The New EVGA 1080, 1070 GTX Hybrid Cards Are 'Cool'

EVGA released its latest GTX 1080 and 1070 graphics cards, featuring the company’s Hybrid cooling solution. These new water-cooled GPUs are both among the fastest-clocked versions of the GTX 1080 and 1070 EVGA has to offer.

The EVGA GTX 1080 Hybrid features a base clock rate of 1,721MHz with a boost rating of 1,860MHz, which are the same clock rates of the Classified and FTW edition cards. Its 10+2 power phase system isn’t as robust as the Classified edition (which has 14+3 phases), but it should allow for some respectable overclocking headroom. The EVGA GTX 1070 Hybrid matches the clock rates and phase count of the 1070 FTW--a 1,607MHz base clock and a 1,797MHz boost clock with a 10+2 power phase system. Both new Hybrid cards are fed with two 8-pin (or 6+2-pin) connectors and feature a TDP of 215W.

Further fueling the overclocking potential, the cooler for both of the new EVGA Hybrid cards is a closed-loop 120mm radiator (with an included 120mm fan) exhausting heat from the copper base, which makes contact with a dedicated memory plate (also made of copper). The 10cm radial fan exhausts ambient heat out the back of the card, and the company claimed the newly-designed Hybrids can perform at lower noise levels.

The new Hybrid shroud has an industrial look to it, similar to the other 10-series EVGA cards. User-controlled RGB lighting illuminates the logo on the top of the card (on either side of the shrouded tubing) and two light bars on the front. The backplate contributes to the cooling and gives it a finished look.

The new EVGA GTX 1080 and 1070 Hybrid cards are available now from the company’s website for $729 and $499, respectively.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
ProductEVGA GTX 1080 HybridEVGA GTX 1070 Hybrid
CUDA Cores2,5601,920
Base Clock1,721MHz1,607MHz
Boost Clock1,860MHz1,797MHz
Memory8 GB GDDR5X, 256-Bit8 GB GDDR5, 256-Bit
Memory Clock10 Gbps8 Gbps
Outputs- HDMI 2.0- DisplayPort 1.4 x3- DVI-D- HDMI 2.0- DisplayPort 1.4 x3- DVI-D
Power Connectors8-Pin (6+2) x 28-Pin (6+2) x 2
TDP215W215W
Power Supply500W or greater500W or greater
Price$729$499
Derek Forrest
Derek Forrest is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He writes hardware news and reviews gaming desktops and laptops.
  • Jeff Fx
    For the same price as this water-cooled 1080, you can get an Asus 1080 Strix with a faster boost clock, or for $664, a boost clock slightly slower than this card. Does the boost clock run longer on this card due to improved cooling, or do the 4 air-cooling fans on the huge 1080 Strix card work as well?

    Is smaller size the primary benefit to this card? Even if that's the case, that is a real benefit for people who don't have huge PC cases.
    Reply
  • junkeymonkey
    don't forget the speced boot clocks like for evga are the min.. guaranteed you may get there card that's speced for 1250 but yours out of the box may go a lot higher say 1400 ? then like my hybrid I see 22 to 48c not like a air card that maybe 35 to 90c depending on how lucky you get on it ? my card runs as hot at max as most air cards run at idle with that -0- fan crap ?

    as far as size folks have mounted the hybrids on mitx builds ?
    http://forums.evga.com/EVGA-GTX980Ti-Hybrid-implanted-into-a-miniITX-gaming-system-m2431075.aspx

    so that come down to how skilled you are at making things work out I guess

    I took a chance on a hybrid and so far so good . hard now to look at air unless something pops up in the next 2 years

    also the 10 series hybrids are based on the custom pcb {FTW} instead of the reference pcb as the 900's were that's a plus in its self
    Reply
  • RomeoReject
    Not that I'm an NVidea guy, but that's not a bad price in the 1080's case. $30 premium for a CLC system is a bargain.
    Reply
  • Poozle
    @Jeff FX Dude... thats not at all what these cards were made for. Boost clocks literally mean NOTHING thanks to GPU boost 3.0. They will go way higher clock speeds than the strix due to better cooling (in general, yes I understand the whole silicone lottery debacle.)
    Reply
  • photonboy
    This can increase FPS due to thermal throttling. Even when the average FPS gain isn't much the low temperature can avoid the fluctuating GPU frequency which can cause micro-stutter in some cases.
    Reply
  • JackNaylorPE
    The EVGA GTX 1080 Hybrid features a base clock rate of 1,721MHz with a boost rating of 1,860MHz, which are the same clock rates of the Classified and FTW edition cards. Its 10+2 power phase system isn’t as robust as the Classified edition (which has 14+3 phases), but it should allow for some respectable overclocking headroom.

    If the cooling was improving something, we shouldn't be seeing the same clock rates. If it did, why isn't EVGA (or anyone else) putting it's proverbial "money where it's mouth is" and guaranteeing higher clocks. Fact is, unless the card is thermal throttling, water cooling brings nothing to the table. Have yet to see a 10xx series AIB card throttle.... or 9xx AIB for that matter. I have twin 780s (Asus DCII) in a custom loop (39C GPU temp under Furmark) but have gotten higher stable OCs on two subsequent air cooled builds w/ 780s. To my eyes adding some stronger links to a chain doesn't make the chain stronger unless you upgrade all the links ... and they haven't done that here. The weakest link will limit performance and while the hardware would I'm sure "go higher", the BIOS GPU limitations remain the performance limiter. With no BIOS editor available to take advantage of better componentry, those limitations remain in place.

    Your typical CLC doesn't cool the VRM any better (sometimes worse) so without that, you normally wouldn't expect get the WC benefit of being able to increase voltage. However, now with pascal, the VRM doesn't control the voltage limitation, the GPU does. The Classy, and other cards like it, were the choice of OC enthusiasts looking to set records with LN2, but now the huge performance increases of yesteryear even with LN2 are no longer being realized.

    The referenced article says that the memory plate touches the GPU plate.... not going to be a lot of heat transfer from an "edge touch" but again, we now hit a performance wall that is set by the GPU not the VRM. Previously we could increase voltage by using a hacked BIOS but last time I looked, no one had cracked the 10xx BIOS (See Post 599 at link below).

    http://www.overclock.net/t/1601329/gtx-1070-1080-titan-x-2nd-gen-bios-who-has-it/590#post_25421208

    And while we still see an advantage to a better PCB and cooling than offered on the reference cards, we are not seeing the benefit from the Classified, Matrix, Lightning, HOF series cards that we saw years ago. With "Project Greenlight" back in 2012 (see link below), nVidia started clamping down with each series as far as what we can do voltage wise. Unless the card comes with a higher voltage adjustment limit and / or a binned GPU, you are not going to get more performance. Of course performance / stability can vary depending on how lucky you are in the silicon lottery. However, if thermal throttling kicks in at 82C, cooling your GPU down from the air cooled 74C .... to 50C with a CLC .... or 35C with a custom loop isn't going to get more performance.

    http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/nvidia-green-light-program-requires-board-partners-to-validate-their-designs.html
    http://www.hardwareasylum.com/reviews/video/evga_gtx1080_classified/page14.aspx

    As it says in the 2nd link .... AIB partners have "lost the battle" with nVidia. They go thru the history of what was able to be accomplished overclocking wise with regard to OC'ing with the Classy but note that card makers are now so limited with regard with what they can do with a card to increase performance, both legally and physically, that there is little that partners can do.

    Yes, nVidia lets the partners differentiate themselves by releasing reference cards that throttle out of the box and then AIB guys can push there "look at me, we don't throttle" cards ... but with each generation, these gains get smaller. And the way boost works, you can still get fairly decent average fps numbers, even tho the card is stuttering and min fps on the AIBs will be 15% higher. However, most buyers don't look behind the average fps rankings. On the super cards (Matrix, Classy, Lightning, etc), we see higher base clocks.... but manually OC a decent AIB cards and it runs neck and neck with the 10xx series super cards.

    Spending the extra $10-20 for an AIB card is, to my eyes, certainly worth it for the better cooling (not just GPU but also memory and VRM), lack of throttling and stronger componentry ... but spending an extra $100 for a Classy or water cooling just isn't bringing a worthwhile ROI .... if higher fps is the measuring stick. Of course if you want a dead silent box on your desk, a custom loop will satisfy that goal and I can't argue against that if user is big on quiet.

    I still do it (custom loops, not CLCs) for my own builds (and for those that request it for similar reasons ) as a well designed custom loop will reduce noise significantly, but water cooling will not help a card that is not throttling (i.e. 82C on 1070 / 1080).... and most AIB cards are not throttling on air:

    Orange Line - Air cooled Reference Card, throttling evident, lots of stuttering and drops in GPU frequency (low - 1680)
    Blue Line - Air cooled AIB card (MSI 1080 Gaming X) no stuttering, GPU frequency a rock solid 1910

    If image not showing look here
    http://videocardz.com/60838/msi-geforce-gtx-1080-gaming-x-is-much-better-than-founders-edition

    We can see why, looking at the temps ... 1st graph is for the same AIB in the throttling graphic where card reached 74C at max OC.... 8C of headroom before throttling will occur at default fan speed. In the 2nd graph for the reference card, the card is already throttling even without being OC'd.



    Both new Hybrid cards are fed with two 8-pin (or 6+2-pin) connectors and feature a TDP of 215W.

    Another upgrade that doesn't really bring anything to the table.

    PCI-E Slot (75) + 8 pin (150) provides 225 watts ...
    PCI-E Slot (75) + 8 pin (150) + 6 pin (75) provides 300 watts ...

    The extra 75 watts from the 2nd 8 pin is NOT bringing anything to the table.
    Reply