Conclusion
At the top of EVGA’s FTW3 SKUs for GeForce RTX 3090 Ti we reviewed the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming (24G-P5-4985-KR) video card. This video card has the fastest boost clocks from EVGA’s FTW3 series in its GeForce RTX 3090 Ti lineup. Backed by the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GPU it has a boost clock of 1920MHz, 24GB of GDDR6X, and EVGA’s iCX3 thermal solution to keep this card cool. With robust engineering and killer specs, this is an extremely fast GeForce RTX 3090 Ti video card that will dominate 4K gaming.
Performance
Starting in F1 2022, the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming provided a very smooth and playable experience at 4K with maximum game settings. Performance was well over 120FPS at the absolute highest settings, sans ray tracing. We could even enable DLSS for a boost to sustain well above 140Hz. With Ray Tracing this game is very playable at 1440p with the highest settings possible and performance is in the 90s.
In Dying Light 2 the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming was able to play the game smoothly at 4K with maximum settings as well. Even though this game is very demanding the EVGA card allowed an average above 60FPS with maximum settings. Further, enabling DLSS pushes that up to 90FPS. In order to play with full Ray Tracing lowering the game to 1440p works perfectly and performance is also at 60FPS average with maximum Ray Tracing. Enabling DLSS can also increase that to the 90s.
Forza Horizon 5 and Far Cry 6 both played exceptionally well. In Forza Horizon 5 we could play at the highest possible custom graphics settings with TAA and still got 78FPS average. In Far Cry 6, we were able to also play at 4K with maximum game settings and HD Textures enabled. In FC6 we could also enable FSR and have performance that exceeded 110FPS. In Far Cry 6, we can also enable Ray Tracing at 4K and the game performs great at 4K and Ray Tracing.
Cyberpunk 2077 was the most demanding game, and as such at 4K the game is not playable at “Ultra” until we enable DLSS. DLSS is required to make that game playable at high game settings. However, by doing so the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming can provide the upper 50s in framerate, and the game is playable. Overclocking eeks out just a few more FPS, and it’s worth it in that game. With Ray Tracing, even at “Medium” only 1440p with DLSS is playable, but performance is better than 4K and “Ultra.”
In Watch Dogs Legion the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming is able to pull off smooth and playable gameplay at 4K and “Ultra” settings near 70FPS. Enabling DLSS pushes that into the 90s. With Ray Tracing we found 1440p with Ultra Ray Tracing to be very playable at 67FPS average, and DLSS improves that to 90FPS also.
Overclocking
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming video card has a factory boost clock of 1920MHz. Compared to the reference spec on GeForce RTX 3090 Ti which is 60MHz faster. However, we found that the actual clock speed while gaming is much higher. Thanks to the thermal properties of this video card and power headroom the actual clock speed while gaming settled in at 2010MHz. That’s even 90MHz over the factory boost clock. This means you will get very fast RTX 3090 Ti performance just out-of-the-box without doing anything.
However, if you want to do something, we actually found there was still headroom to be had in the GPU frequency. Using EVGA Precision X1 software we managed to push the GPU up +130 which resulted in an overclock of 2145MHz. This is 135MHz faster than the default clock. If you compare that to the reference spec that is a whopping 285MHz beyond the reference spec boost clock for an RTX 3090 Ti.
In addition, we managed to overclock the memory up to 22.2GHz from the default 21GHz. On our card, the memory did not overclock as high as we hoped it would, the Founders Edition overclocked higher on memory. However, keep in mind that every card is different, memory is different, and sourced from different places, so tolerances on overclocking can be different. This video card is more engine limited in performance than memory, therefore overclocking the GPU frequency as high as possible makes the most difference anyway.
Final Points
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming with its fast boost clock is able to provide an enjoyable 4K gaming experience. In a lot of games, you can max out the graphics settings at “Ultra.” There are a few select games, like Cyberpunk that will be more demanding, and you’ll either have to lower game settings, or use DLSS. DLSS is a big bonus in games like that allowing you to play at higher settings at 4K.
When it comes to Ray Tracing performance, this also depends on the game. In Far Cry 6 4K with Ray Tracing is more than doable, but in most games, you’ll find yourself lowering to 1440p to enable full Ray Tracing. However, there are some choice games that would provide a level of playability at 4K with Ray Tracing as long as you use DLSS. Either way, you slice it, DLSS is an avenue to allowing settings to work or resolutions to work that normally wouldn’t.
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming with the highest boost clock really pushes the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GPU to the max. We found the video card to be very well built, it’s the perfect size and manages to keep the GPU well cooled with no fan noise. The iCX3 thermal solution does an exceptional job for cooling in our testing. The video card feels solid and robust. There is even some overclocking headroom left so enthusiasts will have fun with this video card pushing it to the extreme. If you just want the best performance you can buy today, this is it.
