ASUS and Noctua have announced the ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition, a custom GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics card by the Taiwanese manufacturer that features a cooling solution from Austria’s leading premium cooling components company. Similar to their previous collaboration, the ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition, the ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition features two Noctua NF-A12x25 fans and a tailored heatsink, enhancements that the cooling company says will allow the graphics card to run quieter “than any other card in its class.” The ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition will be available starting early June 2022.
“The synthesis of our custom-engineered unified heatsink and Noctua’s famously whisper-quiet fan technology forges a creation that is more than the sum of its parts,” said Kent Chien (Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the ASUS Multimedia Business Unit). “This inspiring partnership with a world-class leader in DIY PC cooling establishes a noise level breakthrough for the powerhouse GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition graphics card — and a visual style that you won’t find anywhere else.”
“The response on the first Noctua Edition graphics card was simply overwhelming, so we’ve been thrilled to continue our cooperation with ASUS”, says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO), “The GeForce RTX 3080 with its heat emission of up to 340W is an entirely different beast to tame than the GeForce RTX 3070, but leveraging our fan technology and a customised heatsink, we have once again managed to create a card that combines serious GPU power with excellent quietness of operation.”
Like the ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition card, the new GeForce RTX 3080 model uses Noctua’s award-winning, state-of-the-art NF-A12x25 120mm fans and a tailored heatsink that was custom-designed to make best use of the fans’ superior airflow and static pressure characteristics. Compared to the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080, the Noctua Edition runs significantly quieter while, at the same time, achieving lower GPU and memory (VRAM) temperatures.
At typical auto-speed fan settings, the Noctua Edition runs 4.5 dB(A) quieter while achieving 3°C lower GPU temperatures and 14°C lower VRAM temperatures. When running the fans at their maximum speed, like it might be required in worst-case situations such as when fully stressing the card in poorly ventilated cases or with very high ambient temperatures, the reduction in noise levels is 8.6 dB(A) and the memory still runs 12°C cooler. The picture at low fan speeds is similar with slightly lower GPU temperatures, significantly reduced memory temperatures and a reduction in noise levels of 2.3dB(A), making the already quiet original ASUS TUF Gaming card even quieter. In sum, the Noctua Edition provides lower noise levels across the entire speed range with the most prominent improvement of almost 9dB(A) at maximum fan speed and 2-5dB(A) at lower speeds. The reduced noise levels go hand in hand with lower GPU temperatures as well as substantial reductions in memory temperature of up to 22°C.
Like the GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition, the GeForce RTX 3080 model features a dual BIOS that enables customers to switch between a performance profile that provides the lowest GPU temperatures and a quiet profile that allows slightly higher temperatures in order to achieve the best possible acoustics. Catering to the demands of Noctua’s customers, the quiet profile is set as the default.
The GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition features a semi-passive fan control setup (ASUS 0dB technology) that can switch the fans off completely whenever the GPU temperature goes below 50°C. This means that in typical configurations with low to moderate ambient temperatures and well-ventilated cases, the card can run entirely fanless at lower GPU loads such as during office productivity tasks, web browsing, or even light gaming. Even at high GPU loads such as during gaming or benchmarking, the fan speeds will stay extremely low as long as the ambient temperature inside the case isn’t excessive.
In summary, the ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition is the ideal card for quiet cooling enthusiasts who demand serious GPU performance without sacrificing quietness of operation.
Source: Noctua