EVGA GeForce GTX 980 hits 2.30GHz, sets new records

Nvidia Corp.’s code-named GM204 graphics processing unit has once again managed to set a new frequency record for graphics processing units. A well-known overclocker has succeeded in pushing the frequency of the GPU to 2.30GHz clock-rate, but could not eventually replicate the record because of high humidity.

Steponz, a leading overclocker from the U.S., has overclocked his EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Classified ACX 2.0 4GB graphics card to 2300MHz for the GPU and 8712MHz (2178MHz*4) for GDDR5 memory. The GM204 GPU voltage (VDDC) was increased to whopping 1.212V and the graphics board was cooled down using liquid nitrogen (LN2). When later he tried to push the clock-rate to 2.30GHz, the test system malfunctioned because of high humidity.

“Had 2300/2200, but last three seconds setup went bad,” said Steponz in his comments over at Hwbot.org. “Really bad humidity here today. Going to play tomorrow too. […] If they humidity wasn't so bad, 2300MHz would have been there, just so much water everywhere and in the pot.”

Using his test bed powered by an Intel Core i7-5960X processor clocked at 5.815GHz (also cooled-down using liquid nitrogen), a Gigabyte X99 SOC Champion mainboard and 16GB of 3.10GHz DDR4 memory, Steponz scored 10459 points in 3DMark FireStrike Extreme (using the graphics board functioning at 2.30GHz/8712MHz), which is the world’s new record for a single-GPU setup. He also scored 48193 points in Catzilla 720p benchmark (using the card operating at 2278/8812MHz), the highest result for a single-GPU system ever achieved.

Steponz specifically mentioned that the EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Classified ACX 2.0 4GB was a “monster card” thanks to massive amount of enhancements designed to improve overclocking potential. Nearly half of a year after the release of the board, overclockers still manage to set new records using this graphics adapter and push the GM204 to its limits.

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KitGuru Says: With the “regular” EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Classified hitting 2.30GHz on GPU, it is now even more interesting to see what the improved version of the graphics adapter – the EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Kingpin Edition – can do. Will we see GM204 hitting 2.40GHz?

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