GPU
ROP
TMU
CORES
BASE CLOCK
BOOST CLOCK
MEMORY CLOCK
DIMENSIONS
POWER
GP104-400-A1
64
160
2560
1695 MHz (1721 MHz OC)
1835 MHz (1860 MHz OC)
8GHz GDDR5X (320GB/s)
280x114x41mm
1x 8Pin
G1 GAMING GTX 1080
Price: $649.99
T
he ultimate of the trio and
what ushered in a new level of
performance that shut the doors
on everything prior. Plenty of memory
bandwidth, a super high clock speed
and an efficiency that can’t be matched
by any other GPU in the family. The
GTX 1080 is the quintessential 1000
series offering. At only a 180W for the
FE model, it’s consuming around 30W
more than the competition’s mid-range
RX480 on paper, but obviously offering
double the performance in its reference
form. As for the G1, it is as you’d expect
overclocked (offering the highest out
the box clocks of all three cards) and
this particular model was again north
of 1960MHz in many test situations. To
keep it there however required a more
aggressive fan profile than the one
GIGABYTE had configured. Luckily this
is easily done with GIGABYTE’s own
XTREME GAMING ENGINE, but you
could easily do it with INSPECTOR tool
as well. Around 70% seemed to do the
trick even in a closed box, whereas on
an open bench table it needed less at
around 55%.
Even with such a cool running GPU,
throw enough loops of Unigine Heaven
Extreme pre-set at the GPU and it
will heat up. It is then you will come to
appreciate the WINDFORCE cooler. One
does suspect however that perhaps the
XG model of this GPU benefits from the
meatier heatsink fan complex allowing
higher sustained clocks, north of 2GHz.
In isolation of course you’d not know
that the boost clocks are fluctuating,
but next to the XG card it is fairly easy to
see. Still, the price difference between
the two may not be worth it, especially
considering that it’s a difference that a
higher RPM can’t fix or if, as stated with
the other GPU, a full coverage block
should sort out.
There’s one thing however that
seems to be prevalent in all 1080 GPUs
and that is, the Founders Edition cards
seem to be a little more efficient than
the partner cards. The scores are not
the same as the FE card scores higher
or the same with a lower clock speed.
It’s hard to notice if you’re not doing a
direct comparison, but to verify this,
we simply flashed the FE BIOS from
the reference card to the G1 model and
lo and behold the scores were higher
for the same clock speed. Granted the
cooling differences make this a difficult
test to perform with precision, however
the results were consistent with the FE
card coming out ahead for the same
clock speeds or at least when using that
firmware on the G1 card as well.
So, does that mean you’re better off
with the Founder Edition card? Well,
that would not be correct. The thing is
the G1 for instance has a much higher
factory overclock. So what it may lose
out on in efficiency is overcome by the
sheer clock speed advantage. Also
keep in mind that the superior cooler
allows the card to keep this high clock
frequency which wouldn’t be the case
with the Founder’s Edition card. Add to
the fact that the G1. GAMING is cheaper
and as a whole, it comes out ahead of
the Founder Edition offering, despite
not being as efficient per clock.
Ultimately, this is the definitive card
for this generation or until the TI shows
up at least. For playing the latest titles
with all the eye-candy turned up, this
is the one you’ll want. It isn’t quite a
4K capable card as for that you’ll need
the TITAN-X. If you’re willing to disable
MSAA or stick to 2XMSAA for instance
though, you could probably get away
with it. For the sake of consistency
however stick with WQHD or any
other pixel densities that are not as
demanding. One could then argue that
from the GTX 1060 to the 1080, they
are all WQHD GPUs. At the bottom end
with the 1060, 2560x1440 is possible
to use in select titles, but with the GTX
1080, it is the resolution to use in every
title regardless of how advanced or
demanding it is.
Issue 39 | 2016 The OverClocker 17