Am in the process of OCing  my new 980ti hydro copper and noticed the PerfCap says VRel not sure what that designation means. Any help, or how to get over that as a performance barrier.

HOWARD70
Am in the process of OCing  my new 980ti hydro copper and noticed the PerfCap says VRel not sure what that designation means. Any help, or how to get over that as a performance barrier.

Give it some more volts

HOWARD70
this is at +87, the max allowable w stock bios. Any suggestions on a 3rd party bios?
 

Is your card actually applying the new value? My card is limited by the shunts on the board; no matter what I do, it will rebound to 1.2v on my GTX970

That's most likely what it's limited at in the bios.  Most of the EVGA bios that I've modded for people are locked down at either 1.237 or 1.256.  Almost all of 970s I've messed with will go up to 1.275v.

There are several different ways to improve on the stock bios.  Start here...there are quite a few guys there that will help you to get yours set up.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1573308/nvidia-gtx-900-cards-custom-bios-upon-request/410
 

Modded bios versions can bump it up to the point that the VRM limits it.  The 970 FTW is limited to 1.275.  No way of telling where your card's hard limit is until ya move it up.  I'd guess you should get at least 1.256 out of it, minimum.