Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition Review: A Titan V Killer

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Nvidia's Thermal Solution, In Depth

Nvidia's Founders Edition card employs two 8.5cm axial fans with 13 blades each in its effort to move heat away from TU102 as quickly and evenly as possible. The forged aluminum shroud cannot be completely disassembled without the use of force (or a special tool we don't have—force is looking like the better option at this point).

Although it looks less imposing than previous-generation Founders Edition cards, GeForce RTX 2080 Ti's thermal solution is actually quite massive. Without thermal pads, our laboratory scale says it weighs 948g.

The following image shows the bottom of Nvidia's vapor chamber with the backplate and PCB removed. Nvidia says the fin stack is soldered to the vapor chamber, so it'd be difficult to separate the two pieces.

GeForce RTX 2080 Ti's backplate isn't just for looks. Nvidia incorporates the plate into its cooling concept by sandwiching thermal pads between the metal and PCB, behind where you'd find memory modules up front. The company probably could have done without the pad under TU102, though: our measurements showed no difference when we removed it.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Cooling Subsystem, At a Glance
Cooler TypeAir cooler
GPU CoolingVapor chamber
Cooling FinsAluminum, oriented vertically
VRM CoolingVia mounting frame
RAM CoolingVia mounting frame
Fans2x 8.5cm axial fans, 13 blades eachNo semi-passive mode
BackplateYes, helps with cooling

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Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
156 Comments Comment from the forums
  • A Stoner
    Conclusion, let them hold onto these card until they can lower the price to about $700
    Reply
  • JimmiG
    Waste of time to write a review. "Just buy it".
    Reply
  • pontiac1979
    "Waste of time to write a review. "Just buy it"."

    Oh yeah, god forbid Tom's does an in-depth review of the latest and greatest. Keyword greatest. If you desire 4K gaming and have the funds available, why wouldn't you?
    Reply
  • max0x7ba
    Quit benchmarking Battlefield with DX12, it is unplayable.
    Reply
  • ubercake
    I'm probably going to buy one... Though it's not my fault... I feel like the Russians are compelling me to do this by way of Facebook. I'm a victim in this whole Nvidia marketing scam. Don't judge.

    That being said, I like high-quality, high-speed graphics performance. This may also be influencing my decision.

    Great review!
    Reply
  • AnimeMania
    How much of the performance increase is due to using GDDR6 memory? I know this makes the cards perform better the higher the resolution is, how does it effect other aspects of the video cards.
    Reply
  • teknobug
    "Just buy it" they said...

    If you're in Canada, you might not want to pay the price of these.
    Reply
  • chaosmassive
    While I appreciate this very detailed and nicely written review, its kinda redundant
    because I think Avram has already reviewed this card with his opinion on late august
    with the conclusion was "just buy it"
    Reply
  • uglyduckling81
    JUST BUY IT!!!
    Reply
  • wiyosaya
    SMH I don't understand the reasoning for comparing a $3k known non-gaming card with a $1.2k gaming card. Are there really gamers our there ignorant enough, other than those with deep pockets who want bragging rights, to purchase the $3K card for gaming when they know it is not meant for gaming? Or is this to differentiate Tom's from the other tech sites in order to inspire confidence in Tom's readers?

    Personally, I would have rather seen the 2080 Ti compared against 1080 Ti even if it Tom's comes to the same conclusions as the other tech web sites.

    The comparison in this article does not make me want to rush out and buy it because it is $1.8k cheaper than a non-gaming card. I really hate to say it, but with the premise of this review being somewhat along the lines of "lookie hereee kiddies. Heree's a gaming card for $1.2k that beets a $3k non-gaming card" turned this review into a TL;DR review for me.
    Reply