Following the resounding success of the ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 Noctua Edition, the Noctua Edition of ASUS' GeForce RTX 4080 is the third graphics card to feature Noctua fans and a heatsink that has been co-engineered by Noctua. By switching from the stock three slim 110 mm fans to two of Noctua's award-winning NF-A12x25 PWM 120 mm units and to a more elaborate, tailored heatsink with vapour chamber and five instead of two 8 mm diameter heatpipes, thermals and acoustics of ASUS' original TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 could be improved significantly for the Noctua Edition, making it the quietest card in its class.

"Building on the success or our previous collaboration, we are delighted to present the ASUS GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition. Once again, we have combined our expertise with Noctua's mastery of low-noise cooling to create a graphics card that offers an unparalleled experience without compromising on noise levels, reflecting the strength and innovation of our collaboration." said Kent Chien (Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the ASUS Multimedia Business Unit).[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of the RTX 4080 Noctua is now live]

"The first two Noctua Edition graphics cards were a resounding success, so we're proud to continue our partnership with ASUS", says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO), "Like with the previous Noctua Edition cards, we've closely cooperated with ASUS to create the quietest card in its class, bringing our signature low noise levels to the GeForce RTX 4080 series."

While the heatsinks of the RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 Noctua Edition have already been tailored in aspects such as size and heatpipe layout in order to make the most out of the Noctua NF-A12x25 fans' superior aerodynamic performance, the heatsink of the RTX 4080 Noctua Edition has been re-designed from the ground up to achieve maximum thermal efficiency: By adding a vapour chamber and using its superior heat-spreading capabilities to transfer the thermal energy to five instead of two 8 mm heatpipes (plus three instead of six 6 mm ones), the Noctua Edition provides significantly better cooling performance than the original TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4080. This, in return, enables it to operate with slower fan speeds and, combined with the class-leading efficiency of the NF-A12x25 fans, to run quieter than any other air-cooled card in its class.

Like the previous Noctua Edition cards, the GeForce RTX 4080 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.

For enthusiast users who want to take things one step further, the included ASUS GPU Tweak III software provides extra possibilities such as setting custom fan curves or undervolting. Reducing the thermal output of the card, undervolting can make it possible to let the card run even quieter. For example, reducing the GPU voltage by around 100 mV can drop the GPU temperatures by several degrees and thereby widen the thermal margin to slow the fans down even further.

The GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition features a semi-passive fan control setup (ASUS 0 dB 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 passive 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 4080 Noctua Edition is the ideal card for quiet cooling enthusiasts who demand serious GPU performance without sacrificing quietness of operation.