Tweet
This is becoming a habit. We don't usually review aftermarket graphics cards, but when Asus came to us offering to check out the high-end OC versions of their GTX 1070 and GTX 1080, we couldn't resist. Clinching the deal was the fact that two of each were delivered, meaning we could compare both of Nvidia's GP104-based graphics cards in SLI with the GP102-based Titan X Pascal - the fastest single-chip GPU money can buy. In theory, both of them should be able to best Nvidia's top-tier card and by extension, we should be able to get even better 4K performance.Once the preserve of multi-thousand pound monitors, 4K is now becoming readily accessible at easy to absorb price-points. To put things into perspective, the 40-inch Samsung KU6400 we reviewed last week ranks as one of the best desktop monitors we've used - you retain an extreme pixel density, but you get some serious real estate to work with. Combine a screen like this with the Titan X Pascal and you get a stunning PC experience. GTX 1070 in SLI - in theory - looks particularly compelling, offering more performance than the Titan X, at just 63 per cent of the price.
However, it is fair to say that these more expensive Asus Strix cards are rather special. We're looking at the 08G versions - large, tri-fan cards with 'Aura' RGB lighting, deluxe back plates and ultra-quiet operation. Out of the box, these things overclock to 1975-2025MHz depending on load, meaning that you're getting pretty much everything out of the GP104 core without having to worry about stability. And on top of that load temperatures remain in the early 60 degrees Celsius range. This makes the 08G cards the coolest GP104 cards we've seen. Cheaper A8G cards are available that cost significantly less though, but virtually all GTX 1070s and 1080s tend to hit the core limit at 2.05GHz - which is worth bearing in mind here.
Read more…
More...