To commemorate 20 years of making graphics cards, ASUS is releasing in limited numbers the fastest GTX 980 graphic card money can buy. This highly-collectable card comes in a very special package for a very special occasion. For fans who love collecting boxes, you don't want to miss out on this one.
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In the box, you will find the essentials like the power cables, software disc and setup guide. Apart from the special edition graphics card, there is also a special edition super-sized mouse mat.
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The main attraction comes in the form of a matte-black and gold Nvidia GTX 980 with ASUS-exclusive technologies. The ASUS back-plate and all ports are gold-plated, making this the perfect card for a gold/yellow mod, or for adding a touch of class and quality in your build.
At the core, it is powered by Nvidia’s acclaimed 2nd-gen Maxwell architecture (GM204); their most powerful and efficient architecture to date. This factory-overclocked beast runs at a whooping 1,431MHz (18% boost from 1,178MHz so this is even faster than the mighty ROG Matrix Platinum!), with 4GB of GDDR5 video memory operating at 7,012MHz (effective) on its 256bit memory bus. There are five display outputs in total: DVI, HDMI 2.0 and three DisplayPort 1.2 (four of which can be used concurrently), so you can run games on multiple displays.
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On the side, there is the 20th Anniversary logo which is also a color-coded, real-time load indicator that changes color to show the GPU load level – blue for light load, orange for medium, red for heavy and green for safe mode. By pressing the Clear VBIOS button, your GPU default settings will be restored so you can overclock with confidence. The dual-slot card measures 11.3 X 5.4 X 1.6 inches in size.
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The Golden Edition card is fitted with ASUS-exclusive technologies like the DirectCU II heatsink which provides you with 15% greater cooling and three times quieter than reference design. It incorporates a CoolTech fan for multi-directional cooling, making this an exceptional quiet card even when the fans are at full-speed. The Direct CU II heatsink combined with the CoolTech fans and 10mm heatpipes make 0dB Fan Technology possible so you can have ultra-silent operation without water-cooling. Details do matter, so matte-black is applied to the heatsink and heatpipes match the theme, while on the back of the PCB is the gold version of the premium brushed-metal back-plate, which doesn't only look fantastic but also helps spread and dissipate the heat from components and the PCB.
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Even though ASUS has factory-overclocked the card, this was built to still have plenty of headroom left for you to play around with! Download and install GPU Tweak, there’s enough features to satisfy even the most hardcore enthusiast. The twin 8-pin power connectors have LED indicators on each to indicate if each power cable is installed correctly.
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The 2,048-core GPU and memory is fed by the DIGI+ VRM with a 14-phase power design. Concrete core chokes, hardened MOSFETs, as well as Japanese-made 10K black metallic capacitors are all here, to bring you 30% less power noise, 20% better temperature endurance and five times the lifespan of standard solid caps. All these technologies and components provide stability, silent operation, and even more overclocking headroom that you'd come to expect from ASUS.
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For those using liquid nitrogen, simply solder in the VGA Hotwire wires and short the available points to unlock LN2 mode, then plug in a 4-pin molex power cable to use the memory defroster. When you're dealing with subzero overclocking, this will keep your memory from freezing up, say sayōnara to cold bugs and the need for excessive insulation.
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Some people like to go crazy, but there's nothing wrong with that. By all means, go crazy! And this is what crazy looks like. How about the 20th Anniversary Golden Edition GTX 980 times two? Oh and don't forget about the ROG SLI Bridge...
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You can also check out the history of ASUS graphics cards on our 20th Anniversary website.