Is the FTW3 3080 Ti a good choice?

[DaytonaDragon]

Hey. Yesterday late at night (after 2 - 3 hours of research) decided to buy an Evga 3080 Ti FTW3 for 1299$. I had a choice between the TUF and the FTW3 and couldn't decide what to get. The TUF was 1250 + 10 shipping. The TUF is supposed to be a bit quieter while the FTW3 should have an edge in terms of coil noise and OC potential. The thing is, I'm from Europe while buying from the US and warranty/customer service is important and hearing horror stories from other Asus users so the Evga card seemed the better choice since I might need to RMA it. Did I waste that 50$ difference? Doing some research now (again) and found that board components aren't all that great on the FTW3.

[Bombastinator]

10 minutes ago, DaytonaDragon said:

Hey. Yesterday late at night (after 2 - 3 hours of research) decided to buy an Evga 3080 Ti FTW3 for 1299$. I had a choice between the TUF and the FTW3 and couldn't decide what to get. The TUF was 1250 + 10 shipping. The TUF is supposed to be a bit quieter while the FTW3 should have an edge in terms of coil noise and OC potential. The thing is, I'm from Europe while buying from the US and warranty/customer service is important and hearing horror stories from other Asus users so the Evga card seemed the better choice since I might need to RMA it. Did I waste that 50$ difference? Doing some research now (again) and found that board components aren't all that great on the FTW3.

I have never been able to predict which coils will crack and produce noise.  My understanding is there is no effective way for a manufacturer to even lower the likelihood of it happening beyond what basically everyone does anyway and has for years. Afaik the only solution is fewer coils.  If you never need to RMA, choosing a maker with a better RMA program is of course not useful.   The question seems to be “is the asus RMA program so bad that it’s worth $50 to avoid the possibility of having to use it?”  

Edited May 21, 2022 by Bombastinator

[jones177]

I am using a FTW3 Ultra now and is does not make a sound when not doing 3D games.

 

The down side to the FTW3 is that it is a 400 watt card so in some cases it may get too hot.

Mine is in a Lian Li o11 Dynamic and it games in the 70s with the default fan curve.

I did did game benches with it in my i9 9900k computer against a Strix 3080 and a EVGA XC3 Ultra 3080 ti. It may give you an idea how it does against a 350 watt budget card and a high end 3080.

Spoiler

Shadow of the tomb Raider with the highest preset.

                                         1080p         1440p        4k

Strix 3080                         167fps        144fps       87fps          

XC3 Ultra 3080 ti              168fps        143fps       83fps 

FTW3 Ultra 3080 ti           169fps        154fps       96fps

 

Horizon Zero Dawn on ultra.

                                          1080p        1440p        4k

Strix 3080                          134fps       118fps       80fps          

XC3 Ultra 3080 ti               147fps       128fps       79fps

FTW3 Ultra 3080 ti            155fps       138fps       88fps   

 

[DaytonaDragon]

15 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I have never been able to predict which coils will crack and produce noise.  My understanding is there is no effective way for a manufacturer to even lower the likelihood of it happening beyond what basically everyone does anyway and has for years. Afaik the only solution is fewer coils.  If you never need to RMA, choosing a maker with a better RMA program is of course not useful.   The question seems to be “is the asus RMA program so bad that it’s worth $50 to avoid the possibility of having to use it?”  

I wouldn't care if I was in the US, but I'm not. So I thought the famed EVGA RMA would be way more useful than a few degrees lower temps and a few db less noise.

[Bombastinator]

1 minute ago, DaytonaDragon said:

I wouldn't care if I was in the US, but I'm not. So I thought the famed EVGA RMA would be way more useful than a few degrees lower temps and a few db less noise.

It seems you may also get a few more fps along with it.

[xg32]

16 minutes ago, DaytonaDragon said:

I wouldn't care if I was in the US, but I'm not. So I thought the famed EVGA RMA would be way more useful than a few degrees lower temps and a few db less noise.

imho evga cheaped out this gen, and i can't guarantee asus didn't either, just get the cheaper card.

 

when i did an rma with evga they wanted to charge 2200dollars for deposit+processing fee and they were sending out bricked 2080ti, then if you bugged them enough they send a 3070 per forums.