EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra

[EarthDog]

I’d propose testing a cards overclocking potential with power limit and temp limit sliders maxed.

Regarding manual adjustment / software required to activate, you already need software like Afterburner or Precision to overclock it. But I would agree with you on this one and bet most people don’t bother with extra software, like that Gaming App that MSI had with the 10 series.

Manufacturers putting out extra BIOSes becomes tricky. Part of me would want to see them tested separately so long as they were publicly released. However, I realize this would just create even more work while testing/reviewing.

Just my opinion. Not sure if a poll would be in order, or if people even care enough about this. I just find it a bit strange that someone would try to increase core and mem clocks without at least increasing the power limit. Especially as a reviewer evaluating a cards potential performance headroom.

agreed. Would love to see these in wild. I didnt know overclocking was with stock power limits... yikes. Crank those up and go!!!

How can a 450W BIOS be a plus? TPU always Seem to hammer AMD for their powerusage. When its NVIDIA its fine. I see there is some double standards going on here a TPU.

For reviews this is easily one of the best sites for gpus and least bias. You're absolutely 100% off the mark (I'm being kind).

 

[lepudruk]

Your Buying a $900 dollar card, but you worry about weather or not the PSU is good enough?

I always follow manufacture recommendations but it doesn't mean I can't question if they are within reason ;-)

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
EVGA should be shot for using those nasty thermal pads.

Just noticed there are two memory chips missing lol 12gb version might be a super duper.

 

[W1zzard]

who he thinks his audience is?

Looking at my traffic stats, pretty much everyone who is buying any graphics card and decides to google for info. By that standard my reviews are way too technical.

I’d propose testing a cards overclocking potential with power limit and temp limit sliders maxed.

keep the limit at 380w

designed for user overclocking

I too wish you'd test the overclocking section with the power and temp limit maxed out

will be doing so in order to overclock it

Done, added data for 400 W (maxxed out default BIOS) and 450 W (maxxed out 450W beta BIOS). Differences are surprisingly small.

Nope, not CPU limited, 3090 OC gets 293 FPS in the exact same test

 

[Zmon]

Wonder if it would be beneficial at all to stick a few thermal pads on the back of the card where the memory chips and VRMs are. Seems like a few other manufacturers are doing that for their 3080s (Asus Strix/TUF, MSI, etc) yet EVGA didn't.

 

[ThrashZone]

Wonder if it would be beneficial at all to stick a few thermal pads on the back of the card where the memory chips and VRMs are. Seems like a few other manufacturers are doing that for their 3080s (Asus Strix/TUF, MSI, etc) yet EVGA didn't.

Hi,
Good evga double stick thermal pads suck.

 

[W1zzard]

Wonder if it would be beneficial at all to stick a few thermal pads on the back of the card where the memory chips and VRMs are

You'll gain a few degrees C, like 1-3, not a big deal, but not nothing. I just measured the gap for someone on Reddit, it's 2.8 mm, so 3 mm thermal pads should be great

 

[rtwjunkie]

This was the card I ended up getting on launch day.

I've been anxiously awaiting Techpowerup to write up about it.

I was off-put when trying to connect it to my EVGA 850W PSU until I realized they purposefully designed it without the new 12 pin adapter and just let you run dual 8 pin cables to it. That actually made installing it a cinch.

Thus far, no issues - I'm loving it. Waiting for my3090FE to come in the mail.

I actually prefer your XC to the FTW3. Major selling points are 2-slot design and only 2 8-pin plugs.

 

[goodeedidid]

This was the card I ended up getting on launch day.

I've been anxiously awaiting Techpowerup to write up about it.

I was off-put when trying to connect it to my EVGA 850W PSU until I realized they purposefully designed it without the new 12 pin adapter and just let you run dual 8 pin cables to it. That actually made installing it a cinch.

Thus far, no issues - I'm loving it. Waiting for my3090FE to come in the mail.

3090FE is such a bad value for the money, not worth it.

 

[Count Shagula]

Done, added data for 400 W (maxxed out default BIOS) and 450 W (maxxed out 450W beta BIOS). Differences are surprisingly small.

Nope, not CPU limited, 3090 OC gets 293 FPS in the exact same test

Thankyou for doing this!
I'm waiting on one of these in the mail and your review confirmed I picked the right card. I'm putting it on water as soon as there's a block for this model and was curious what would happen when using the higher wattage bios. Cheers!

 

[basco]

thx for the review!
even dual gpu monsters like amd 6990 did not use so much power.
overclocking is dead with this plus of power consumption versus clocks to gain.

could ya give us a hint plz how much power furmark would put out with the 450watt PL ? my guess near 600watt?

 

[Darktalon]

my guess near 600watt?

no, the max possible draw from 3x 8 pins and the PCIE is 525 watts.

 

[basco]

yeah that was dumb from me-thx dark

 

[Amite]

So over waiting on Nvidia - Just going to wait on AMD

 

[owen10578]

Looking at my traffic stats, pretty much everyone who is buying any graphics card and decides to google for info. By that standard my reviews are way too technical.

Done, added data for 400 W (maxxed out default BIOS) and 450 W (maxxed out 450W beta BIOS). Differences are surprisingly small.

Well I happen to like your reviews being really technical haha! Appreciate all the hard work, thanks for updating it. Its a small difference but now we can see the absolute max the card can do, so I think in the future just testing with the max power limit only is enough.

no, the max possible draw from 3x 8 pins and the PCIE is 525 watts.

That's not true that's just the official PCIe spec the card itself is only limited by what is in the BIOS.

 

[bubbleawsome]

That's not true that's just the official PCIe spec the card itself is only limited by what is in the BIOS.

Which will never ever exceed 525w

 

[tepusal]

@W1zzard Thank you for adding the new data points for higher power limits. Pretty much all reviews of 3080 stated that overclocking is heavily limited by the BIOS power limit. The expectation was that with the 450 Watt power limit on this particular card, overclocking headroom would improve and noticeably better performance will be achieved. However, looking at the new data points you have added, it seems there is very minor difference in performance between the different power limits both in terms of overclockability and actual performance achieved with said overclock. Temperature does not seem to be an issue here; why is it that overclocking performance hardly improves with higher power limits, then, when the card is neither hitting the power limit nor the temperature limit?

 

[bubbleawsome]

@W1zzard Thank you for adding the new data points for higher power limits. Pretty much all reviews of 3080 stated that overclocking is heavily limited by the BIOS power limit. The expectation was that with the 450 Watt power limit on this particular card, overclocking headroom would improve and noticeably better performance will be achieved. However, looking at the new data points you have added, it seems there is very minor difference in performance between the different power limits both in terms of overclockability and actual performance achieved with said overclock. Temperature does not seem to be an issue here; why is it that overclocking performance hardly improves with higher power limits, then, when the card is neither hitting the power limit nor the temperature limit?

The silicon itself is maxing out now.

 

[W1zzard]

overclocking headroom would improve and noticeably better performance will be achieved

Looking at the data, I think that is the case. People just had unrealistic expectations. You're getting +50 MHz, +2% performance, taking you even closer to RTX 3090 stock perf. At some point you're simply maxing out the chip, like @bubbleawsome says

 

[Prima.Vera]

I ordered mine from EVGA.com in that queue system thing they set up less than two weeks ago. I got a secure e-mail saying I can make the purchase and pushed on through. $809.99 + state tax.

Thank you. Are they shipping outside US, like Japan?

 

[Cheeseball]

Thank you. Are they shipping outside US, like Japan?

Just checked. It looks like purchases made on EVGA.com only ship to US, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Sorry dude. Their official distributor list shows JD.com for those living in Asia-Pacific.

 

[mta]

I am surprised the review does not draw more parallels to the MSI card - based on the review, the EVGA FTW3 Ultra performs almost identically to it (virtually the same FPS averages on both 1440p and 4k), slightly hotter idle temps (+4C), slightly cooler load temps (-3C), slightly quieter load noise (-1 dBA), but higher power limits (+40W stock, +100W max?) and +$50 more expensive to buy.

 

[Deleted member 203344]

I personally dont believe there isnt more headroom left in Ampere ... Nvidia have a history of crippling performance when there is serious doubt at what their competitors are doing .. call it an obsession to keep the No. 1 title ... let me explain.
Many years back when they were at risk, Nvidia with their then current Geforce 2 cards released Detonator Drivers that improved actual performance by 20 to 40 percent ... yes you read that right.
Some of you are puzzled as to why Ampere wont go further even when power and thermals arent maxed. I personally would not be surprised if Nvidia does release a new driver to counter Radeon 6000 if they feel their dominance threatened .. citing some bullshit that they found an underlying power bug that was holding back performance ... after all it wouldnt be the first time Nvidia has done that exact same thing in the past ... fanciful thinking ? ... perhaps.
We will know soon enough whether history repeats itself.

 

[tomfuegue]

Hi from Spain, I would like very much that you include the weight in the next graphic cards reviews, it would be something welcome.

 

[Liamtran29]

Best card I ever own ! Upgraded from 2080 Ti FTW3 Ultra
It runs every games max settings in 4K
Temp stays ~73”C
Specs : 10900K overclocked 5.2Hz
Asus strix Z490E
64gb Ram