Reference design gpu or special editions?

i am in the process of finishing my newest build; Intel 5930k 3.5GHz, ASUS Rampage V extreme mb, corsair dominator platinum 64gb (2400MHz), corsair ax 1500i psu, corsair graphite 780T for my case, looking at what liquid cooling loop to use(this will be my first liquid cooled setup) and now to my main question. I have been looking at the ASUS GTX 980 Strix gpu and have noticed a rather big jump in price when compared to the reference model of the GTX 980. Is that price increase based on their factory overclock and better cooling (fans/ heat sink)? And if I plan on doing a liquid cooling setup, would I be better off just buying the normal (reference model) of the GTX 980 and then ordering the water block for the card and doing my own overclock? Help me out here, any words of wisdom would be appreciated.....

Yes, factory overclock and proprietary coolers add to the cost vs. reference design cards. overclocking is a lottery either way you go. Usually the cards that are factory overclocked have been binned and overclock well. That's not to say you won't get lucky with a reference design card that clocks well too, but a little more of a gamble.

You mentioned "binned" is that the term for how out of a batch of chips there are some that will overclock much better than others? Also if that's the case would I then be better off with purchasing a card with the factory overclock and then swapping their modified cooling setup for the waterblock and going for higher clock speeds?

Yes, in a nutshell that's what it means. There are a lot of variables to consider here. A waterblock for a non-reference card could be hard to find if the PCB itself is different than the reference PCB. A lot of manufactures will not warranty a card if the stock cooler is removed. EVGA is the most liberal in that regard and only requires you put the stock cooler back on before sending in for RMA service. EVGA also sells waterblocks to fit their GPUs. Don't forget that NVIDIA cards are overclock limited by power target limits too, and you might reach that limit quickly on either a reference card or custom card and with or without water cooling.

By the time you add up the costs of a 980 and a watercooling setup for it, you might as well get a pair of 970s. (If you have plans to add multiple 980s and cost is of little importance, that's another matter.)

Snowbiz said:

You mentioned "binned" is that the term for how out of a batch of chips there are some that will overclock much better than others?

Click to expand...

It doesn't mean the board will have a higher overclock, it just means that the chips have satisfied stability checks at higher speeds. It is not a guarantee of a higher potential max overclock though as I don't believe this is ever tested.

I read an article about this on overclock.net a few years back, apparently written by an MSI rep (click on the link below). It gives a more detailed explanation about how the 'binning process' of chips may be applied by manufacturers. I've read similar things too, purportedly coming from other manufacturer reps/spokespersons elsewhere on the web.

The concept of "binning" vs "cherry picking" GPU chips...