The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 is the most powerful consumer graphics card on the planet. Still, it’s not exactly lonely at the top with a range of standard and custom cards to choose from.
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 is the most powerful consumer graphics card on the planet. Still, it’s not exactly lonely at the top with a range of standard and custom cards to choose from.
ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE GTX 1080 OC
The ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC is a card that oozes stealth and style. That said, the card is an entirely different beast once you power it on (and the lights come to life). The lighting color and effects can be customized using the ASUS Aura utility, and you can even set the lights to pulse to the beat of your tunes.
This is one of the most aggressively clocked custom GeForce GTX 1080s on the market now, with core clock of 1,784MHz and boost clock of 1,936MHz in OC mode. It ships in the lower clocked Gaming mode by default, but there’s no reason to not ramp it up to OC mode once you get it.
In order to keep the card running cool, ASUS installed a fairly hefty DirectCU III cooling solution comprising five copper heatpipes and a metal plate that comes into direct contact with the memory chips. The heatpipes are in direct contact with the GPU as well, which helps with more effi cient heat transfer away from the chip. What’s more, they branch out from the GPU to different areas of the heatsink to better utilize all the available areas.
To cap things off, the cooler itself features three semi-passive fans that span the entire length of the heatsink, the better to make use of all the available Aggressive factory overclocks. Slightly noisy when fans run at full speed. surface area for cooling and boost airflow. Another standout features on the card is what ASUS has dubbed its FanConnect technology, which takes the form of two 4-pin fan headers at the end of the card. You’ll be able to connect your case fans to these headers and set them to vary their speed according to the GPU load.
ASUS is the only vendor on the market to offer this, which scores it some points in the features department.
To help you achieve higher overclocks, ASUS has included an additional 6-pin power connector to raise the power draw ceiling. This provides an additional 75 watts of power, for a total draw of around 300 watts.
+ Aggressive factory overclocks.
- Slightly noisy when fans run at full speed.
AT A GLANCE
MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 GAMING X 8G
The red-and-black Twin Frozr VI cooler on the GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G is a familiar sight, and the translucent ridges on the cooling shroud will glow a fierce red when the card is powered on. This MSI card is actually a lower clocked version of the GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming Z 8G, and the two look nearly identical.
But while the Gaming Z comes with a 1,771MHz base clock in OC mode, the Gaming X card has a more modest 1,708MHz base clock (and 1,847MHz boost clock).
MSI’s thermal solution also differs quite a bit from the ASUS card. While the latter opted for five direct contact heatpipes, MSI has chosen to make use of six heatpipes that meet at a square GPU baseplate. The heatpipes are also flattened where they meet the baseplate to maximize the contact area.
The new Torx 2.0 fans are a key part of the upgrades MSI made to its new Twin Frozr VI cooler. The 14-blade fans actually feature two different types of blades – steeper and more curved dispersion blades and regular fan blades. The former helps speed up airflow, while the latter pushes air through the heatsink. And if your GPU temperature is below 60 degrees Celsius, they’ll power down entirely.
More significantly, the fans now feature double steel ball bearings, which offer better longevity.
We can attest that this is the quietest card of the lot, and it’s impressive how MSI has managed to keep noise levels down while maintaining cooling performance.
That said, one thing to note is that this is a fairly broad and heavy card. At 140mm across, it’s one of the wider cards we’ve seen, and you’ll be glad for the extra support the metal backplate provides. If you’re looking to install this in a narrow chassis, you’ll want to double check the allowance available. MSI has also gone for with an additional 6-pin PCIe power connector, and an upgraded 8+2 phase power delivery circuit, for greater overclocking headroom and stability.
+ Runs cool and very quiet.
- Taller height may not fit in smaller cases.
AT A GLANCE
GPU TRANSISTOR COUNT 7.2 billion.
CORE CLOCK 1,708MHz (OC mode).
MEMORY 8GB GDDR5X.
MEMORY CLOCK 10,108MHz (OC mode).
PRICE $1,249.
PALIT GEFORCE GTX 1080 GAMEROCK PREMIUM EDITION
Palit’s card is one of the more interesting custom GeForce GTX 1080s on the market, if only because it represents a brand new series from the company. The GeForce GTX 1080 GameRock Edition is a new complement to Palit’s longstanding JetStream series of cards, and is marketed at a different audience.
The GameRock cards are targeted at gamers, or more specifically those who want the best possible performance out-of-the- box. To this end, the cards are clocked higher than their equivalent JetStream counterparts.
Our review unit was the higher clocked Premium Edition card, which had a base clock of 1,746MHz and boost clock of 1,885MHz.
This is a card that stands out in a lot of ways, but not all of them good. For one, this is a 2.5 slots wide card, which means you’ll actually need three slots on your motherboard to install it.
To be fair, the cooler does come with certain improvements over the previous generation, and it was the coolest out of all our tested cards, even if it was just by a single degree. Palit increased the fin density on the heatsink to provide a greater surface area for heat dissipation, but that’s also a contributor as to why the card is noisier than expected under load. That aside, the card also uses a large copper GPU baseplate that interfaces between the GPU die and its five heatpipes.
But our reservations about the fat cooler aside, it’s also important to award credit where credit’s due, and Palit has clearly worked hard to differentiate its new GameRock cards. Other than the rather unique blue-and-white color scheme (whether it appeals to you will come down to personal preference), the card features a dual BIOS switch and solder OC tweaking and measurement points for enthusiasts.
The dual BIOS feature will come in handy when recovering from failed overclocks, and the Palit is the only card in our shootout to feature this, despite the focus on extreme overclocking on the ASUS and MSI cards.
+ Cheaper than most competors.
- Triple-slot design is bulky.
AT A GLANCE
3DMARK 2013 (Higher is Better)
18,762
TEMPERATURE (Lower is Better)
67
67
66
