GIGABYTE GTX 980

[the1truegamer]

Hi all,

I'm planning to upgrade my computer with a few items including a GTX 980. The only thing i can find in stock is the Gigabyte model (link below). I've looked all over the net but it's the only one in the right price point i would buy. Just wanted to get some advice if there is a red flag here. I can wait a few weeks for an EVGA to come into stock if i have to but if there isn't a major reason not to i'd rather make my order now. Any problem with the Gigabyte model vs the EVGA worth waiting for?

Gigabyte Board
GIGABYTE GV-N980D5-4GD-B GeForce GTX 980 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready G-SYNC Support Video Card - Newegg.com

Also, EVGA has two model numbers for sell on Newegg. One says sold out, the other says out of stock. Any idea if one is better than the other and does sold out mean that model is no longer in production?

Sold out EVGA
EVGA 04G-P4-2982-KR GeForce GTX 980 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 G-SYNC Support Video Card - Newegg.com

Out of stock EVGA
EVGA 04G-P4-2980-KR GeForce GTX 980 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 G-SYNC Support Video Card - Newegg.com

 

[Dauntae]

The difference between the two is one is factory over clocked, But unless your a complete been it's pointless to get the factory OC for more $$$ They give you the program to OC to the same speeds. And as I've been reading, These new 970 and 980's are over clocking beasts on just air cooling.

Dauntae

 

[the1truegamer]

The difference between the two is one is factory over clocked, But unless your a complete been it's pointless to get the factory OC for more $$$ They give you the program to OC to the same speeds. And as I've been reading, These new 970 and 980's are over clocking beasts on just air cooling. Dauntae

Any reason to hold out for the EVGA cards to come back in stock or do you think the Gigabyte board will be ok?

 

[the1truegamer]

Damn...while i was waiting the Gigabyte cards went out of stock. Now it's PNY or ZOTAC...neither one seems like an option to me.

 

[Dauntae]

Lol they are selling faster than there coming in, since those were the reference cards I really don't see any real difference as long as the company making them is good, EVGA used to be my favorate because they used to have a life time warrenty but now there pretty much the same as the rest, I'm looking at the MSI with the new fan setup but still watching the rest and what ever I get a good deal on I'll get, I'm only going for the 970 however.

 

[PP Mguire]

They are not the same, their customer service is still better than any other company who produces video cards. They don't offer a lifetime anymore due to the step up program that replaced it. If you keep stepping up you will basically keep a warranty all the time.

In terms of quality or performance (factory OC aside) they will pretty much all give you the same relative performance. Aftermarket coolers can produce a sag over time on certain models but some people find this to not be a problem to them. Any and all reference cards will all perform identical to each other in terms of cooling, performance, and quality. You only really differentiate cards on the top custom models between companies like eVGA Classified/Kingpin, MSI Lightning, Asus ROG Matrix/Ares, ect.

 

[the1truegamer]

Well at this time I'm still fine tuning my build. Watching the sites for the cards to come back in stock. Did I hear correctly that AMD is releasing their new card this month? Might be worth waiting just to see what they offer and also see if price points move any after that launch.

 

[PP Mguire]

Current AMD launch is set for Q1 2015 actually.

 

[the1truegamer]

Current AMD launch is set for Q1 2015 actually.

Dang, not sure if i'm willing to wait that long. Just have to see how the next few weeks goes. I'm hoping to do an order sometime next week if i clear up a few other things first and the cards come back in stock.

 

[PP Mguire]

If you were going to wait it would be more worth it to wait for 980ti.