NVIDIA JUST UNLEASHED what it calls the “ultimate GeForce card,” and the blisteringly fast GTX 1080 Ti (see our full review on page 49) indeed delivers unparalleled levels of gaming performance. But the version you can buy today isn’t truly the apex of graphics technology, even if the core graphics processor itself is.
Customized graphics cards always push performance far past what reference cards offer, thanks to a mixture of beefy cooling solutions and mild-to-heavy overclocks. But while the initial salvo of GTX 1080 Tis are limited to $700 “Founders Edition” (go.pcworld.com/gtx foundersedexpl) reference cards, the likes of EVGA, Asus, Zotac, and other Nvidia partners haven’t been shy about showing off their plans for the new GeForce flagship… even if they haven’t been forthcoming about concrete price and release date details.
Here’s a look at all the custom GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards destined for release sooner than later. Nvidia expects partner cards to hit the streets later in March, and a recent outpouring of details from Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, and others suggest that might actually happen.
Asus
Asus was one of the first Nvidia partners to show its custom cards— the Asus Strix GTX 1080 Ti (go.pcworld.com/strix1080ti) and Asus Turbo GTX 1080 Ti (go.pcworld.com/turbo1080ti)—in their full glory, and it’s the first to reveal finalized specifications, too.
The Turbo version sticks to a basic, borderline reference-like single fan design, paired with reference clock speeds. The Asus Strix GTX 1080 Ti is much more interesting, with two models available. The baseline Strix sticks to reference speeds in standard Gaming Mode, or up to 1,620MHz if you enable the OC Mode in Asus’ software. A more potent Strix GTX 1080 Ti OC Edition, meanwhile, boosts to 1,683MHz in its default Gaming Mode or 1,708MHz in OC Mode—a 126MHz boost over the GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition.
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