With an overclocked "Big Maxwell" chip, MSI's GeForce GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G Graphics Card is geared towards high resolution gaming at fast frame rates. With its 2816 CUDA cores clocked at 1000 MHz and 6GB of optionally overclocked GDDR5 vRAM coupled with a 384-bit interface, the GTX 980 Ti packs quite a processing punch. The GTX 980 Ti's CUDA cores are arranged using NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture, allowing the GPU to operate using less power while generating less heat than the previous generation Kepler architecture. Operating at full tilt during intense gaming sequences, the card will only draw a maximum of 250 watts of power.

The Gaming G6 version of this card comes with overclocking capabilities which can be accessed through MSI's Gaming App. The Gaming App allows you to choose one of three modes for the card's operation that best fits your processing load. Silent mode has the least overclocking of the three, this way the fans rarely have to spin up. Gaming Mode, which is the default, has a moderate overclock for stable operation along with a speed boost. OC Mode has the highest performance of the three modes and runs the GPU at its fastest speed while also overclocking the vRAM clock speed up to 7100 MHz (effective).

The front panel of the card features a variety of outputs. There are three DisplayPort outputs in addition to an HDMI output and a DVI output. 4K resolution can be output through the DisplayPort and HDMI terminals. Even if the card is connected to a lower resolution display, the GTX 980 Ti can use technologies like DSR and MFAA to leverage the extra resolution for a higher quality image. The GTX 980 Ti is not just about high-resolution gaming. Computationally intensive programs can utilize the GPU's 2816 cores to accelerate tasks using CUDA or other APIs.

To keep cool, even when overclocked, MSI implemented their Twin Frozr V cooler on this card. The Twin Frozr V cooler uses two large fans to force air through the heatsink and dissipate heat and lower the GPU's internal temperature. Because this kind of cooler recirculates air back into the case, this card works best in cases that have unrestricted airflow.