05-21-2015, 02:28 AM
Historically that has been the simplest means of distinguishing most reference design cards. But this is not always true. Some reference design cards have axial fans (e.g., HD 7990) and, like above, some OEM design cards have centrifugal fans.
The most reliable way to tell if a card is reference design or not is to go to amd.com or nvidia.com and look at their official product photos. For the GTX 980, http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-...uct-images
If the card in question does not look precisely like that, then it is not the GTX 980 that Nvidia designed. It is a card designed by an OEM that happens to be using the same chip.
The most reliable way to tell if a card is reference design or not is to go to amd.com or nvidia.com and look at their official product photos. For the GTX 980, http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-...uct-images
If the card in question does not look precisely like that, then it is not the GTX 980 that Nvidia designed. It is a card designed by an OEM that happens to be using the same chip.