We continue our acquaintance with the Super cards that replaced the regular models of the GeForce RTX 40 series. Compared to their predecessors, the new products turned out to be 10–15 percent faster at the same price, which makes them serious competitors to Radeon graphics adapters. We have already looked at the younger representatives (GeForce RTX 4070 Super and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super), now it’s the turn of the top product, namely the GeForce RTX 4080 Super.
ASUS ROG-STRIX-RTX4080S-O16G-GAMING
This model received the fewest changes and the increase in the number of computational units did not exceed five percent, so the new product operates with 10240 stream processors, which is not very much compared to its predecessor. The base core frequency, Boost Clock and memory speed have also increased slightly, but this is unlikely to greatly affect performance, as was the case with the younger representatives of the Super series.
Manufacturer ASUS Model ROG-STRIX-RTX4080S-O16G-GAMING Core AD103 Technical process, nm 5 Number of stream processors 10240 Base frequency, MHz 2295 Boost Clock frequency, MHz 2640 (2670 OC Mode) Memory bus, bit 256 Memory type GDDR6X Memory frequency, MHz 23000 Memory capacity, GB 12 Supported version DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) Interface PCI-E 4.0 (x16) Image output 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, 2x HDMI 2.1a Power consumption, W 200 Dimensions, mm 357.6 x 149.3 x 70, 1 Weight, kg n/a Average cost, UAH ~60000
The card comes in a large oblong box with ROG Strix branding. The front side shows the device and the video card model; the back side contains the features and characteristics of the product.
The standard ASUS delivery kit includes documentation, a puzzle stand for a smartphone, a game card, two types of Velcro ties, a power adapter and a screwdriver stand. It is interesting that for ProART series cards the stand is already black, but for ROG Strix it is still gray, like for TUF graphics adapters, which stands out a little from the general style.
The card has a modern design of the ROG Strix series with rounded corners and large dimensions – its length is 36 cm with a height of 15 cm. Due to these dimensions, it will not fit into every case, and the thickness also reaches 3.5 slots, which imposes some restrictions. So it is better not to use the card without good active ventilation of the case.
The video card is large and heavy, but feels solid, unlike the ROG-STRIX-RTX4070TIS-O16G-GAMING, which, although it has a similar casing design, is not as durable as this one. The frame of the cooling system is metal without any additional racks, although this does not prevent it from holding its shape, and the decorative elements do not sag. The back plate is made in the general style.
Unlike most competing products, the ROG-STRIX-RTX4080S-O16G-GAMING interface panel has five video connectors: three DisplayPort 1.4a and two HDMI 2.1a. But you can only connect four monitors to them. There are holes on the bar, as well as on the card itself, for hot air to escape.
There is also a grille at the inner end, and there are three threaded holes for installing additional accessories, such as stands or handles for attaching the card to the PC case. There are also two connectors with PWM control for connecting fans.
The graphics adapter is cooled by three thick 105 mm fans with seven blades, which are connected by a ring at the end. Their design uses double ball bearings, which should have a good effect on the life of the fans. They start working as soon as the GPU temperature reaches 55 °C, while the noise from them is minimal, and stop after the chip cools to 50 degrees. This algorithm allows you to minimize the noise level with a small load on the card.
For better cooling of the card and air circulation inside the PC case, there is a grille on the back of the adapter that occupies a third of the area of the back plate. The ROG logo is cast and milled on it.
The 12VHPWR connector is located almost in the middle of the card; when connected to the cable, the latch will be located outside the graphics adapter, so there should be no problems when disconnecting it.
The card also has a switch for quiet and performance modes.
The cooling system consists of a massive radiator and a frame with a casing, but, unlike the ProArt, TUF and Dual adapters, everything is not so easy to remove. The heatsink is made from one large section of thin aluminum fins threaded through seven heatpipes, four of which are thick.
The graphics processor is in contact through thermal paste with an evaporation chamber soldered onto a thick copper base. Thin thermal pads are provided for the memory, but to reduce their thickness, the manufacturer soldered copper plates to the camera, which should improve heat transfer. For the power elements, plates are installed on the radiator and not very thick thermal pads are used, as on the back plate.
Thick heat pipes contact the bottom of the radiator fins, while thin ones go to the top, which improves heat transfer over the entire area.
The printed circuit board is large, there are unsoldered elements.
The card has an AD103-400-A1 chip, while regular GeForce RTX 4080 used AD103-300-A1. The GPU is oblong and does not have a protective frame. It interacts with GDDR6X memory via a 256-bit bus. Installed eight Micron 3VU47 D8BZF (MT61K512M32KPA-24:U) chips with a total capacity of 16 GB.
The GPU power system has 18 phases, made on DrMOS Monolithic MP86992, rated at 50 A. For memory, there are three phases on Vishay SIC654A, also rated at 50 A. The chokes are quite “singing” under load.
The GPU operates at a base frequency of 2295 MHz and can be automatically accelerated to 2640 MHz, but if you install the proprietary GPU Tweak III application, the maximum figure will increase to 2670 MHz. Memory speed is standard and equal to 23 GT/s.
In real-world tasks, the chip was accelerated to 2745–2805 MHz (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), 2835–2850 MHz (Cyberpunk 2077) or even 2865 MHz (Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart).
The GPU temperature reached 60 degrees (74 °C Hot Spot), as did the memory, and the fan speed was at 1136 rpm in the open case, which can be called good performance. The room temperature was 20 °C.
Of course, we managed to overclock the card, although not too much. Thus, the GPU was able to operate stably at 2460 MHz with acceleration up to 2805 MHz and an increase in the power limit to 131%. Memory performance was increased to 29.2 GT/s.
In games, the frequency was kept at 3015 MHz, but sometimes it could rise to 3030 MHz (for example, in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart).
With these settings, the chip and memory have already heated up to 64 degrees (76 °C Hot Spot), and the fan speed has risen to 1320 rpm.