Idle Power Consumption
There’s a huge difference between the two Gigabyte graphics cards. Nvidia’s reference board is almost exactly in the middle between them. The GTX 980 WindForce OC gives us our baseline by idling just under 10 W, while the derivative 970 consumes almost 20 W. This (relatively) massive difference was measured on the same platform using the same measurement methodology. Nvidia’s reference graphics card comes in at 16 W, right between the Gigabyte boards.
Our best guess is that Gigabyte has a “golden sample” at work here. But it goes to show what could be possible from Maxwell if production is refined further. We weren’t able to get our hands on a reference Nvidia GeForce GTX 970, so we had to use a downclocked version of a board partner’s card instead.
| Power Consumption at Idle | Gigabyte GTX 980 Windforce OC | GeForce GTX 980 Reference | GeForce GTX 970 Reference (Emulated) | Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce OC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCIe Total | 3.99 W | 3.78 W | 4.52 W | 4.56 W |
| Motherboard 3.3 V | 0.18 W | 1.93 W | 1.32 W | 1.32 W |
| Motherboard 12 V | 5.05 W | 10.05 W | 13.50 W | 13.56 W |
| Total | 9.22 W | 15.76 W | 19.34 W | 19.44 W |
Gaming Power Consumption
These findings further illustrate what we said on the previous page about Maxwell and its ability to regulate GPU voltage faster and more precisely. The gaming-based power consumption numbers show just how much efficiency can be increased if the graphics card matches how much power is drawn to the actual load needed. The version of the GeForce GTX 980 that comes overclocked straight from the factory manages to use significantly less power than the reference version, while offering six percent more performance at the same time.
| Power Consumption while Gaming | Gigabyte GTX 980 Windforce OC | GeForce GTX 980 Reference | GeForce GTX 970 Reference (Emulated) | Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce OC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCIe Total | 137.38 W | 143.85 W | 122.31 W | 132.70 W |
| Motherboard 3.3 V | 1.07 W | 2.81 W | 2.19 W | 2.27 W |
| Motherboard 12 V | 34.98 W | 39.04 W | 43.37 W | 42.84 W |
| VGA Card Total | 173.43 W | 185.70 W | 167.87 W | 177.81 W |
Let’s take a look at the measurements in detail. The large load fluctuations are plain to see.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Reference Card Measurement Results and Graphs
Gigabyte GTX 980 WindForce OC Measurement Results and Graphs
Gigabyte GTX 970 WindForce OC Measurement Results and Graphs
Stress Test Power Consumption
If the load is held constant, then the lower power consumption measurements vanish immediately. There’s nothing for GPU Boost to adjust, since the highest possible voltage is needed continuously. Nvidia's stated TDP becomes a distant dream. In fact, if you compare the GeForce GTX 980’s power consumption to an overclocked GeForce GTX Titan Black, there really aren’t any differences between them. This is further evidence supporting our assertion that the new graphics card’s increased efficiency is largely attributable to better load adjustment and matching.
| Power Consumption Under Max. Load | Gigabyte GTX 980 Windforce OC | GeForce GTX 980 Reference | GeForce GTX 970 Reference (Emulated) | Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce OC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCIe Total | 237.63 W | 233.64 W | 188.96 W | 192.46 W |
| Motherboard 3.3 V | 0.98 W | 2.63 W | 2.16 W | 2.15 W |
| Motherboard 12 V | 41.07 W | 48.35 W | 48.38 W | 48.36 W |
| VGA Card Total | 279.68 W | 284.62 W | 239.50 W | 242.97 W |
The values above have potential consequences for the everyday operation of these graphics cards, as they represent what can be expected when running performance-hungry compute-oriented applications optimized for CUDA and OpenCL. The reference card’s two 6-pin PCIe power connectors start looking a bit out of place in this context, as they might just not be enough.
Finally, let’s take a look at the detailed measurements. The much smaller load adjustments are illustrated graphically below. Pay particular attention to the reference card’s small drops when it hits the thermal limit.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Reference Card Measurement Results and Graphs
Gigabyte GTX 980 WindForce OC Measurement Results and Graphs
Gigabyte GTX 970 WindForce OC Measurement Results and Graphs
Maxwell’s performance can almost be compared to that of a compression tool. Already compressed data (our compute-heavy numbers) can’t be compressed any further, whereas text (games) can be compressed massively.
- Introducing GM204: There's A New Maxwell In Town
- New Features
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Reference Card
- Gigabyte GTX 980 WindForce OC
- Gigabyte GTX 970 WindForce OC
- EVGA GTX 970 Superclock ACX 2.0
- Test System And Benchmarks
- Results: Battlefield 4 And Thief
- Results: Arma 3 And Grid Autosport
- Results: Assassin's Creed IV, Watchdogs, Far Cry 3
- A New Power Consumption Test Setup
- Power Consumption In Detail
- Power Consumption Overview
- Efficiency
- Temperatures And Noise
- Verdict
Looks like The Gtx 980 will become a part of my build family!
so roll on next week and hopefully they will have them back in stock...
-Top performance as always
-Low power consumption
-A right price this time XD
-Top performance as always
-Low power consumption
-A right price this time XD
nvidia
I have an oldish Antec TP New Series 650 watt modular psu. I had the gtx970 on one 25A 12v rail feeding the 8+6 connectors. It seems this was possibly not enough to cope with the peaks. Not up on psus but with 80% efficiency that 25x12 is not a full 300 watts - more like 240watts. So, I added another 12v rail for the 6pin and hey presto it worked fine no issue.
So anyone with such an issue might try this or get a more powerful psu.