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We knew that a large number of Nvidia's board members would unveil their GeForce RTX 2080 offerings shortly after the launch of the RTX 20 series. (We have featured here the initial wave of GeForce RTX cards.) The GeForce RTX 2080 Gaming amp from Zotac is one of the first graphics cards of the band we are testing. The company's leading RTX 2080 offering offers all the excitement of a flagship replacement card: aggressive factory overclocking, LED bling and a gigantic heatsink with three fans for overclocking margin. That's $ 839, or $ 40 more than the $ 799 Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition. (This article is inescapable if you need an introduction to the RTX 20 series and the new technologies that it brings.) We have found the Gigantic Amp a reasonable alternative to the pace indicator of Nvidia, especially if you take advantage of it. Reinforced cooling system to overclock it even further.
Amp It Up!
The GeForce RTX 2080 is the most complete and expensive RTX 2080 graphics card from Zotac. Zotac also offers two other models of GeForce RTX 2080 other than amplified: the RTX 2080 fan and the RTX 2080 dual fan. (The company also provides models with three fans Amp Extreme and Amp Extreme Core, as well as a card to two Amp Maxx fans, but I have not seen them on sale in the United States to date.)
The RTX 2080 blower model is aptly named because it uses a direct-flow blower-type cooler, such as Nvidia's Founders Edition 10 series cards. This is the ideal solution for closed desktop computers and confined cases in which you can not afford to have heat that escapes from the chassis. It is not overclocked at the factory, it is designed for the same clock boosted at 1 710 MHz as the specifications of the reference card GeForce RTX 2080 Nvidia.
The RTX 2080 fan costs around $ 770, which is $ 70 more than the price indicated by Nvidia for the reference card. At the time of writing this article, all the RTX 2080s I found for sale were higher than the reference card price indicated by Nvidia: $ 699; this phenomenon is not unique to Zotac. (Also note that, as explained in our review RTX 2080 Founders Edition, the Founders Edition cards are offered at a higher price than what Nvidia defines as basic RTX cards.Nvidia does not position the Founders cards, which are overloaded by a small measure, reference tables.)
One of the models of the RTX 2080 Blower model is Zotac's Twin Fan RTX 2080, which I did not find on sale at the time I wrote this. It uses two 90mm fans on a large radiator to stay cool. Its frequency of 1770 MHz on the clock boost is a slight increase over the RTX 2080 reference specification. The dual fan design is similar to the cooling configuration of the Nvidia Founders Edition card. Most of the outgoing air will go into the case, not from the back. So you have to make sure that you allow air to circulate around the map.
The Zotac RTX 2080 Ventilator and the RTX 2080 Dual Ventilator are dual-sized, standard-sized cards, about the same size as the RTX 2080 Founders Edition. The RTX 2080 amplifier, however, violates the size rules. This map is 12.1 inches long and 2.3 inches thick and occupies two PCI Express slots two and a half years. It is almost 2 inches longer than other Zotac cards. Make sure to check the maximum length of your case per GPU before buying this monster, otherwise you may need a new case.
The huge heatsink of the card allows to process the factory overclock of 1830 MHz on the amplified clock, an increase of 120 MHz or 7% compared to the previous one. RTX 2080 reference specification amplified clock. I have seen RTX 2080 offers from other partners, such as Asus, with a higher factory overclock, but the Zotac Amp edition. It's not far.
This is a massive radiator
Let's look around the map …
Heatpipes and aluminum radiator fins are clearly visible through the 90mm fans. Two fan controllers allow the fans to operate independently, changing their rotation speed according to the cooling needs of a particular section of the board.
A molded metal coating underneath serves as a heat sink to improve cooling. The dark gray mark of Zotac is hard to distinguish if you do not have a light box.
The lettering "GEFORCE RTX" is static on the outside of the map, but the Zotac Gaming logo in the center is backlit by LEDs. The logo is editable by the user among eight colors and patterns, and you switch it into the Zotac FireStorm software. This is the extent of the lighting of this map, so in my opinion this is an unconvincing selling point. It is nowhere near as elaborate as the lighting systems of some earlier Zotac models, such as the GTX 1080 Ti Extreme Core Edition, which featured three lighting zones.
To continue, the NVLink SLI connector is visible to the backplate. If you plan to connect a pair of these cards in SLI mode, be sure to leave a space of three slots between your PCI Express x16 slots to support the extra thickness of these cards. Closer to the opposite end, you can see the six-pin and eight-pin power connectors.
The back plate of the RTX 2080 amplifier has the same layout and the same selection of ports as the Founders RTX 2080 edition. You have three DisplayPort 1.4 connectors, an HDMI 2.0 connector and a port VirtualLink (USB Type-C). The latter is a futuristic connector for new generation virtual reality headsets that have not yet been marketed. It offers power, video and data on a single cable, which should simplify the headphone installation experience.
And so … on the landmarks. PC Labs has tested this card using various synthetic performance tests and the latest AAA game titles. This review follows the launch of the RTX 20 series, no game Nvidia Ray-Tracing or DLSS is available for formal testing.
Our test platform includes Intel's fastest main processor, the Core i7-8700K, 16GB G.Skill DDR4 memory and a solid-state boot drive. Everything is connected via a Aorus Z370 Gaming 7 motherboard.
You will see the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition appear in the results of the benchmarking. the GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition is also there, a fierce competitor to the RTX 2080 given its similar prices. The RTX 2080 is designed for the game 4K, so this will be the focus.
Below is a comparative analysis of our tests. You can go to the conclusion if you want the "TLDR" version.
Synthetic Benchmarks
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
Synthetic benchmarks can be good predictors of gaming performance in the real world. The Futuremark Fire Strike Ultra, which dates back to around 2013, is still ideal for 4K games. We only look at the graphical sub-score, not the overall score.
To say that the RTX 2080 models used in this comparison are very powerful is a euphemism. Less than 1% separates the Zotac RTX 2080 amp and the Founders Nvidia RTX 2080 edition, which I expected because they have similar factory overclocks. Both are tied with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition based on "Pascal".
3DMark Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme
The Time Spy pair is the Futuremark reference for predicting the performance of DirectX 12 compatible games. It uses the main features of the API, including asynchronous computing, explicit multi-adapter and multi-threading.
Time Spy shows a slightly larger difference between the Zotac RTX 2080 amp and the Founders edition of Nvidia RTX 2080, but it's hardly worth mentioning because it's within the margin of error.
Overlay Unigine
Our latest synthetic reference is the latest version of Unigine's graphic tests, Overlay, another DirectX reference 12. This test includes ray tracing, but it is done by software, not by hardware, and therefore does not use the RTX 2080 FE RT cores.
The numbers between the Zotac RTX 2080 amp and the Nvidia GTX 2080 Founders edition are the same, which is not a surprise. Are we going to play real games now?
Real world game
The following marks are games you can play. The graphics themselves will list the parameters we have used (usually the highest presets in the game and, if applicable, DirectX 12).
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
The recent title of Square Enix is our first real test. Although Nvidia introduced this game using the RTX 20 series tracing technology, the initial version of the game available at this edition does not work. do not support the tracing of the rays. (It is supposed to be added in a post-release fix.)
The processor tends to be a limiter at low resolutions. Focusing on 4K numbers, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition wins, but not by a major amount; the difference is less than 5%.
The rise of the slayer
The predecessor of Shadow of the Tomb Raider 2015 remains an excellent reference.
The difference is more important in this game than his successor; the Zotac RTX 2080 amp is almost 10% ahead of 4K compared to the Founders edition of Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080. However, this could be a difference in comparative analysis only; So far, other landmarks have indicated that the maps are neck and neck.
Hitman (2016)
Hitman, one of the first DirectX 12 compatible games, is no longer as demanding as it used to be.
We are now back to normal, with the Zotac GeForce RTX 2080 amp, whose performance is about the same as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders. Note how the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition, older and similar price, continued to keep pace.
Far Cry 5 and Far Cry Primal
We are launching these two games together because the results of the benchmarking are very similar and both are based on the same engine.
The Founders edition of Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 has always been a step ahead of this amplifier compared to the Zotac GeForce RTX 2080 amp at a resolution of 4K, up to more than 10%. Again, however, depending on the distance that separates most of the other landmarks between these two maps, it does not seem realistic that this is the case. this much faster than the other.
Final Fantasy XV
We'll take a respite from fps-based benchmarks for Final Fantasy XV.
Once again, we returned to normal, with the Nvidia RTX 2080 Founders edition and the Zotac RTX 2080 amp almost dead.
World of Tanks Encore
This is another reference point not based on fps available as Free download. This is not very demanding, but it is still a reliable test that is close to performance with a massively multiplayer open-ended fighting game.
The slightly higher factory overclock of the Zotac RTX 2080 amp gives it an equally lightweight edge as the Nvidia RTX 2080 Founders Edition edition, but it's not really a victory. The differences are in the margin of error.
Tom Clancy: The division
A 2016 version that remains difficult to manage, here is our last game test specific to DirectX 12.
Our latest test, this game does not stand up to the trend of the Zotac RTX 2080 amp, like the edition Founders Nvidia RTX 2080.
And how about some legacy games?
We also tested with the following four tracks to see what the card would do with some classics …
As you can see, the Zotac amp card was almost perfect, in a frame or two, from the GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition in all four titles in all three resolutions.
Overclocking and cooling
The massive heat sink of the GeForce RTX 2080 amp is the main reason to spend more on this card. It includes five 8mm copper heat pipes, connected to aluminum heat sink fins. Another heat sink on the opposite side of the board handles the heat of the GDDR6 memory.
The three 90mm fans were rarely audible during my 4K gaming sessions. Even with the door of my test bench, I had to put my ear two feet off the map to make the fans turn around. The only case where I managed to get real noise generated by the RTX 2080 amplifier was during an overclocking stability test in Zotac 's FireStorm software. The fans were loud enough to be heard in the next room, but I saw no rhyme or reason for which; the temperatures were well controlled, the software simply forced the fans to operate at their maximum. Provided that the card does not miss the air and that it does not flow in the middle of the desert, the RTX 2080 amp should be virtually inaudible during the game.
Here is a chart of the main clock and temperature during a 30 minute sequence of 4K Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
The main clock averaged 1,904 MHz, a bit more than the factory-assigned 1830 MHz amplified clock. The map increases automatically if the temperature and power limits allow it. Here, performance is consistent throughout the benchmark. The main clock oscillated more than when I tested the Nvidia RTX 2080 Founders Edition, but the graphics processor temperature of this Zotac card is much more stable, with an average of 64 ° C. I am convinced that you could force the fan speed to a higher speed. to lower the temperature further, but why would you? The RTX 2080 is rated at 88 degrees Celsius, and it's not even close.
Let's see what overclocking does for temperatures. The Zotac FireStorm overclocking utility seemed to be used to planting my screen driver. So I replaced it with MSI Afterburner 4.6 Beta 9. (Zotac told us that he was in the process of updating his software.) With the temperature, power limit, and voltage sliders of the GPU set to maximum, I used the built-in Nvidia scanner to overclock the RTX 2080 amp. After 20 minutes of operation, a clock boosted to 1 937 MHz, or an increase of 107 MHz on an already overclocked card, is recommended. Not bad to press a button. This is how the card worked in the same scenario as above.
Notice how much the clock line of the blue kernel is much higher than before. This time, the average is 2,027 MHz, or 6.4% more than before the overclock. The average temperature was only 3 degrees higher than previously at 67 ° C. I do not need more conviction that the RTX 2080 amplifier cooler has enough leeway for more overclocking.
Here are the reference points of the performance of the standard RTX 2080 amplifier compared to the overclocking obtained by Nvidia Scanner. Note that these numbers can not be compared to PC Labs benchmarking results because I have used a different test bench for this. The test stand features an Intel Core i7-7700K processor, 16GB Corsair memory, a solid-state boot drive, and a MSI Z270 Gaming M5 motherboard.
Zotac GeForce RTX 2080 (OC via Nvidia scanner) |
Zotac GeForce RTX 2080 Amp (Stock) |
Overclock Versus |
|
|---|---|---|---|
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra (graphical score) |
6,784 |
6,482 |
+ 5% |
3DMark Time Spy (Graphic score) |
10,900 |
10,419 |
+ 5% |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (4K, the highest, DX12) |
45fps |
45fps |
same |
Far Cry 5 (4K, Ultra) |
58fps |
56fps |
+ 4% |
AVERAGE |
+ 3% |
Overall, overclocking did not make a difference in the games I tested, although synthetic benchmarks showed that the potential for performance was there. Remember that the RTX 2080 amplifier is overclocked at the factory and therefore already works better than a reference card. It's an overclock on top from an overclock.
It's a monster, can you exploit it?
So it's no surprise that the Zotac RTX 2080 is very powerful, able to tackle today's 4K games without compromising visual quality settings. It is overclocked at the factory slightly higher than the Nvidia Founders RTX 2080 edition, but both have almost the same performance as our benchmarks. This will leave you with the question of why you would like to spend another $ 40 for Zotac's offer.
Most of the time, it's about aesthetics and acquiring extra overhead if you want to try aggressive manual overclocks. The massive heat sink and three cooling fans give the Zotac RTX 2080 a sharper, more player-focused look than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition. The heat sink is also fully functional. the central temperatures of this map were remarkably stable even when we overclocked it. If you're ready to spend $ 799 for a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founder Edition, the $ 839 Zotac RTX 2080 amp should not be expensive, at least for your budget. Make sure, however, to check the security level of your computer case before you buy because it is a monster in every sense of the word.
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