ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 Review: Chilly performance

One of the best custom GeForce RTX 3080s you can buy

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is already one of the most powerful graphics cards you can buy today – assuming you can find it anywhere, that is – and the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 takes things up a notch with a beefed-up cooler, higher clock speeds and customizable RGB lighting. On top of that, you get neat additions like a custom PCB and optimised backplate design to further boost performance. 

The cooler is a massive 3-slot unit that succeeds in keeping this beast of a card nice and chilly. It features a total of seven heat pipes and a huge fin array, which help channel heat away from the Ampere GPU die. The GPU contact plate has been manufactured using ASUS' MaxContact technology, which polishes the surface of the heat spreader to improve smoothness at a microscopic level. This extra flatness increases the surface area that comes in contact with the die for even better heat transfer. 

The overall heatsink size has also been increased compared to the previous generation – there are now additional fins to increase the surface area – allowing for greater thermal headroom to accommodate the higher performance of the new chip.

The axial-tech fans have been upgraded too to go with the larger heatsink. The blade count has gone up on all three fans, sitting now at 13 on the centre fan and 11 on the auxiliary fans. The barrier ring on the side fans has been slimmed down to allow more air to pass through and also to provide better airflow through the heatsink. Finally, the centre fan's extra blades and taller ring serve to boost static pressure and channel air more effectively toward the GPU heat spreader. 

However, ASUS has changed more than the fans' design. The rotational direction of the centre fan has been reversed as well, similar to what Gigabyte does with its alternately spinning fans on its WindForce coolers. This reduces turbulence inside of the heatsink array to further improve the overall thermal performance. If all three fans were spinning in the same direction, the air would flow in opposite directions between fans, thus increasing turbulence. ASUS says these changes have allowed it to lower the fan speeds on the ROG Strix card, which helps with overall noise reduction. The fans will stop spinning if the GPU temperature is below 55°C as well, so you won't be bothered by the noise when your system isn't working that hard.

Elsewhere, ASUS has utilised premium capacitors, chokes and MOSFETs to ensure more reliable power delivery. It's a full MLCC capacitor design, and power is delivered through no fewer than three 8-pin PCIe power connectors. ASUS has opted for the standard PCIe connectors here, so you won't need NVIDIA's new adapter. Separately, there are also two PWM FanConnect II headers on the rear, should you wish to attach chassis fans directly to the card and tune them with a curve based on either the CPU or GPU temperature. 

Round the back, the backplate features a wide vent that allows hot air to escape toward the chassis exhaust fans at the rear more easily. The PCB has been shortened to facilitate this as well, so the card won't keep recycling its own hot air. Given that this is a really large and heavy card, ASUS has also added a GPU bracket for some extra stability between the GPU die and heat spreader. 

The I/O bracket is constructed from stainless steel to protect the display outputs and provide a more secure mount. You can also access the Dual BIOS switch at the back, which lets you quickly switch between Performance and Quiet modes if you don't want to fiddle with the software. 

Finally, ASUS hasn't neglected the card's aesthetics either. The cooling shroud has been revamped with new metal accents that take inspiration from existing ROG and ROG Strix motherboards. There's a mix of surface textures and materials to be found here, so this card should make quite a striking statement if you choose to mount it vertically to show it off. The side of the card now features its own RGB LEDs too, and this can be synced with other ROG components for a more uniform look so it won't look too plain from the side even if your chassis doesn't support vertical GPU mounting. That said, if you prefer a more minimalist look, you can simply shut off the LEDs – the grey shroud has a relatively muted look that will blend in quite easily with most builds.

Test setup

Here are the specifications of our test rig:

• AMD Ryzen 9 5900X CPU
• MSI MEG X570 Godlike
• Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD
• Windows 10 Home 64-bit
• ASUS ROG Swift PG43UQ 4K Gaming Monitor

We'll be comparing the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition and the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio.

The following synthetic benchmarks and games were run, with the games chosen from a wide range of genres to give a better indication of performance across different segments:

• 3DMark
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Total War: Three Kingdoms (Battle)
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
• Metro: Exodus
• Watch Dogs: Legion
• Control

3DMark

3DMark is a synthetic benchmark that tests graphics and computational performance at different resolutions, starting at 1080p and going all the way up to 4K. A series of two graphics test, one physics test, and then a combined test stresses your hardware in turn to assess its performance.

With a base clock of 1,440MHz and boost clock of 1,905MHz, the ASUS card sports the most aggressive clock speeds of the lot. On the other hand, the MSI and Founders Edition cards top out at 1,815MHz and 1,710MHz respectively in terms of boost clocks. The higher clock speeds are reflected in the card's performance, where the ASUS model inched ahead of the MSI card by a couple of percentage points.

1440p Benchmarks (Max Settings)

The GeForce RTX 3080 is more than capable of taking on the 1440p resolution at maximum settings. The ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 sailed through all the tests, coming in faster than the MSI card by a few frames in most of the games tested. However, once again these differences are barely worth mentioning, and you'll probably end up paying more attention to things like cooling performance, noise, and aesthetics. 

4K Benchmarks (Max Settings)

Performance was more of a mixed bag at the 4K resolution. Each of the three cards traded blows in different games, and there's not really a clear winner across the board. 

Ray Tracing Benchmarks (4K, Max Settings)

With ray tracing turned on, the performance of all three cards inched even closer to each other. There's virtually no significant difference between them, and ray tracing continues to impose a significant performance penalty. 

Temperature and power

Temperature and power consumption are where the cards start to really differ. The ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 impresses with its excellent thermal performance, posting significantly lower temperatures than the other two cards. What's more, power consumption is lower than the MSI card too, despite its higher boost clock speeds. 

Conclusion

At S$1,499, the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 is one of the most pricey custom cards available today. However, it justifies that price with a truly premium feature set and stellar performance that puts it ahead of the competition. Combined with its excellent cooling numbers, the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 is the card to get if you want no compromises. 

ASUS has made meaningful improvements coming from the previous generation, and its upgraded build and new look are a breath of fresh air for the ROG Strix line. The only thing you have to do is make sure your case can hold its triple-slot design. 

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