EVGA GTX 1080Ti SuperClocked

First let’s make one thing crystal clear. The EVGA GeForce GTX 1080Ti SuperClocked Black Edition is not the best 1080Ti on the market. It was not meant to be. It was meant, and is, one of the best examples of value going. So if you come across a (for example) EVGA GeForce GTX 1080Ti FTW3 at the same price as the SC Black Edition the FTW3 will give slightly better real world performance and at noticeably lower noise levels. Such a find however is going to be difficult – terms like ‘unicorns’ comes to mind. Instead the SC Black Edition (and SC2 Black Edition which comes with slightly higher factory clock settings) is going to be cheaper. Buy it. The real world difference will not merit more than a few dollars difference in asking price. That is how good this video card is and how choke full of innovative features EVGA has packed into it.

The reason this card is such a great deal is for a few key reasons. Firstly, at this point in the manufacturing process NVIDIA has worked out all the kinks and once you get past a certain point in the binning process the clock differences are going to be rather minor. This is key because while this card is not binned as high as some of the more expensive versions it is highly binned and uses very, very good chips. They are not ‘golden’ but are still very high performance. High enough many will not notice the difference in the real world.

Next, NVIDIA has worked long and hard creating video card processors that virtually overclock themselves. As long as they are cool they do clock higher and higher. This is because the cooler they run the less power they need and thus go even higher before hitting TDP restrictions. Since you can go upwards of 20% over the stock 250watt TDP – just like higher priced models – the SC Black Edition’s specs skyrocket. This is where the new ICX cooler and its amazingly innovative sensors come into play. Yes it has ‘only’ two large fans instead of three but if you can put up with a bit more noise (or to be more precise the fans running at higher rpms) this next generation ICX cooler will not disappoint. So much so the end results is under 50Mhz on the core vs the best of the best of the best. Put bluntly. This cooling solution is a game changer, is highly innovative and is best in its class. So much so we expect the next generation EVGA 11-series cards to use it.

Next, the RAM is the same and unless you are trying to eek out every last drop of performance potential GDDR5 at 1200MHz is GDDR5 at 1200MHz. Heck download “ohgodanETHlargementpill” app and run it and the memory potential will be virtually identical on this card as the FTW3 version when running this nifty little app.

So in summary when you take a best in class cooling solution, pair it to a high binned processor that cheerfully overclocks itself, and then backstop it all by EVGA’s legendary ‘we cover nearly everything’ warranty the end result is a card that is sure to please. So be on the lookout for those who are selling them at rock bottom prices so they can get in on the first wave of the next shiny. You won’t be disappointed.