Which GTX 1080 ti to get. Too many Choices!

[Jeff G]

I'm finally getting ready to pull the trigger on my 1080 ti, and I'll probably go new as I haven't found any used ones that are a good deal.
I see the SC Black Edition is pretty cheap (compared to other 1080 ti's). Any reason to spend the extra $50-100 on a better card like the FTW or Zotac Amp extreme cards? I see they boost higher out of the box, but are they going to all be pretty similar once overclocked? Is the fan design on the SC Black an issue compared to the FTW design? It's a large case with lots of fans, so it stays decently cool.

 

[EarthDog]

I believe the sc still has reference power, etc, but, it really wont matter much.

 

[Jeff G]

I believe the sc still has reference power, etc, but, it really wont matter much.

That's kinda what I'm wondering. If, on stock coolers, I'm going to be able to overclock the SC and the FTW to the same levels then I'll save the $80 and get the SC.

 

[EarthDog]

Youll likely be in the ballpark, if not right there.. these all overclock about the same.

 

[wingman99]

I have a EVGA GTX 1070. I had a problem with something making a ratting noise and customer support insisted that I RMA with them, now my new one works great.

 

[Alaric]

Fortunately, unlike some companies, EVGA's customer service doesn't seem to work on a sliding scale proportionally inverse to how much you spent. And as has been said, the Pascals pretty much do what they do regardless of the decorations. A FE likely clocks right along with my HOF. But isn't near as cool looking. LOL

 

[Tír na nÓg]

Got mine a couple of days ago. Will fire it tomorrow and let you know. But as E_D says, not much to sorry about ref PCB, as you will be limited by power and silicon quality anyway.

 

[Jeff G]

So will the 2x8 pin and 10+2 power phase vs the 1x8 and 1x6 pin and 7+2 power phase make a difference between the FTW and SC? Only looks to be a $50 difference, but no point in spending an extra $50 if it wont actually net me anything.

 

[EarthDog]

My answer hans't changed.

 

[Jeff G]

Reading reviews of all the aib cards, it seems like anything from fe to the full waterblock models all clock between 2000 amd 2050. I guess it's all luck of the draw, seeing as some reports have the top cards like FTW/Amp Extreme/Auros Extreme as low as 2000 and some reports show the FE as high as 2100.
I guess no need to fret over which to get, and since I dont care about rgb Im just going to grab the cheapest one I can find (which looks to be the SC Black).

 

[S_I_N]

most clock near the same level as others have said it just comes down to ascetics and cooling. If you plan on water cooling it then I'd find the cheapest you can that has a full cover block available.

 

[Tír na nÓg]

Well, mine is a dog: nothing more than +60 is achievable on the core (men does+600 though...). Will spend a bit more time using the curve.

 

[Woomack]

1080Ti max clock highly depends on cooling. FE will make ~1950-2000MHz but when it heats up then will be closer to 1900MHz. Good cooler will add 50-100MHz to max boost. Higher voltage will add next 50MHz ( I mean this limited higher voltage on most cards ).
I will install water block on my 1080Ti FE soon ( probably this weekend ) so I will check max clocks. Stock FE cooler lets it run up to 2012MHz when it's cold and ~1950MHz max when it's hot ( of course when it hits 90°C+ then it's worse ).

Most stable clocks will be about 1900-1950MHz. What some are showing in the web are usually clocks in benchmarks or results with artifacts. Just don't be sad if you get a card which won't make 2000+ 24/7 stable under load

 

[Tír na nÓg]

Well, it runs most games@1974MHz (no vsync) constant, no drop. But no benchmark passes @those freq.

 

[wingman99]

What is 50-100MHz worth in FPS increase?

 

[Woomack]

Not much, depends on game/test but in most cases you won't see the difference because of already high base performance. In theory it should be maybe 3-5%. It also depends if this clock will be stable for longer and not only short time boost. All this nvidia boost system is really annoying for comparison

 

[Tír na nÓg]

What is 50-100MHz worth in FPS increase?

Not much...

But it is another story wneh benching!

And I spend most time on the computer benching when not workink!

 

[wingman99]

I just finished testing in BF1 standing in the same spot on a empty map. I tabbed out and clicked on the game to get back in the game to reduce my GPU clock speed to -100MHz 1845MHz from 1945MHZ, It was the same 70-71 FPS. I did it a couple of times just to make sure.

 

[Jeff G]

Every review I've seen showed the overclock gains being about equivalent to the gains of the aib card vs the fe card. For example, if the card in stock form was 5fps over a stock FE card, it gained about 5fps with the overclock. It varies by game, but if the game saw 8fps stock vs FE, it also saw 8fps more overclocked. At the end of the day, you're talking FE at like 100fps, stock aib card at 105fps, and overclocked aib card at 110fps. Still, seems like a nice gain to me!

 

[Tyerker]

While the overclocking headroom is likely the same (almost all 1080 Tis can hit 2 GHz), the quality of components / cooling / fan control / aesthetics is different for other cards.

I personally went with the FTW3 because of aesthetics, and the over-engineering of the cooling / power components gives me a little extra piece of mind. I hit 2062 MHz, right in line with everyone else. The switchable BIOS on the FTW3 also gives you some extra power for Precision XOC, and a fail-safe if you're the type to flash BIOS on your cards.

If you only intend to have a 1080 Ti run around 2 GHz with minimal tweaking beyond that, though, the SC Black should be fine. At a certain point, a 1080 Ti is a 1080 Ti, other than aesthetics, noise, and thermals.