Introduction

GeForce GTX 980 2 and 3-way SLI

We will arm our big daddy PC rig with three GeForce GTX 980 cards, yep we'll zoom in an up-to 3-way SLI performance for the GeForce GTX 980 as we review Gigabyte's WaterForce GeForce GTX 980. That's not one, not two, nope ... it is a 3-way SLI review on the GeForce GTX 980 that has been water-cooled. We'll FLIR them and look at Ultra HD performance as well.  Next to that we'll also overclock the 3-way SLI setup to see how overclocking and tweaking goes with that many graphics cards. We will be looking at performance from a single monitor point of view, so ideally with so much horsepower a WQHD resolution (2560x1440/1600) is the monitor resolution where you should start (but preferably Ultra HD of course). You will notice great performance increases with 3-way SLI. Yeah, while Full HD (1920x1080/1200) and WHQL (2560x1440) have become the industry standard within the display industry, enthusiasts will never settle for just the 'standard' and are always looking for the next big innovation in technology. Ultra HD gaming is exactly that, the next evolution in immersion that gamers have been waiting for. Commonly addressed as Ultra HD, UHD or 4K, this new resolution refers to the ultra-high resolutions with approximately 4000 horizontal pixels. Ultra HD resolution also has four times the number of pixels of a typical 1920x1080 resolution. It will be interesting to find out how the GeForce GTX 980 cards will handle such extreme resolutions. Considering its nice 4 GB framebuffer but slightly dimmed memory bandwidth yet hefty GPU clocks, it's looking quite alright I'd say.

Now, the three cards come factory-overclocked at a 1228 MHz core with a 1329 MHz GPU Boost, and 7.53 GHz memory. It has a liquid-cooling pump-block sitting on top of each of the GPUs yet also cools memory and VRM. Each card is attached to its own 120mm radiator. If you look at the box, you will notice that you can regulate fan RPM and this noise levels as well as pump speed. Next to that you can read out VGA temperature, fan and pump RPM etc on an LCD display.

Join us in this review uber-enthusiast 3000 EURO all-in-one easy to install kit review where we'll once again look at everything. As if you figured just one card would be interesting, you have no idea what's coming at you with three cards setup in SLI - all liquid cooled.