Saturday, September 19th 2020

GIGABYTE Unveils RTX 3090 TURBO: For When You Absolutely Need Lateral Blowers for 350W GPUs

Perhaps the most unique GeForce RTX 3090 offerings from GIGABYTE has to be the Turbo Edition. Possibly its most cost-effective card based on the $1,500 GPU, the Turbo Edition features a classic lateral-blower based cooling solution that guides all its air through an aluminium channel-type heatsink, and out of the rear bracket, with none of it exhausted into the case. This is a bold choice for a cooler given the feisty 350 W typical board power for the RTX 3090. The card is exactly 2 slots thick, and just 26.6 cm long, making it possibly the shortest air-cooled RTX 3090. It's a little over 11 cm tall (standard full-height). An interesting design choice by GIGABYTE is to locate the card's two 8-pin PCIe power connectors at the tail end of the card. GIGABYTE didn't reveal whether the card features factory-overclocked speeds, but we expect it to stick to reference speeds. Display outputs include two each of HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4a connectors.
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56 Comments on GIGABYTE Unveils RTX 3090 TURBO: For When You Absolutely Need Lateral Blowers for 350W GPUs

#1
Flanker
Considering the HD6990 had a blower reference design, I don't see a problem if fan noise isn't a concern. Not that I would put a blower card into my PC lol
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#2
Unregistered
Makes sense especially if you put two of them to do real work without ruining yourself with a quadro.
#3
kiddagoat
I forget where I saw it at, I thought the heatsink, heat pipes, and base were all copper? The shroud is aluminum.
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#4
Athlonite
Ha LOL I bet the only thing "Turbo" about this card will be the sound it makes when you get upto temp
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#5
Jelthi
Actually this card makes tons of sense. The standard height and rear power is perfect for servers. Many of the 3090s would be impossible to put in a 3U and even a 4U would require finding the right design with low profile pcie power.
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#6
jesdals
Then should just call it miners edition...
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#7
hat
Enthusiast
For those worried about heat, power, and noise, don't forget that it's all too easy to install Afterburner and simply lower the power target. I can easily shave 60w off my system power consumption by setting my power target to a modest, yet still capable, 80%. I only turn up the power target when I am cold and I want my computer to generate additional heat.
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#8
nguyen
Let just hope there are waterblocks soon for the 3080/3090, these cheap Blower version are perfect candidates for watercooling.
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#9
InVasMani
This right here is why people don't like blower fans on GPU's...they shouldn't be paired to 350w cards. They work fine on more like a 250w card, but add another 50w to 100w more and they quickly start to sound like a damn airplane jet motor.
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#11
londiste
nguyenLet just hope there are waterblocks soon for the 3080/3090, these cheap Blower version are perfect candidates for watercooling.
This. Reference PCB, crappy blower but low price. This type of models have been prime candidates for watercooling :)
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#12
ypsylon
There is no such thing as reference PCB this generation of cards, because even nVidia doesn't provide 'reference design' and card uses dual 8pin not Nvidia's 'reference' 12-pin.

Useful if you want to slap few of those into rack server mount in a render farm. I wouldn't buy it for sure for consumer kind of build. Considering how noisy was for example Pascal 1080Ti FE this ^ card draws 100W more of nominal power while retaining same inefficient cooling. I was rendering on 3x 1080Ti before watercooling them when blocks became available. I tell you I could hear that jet factory through few, really solid (in some places reinforced) concrete (old, old building) walls. Night rendering was a no-no.
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#13
londiste
ypsylonThere is no such thing as reference PCB this generation of cards, because even nVidia doesn't provide 'reference design' and card uses dual 8pin not Nvidia's 'reference' 12-pin.
From what we have heard, this is not true. There is a reference PCB that a lot of (non-OC) AIB cards are based on. It is simply the case of Nvidia choosing to use a custom PCB this time around - with the strange shape and increased component density it is a sensible thing to do as well.

If nothing else, waterblock compatibility lists usually paint a pretty clear picture of what reference is.
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#15
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
They should have cut a few holes or notches above the fan in the 3rd picture. that way it has somewhere else to pull air in.
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#16
Bubster
can't wait for the 3090 reviews..especially heat and temps management....
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#17
Kohl Baas
I think that at this pricepoint it's not a stretch to imagine a watercooling rig for another 300-500$ depending on bein an AIO or custom...
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#18
Auer
Gigabyte: A GPU deigned for creators that can be used in multi GPU setups in workstations for $1500!
Gamers: HUNTER WEAPON!
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#19
Vya Domus
FreedomEclipseThey should have cut a few holes or notches above the fan in the 3rd picture. that way it has somewhere else to pull air in.
Actually the more holes there are the less effective the cooling is. These blowers rely on creating a lot of pressure.
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#20
ppn
londisteThis. Reference PCB, crappy blower but low price. This type of models have been prime candidates for watercooling :)
Until you see that special extender thing hiding under the shroud. I hope they make custom PSU cable for that.

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#21
londiste
ppnUntil you see that special extender thing hiding under the shroud. I hope they make custom PSU cable for that.
Wait, that... what card is that? And why in the world would a card maker do something like this? FE's 12-pin and blowthrough fan seems like much MUCH better idea than this.
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#22
QUANTUMPHYSICS
Personally, I am going to get a 3090 (already have a 3080), but I want the Hybrid version from EVGA KINGPIN so I have just 2 slots and a water cooler.

If the air in your case is warm because of the CPU, you're sucking in warmer-than-cold air and blowing hot air. It's more efficient for an AIO to simply wick away the heat.

I'm surprised they haven't designed cases that suck in cold air, channel it right to the card and then out the back, but that's because cases aren't adapted to GPU design.

I'd like to see some case maker address that issue.

AIO is the best in my opinion.

A 240mm AIO on my 9900K + an AIO on the GPU just works better.
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#24
ppn
An interesting design choice by GIGABYTE is to locate the card's two 8-pin PCIe power connectors at the tail end of the card.
londisteWait, that... what card is that? And why in the world would a card maker do something like this? FE's 12-pin and blowthrough fan seems like much MUCH better idea than this.
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#25
londiste
Your picture cannot be the same card. The fan would not fit and 8-pin connectors are clearly aimed up.
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