ASUS' popular STRIX line was recently updated to include NVIDIA's top card and now [H]ard|OCP has had a chance to benchmark this GTX 980 with custom quiet cooling.  The DirectCU II cooling system can operate at 0dB under all but the heaviest of loads and the 10 phase power design will mean you can go beyond the small factory overclock that the card arrives with.  [H]ard|OCP took the card from a Boost Clock of 1279MHz to 1500MHz and the RAM from 7GHz to 7.9GHz with noticeable performance improvements part of why it received a Gold Award.  If the ~$130 price difference between this card and the R9 290X does not bother you then it is a great choice for a new GPU.

"Today we delve into the ASUS GTX 980 STRIX DC II OC, which features custom cooling, 0dB fans and high overclocking potential. We'll experiment with this Maxwell GPU by overclocking it to the extreme. It will perform head to head against the ASUS ROG R9 290X MATRIX-P in today's most demanding games, including Far Cry 4."

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