EVGA Releases VR Version Of GTX 980 Ti, Ships With Front-Mounted Breakout Box

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EVGA has many variations of graphics card for each of Nvidia’s GPUs. The company had 10 versions of the GeForce GTX 980 Ti, but that didn’t stop it from releasing two more. EVGA’s GTX 980 Ti VR Edition, as the name implies, is meant for use with VR headsets, and it is available with either an ACX 2.0+ or an Nvidia reference cooler.

EVGA’s GTX 980 Ti VR Edition cards are not overclocked at all. They share the exact same specifications as Nvidia’s reference design for the GeForce GTX 980 Ti. The main difference that these cards have is an additional HDMI port located on the opposite side of the card, facing into the case.

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Header Cell - Column 0 EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti VR EDITION GAMING ACX 2.0+EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti VR EDITION GAMINGNvidia Reference
Base Clock1000 MHz1000 MHz1000 MHz
Boost Clock1076 MHz1076 MHz1076 MHz
Texture Fill Rate176 GT/s176 GT/s176 GT/s
Memory6144 MB GDDR56144 MB GDDR56144 MB GDDR5
Memory Clock7010MHz7010MHz7010MHz
Memory Bandwidth336.5GB/s336.5GB/s336.5GB/s
Warranty:3 Years3 Years3 Years

The inward-facing port is used to connect the card to a breakout box that mounts into a 5.25-inch bay. This front-mounted bay includes an HDMI input and two USB 3.0 ports used to connect to a VR HMD. The idea is that you get more slack on the cables from your HMD when it's plugged into the front of your case.

Both versions of the EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti are available now for $699.99. The company is not charging a premium for the ACX 2.0+ cooler.

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Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Darkbreeze
    I guess the use of this card is pretty much a no go for anybody with a Fractal design or NZXT case, or any of the other cases out there, that have no external 5.25" bays if you want to use the front break out box. Seems they might have considered the trend towards removing the front bays and make the box similar to an external USB hub or something that could be used on systems without the bays.

    Even ten years ago Creative labs Soundblaster Live had external break out boxes that were divorced entirely from the case by way of USB cable, you'd think they could have done something similar here.
    Reply
  • jasonelmore
    company is not charging a premium for the ACX 2.0+ cooler.

    its because the acx cooler is cheap and inferior to the stock reference design cooler. Any EVGA card with the reference cooler is automatically +$60 than the ACX

    It's hard to justify this box when all you need is a $5 HDMI Cable. But i'm sure they will sell the box seperate and sell a few units.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    "This front-mounted bay includes an HDMI input and two USB 3.0 ports used to connect to a VR HMD"

    I suppose that makes... a slight amount of sense. Kind of. But just picking up some longer cables would still only run you... maybe $10. Talk about a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
    Reply
  • thrakazog
    The Rift requires an HDMI 1.3 connection, 3 x USB 3.0 connections, and 1 x USB 2.0 connection. So, an HDMI and 2 x USB 3.0's doesn't really help.....
    Reply
  • atwspoon
    Was hoping somehow they had a hardware optimization for vr, that might increase fps or stability.
    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    17479578 said:
    company is not charging a premium for the ACX 2.0+ cooler.

    its because the acx cooler is cheap and inferior to the stock reference design cooler. Any EVGA card with the reference cooler is automatically +$60 than the ACX

    It's hard to justify this box when all you need is a $5 HDMI Cable. But i'm sure they will sell the box seperate and sell a few units.

    17479903 said:
    Was hoping somehow they had a hardware optimization for vr, that might increase fps or stability.

    The box is useless without the internal HDMI port.


    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    17479696 said:
    "This front-mounted bay includes an HDMI input and two USB 3.0 ports used to connect to a VR HMD"

    I suppose that makes... a slight amount of sense. Kind of. But just picking up some longer cables would still only run you... maybe $10. Talk about a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

    You can't just "pick up longer cables" for the Vive, that I know of.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    17479929 said:
    17479696 said:
    "This front-mounted bay includes an HDMI input and two USB 3.0 ports used to connect to a VR HMD"

    I suppose that makes... a slight amount of sense. Kind of. But just picking up some longer cables would still only run you... maybe $10. Talk about a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

    You can't just "pick up longer cables" for the Vive, that I know of.

    You can certainly get extension cables, anyway. No problem at all if all you need is an extra six feet.
    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    17480067 said:
    17479929 said:
    17479696 said:
    "This front-mounted bay includes an HDMI input and two USB 3.0 ports used to connect to a VR HMD"

    I suppose that makes... a slight amount of sense. Kind of. But just picking up some longer cables would still only run you... maybe $10. Talk about a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

    You can't just "pick up longer cables" for the Vive, that I know of.

    You can certainly get extension cables, anyway. No problem at all if all you need is an extra six feet.

    We've yet to see if that will have any adverse effect on VR. Extensions could affect the quality of the signal.
    That's something I would like to test when we review the VR hardware.
    Reply
  • guzami77
    17480067 said:
    17479929 said:
    17479696 said:
    "This front-mounted bay includes an HDMI input and two USB 3.0 ports used to connect to a VR HMD"

    I suppose that makes... a slight amount of sense. Kind of. But just picking up some longer cables would still only run you... maybe $10. Talk about a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

    You can't just "pick up longer cables" for the Vive, that I know of.

    You can certainly get extension cables, anyway. No problem at all if all you need is an extra six feet.

    We've yet to see if that will have any adverse effect on VR. Extensions could affect the quality of the signal.
    That's something I would like to test when we review the VR hardware.

    The connection from the front of the card to the box is an extension also... albeit a short one.
    Reply