Table of Contents
Today we will present you with one more RTX 4080 graphics card, this time from Colorful. This less popular brand proved many times its high-quality products deserve more attention. Everything becomes even more interesting when we have in our hands one of the fastest graphics cards ever manufactured. The RTX 4080 is not the highest GPU from the new Nvidia generation but already been shown it beats the last-generation flagship, the RTX 3090Ti, and its starting price is more affordable.
The tested iGame Advanced series is designed for demanding gamers and promises great results in games and silent work even during the highest load. Our review will show you how well performs the latest graphics card from Colorful and how much you can expect from the huge cooler, additional gaming features like RGB illumination, and graphics card overclocking potential.
ADA Lovelace Architecture and Technologies
ADA Lovelace architecture was already mentioned in our previous RTX4080 and RTX4090 reviews, but it’s always good to refresh this information. Below is the description of the latest Nvidia graphics card architecture focused on the RTX4080 GPU.
Nvidia Ada Lovelace Core
Nvidia’s new Ada Lovelace architecture is fabricated on TSMC’s 4N manufacturing process. The smaller process allowed Nvidia to dramatically increase the transistor count, which turns into a lot more cores (70% more CUDA cores than GA102). The new GPU consists of a whopping 76.3 billion transistors, which they state makes it one of the most complex chips ever made.
With the new core, the Ada architecture also operates at higher clock frequencies using “… high-speed transistors in critical paths that could otherwise restrict the rest of the chip”. The RTX 4080 and AD103 chip inside comes in with clocks of 2.205 GHz on the core and 1,400 MHz on the 16GB GDDR6X with a 256-bit bus. Power consumption is listed as 320W, but custom models like iGame Advanced have it as high as 400W or even more.
The AD103 GPU found on the RTX 4080 comes equipped with 7 Graphics Process Clusters (GPCs), 40 Texture Processing Clusters (TPCs), 76 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), along with a 256-bit memory interface (8x 32-bit memory controllers). There are also 152 FP64 cores (2 per SM) not shown in the diagrams. Nvidia states the TFLOP rate for the FP64 cores is 1/64th the TFLOP rate of FP32 operations, and the small FP64 core count is included to ensure compatibility with FP64 code which includes Tensor Core code.
The third generation RT core in these Ada GPUs adds a dedicated unit called the Opacity Micromap Engine and the Displaced Micro-Mesh Engine (DMME). The former evaluates Opacity micromaps that are used to accelerate alpha traversal. The DMME allows the Ada RT core to ray trace complex objects and the environment with significantly less BVH build time and storage costs which, when simplified, makes for a much faster and more efficient pathing. Together, Nvidia claims the Ada 3rd-gen RT core is the most powerful they ever made.
Another significant improvement over the previous generation is the upgrade from DLSS 2.0 to DLSS 3.0. The new sauce inside is a new frame generation technique that combines optical flow estimation with DLSS to improve the gaming experience. In other words, inserting accurately synthesized frames between existing frames improves the frame rate and provides a smoother gaming experience. The most significant performance uptick, you’ll see, is with using DLSS.
The Tensor cores have also been updated. Compared to Ampere, Ada provides more than double the FP16, BF16, TF32, INT8, and INT4 Tensor TFLOPS and runs the Hopper FP8 Transformer Engine, delivering over 1.3 PetaFLOPS of tensor processing on the 4090.
For those who like to stream content, Nvidia’s NVENC encoder and existing optimizations for OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) eliminated the need for a dedicated PC for video capture so you can play and stream at the PC without sacrificing quality or performance. Ada takes that a step further, incorporating support for AV1 video encoding the 9th gen NVENC hardware encoder. Previous generations only decoded but didn’t encode. The AV1 encoder is said to be 40% more efficient than the H.264 encoder found in the 3000 series GPUs. With this update, users can increase from 1080p to 1440p while running at the same bitrate and quality. The 4080 and 4090 use two NVENC encoders for the work.
Details aside, the table below lists the specifications for the new ADA GPUs, including our review sample, iGame RTX4080 Advanced OC.
Specifications and Features
| Nvidia RTX 4000 Series Specifications | ||||
| Model | Colorful iGame RTX 4080 Advanced | RTX 4090 | RTX 4080 (16GB) | RTX 4070 (12GB) |
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace (AD102, AD103, AD104) | |||
| Manufacturing | TSMC 4N (5 nm) | |||
| CUDA Cores | 9,728 | 16,384 | 9,728 | 7,680 |
| RT Cores (Gen 3) | 80 | 144 | 80 | 60 |
| Tensor Cores (Gen 4) | 320 | 576 | 320 | 240 |
| Texture Units (3rd Gen) | 320 | 576 | 320 | 240 |
| ROPs | 112 | 192 | 112 | 80 |
| L2 Cache | 64 MB | 96 MB | 64 MB | 48 MB |
| Base Clock | 2,205 MHz | 2,230 MHz | 2,210 MHz | 2,310 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 2505MHz /2,625 MHz One-Key OC | 2,520 MHz | 2,510 MHz | 2,610 MHz |
| Memory | 16 GB GDDR6X | 24 GB GDDR6X | 16 GB GDDR6X | 12 GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Speed | 718 GBps | 1008 GBps | 736 GBps | 504 GBps |
| Memory Bus | 256-bit | 384-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit |
| Supplementary Power | PCIe 5 16-pin 3x 8-pin | PCIe 5 16-pin 3x 8-pin | PCIe 5 12-pin 2x 8-pin | PCIE 5 12-pin 2x PCIe 8-pin |
| Standard Display Connectors | HDMI (2.1) 3x DisplayPort (1.4a) | |||
| Max Resolution | 8K (7680 x 4320) | |||
| TDP | 400 W | 450 W | 320 W | 285 W |
| Release Date | 11/15/2022 | 10/12/22 | 10/12/22 | 10/12/22 |
| MSRP | Expected around $1,300 | $1599 | $1,199 | $899 |
Retail Packaging and Accessories
Colorful iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC arrived in a retail package, which is a large box. The package has a typical design for high-end graphics cards and isn’t bringing us anything new. The front shows how the graphics card is expected to look, the model, and its memory capacity. On the back, we can find features that Colorful felt to be the most important.
The list isn’t really long but shows everything that gamers would like to know. Most users nowadays buy computer hardware online, so the package description doesn’t matter much. The most important is that the card is well-protected for transport. The card, in fact, is very well protected by thick foam and an antistatic bag, as you can see in the photos below.
Besides the graphics card, in the box, we will find a quick user’s guide, Colorful greeting card, graphics card holder, screwdriver, 3×8-pin to 12-pin PCIe power adapter, and a set of gloves so that we won’t leave scratches or fingerprints on the hardware during installation. The whole bundle gives us more than what we can find in most competitive graphics cards. There is no driver and software CD/DVD. All manufacturers have already moved software to their websites. Between factory packaging and delivery to us, it often takes weeks, while during this time, we can see multiple driver updates.
The graphics card holder comes in three parts, while in the photo above, you can see it already put together. It’s a great addition as the card is very heavy, around 2.4kg/5.3 lbs, applying additional pressure to the PCIe slot and potentially causing damage if unsupported.
The power adapter is also a handy addition as few users already have the new PCIe 5.0 connectors native on the power supply. The card is equipped with a 12-pin power connector which is rated at 450W. The card itself has 320W TDP in the standard mode and 400W once we switch to the OC BIOS. from this point, we can add an additional +8% with software, which gives us around 432W. Considering that the PCIe slot also provides some power, we don’t have to worry about power delivery.
A Closer Look at the iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC
iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC design
The tested iGame graphics card is not too flashy, but it has some attractive design details which emphasize its gaming nature and high quality. The card is mainly kept in silver color while its front has a black panel with black fans and a red ring called “Gravity Rim.” The ring and “ADVANCED” sign have an RGB backlight which can be controlled with Colorful iGame Center.
The front shroud is made of plastic while the back is made of a metal alloy that seems to be aluminum, so additionally helps spread the heat and cool the card from the back. The front panel and the backplate have additional patterns which make the card look unique.
The card looks even better in reality than in the photos. You can also see how large it is. The same as some competitive RTX4080, the iGame Advanced is over three-slot thick and, more precisely, 70.5mm. It’s also 343.8mm long and 147.6mm tall, so be sure you have enough space inside your chassis.
The I/O includes three DisplayPort ports, one HDMI port, and a BIOS switch that lets us enable OC mode that increases the boost clock and power limits. DisplayPort and HDMI ports are not specified anywhere, so we can only assume that DisplayPort ports are in the 1.4a version and the HDMI in the 2.1 version, as in general RTX4080 specifications.
What’s under the hood?
The iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC has a massive 18 GPU power phase design. The design isn’t much different than what other brands use in their higher RTX4080 series or even RTX4090. Colorful, for sure, wasn’t saving on power delivery, and it was the right decision, as the iGame Advanced OC has a much higher-than-standard power limit. One more shared component is Micron GDDR6X memory IC, which can be seen on all new Nvidia cards.
Once we remove the cooler, then we can see how amazing it looks from the back. It’s very thick, with thick heat pipes and a vapor chamber for the GPU. Additional heatsinks are covering the power section and some other chips. This explains great results and low temperatures during tests. The soldering and overall layout look great too.
Stability at the Default Frequency
The iGame RTX4080 Advanced OC performs better than expected. Even though in standard and OC modes, the card has the same base frequencies, it boosts about 30MHz higher than the previously reviewed MSI RTX4080 Suprim X. Both cards have about the same temperatures during load – up to 67°C, and have about the same power draw – around 320W.
Below are screenshots that were taken after 3DMark Stability Test.
The OC BIOS gives a bit better results at not much higher power draw – up to 330W. It also spins fans faster, but their speed is still at a maximum of about 51%, so 2038 RPM, so if we wish, we can manually make them run faster. The much higher TDP and low maximum temperatures cause the overclocking headroom to be high, but I will tell you about it later.
The iGame Advanced is also very quiet. The fans reached 2000 RPM, but the ambient noise was louder than the graphics card, and it was hard to measure the card’s noise. The fans have an automatic speed adjustment, and when temperatures are low, they stop. We can force them to run at the manually set speed with iGame Center software, about which I will tell you right now.
iGame Center Software and RGB Illumination
The default illumination mode is pulsing red, while the iGame software lets us change modes and adjust all colors we wish. I recommend downloading the software from the new motherboards’ product pages, as the one on the RTX 4000 pages is outdated and doesn’t work correctly. We also won’t get any CD/DVD with drivers and other software, so we spend a couple of minutes downloading everything from the manufacturer’s website.
Once we get everything running, then we get in our hands a tool that lets us monitor our graphics card and also other PC components, manage graphics card clocks and fans’ speed, and adjust RGB on all discovered devices. Below are screenshots that show the iGame Center and its available options.
Test System and Benchmark Methods
| Test System Components | |
| Motherboard | MSI Z690 Unify-X |
| CPU | Intel i9-12900K (stock) |
| CPU Cooler | ASUS Ryujin II 360 AIO |
| Memory | KLEVV CRAS XR5 RGB 2×16 GB 6200 MHz CL40 |
| SSD | Silicon Power XS70 1TB NVMe (OS + Applications) |
| Power Supply | Corsair AX 1200W 80+ Platinum |
| Video Card | Colorful iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC / 526.72 driver |
Our test system is based on the mainstream Intel z690 platform and uses the i9-12900K 8P,8E/24t CPU, and 32GB of DDR5-6200 RAM, which already seems like a standard option for modern gaming computers.
More details can be found in the GPU Testing Procedure article, which we have updated with our latest benchmarks. Below is a quick summary for easy reference.
- UL 3DMark Time Spy – Default settings
- UL 3DMark Fire Strike (Extreme) – Default settings
- UL 3DMark Port Royal – Default Settings (Ray Tracing capable cards only)
- Unigine Superposition – 1080p High, 1080p Extreme
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider – DX12, “Highest” preset
- The Division 2 – DX12, Ultra preset, VSync Off
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey – Ultra High preset, VSync Off
- Far Cry 6 – Ultra defaults, HD Textures enabled
- F1 2021 – DX12, Very High defaults, Bahrain track
- Metro: Exodus – DX12, Ultra defaults
Synthetic Benchmarks
Our first set of benchmarks hails from Underwriters Laboratories, which acquired Futuremark in 2014. Earlier in 2018, a rebrand occurred, and since that time, Futuremark is now UL. The benchmarks have not changed, just the name. We chose to stick with 3DMark Fire Strike (Extreme) and 3DMark Time Spy as these tests give users a good idea of performance on modern titles.
3DMark Fire Strike (Extreme) is a DX11-based test that runs at 1080p resolution. UL says the graphics are rendered with detail and complexity far beyond other DX11 benchmarks and games. 3DMark Time Spy is a DX12 benchmark designed for Windows 10 PCs. It supports new API features such as asynchronous computing, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading and runs at 2560 x 1440. 3DMark Port Royal is the first Ray Tracing benchmark designed for Windows PCs and graphics cards with Microsoft DirectX Raytracing capabilities.
As we can see, the iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC easily beats the last generation’s best, so RTX 3090Ti and RX 6900 XT. It’s also slightly better than the MSI RTX 4080 Suprim X, while is clearly losing to the RTX 4090.
Gaming Benchmarks
We have updated our testing suite for gaming benchmarks to bring more modern titles into the mix. Gone are Battlefield V, F1 2018, Far Cry 5, AOTS:e, and World of Tanks, which have been replaced with Metro Exodus, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, F1 2021, and Far Cry 6. We kept The Division 2 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The games should provide a good view of the card’s overall performance with many DX12-based. One thing worth noting with these high-end cards, they aren’t made for 1080p gaming, so the gaps between cards tend to get minimized.
1920 x 1080 (1080p) Results
In the 1080p tests, it’s tough to see a significant separation between such fast cards as you tend to be CPU limited. That said, the RTX 4080 again finds itself between the RTX 4090 and 3090 Ti in most titles.
2560 x 1440 and 4K UHD Results
Below are the higher resolution results starting with 2560 x 1440 and the gaining-in-popularity 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD) resolution.
It’s not a surprise that the RTX 4080 is between the RTX 4090 and RTX 3090 Ti one more time. Even though it’s not the highest graphics chip, it easily handles these higher display resolutions at high details. The iGame RTX 4080 is again slightly faster than the MSI RTX 4080 Suprim X. It’s not a very significant difference, but the higher boost frequency adds some single FPS.
Ray Tracing and DLSS Testing
Below, we tested Shadow of the Tomb Raider with ray tracing at 1440p and 4K. Even with the frame-reducing ray tracing enabled (without DLSS), the RTX 4080 easily handled this title.
Overclocking the iGame RTX4080 Advanced OC
The iGame Advanced OC surprised me once again as after not so long trying, it could pass the 3DMark Stability Test at 3000MHz core! All that was required was the OC BIOS and +115MHz GPU clock. In the same time, the Micron memory could run at +366MHz, which is less impressive but still a good result. As I already mentioned, these frequencies let to beat overclocked MSI Suprim X by 1-5FPS in most games, while in some, there was no difference at all. The card already comes at very high clocks, so it’s hard to expect more than a few percent performance gain compared to the stock settings.
Temperatures and Power Use
Temperatures and power consumption were measured during 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme, after a couple of passes in the loop, and in 3DMark Stability Test – Port Royal, after 20 passes. Even though both tests seem similar, they load the graphics card in a different way, so the results are also different.
Temperatures on the iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC reached 65°C in 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme at stock settings. After overclocking the card, temperatures increased to 69°C. About the same results were in modern games like Assassin’s Creed series. In the 3DMark Stability Test, temperatures settled after about the seventh pass with a peak of 63°C at default settings (OC BIOS) and at 67°C after overclocking.
Power use for the iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC peaked at about 326W on the default settings and 378W after overclocking. The card still has headroom, but since we can’t unlock the voltage, we won’t be able to use the additional power limit. Even with the 378W, temperatures are still quite low to be safe and far from the throttling point.
Conclusion
Colorful did a terrific job with the iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC. The card pleasantly surprised me a couple of times. It’s for sure very fast and easily beats all the options from the last generation. It’s even slightly faster than the MSI RTX 4080 Supreme X, which received great reviews a couple of days ago. Additionally, the iGame card offers us the high overclocking potential that lets us see a 3GHz core clock during long stability tests. If it wasn’t enough, the cooler runs very quietly and keeps low temperatures even after overclocking.
The performance in lower display resolutions is amazing, but the card is simply boring. To let it fly, we have to use at least 1440p and higher display details. If we are after 120-165Hz/FPS, then it’s a perfect option. Slightly lower results are in 4K, but we can still expect above 100FPS in most titles, even at maximum settings. This generation is finally ready for 4K gaming. Even though RTX 3000 or even 2000 was advertised as created for 4K, then something was always missing.
Colorful iGame RTX 4080 Advanced OC is not available in any online store (on the day of writing this review), but we expect it won’t cost more than RTX 4080 from the competitive brands, so around $1300. This is a significantly lower price than not so long time ago we had to pay for high graphics cards from the previous generation. It’s for sure not cheap, but if you want to play at 4K with high FPS then it’s the best starting point and significantly cheaper than the RTX 4090.
Colorful RTX 4080 Advanced OC is a well-designed graphics card that clearly deserves our recommendation!
Click here to learn what this means.
Bartosz Waluk – Woomack
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