MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X 2038 MHz 1490 MHz
Gigabyte GTX 1080 Ti Xtreme Gaming 2050 MHz 1515 MHz
Can someone explain how? How, card with lower clocks gained 5 more fps?(same asus ti)
Simple, the Gigabyte Aorus can't keep the card cool enough to prevent dropping boost bins. The higher TDP /overvolt target is working against it's performance.
https://tpucdn.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_1080_Ti_Xtreme_Gaming/images/clock_vs_voltage.jpg
^ says it all. MSI manages to keep this GPU pegged at -1 or -2 boost bins at the most, while the Gigabyte is all over the place.
With Pascal, your max clocks are irrelevant. What matters is the GPU clock when temps and voltage are stabilized, generally when the card hovers around the 70 C temp target (which is generally always what you're ending up at, give or take a few C depending on fan profile), it has dropped two boost bins down from max boost. The Gigabyte however keeps trying to jam the maximum voltage in there, increasing temps, and causing additional boost bins to be dropped. The additional volts don't allow the card to settle on the best voltage/temperature point, but keep pushing it only to run into BIOS limits constantly.
When overclocking Pascal, it is generally beneficial to stay under the 70 C temp target and apply the voltage +% that fits that temp target with your fan profile after a long session. Less is more. I use a +75% core overvolt and I get better bench scores than I do at 100%. The GPU BIOS is built to find that equilibrium between core volts and temp targets, and it is generally smarter than most overclockers are
Let it do its magic, and you get better fps.
