Nvidia have released next generation Volta cards already, but they’re not consumer level options, as they are mostly designed for scientific research into AI. However, that doesn’t mean that we won’t be seeing Volta cards targeted at gamers at some point in the future, but the question of when is still very much in the air. Speculation suggests that the prices of graphics cards in general would have to come down before it’s worth releasing any consumer level Volta cards, as any price increase over the already huge amounts of money you’ll be paying for a card these days, wouldn’t go down very well with the masses. That still means that if you’re looking for maximum grunt and a level of future-proofing for your system, a 1080ti is still going to be the prime choice moving forward. Check out out 1080ti Founder’s Edition review here.
What is the difference between the range of 1080 Ti cards?
The stock GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is already blisteringly fast, and is the cheapest of the lot. However, the GP102 chip can run faster than the 1480 MHz base frequency laid out by Nvidia’s reference specifications. This is where manufacturers take these cards and make their own modifications to cooling, performance and aesthetic design. The improvements on these cards are going to set you back some more money however, so it’s up to you if you want to spend 15%~ more to eek our that additional extra. If you’re going to be spending this much money on a card, then you may as well go all the way, right? In for a penny, in for several hundred pounds. You can expect these cards to run faster, with the base frequency boosting up anywhere up to 15% more than the stock specifications. The card will also run more quietly, and a few degrees cooler. We’re going to give you some of our top picks for our favourite 1080 Ti cards. There really aren’t any bad options here, although some may be slightly superior to others, you can’t really go wrong at this level of hardware.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
The Nvidia GeForce 1080 Ti is the standard version directly from Nvidia. While it doesn’t come with any additional aftermarket cooling or tampering, it’s still a very fast and well cooled card. It is also the least expensive of the cards, as it hasn’t had any modifications, and so is arguably the best value for money.
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X
The MSI is one of the more expensive cards, but its performance is also outstanding. It’s fast, quiet and has fantastic additional cooling; however it’s also big and very heavy. If you’re worried about the weight of the card on your motherboard then grab some support brackets. MSI traditionally does a great job with the additions they make to their cards, and this is no exception.
AORUS GTX 1080 Ti Xtreme Edition
The Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme Edition comes highly recommended, as it has a fantastic balance between cooling and performance. The cooling solution fixes some of the shortcomings that can be experienced with the default 1080 Ti too. The card also looks very classy, as it doesn’t try to do anything overly fancy with the aesthetic resulting in a very smooth look.
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti OC Edition
Asus earns a solid recommendation for its stock performance, quiet running cooling solution while managing to be lighter than a lot of its competition. The VRM cooling could be better on this card, but it shouldn’t be enough to pose you enough of a problem, as the general cooling is very impressive considering the size of the apparatus.
EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Gaming
Another outstanding card right out of the box, the EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Gaming follow’s the manufacturer’s lenient attitude towards water-cooling. It’s relatively easy to perform an air-to-water cooling conversion on the hardware, and it’s a very serious contender if you’re looking for a two-slot cooling solution, rather than a triple.
ZOTAC GTX 1080 Ti AMP! Extreme Edition
One of the ‘less expensive’ (the word cheaper probably shouldn’t be used when talking about a 1080 Ti) options on our list, ZOTAC might be a little bit behind in their card design when compared to some other options on the list, but the heat sink is fantastic on this card and provides a lot of space to overclock even further.
