Is there any benefit in buying "factory overclocked" cards?

Aleksey · January 30, 2019

E.g. there is GIGABYTE RTX 2080TI GAMING OC and GIGABYTE RTX 2080TI WINDFORCE. The former is claimed to be factory overclocked at 1650 MHz, while the later is "standard" 1545 MHz. Can I overclock the second card? Is it worth paying extra $150 for the first card?

TH3R34P3R · January 30, 2019

2 minutes ago, Aleksey said:

E.g. there is GIGABYTE RTX 2080TI GAMING OC and GIGABYTE RTX 2080TI WINDFORCE. The former is claimed to be factory overclocked at 1650 MHz, while the later is "standard" 1545 MHz. Can I overclock the second card? Is it worth paying extra $150 for the first card?

you can always overclock the cards, as long as you have an overclocking program. However, factory overclock normally means you get a better binned chip, which gives you more OC headroom (if you get lucky).

but for 150 more? id honestly look into a different brand like EVGA for the GPU. Unless you want gigabyte.

Mick Naughty · January 30, 2019

It sounds cooler.

Mostly every singe variant will still boost over the listed speed.

Its good if you are the type to let the card burn or it has poor cooler. Then you gain that extra step or two. Gaining the almighty 2fps over the other card.

LukeSavenije · January 30, 2019

4 minutes ago, Aleksey said:

E.g. there is GIGABYTE RTX 2080TI GAMING OC and GIGABYTE RTX 2080TI WINDFORCE. The former is claimed to be factory overclocked at 1650 MHz, while the later is "standard" 1545 MHz. Can I overclock the second card? Is it worth paying extra $150 for the first card?

not at 150 dollars more... tho I would rather get a evga xc or ftw, gigabyte aorus xtreme/xtreme waterforce, ROG strix, gaming x trio or something along those lines. you're getting a hot card, which needs a fair cooler

Sauron · January 30, 2019

10 minutes ago, Aleksey said:

Can I overclock the second card?

Yes, but there are no guarantees it will reach any frequency beyond stock.

10 minutes ago, Aleksey said:

Is it worth paying extra $150 for the first card?

No. The performance gain doesn't justify it, even if you got unlucky with your overclocking on the other card.

I would argue no 2080ti is worth the asking price though.

Wolly9102 · January 30, 2019

Pauls hardware once did an comparison for the 2070. Something similar should apply to the 2080ti I think

Aleksey · January 30, 2019

5 hours ago, Arjan W said:

Pauls hardware once did an comparison for the 2070. Something similar should apply to the 2080ti I think

Thanks a lot. Actually from this video I concluded there is a difference between those cards - not only they are factory overclocked, but they also have slightly different dies. I.e., this is not a manufacturer's overlooking, this is actually Nvidia's selection. I assume what happens is that Nvidia tests their chips and then marks them according to the frequency it can hold. Here is more about it - https://www.thenerdmag.com/difference-between-nvidia-tu102-300-vs-tu102-300a-turing-a-and-non-a-gpu-variants/

I need two cards for a machine learning rig and I need to ensure they are stable and do not overheat. So I will probably go for a pricier model.

Speaking about the brand. Unfortunately EVGA is not available in my region, but I can choose between MSI, ZOTAC, GIGABYTE, ASUS, and some other lesser known brands. I think that MSI GEFORCE RTX 2080 TI SEA HAWK X would be a good choice. It's manufacturer's specified boost frequency is the highest - 1755 MHz.