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ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua OC

W1zzard

W1zzard

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May 14, 2004
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System Specs
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory 48 GB
Video Card(s) RTX 4080
Storage 2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
Display(s) 30" 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Software Windows 10 64-bit
The quad-slot ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua is the quietest RTX 3080 we ever tested by a huge margin. Even when fully loaded and delivering more than 60 FPS at 4K resolution is the card nearly inaudible. Not only noise levels are incredible, temperatures are very impressive, too.

Show full review
 
Interesting review. But, it seems like this review would've been a lot more informative if the Noctua were against only other 3080 10GB skus from ASUS reference 3080, MSI, EVGA, etc., though.
 
Fantastic product! How about coil whine?
I've tried 5 (five) 6900 XTs (3x Sapphire Nitro+, Powercolor Red Devil Ultimate, MSI Gaming Z Trio) and all have serious coil whine noise.
Report on coil whine should be very useful in the noise section of every review.
 
The fans are standard full-size NF-A12x25 120 mm fans. This makes it super easy to swap out the fans in the future, for different models or to replace a broken fan, they even use standard 5-pin connectors.
Click to expand...

Should it be 5-pin or 4-pin?
 
SteveJK88 said:
Fantastic product! How about coil whine?
I've tried 5 (five) 6900 XTs (3x Sapphire Nitro+, Powercolor Red Devil Ultimate, MSI Gaming Z Trio) and all have serious coil whine noise.
Report on coil whine should be very useful in the noise section of every review.
Click to expand...
The biggest problem with coil whine is reproducing and measuring it. It not only depends on the card, but also on the PSU. The biggest factor is the FPS rate. The higher, the more coil whine, also depends on the actual FPS rate to find resonance.

Any ideas how to test this?

GunShot said:
Interesting review. But, it seems like this review would've been a lot more informative if the Noctua were against only other 3080 10GB skus from ASUS reference 3080, MSI, EVGA, etc., though.
Click to expand...
Not sure I understand? Which data are you looking for?
 
Second HDMI port is the best feature of this card from my perspective. I hope we see more of this again in the future.

Or at least let us choose the primary output somehow (a switch on the PCB or something). I hate that POST and BIOS only show on DisplayPort if such a display is connected.


Cooling performance is crazy, but since I am undervolting for heat output reasons, I would not have a use for it anyway.
 
Tried it with a 3090 (deshroud + 2xa12x25 fans). I can keep it below 70c at 470watts, while it is actually inaudible.
 
What I take from this is that if these companies wanted to actually make good coolers all they need do is source good fans from known companies instead of creating obtuse solutions that use no-name fans. That is to say, they keep making these coolers huge but refuse to even consider spending money on better fans. And that is silly. Good performance with silence should be their goal, but it clearly is not.
 
Imagine the WOW factor when it was a Chromax design.
 
Another con for against this SKU is it came too late in life cycle of 30 series of GPUs.
 
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HisDivineOrder said:
What I take from this is that if these companies wanted to actually make good coolers all they need do is source good fans from known companies instead of creating obtuse solutions that use no-name fans. That is to say, they keep making these coolers huge but refuse to even consider spending money on better fans. And that is silly. Good performance with silence should be their goal, but it clearly is not.
Click to expand...
all i take from this is 4.1 slot coolers are better than 2.75 or 3 slot coolers :p
 
Why isn't standard practice is beyond me, it doesn't even need to be Noctua, use Arctic for example. You are buying an expensive luxury product which could be so much better and yet massive corners are cut.
 
HisDivineOrder said:
What I take from this is that if these companies wanted to actually make good coolers all they need do is source good fans from known companies instead of creating obtuse solutions that use no-name fans. That is to say, they keep making these coolers huge but refuse to even consider spending money on better fans. And that is silly. Good performance with silence should be their goal, but it clearly is not.
Click to expand...

Agreed!

Even better, these manufacturers know deshrouding, ducts and adding aftermarket fans (even cheapie Arctic ones) make a HUGEEEEEE difference in thermals and noise levels. Maybe one of them will set a trend with easier customisable options, possibly deshrouded and fanless SKUs at a cheaper cost with additional mounting kits/ducts/aftermarket fan compatibility/etc etc. IMO, most of the transformishly looking stock shrouds look UGLY anyway... also its hardly impossible for them to think outside of the standardised box with GPU power consumption blowing holes in the ceiling. Noctua GPU relations is a step in the right direction, regardless of the size of the target audience, it would be nice to see easier modifiable options.
 
too late too little 10GB, less than that of 4060, and probably slower.. i mean 3060 did match 2070, but next gen middle could demolish the current top.
Shows some potential for air cooling, I was seriously considering water loops for the 40 series and later. But there is also the heat. 400 watts can raise my room temperature by 4C inaudible or not, it makes it very uncomfortable. and barely does 1,7Ghz undervolted to 0,9 by default and outputting 350 watts at the same time. or this is just Furmark, when 2.1Ghz should be the norm by now.
 
I've been wanting to see a proper review for this card. Hero: @W1zzard :cool:

Unbelievably quiet and low temps, I'd sure hope so with a 4-slot cooler made by Noctua. But yeah, the grey and black alternative colour scheme that Noctua do would have been a big improvement.
 
Thats 12cm fans mostly, and it doesn't matter what color or who made it. The heatpipes are made by the same OEm as the TUF version, just added more dissipating surface to it.. Now all the others can start making cards like that, especially on the upcoming $999-1999 and 600 watt cards.. There is no excuse to use 10mm 7,5/8/10 cm fans anymore, it's just mocking us to implement subpar cooling.
 
ppn said:
Thats 12cm fans mostly, and it doesn't matter what color or who made it. The heatpipes are made by the same OEm as the TUF version, just added more dissipating surface to it.. Now all the others can start making cards like that, especially on the upcoming $999-1999 and 600 watt cards.. There is no excuse to use 10mm 7,5/8/10 cm fans anymore, it's just mocking us to implement subpar cooling.
Click to expand...
As you may see from CPU coolers it's not as simple as strapping any 12 cm fan. You need good airflow whithout excessive noise and it's not easy to do that, even among premium fans there is only a few that do it right.
Who made them matters a lot.
 
How can this be Editor's choice when all I see is just a glorified piece of 2 year old hardware that is priced for whom? For that amount why not go for a 6900XT or 6950XT if the price of this non 3080ti comes out. This does not make sense to make one of these now considering the newer generation cards are around the corner.

And FYI I have had issues with Asus with their components of late. Early in the 2000's they were known as a top quality brand that you could rely on. however after 2010 1 out of 3 products that I have purchased for myself and/or my clients has FAILED. That's a quality control issue as well as quality in components as well.

Brand name Die Hards, people will buy it just on brand name alone. There is nothing OW WOW on this. Tweaks here and there on older hardware.

My concern is the increase of wattage on this generation giving EXCUSES for cutting corners on overall performance for the next generation. We are hearing some real high numbers on video cards. I don't want an oven in my room.
 
Icon Charlie said:
How can this be Editor's choice when all I see is just a glorified piece of 2 year old hardware that is priced for whom? For that amount why not go for a 6900XT or 6950XT if the price of this non 3080ti comes out. This does not make sense to make one of these now considering the newer generation cards are around the corner.

And FYI I have had issues with Asus with their components of late. Early in the 2000's they were known as a top quality brand that you could rely on. however after 2010 1 out of 3 products that I have purchased for myself and/or my clients has FAILED. That's a quality control issue as well as quality in components as well.

Brand name Die Hards, people will buy it just on brand name alone. There is nothing OW WOW on this. Tweaks here and there on older hardware.

My concern is the increase of wattage on this generation giving EXCUSES for cutting corners on overall performance for the next generation. We are hearing some real high numbers on video cards. I don't want an oven in my room.
Click to expand...
There is no other way to have a 3080 this cool and quiet on air cooling, that justifies an editor's choise.
 
W1zzard said:
The biggest problem with coil whine is reproducing and measuring it. It not only depends on the card, but also on the PSU. The biggest factor is the FPS rate. The higher, the more coil whine, also depends on the actual FPS rate to find resonance.

Any ideas how to test this?
Click to expand...
Hummm...
Check for coil whine with unlimited FPS, 60, 120 and 144 FPS.
 
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