned, in this article we're going to have a closer look at
possible differences between a watercooled and an aircooled MSI GTX 980 Gaming
4G. For this purpose EK Water Blocks shipped us one of their brand new
EK-FC980 GTX TF5 fullcover waterblocks. First of all we're going to have a
closer look at both, the water as well as the aircooler and afterwards we will
run both cards through our set of recent games. Apparently we will also show you
some temperatures.
MSI GTX
980 Gaming 4G -
Watercooling EK-FC980 GTX TF5
EK Water Blocks is the first company to come up with a custom,
full-cover waterblock for MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G graphics card. The block
establishes direct contact to GPU, memory as well as VRM area. This way you can
be sure there is going to be best possible cooling whereever necessary. The
cooler EK Water Blocks provided us with has been made from nickel plated
electrolyte copper. Above the GPU there is a thin channel structure to provide
additional surface area, where it actually makes sense to have it. On top of the
nickel plated cooper block there is a plexi cover and on the right hand side you can see a
brushed stainless steel plate. Looking for threads we find G1/4'' inch one's,
where you can attach a vast majority of fittings. The threads have been cut into
black POM top part. Although the material is rather solid it's sufficient to tighten
the fittings by hand to achieve good
sealing. Make sure you don't use a gripper. In fact by using a gripper you can/will
break the plastic material. Manufacturing quality is always excellent, when it comes to
products from EK Water Blocks. These blocks are made in a perfect way and the looks are
breathtaking. In order to achieve best possible looks in combination with MSI
Gaming graphics cards
we would recommend you choose red colored coolant. This way it will perfectly
match the color scheme.
MSI GTX 980
Gaming 4G -
Matrix Platinum Aircooler
The MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G features the
famous Twin Frozr V cooler with a total of four heatpipes. There
are three heatpipes with a
diameter of eight millimeter and other than there is one more with six
millimeter diameter. The heatpipes have been nickel plated and are in direct contact with the GPU core. Soldered to the heatpipes you find the fin stack which is being provided with fresh air via two
100mm fans. Thanks to an intelligently programmed BIOS the fan closer to the IO
connectors starts spinning when the GPU temperature reaches 50°C and
the second one revs up at 55°C. This makes the card inaudible when the system is
in idle, since the fans are not spinning. Both fans are being manufactured by
Power Logic and share the same model name, PLD10010S12HH.
Overall the cooler is well made and the finish is on a very good level too.
[pagebreak]
Test Setup
Hardware
|
Motherboard |
- ASUS Maximus VII Hero (BIOS 0224)
|
| CPUs |
- Intel Core i7-4770K @ 4.0 GHz (Turbo On / HT On)
|
|
Memory |
- G.Skill Ares Dual Channel 2x8GB @ CL11-12-11-28-1T-Auto DDR3-1600 MHz
|
|
Graphic Cards (Driver) |
-
MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G - Aircooled
-
MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G - Watercooled - EK-FC980 GTX TF5
- Radiator: EK CoolStream RAD XTX 360 triple
|
| Games |
|
| Drivers |
|
|
Games and OS |
- Windows 7 x64
- All
games were up to date on the
|
|
System Drive |
|
|
PSU |
- Seasonic Platinum SS-1000XP / 1000 Watts
|
[pagebreak]
3DMark - Fire Strike
3DMark - Fire Strike Extreme
|
Performance, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Score |
Graphics Score |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
11'664 |
14'145 |
100.79 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
11'573 |
13'982 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
|
Extreme, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Score |
Graphics Score |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
6'080 |
6'490 |
101.18 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
6'009 |
6'404 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
| Ultra, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Score |
Graphics Score |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
3'280 |
3'243 |
101.17 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
3'242 |
3'224 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Score |
Graphics Score |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
1'753 |
69.6 |
100.17 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
1'750 |
69.5 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
|
High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Score |
Graphics Score |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
1'044 |
41.5 |
100.19 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
1'042 |
41.4 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
| Ultra, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Score |
Graphics Score |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
448 |
17.8 |
100.45 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
446 |
17.7 |
100.00 % |
| |
More is better |
Unigine Heaven'settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
[pagebreak]
Bordlands - The Pre-Sequel
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
207.74 |
100.85 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
205.99 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
|
High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
152.51 |
100.05 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
152.43 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
71.17 |
100.27 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
70.98 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Borderlands The Pre-Sequel Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- VSNYC: Off
- Framerate: Unlimited
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Bullet Decals: High
- Foliage Distance: Far
- Texture Quality: High
- Game Detail: High
- Ambient Occlusion: On
- Depth Of Field: On
- FXAA: on
- View Distance: Ultra High
- Physx Effects: Low
- Texture Fade: On
- Colorblind: Off
|
- VSNYC: Off
- Framerate: Unlimited
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Bullet Decals: High
- Foliage Distance: Far
- Texture Quality: High
- Game Detail: High
- Ambient Occlusion: On
- Depth Of Field: On
- FXAA: on
- View Distance: Ultra High
- Physx Effects: Low
- Texture Fade: On
- Colorblind: Off
|
- VSNYC: Off
- Framerate: Unlimited
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Bullet Decals: High
- Foliage Distance: Far
- Texture Quality: High
- Game Detail: High
- Ambient Occlusion: On
- Depth Of Field: On
- FXAA: on
- View Distance: Ultra High
- Physx Effects: Low
- Texture Fade: On
- Colorblind: Off
|
[pagebreak]
BattleField 4
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
95.14 |
102.75 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
92.59 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
|
High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
63.74 |
103.39 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
61.65 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| Ultra,
3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
33.12 |
101.10 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
32.26 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Battlefield 4 Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filtering: Ultra
- Lighting Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Post Process Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filtering: Ultra
- Lighting Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Post Process Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filtering: Ultra
- Lighting Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Post Process Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
[pagebreak]
Watch Dogs
| High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
62.87 |
104.47 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
60.18 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
|
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
42.31 |
105.51 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
40.10 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
|
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
21.83 |
106.90 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
20.42 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Watch Dogs Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Vsync: Off
- Color Blind Support: Off
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Shadow Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Motion Blur: On
- Anisotropic Filter: 16x
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
- Vsync: Off
- Color Blind Support: Off
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Shadow Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Motion Blur: On
- Anisotropic Filter: 16x
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
- Vsync: Off
- Color Blind Support: Off
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Shadow Quality: Ultra
- FX Quality: Ultra
- Mesh Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Quality: Ultra
- Terrain Decoration: Ultra
- Antialiasing Deferred: 4x MSAA
- Antialiasing Post: High
- Motion Blur: On
- Anisotropic Filter: 16x
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO
|
[pagebreak]
Tomb Raider
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
62.1 |
100.49 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
61.8 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
37.8 |
101.34 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
37.3 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
17.4 |
102.35 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
17.0 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Tomb Raider Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filter: Anisotropic 16x
- Antialiasing: 4x SSAA
- Shadow: Ultra
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Level of Detail: Ultra
- Post Processing: On
- Tessellation: On
- High Precision: On
- Hair Quality: TressFX
- Reflections: High
- Depth of Field: Ultra
- SSAO: Ultra
|
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filter: Anisotropic 16x
- Antialiasing: 4x SSAA
- Shadow: Ultra
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Level of Detail: Ultra
- Post Processing: On
- Tessellation: On
- High Precision: On
- Hair Quality: TressFX
- Reflections: High
- Depth of Field: Ultra
- SSAO: Ultra
|
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Ultra
- Texture Filter: Anisotropic 16x
- Antialiasing: 4x SSAA
- Shadow: Ultra
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Level of Detail: Ultra
- Post Processing: On
- Tessellation: On
- High Precision: On
- Hair Quality: TressFX
- Reflections: High
- Depth of Field: Ultra
- SSAO: Ultra
|
[pagebreak]
Sniper Elite 3
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
54.26 |
100.24 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
54.13 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
31.20 |
100.32 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
31.10 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
16.15 |
100.06 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
16.14 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Sniper Elite 3 Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Graphics Detail: Ultra
- AntiAliasing: High
- Texture Detail: Ultra
- Draw Distance: Ultra
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16
- Supersampling: 4.0x
- Motion Blur: Yes
- Ambient Occlusion: Yes
- V-Sync: No
- Use Tessellation: Yes
- Use Obscurance Fields: Yes
|
- Graphics Detail: Ultra
- AntiAliasing: High
- Texture Detail: Ultra
- Draw Distance: Ultra
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16
- Supersampling: 4.0x
- Motion Blur: Yes
- Ambient Occlusion: Yes
- V-Sync: No
- Use Tessellation: Yes
- Use Obscurance Fields: Yes
|
- Graphics Detail: Ultra
- AntiAliasing: High
- Texture Detail: Ultra
- Draw Distance: Ultra
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16
- Supersampling: 4.0x
- Motion Blur: Yes
- Ambient Occlusion: Yes
- V-Sync: No
- Use Tessellation: Yes
- Use Obscurance Fields: Yes
|
[pagebreak]
Crysis 3
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
39.41 |
101.05 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
39.00 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
24.03 |
105.39 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
22.80 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
12.54 |
114.31 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
10.97 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Crysis 3 Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Anti Aliasing: MSAA High 8x
- Texture Resolution: Very High
- Vsync: No
- System Spec: Very High
- Game Effects: Very High
- Object: Very High
- Particles: Very High
- Post Processing: Very High
- Shading: Very High
- Shadows: Very High
- Water: Very High
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Motion Blur Amount: High
- Lense Flares: Yes
|
- Anti Aliasing: MSAA High 8x
- Texture Resolution: Very High
- Vsync: No
- System Spec: Very High
- Game Effects: Very High
- Object: Very High
- Particles: Very High
- Post Processing: Very High
- Shading: Very High
- Shadows: Very High
- Water: Very High
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Motion Blur Amount: High
- Lense Flares: Yes
|
- Anti Aliasing: MSAA High 8x
- Texture Resolution: Very High
- Vsync: No
- System Spec: Very High
- Game Effects: Very High
- Object: Very High
- Particles: Very High
- Post Processing: Very High
- Shading: Very High
- Shadows: Very High
- Water: Very High
- Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
- Motion Blur Amount: High
- Lense Flares: Yes
|
[pagebreak]
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
86.35 |
101.62 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
84.97 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
50.40 |
101.95 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
49.44 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
24.03 |
102.87 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
23.36 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Call of Duty: Advanced Wirefare Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Vsync: No
- Render Resolution: Native
- Texture Quality: manual
- Texture Resolution: Extra
- Normal Map Resolution: Extra
- Specular Map Resolution: Extra
- Anisotropic Filtering: High
- Shadows: On
- Shadow Map Resolutiopn: High
- Cache Sun'shadow Maps: On
- Cache Spot Shadow Maps: On
- Depth of Field: High Quality
- Motion Blur: High Quality
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: Normal
-
Medium Distance Ambient Occlusion: On
- Sub Surface Scattering: On
- Depth PrepaSS: oN
- Post Process Anti-Aliasing: Filmic SMAA T2x
- Super Sampling: 4x
- Shader Preload: On
- Shader Preload During Cinematics: On
- Bullet Impacts: On
- Dynamic Light Limit: 8
|
- Vsync: No
- Render Resolution: Native
- Texture Quality: manual
- Texture Resolution: Extra
- Normal Map Resolution: Extra
- Specular Map Resolution: Extra
- Anisotropic Filtering: High
- Shadows: On
- Shadow Map Resolutiopn: High
- Cache Sun'shadow Maps: On
- Cache Spot Shadow Maps: On
- Depth of Field: High Quality
- Motion Blur: High Quality
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: Normal
-
Medium Distance Ambient Occlusion: On
- Sub Surface Scattering: On
- Depth PrepaSS: oN
- Post Process Anti-Aliasing: Filmic SMAA T2x
- Super Sampling: 4x
- Shader Preload: On
- Shader Preload During Cinematics: On
- Bullet Impacts: On
- Dynamic Light Limit: 8
|
- Vsync: No
- Render Resolution: Native
- Texture Quality: manual
- Texture Resolution: Extra
- Normal Map Resolution: Extra
- Specular Map Resolution: Extra
- Anisotropic Filtering: High
- Shadows: On
- Shadow Map Resolutiopn: High
- Cache Sun'shadow Maps: On
- Cache Spot Shadow Maps: On
- Depth of Field: High Quality
- Motion Blur: High Quality
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: Normal
-
Medium Distance Ambient Occlusion: On
- Sub Surface Scattering: On
- Depth PrepaSS: oN
- Post Process Anti-Aliasing: Filmic SMAA T2x
- Super Sampling: 4x
- Shader Preload: On
- Shader Preload During Cinematics: On
- Bullet Impacts: On
- Dynamic Light Limit: 8
|
[pagebreak]
Thief
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
89.4 |
100.45 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
89.0 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
64.8 |
101.41 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
63.9 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
34.2 |
101.79 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
33.6 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Thief Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Vsync: Off
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Very High
- Shadow Quality: Very High
- Depth of Field Quality: High
- Texture Filtering Quality: 16x Anisotropic
- SSAA: High
- Automatically limit Texture Quality: On
- Screen'space Reflection: On
- Parallax Occlusion Mapping: On
- FXAA: On
- Contact Hardening Shadows: On
- Tesselation: On
- Image Based Reflection: On
|
- Vsync: Off
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Very High
- Shadow Quality: Very High
- Depth of Field Quality: High
- Texture Filtering Quality: 16x Anisotropic
- SSAA: High
- Automatically limit Texture Quality: On
- Screen'space Reflection: On
- Parallax Occlusion Mapping: On
- FXAA: On
- Contact Hardening Shadows: On
- Tesselation: On
- Image Based Reflection: On
|
- Vsync: Off
- Preset: Custom
- Texture Quality: Very High
- Shadow Quality: Very High
- Depth of Field Quality: High
- Texture Filtering Quality: 16x Anisotropic
- SSAA: High
- Automatically limit Texture Quality: On
- Screen'space Reflection: On
- Parallax Occlusion Mapping: On
- FXAA: On
- Contact Hardening Shadows: On
- Tesselation: On
- Image Based Reflection: On
|
[pagebreak]
GRID Autosport
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
102.29 |
100.37 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
101.91 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
84.33 |
101.48 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
83.10 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
|
High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
50.52 |
102.66 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
49.21 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
GRID Autosport Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Full Screen: On
- Vsync: Off
- Nigh Lightning: Ultra
- Advanced Fog: On
- Particles: Ultra
- Cloths: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: Ultra
- Soft Ambient Occlusion: On
- Ground Cover: Ultra
- Vehicle Details: Ultra
- Vehicle Reflections: Ultra
- Objects: Ultra
- Trees: Ultra
- Crowds: Ultra
- Water: High
- Advanced Lighting: Enabled
- Global Illumination: On
- Texture Quality: High
- Shader Quality: High
- Anisotropic Filtering: Ultra
- Smoke: Shadows: on
|
- Full Screen: On
- Vsync: Off
- Nigh Lightning: Ultra
- Advanced Fog: On
- Particles: Ultra
- Cloths: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: Ultra
- Soft Ambient Occlusion: On
- Ground Cover: Ultra
- Vehicle Details: Ultra
- Vehicle Reflections: Ultra
- Objects: Ultra
- Trees: Ultra
- Crowds: Ultra
- Water: High
- Advanced Lighting: Enabled
- Global Illumination: On
- Texture Quality: High
- Shader Quality: High
- Anisotropic Filtering: Ultra
- Smoke: Shadows: on
|
- Full Screen: On
- Vsync: Off
- Nigh Lightning: Ultra
- Advanced Fog: On
- Particles: Ultra
- Cloths: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: Ultra
- Soft Ambient Occlusion: On
- Ground Cover: Ultra
- Vehicle Details: Ultra
- Vehicle Reflections: Ultra
- Objects: Ultra
- Trees: Ultra
- Crowds: Ultra
- Water: High
- Advanced Lighting: Enabled
- Global Illumination: On
- Texture Quality: High
- Shader Quality: High
- Anisotropic Filtering: Ultra
- Smoke: Shadows: on
|
[pagebreak]
Sleeping Dogs - Benchmark
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
84.7 |
100.24 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
84.5 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
50.8 |
100.00 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
50.8 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
20.8 |
100.00 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
20.8 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Sleeping Dogs Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Full Screen: On
- Graphics Level: Extreme
- Enable Quality Anti Aliasing: Extreme
- Enable High Res Textures: On
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Shadow Filtering: High
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: High
- Enable Vsync: Off
- Enable Quality Motion Blur: High
- World Density: Extreme
|
- Full Screen: On
- Graphics Level: Extreme
- Enable Quality Anti Aliasing: Extreme
- Enable High Res Textures: On
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Shadow Filtering: High
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: High
- Enable Vsync: Off
- Enable Quality Motion Blur: High
- World Density: Extreme
|
- Full Screen: On
- Graphics Level: Extreme
- Enable Quality Anti Aliasing: Extreme
- Enable High Res Textures: On
- Shadow Resolution: High
- Shadow Filtering: High
- Screen'space Ambient Occlusion: High
- Enable Vsync: Off
- Enable Quality Motion Blur: High
- World Density: Extreme
|
[pagebreak]
Metro: Last Light - Benchmark
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
59.28 |
100.75 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
58.84 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
41.22 |
103.38 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
39.87 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
20.21 |
109.48 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
18.46 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Metro: Last Light Settings |
| 1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Quality: Very High
- Texture Filtering: AF16x
- Motion Blur: Normal
- SSAA: On
- Tesselation: Very High
- Scene: D6
- Runs: 3
|
- Quality: Very High
- Texture Filtering: AF16x
- Motion Blur: Normal
- SSAA: On
- Tesselation: Very High
- Scene: D6
- Runs: 3
|
- Quality: Very High
- Texture Filtering: AF16x
- Motion Blur: Normal
- SSAA: On
- Tesselation: Very High
- Scene: D6
- Runs: 3
|
[pagebreak]
Assassin's Creed Unity
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
48.30 |
105.46 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
45.80 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
30.12 |
107.68 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
27.97 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
15.68 |
110.26 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
14.22 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Assassin?s Creed Unity Settings |
| 1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Blood Fx : On
- Companion app : On
- Graphics Quality: Ultra High
- VSync: Of
- Streching: on
- Envirnoment Quality: Ultra High
- Texture Quality: Ultra High
- Shadow Quality : PCSS
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Bloom: On
|
- Blood Fx : On
- Companion app : On
- Graphics Quality: Ultra High
- VSync: Of
- Streching: on
- Envirnoment Quality: Ultra High
- Texture Quality: Ultra High
- Shadow Quality : PCSS
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Bloom: On
|
- Blood Fx : On
- Companion app : On
- Graphics Quality: Ultra High
- VSync: Of
- Streching: on
- Envirnoment Quality: Ultra High
- Texture Quality: Ultra High
- Shadow Quality : PCSS
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Bloom: On
|
[pagebreak]
Far Cry 4
|
High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
58.60 |
102.45 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
57.20 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
38.64 |
104.46 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
36.99 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
Average FPS |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
22.40 |
106.51 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
21.03 |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
Far Cry 4 Settings |
| 1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Motion Blur : On
- Textures: Ultra
- VSync: Off
- Shadow: Ultra
- Post FX: Ultra
- Geometry: Ultra
- Vegetation: Ultra
- Terrain: Ultra
- Water: Ultra
- Environment: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Godrays: Volumetric fog
- Fur : On
- Trees relief : On
|
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Motion Blur : On
- Textures: Ultra
- VSync: Off
- Shadow: Ultra
- Post FX: Ultra
- Geometry: Ultra
- Vegetation: Ultra
- Terrain: Ultra
- Water: Ultra
- Environment: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Godrays: Volumetric fog
- Fur : On
- Trees relief : On
|
- Graphics Quality: Custom
- Motion Blur : On
- Textures: Ultra
- VSync: Off
- Shadow: Ultra
- Post FX: Ultra
- Geometry: Ultra
- Vegetation: Ultra
- Terrain: Ultra
- Water: Ultra
- Environment: Ultra
- Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: MSAA-4X
- Godrays: Volumetric fog
- Fur : On
- Trees relief : On
|
[pagebreak]
Power Consumption
Temperatures
Idle
| Stock Clocks |
Idle |
| Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
26 °C |
| Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
31 °C |
| Overclocking |
Idle |
| Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
29 °C |
| Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
36 °C |
| |
less is better |
Load
| Stock Clocks |
Load |
| Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
43 °C |
| Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
72 °C |
| Overclocking |
Load |
| Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
46 °C |
| Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
82 °C |
| |
less is better |
Battlefield 4
| Stock Clocks |
Load |
| Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
38 °C |
| Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
66 °C |
| Overclocking |
Load |
| Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
42 °C |
| Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
70 °C |
| |
less is better |
[pagebreak]
Performance Index
| High Preset, 1920x1080 (1080p) |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
101.48 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 2560x1440 (1440p) |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
102.52 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
| High Preset, 3840x2160 (2160p) |
% |
|
Watercooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
104.01 % |
|
Aircooling MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G |
100.00 % |
|
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Conclusion
At stock clocks and equipped with the
EK-FC980 GTX TF5 watercooler, scores were on average 1.48 percent higher in FullHD, 2.52
percent in 1440p and 4.0 percent in UHD. At
1080p Assasin's Creed Unity shows the highest increase in performance with 5.46
percent difference. Other than that there is also Watch Dogs, showing 4.47 percent
difference. A closer look at the two theoretical benchmarks 3DMark and Unigine
Heaven 4.0 reveals almost no performance increase for the watercooled version.
Switching to 1440p resolution we see that Assasin's Creed Unity benefits by
7.68 percent from the watercooler, it's 5.51 percent with
Watch Dogs, 5.39 percent in Crysis 3, and 4.46 in Far Cry 4.
Once we set the resolution to UHD resolution differences can become even larger.
Running Crysis 3 we found the card perform 14.3 percent faster when watercooled.
In the case of Assasin's Creed
Unity there is 10.26 percent difference and runnin Far Cry 4 the performance
benefit is 6.51 percent.
We also had a closer look at temperatures. Under full load and running at stock
clocks the watercooled card doens't reach more than 43°C, whereas the aircooled
version hits 72°C. Overclocked, the
watercooled card didn't go past 46°C, whereas the aircooled version ran
at 82°C. On another note we have to mention that adding a waterblock to this
card makes for as near as not difference also concerning overclocking results.
Since our particular sample of the MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G overclocks
excellently even aircooled, there is nothing much more to squeeze out of this
card when it's running alsmost 40°C cooler with a waterblock on top.
Last but not least we want to add a few thoughts. Putting the results into
persepective shows, that the MSI GTX 980 Gaming ships with an exellent aircooler.
At 1440p and above we see a measurable difference, when we equip this card with
a watercooler. Nevertheless this difference is quite small and if it's only
about the performance benefit, we would not spend our money on a watercooler. At
the end of the day there are three reasons, why you want to put a waterblock on
a graphics card: temperatures, noise level of the entire system and looks.
Watercooling a graphics card allows you to run your GPU at much lower
temperatures and that makes it possible to run all fans in your system at lower
rotation speeds and therefore reduce system noise. Apart from that watercooled
systems can be built in ways which make them look truly beautiful and in the end
it's these three reasons combined, which make watercooling a card so tempting.
The fact that you get some additional performance from your card is the cherry
on top of your already delicious cake.
The EK-FC980 GTX TF5 we've used, is going to set you back
107.95 Euro (price
12.03.2015). This piece of hardware is definitely not
cheap, but then on the other hand no enthusiast grade hardware is cheap.
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