GTX 1080 cooler design discussion

[Frankie]

I would like to have a discussion and raise some points, to see where are you LTT peeps standing on this. GTX 1080 coolers continue the RGB trend, but with some cards it doesn't make sense to me why the companies even botter, while some are doing a good job. My opinion is that components with RGB in mind should seamlessly fit into any color coordinated build, don't know how you are feeling about this hence this thread.

 

First we have the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G featuring Twin Frozr VI.

 

It's a good looking cooler as were the older Twin Frozrs, but why it's black and red again when using RGB ? Doesn't make sense to me. Why not make it black and white/gray or make swappable plastic parts something like Corsairs AF and SP series fans, with the swappable rings. If making a lot of colors would be a problem include like 1-2 white plastic parts for people to spray paint, then if you like the black and red, awesome, if not you are not stuck with the colors.

 

Spoiler

 

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1080-GAMING-X-8G.html#hero-overview

 

Second one is ZOTAC GTX 1080 AMP Edition and Extreme Edition

 

Again, good looking cooler with RGB lighting which they call ''Spectra'' This is in my opinion a better step towards the ''fit in any build'' with the see through plastic for RGB lighting, but then they slap a big bright yellow stripe on the backplate. Why ? I get that it would be boring if every piece of HW looked the same, but come on. Could of been white, gray, comething other than yellow.

 

Spoiler

 

https://www.zotac.com/cz/product/graphics_card/GeForce-GTX-10/all

Edit - For some reason pictures from Zotac site kept breaking, so here are pictures from different site. http://videocardz.com/60325/zotac-geforce-gtx-1080-amp-and-amp-extreme-pictured

 

Third one is EVGA GTX 1080 ACX 3.0

 

(RGB * Available on select models, probably FTW edition) I feel like this is how RGB card should look like. Neutral colors paired with RGB lighting so you can pick whatever you like. Only minor gripe is the green SC logo. Not a fan of the red on the Classified.

 

Spoiler

 

http://www.evga.com/articles/01007/evga-geforce-gtx-1080/

http://hothardware.com/news/evga-geforce-gtx-1080-superclocked-avx-30-edition-and-gtx-1080-sli-sneak-peek

 

Fourth we have ASUS GTX 1080 ROG Strix

 

This is very much as the EVGA card RGB done right in my opinion. Black and white with see through plastic parts for the lighting, similar to ZOTAC cooler. Minor gripe is the rainbow colored cables on the right. Somebody might dislike the bronze colored washers, but bronze is pretty neutral color. Other than that, good looking card.

 

Spoiler

 

 

http://rog.asus.com/23362016/gaming-graphics-cards-2/asus-republic-of-gamers-announces-strix-gtx-1080/

 

Fifth would be Gigabyte card, but so far I could only find a founders card on their site. And yes there are some pictures here and there but not on the official site.

 

If anybody read through my babbling, thanks.  So, how do you feel about this ? Should RGB cards be color neutral like EVGA and ASUS models ? Do you not really care for mismatch colors here and there or do you not care at all ? 

 

EDIT - @y_unit265 digged up some additional info, thank you.  http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-custom-model-round-up/

[TheKDub]

Gigabyte G1 Gaming card pictures are on google.

http://videocardz.com/60454/gigabyte-announces-geforce-gtx-1080-g1-gaming

 

Also, your zotac pics don't work.

 

 

I personally like the G1 Gaming and the strix the most.

[Frankie]

1 minute ago, TheKDub said:

Gigabyte G1 Gaming card pictures are on google.

 

http://videocardz.com/60454/gigabyte-announces-geforce-gtx-1080-g1-gaming

 

 

Yep, but I could not find anything on the official site. You never know, they might change something. 

[TheKDub]

Just now, Frankie said:

 

Yep, but I could not find anything on the official site. You never know, they might change something. 

I saw pics of the card on Gigabyte's instagram, and the card looks the same as the one on videocardz, so..

[Frankie]

3 minutes ago, TheKDub said:

I saw pics of the card on Gigabyte's instagram, and the card looks the same as the one on videocardz, so..

Good point on the instagram, check this out. Maybe they will have more versions ?

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF4JLqGLr8g/?hl=cs

[TheKDub]

Just now, Frankie said:

Good point on the instagram, check this out. Maybe they will have more versions ?

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF4JLqGLr8g/?hl=cs

 

Yeah, I'm expecting Windforce, G1 Gaming, and Xtreme Gaming, maybe a few more.

[y_unit265]

Note, the white EVGA card does not support RGB lighting. It will only be lit in white. The grey FTW and the Classified will have RGB lighting.

I love the look of the asus card however, if I see it correctly, I won't be able to properly use it unless I remove my pcie 7× usb card, with it taking up 3 slots.

The zotac coolers look the best in my opinion. If they would only include backplates that were either plane or not so flashy.

With this said, I can't really see myself using any MSI card, as they continue with their horrible decision to implement only red cards. Why, who knows.

 

So it would probably be the EVGA grey FTW card for me. With its dual 8 pin connectors and the nice grey look without the horrible green sc logo. I'd use the white version, I really would. But I can't stand the sc logo. And the rgb, well, I probably will leave it at white or just turn it off. (If they say you can't, I'll find my own way :p)

 

Edit: I'd go with the windforce from gigabyte, as I love the look, but unless they fix the horrible response time and the buggy mess with their software it'll end there.

[Frankie]

3 minutes ago, TheKDub said:

 

Yeah, I'm expecting Windforce, G1 Gaming, and Xtreme Gaming, maybe a few more.

Probably

2 minutes ago, y_unit265 said:

Note, the white EVGA card does not support RGB lighting. It will only be lit in white. The grey FTW and the Classified will have RGB lighting.

I love the look of the asus card however, if I see it correctly, I won't be able to properly use it unless I remove my pcie 7× usb card, with it taking up 3 slots.

The zotac coolers look the best in my opinion. If they would only include backplates that were either plane or not so flashy.

With this said, I can't really see myself using any MSI card, as they continue with their horrible decision to implement only red cards. Why, who knows.

 

So it would probably be the EVGA grey FTW card for me. With its dual 8 pin connectors and the nice grey look without the horrible green sc logo. I'd use the white version, I really would. But I can't stand the sc logo. And the rgb, well, I probably will leave it at white or just turn it off. (If they say you can't, I'll find my own way :p)

Agreed on most points. But you should be fine even with the Strix card, it seems that it's standart two-slot.

 

[y_unit265]

Oh, and as for a link with the current evga cards, you can click here. On the bottom of the page, you'll find 5 cards. Only the Classified and FTW edition feature RGB lighting.

[y_unit265]

7 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Agreed on most points.

And those points pretty much sums up to, I like big cards and I can not lie.

But seriously, I'd absolutely love to see just a plane simple nice 2-3 fan design for 2 slots that has a nice combo of black and grey, maybe with some white accents.

 

The zotac cooler looks great, it really does. It is just to high and has the ugly backplate. (Maybe someone will like it and trade their backplate if compatible? :D)

[Frankie]

5 minutes ago, y_unit265 said:

Oh, and as for a link with the current evga cards, you can click here. On the bottom of the page, you'll find 5 cards. Only the Classified and FTW edition feature RGB lighting.

Yeah, I had to double check for myself. Probably just angles of the photos and eyes playing tricks you.

 

Ohhh, I didn't saw that. Oh well. Thanks for the heads up.

[Nexxus]

Your zotac links are broken 

[Frankie]

1 minute ago, Nexxus said:

Your zotac links are broken 

They have to just broke, picture were there. Dunno what happened gonna fix it.

[Guest]

the EVGA card is ruined by that mesh. If it didn't have that - it would be a hell of a good looking card IMO. 

 

gigabyte is pretty decent. 

 

OC'ing will vary so much, these cards will need more than the single 8 pin. 

[Frankie]

5 minutes ago, Alexokan said:

the EVGA card is ruined by that mesh. If it didn't have that - it would be a hell of a good looking card IMO. 

 

gigabyte is pretty decent. 

 

OC'ing will vary so much, these cards will need more than the single 8 pin. 

I still kinda dig the EVGA card. Dunno about the Gigabyte one. 

 

I don't know about needing more power, but cooling will impact it a lot. From what we saw about the founders card thermal throttling, not surprising though. 

[y_unit265]

18 minutes ago, Alexokan said:

OC'ing will vary so much, these cards will need more than the single 8 pin. 

Go and take a look at some cards. I believe that almost 33-50% of them have at least an additional 6 pin. Some even dual 8.

 

Edit:

18 minutes ago, Alexokan said:

 

the EVGA card is ruined by that mesh. If it didn't have that - it would be a hell of a good looking card IMO.

 

It looks like the mesh will be relatively easy to remove with some cutters. (maybe even siccors, although probably not) And you should be able to do this cleanly as it is just mesh. It isn't solid metal, so you can just cut every line individually.

[y_unit265]

I just found this link. It sums up some more cards you may want to add. Including AIO cards  

[Frankie]

3 minutes ago, y_unit265 said:

I just found this link. It sums up some more cards you may want to add. Including AIO cards  

Holy f... I don't have the strength to add all that.  I will add the link with thank you for you.  

[y_unit265]

That galax and HOF card look mighty fine

[jett473]

33 minutes ago, Alexokan said:

the EVGA card is ruined by that mesh. If it didn't have that - it would be a hell of a good looking card IMO. 

 

gigabyte is pretty decent. 

 

OC'ing will vary so much, these cards will need more than the single 8 pin. 

EVGA ones have 2x8 pin from what I saw. only the it FE had the single 8 pin.

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, Frankie said:

I still kinda dig the EVGA card. Dunno about the Gigabyte one. 

 

I don't know about needing more power, but cooling will impact it a lot. From what we saw about the founders card thermal throttling, not surprising though. 

26 minutes ago, y_unit265 said:

Go and take a look at some cards. I believe that almost 33-50% of them have at least an additional 6 pin. Some even dual 8.

 

Edit:

It looks like the mesh will be relatively easy to remove with some cutters. (maybe even siccors, although probably not) And you should be able to do this cleanly as it is just mesh. It isn't solid metal, so you can just cut every line individually.

 

1 minute ago, jett473 said:

EVGA ones have 2x8 pin from what I saw. only the it FE had the single 8 pin.

That's my point boys. Cards with lesser power will not have the OC potential that the ones who do ship with it. 

[y_unit265]

3 minutes ago, jett473 said:

EVGA ones have 2x8 pin from what I saw. only the it FE had the single 8 pin.

The white versions of the EVGA cards only have 1 8-pin.

[Frankie]

4 minutes ago, y_unit265 said:

That galax and HOF card look mighty fine

Yeah Galax HOF is not bad, but kinda too white for me.

[Frankie]

6 minutes ago, Alexokan said:

That's my point boys. Cards with lesser power will not have the OC potential that the ones who do ship with it. 

 

Yeah, I get what you mean. So far we can see that for the founders card one 8-pin is enough to get it to thermal throttle, but with cooler from the brand partners or watercooling, pushing more power will probably be useful. We'll see.

[jett473]

3 minutes ago, Frankie said:

 

Yeah, I get what you mean. So far we can see that for the founders card one 8-pin is enough to get it to thermal throttle, but with cooler from the brand partners or watercooling, pushing more power will probably be useful. We'll see.

well, it was really only thermal throttling due to how low the temp limit was. It was also throttling due to power reasons to, if you up the max temp and Max power, possibly fan speed a bit too, it's not a issue at all.