EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING
Today we have the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING for review, part number 10G-P5-3897-KR. The MSRP on this video card is $809.99 from EVGA. This is $111 over the MSRP for the Founders Edition. That is a pretty hefty price premium, therefore it will be important for us to determine if that premium is worth it throughout this review.
What we can see from the get-go is that EVGA was not shy in the design of this video card. It is a complex, very busy, design. EVGA took a lot of creative liberties with this video cards design, this isn’t your standard cardboard rectangle box, indeed EVGA stepped out of the box on this one. The video card is completely custom, from PCB to cooling, to RGB.
Specifications
First to the specifications, the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING does come with a factory boosted Boost clock speed. EVGA has set this card at 1800MHz for the GPU Boost clock. Remember, the default reference Founders Edition GPU Boost clock is 1710MHz. This may not sound like a lot, but remember NVIDIA GPU Boost dynamically clocks the GPU higher if certain conditions are met. Usually, they are, and GPU Boost raises the clock speed well above what the actual frequency is set to.
Therefore, with a 90MHz boost on top of that, it ends up being more significant than you think. We will look at what that actually turns out to be on our overclocking page. We will compare that with the Founders Edition as well on the overclocking page so we can see how the factory boost clock compares to the Founders Edition boost clock.
Otherwise, the specifications of the video card are the same as the Founders Edition. It has 10GB of GDDR6X at 19GHz, the same as the Founders Edition. It has the same GPU specs. What makes the video card unique is the custom cooling, custom PCB, and the GPU Boost clock.
EVGA iCX3 Technology
At the heart of this video card is EVGA’s iCX3 Technology. The iCX3 Technology, also called Interactive Cooling, is a suite of technologies that keeps this video card cool. It has a maximum thermal contact surface area on the graphics card components. The heatsink is designed with airflow pockets to allow air to move more freely through the heatsink to remove heat. It utilizes a patented copper base that is 25% larger to cover both the GPU and RAM area to improve thermal transfer. It has a new 180° heatpipe design with selectively positioned heat pipes increases fin contact area by 65% for optimal heat dissipation.
iCX3 Technology uses triple 2nd generation HDB fans are used now on all air-cooled EVGA GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards. They utilize an optimized HDB active motor for silent 0dB mode, asynchronous fan mode, and a special upraised “E” pattern that further reduces noise. EVGA’s iCX3 fans turn off below 55c.
Even the full metal backplate is part of the iCX3 Technology with smart cut-outs in the PCB and backplate that improve airflow and reduce exhaust recovery. That’s right, the PCB has actual cut-outs that allow air-flow to flow through it and through the backplate, in a fashion that is similar in nature to NVIDIA’s Founders Edition cooling design.
EVGA claims that iCX3 has a 5.1% cooling improvement versus its previous iCX2 cooling on the previous generation of video cards. EVGA also claims a 9.7% improvement in acoustics versus the iCX2 on previous generation video cards as well.
iCX3 Technology also combines sensors and micro control processors to make EVGA iCX3 the smartest and most-efficient cooling package available. There are patented sensors and micro control processors with asynchronous fans to interactively-cool the graphics card. There are at least 9 thermal sensors on the graphics card that iCX3 can track emerging hotspots and direct iCX3 cooling to those areas. Asynchronous fans cool only the areas that need cooling, which keeps the card quieter. Through EVGA’s Precision X1 software you can monitor these sensors. The 9 sensors are in areas like GPU, VRAM, and PWM areas.
Pictures and Information
The video card comes in a tall box, with the part number on the back. Once you open it up inside it is packaged well, and includes a badge and a sag bracket.
Right off the bat, you can see the unique design, it has a very “wavy” fan shroud with three large fans, the shroud is textured and the fans also. The shroud extends just past the PCB, but the PCB is full-length, unlike the Founders Edition. The power delivery is customized, and 3 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors are required.
What is a bit hard to see here is that the PCB does have cut-outs that allow air to pass through the PCB and backplate. We notice ample thermal pads on the VRMs, VRAM, and a large copper heat plate on the GPU. The backplate also has thermal pads for passive cooling, it does not act as a heat damper, it is well vented. You can see on the back of the GPU this video card uses four SP-CAP capacitors and 20 MLCC capacitors.
There is a BIOS switch on the video card to switch from Normal to OC mode. Normal is the default shipping mode. Both BIOS’s run at the same clock speeds, voltages, and power targets, however. The only difference is that the fan profile is more aggressive on the “OC” mode and the fans won’t shut off. However, with this BIOS switch being there, EVGA can release custom BIOS’s to use that you can flash in the “OC” mode and not affect the normal BIOS. It’s a good backup.
Uniquely this video card supports an RGB header on it. This lets you plugin other RGB things into your video card to sync it with the cards RGB. There is also an Aux Fan connector to allow a fan to be synced and controlled by the GPU.
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING has one HDMI port, and three DisplayPorts. It also requires 3 8-pin power connectors, yes 3, so make sure your PSU has 3 available PCIe power cables, some don’t, especially lower Wattage PSUs. A minimum 750W PSU is required, and the Total Power Draw is rated at 320W for this card.
In terms of size, the video card measures exactly 11.81 inches in length. This is longer than the Founders Edition which was 11.2” long. It is also 5.38” in height and a 2.75 Slot video card in width. The Founders Edition is narrower at 4.4” in height, so this EVGA card is much wider and requires more slot width. This is a big and heavy video card, do not underestimate that. It’s so big and heavy in fact, the packaging includes a sag bracket.
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING video card also has adjustable ARGB LED lighting. You can use EVGA Precision X1 to customize the lighting in multiple ways. EVGA includes a 3-year warranty.