After Much Anticipation, EVGA Releases Classified Edition GeForce GTX 980 Ti

Hot on the heels of our look at EVGA’s Superclocked+ GeForce GTX 980 Ti earlier this week, the company follows-up with an even beefier model: Classified. The Classified series is no secret to overclocking enthusiasts, as Vince Lucido, aka: K|NGP|N, is the man behind it. That means that this should become the most overclockable GTX 980 Ti on the planet, period.

Even if you don’t care much about overclocking, but just want a stupidly fast 980 Ti, this card actually manages to surpass EVGA’s own liquid-cooled model. The Superclocked+ is spec’d at 1,102MHz, while the Hydro and HYBRID are clocked at 1,140MHz. This Classified? 1,190MHz, with a total boost of 1,291MHz – 101MHz above the Superclocked+ model, which already is a killer performer.

Compared to the Superclocked+ model we just looked at, this Classified model doesn’t deter too much from the ACX 2.0’s aesthetics. For that matter, the cooler itself hasn’t been tweaked at all, not even under-the-hood. What has changed is that this card has dual 8-pin power connectors, versus a 6- and 8-pin, a 14+3 power phase configuration, EVBOT support, as well as dual BIOS support.

Also like the Superclocked+, the Classified GTX 980 Ti includes a backplate, but this one has the “Classified” logo in striking red letters. While EVGA says most anyone should be able to hit ~1,450MHz (with GPU Boost) on the other 980 Ti ACX 2.0-equipped cards, the first sample of the Classified model our rep touched peaked at 1,510MHz stable.

Those looking for an ultimate overclocking card would probably do well to opt for this over the Superclocked+, as a mere $20 premium will net you the enhanced power phase configuration and also dual 8-pin power connectors. Not to mention the dual BIOS feature, which could come in handy.