ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 review: Stealthy looks and speedy performance

Note: This review was first published on 26 Oct 2020.

Introduction and design

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3080 may just be one of the most sought-after graphics cards in recent memory, bringing with it a huge generational leap that propels it past even the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. The ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 joins the ranks of third-party cards populating the market, adding improved cooling and RGB lighting to what is already a beast of a card. 

This is the first time that ASUS has brought its TUF Gaming series to an NVIDIA flagship, and it features the same focus on durability that the TUF Gaming range has come to be known for. This means that components have supposedly been selected for durability and performance and subject to a 144-hour validation trial. For those who are interested, it also uses only MLCC capacitors, which were initially thought to be a better solution than POSCAPs and the fix for avoiding crashing on the GeForce RTX 3080. 

The TUF Gaming card features an all-aluminum shroud for a more robust build and a blissfully minimalist look with few ostentatious design elements. There are some brushed metal accents along the sides and graphic prints for some additional flair, but this is overall a rather muted design.

There is no plastic on the card, apart from the fans, and it feels really solid and premium. The aluminum fan shroud houses three 90mm axial-tech fans, each utilising dual ball bearings for greater longevity compared to regular sleeve bearing fans. However, the middle fan spins in the opposite direction from the other too, similar to what Gigabyte already does on its cards, in order to reduce turbulence. In addition, the fans support semi-passive operation and stop spinning entirely when the GPU temperature falls below 55°C to better keep noise to a minimum. 

The card is cooled by a large, beefy-looking heatsink, featuring sprawling fin arrays that connect to a nickel-plated copper base plate via six 6mm nickel-plated copper heat pipes. The base plate makes direct contact with the GPU, and the GDDR6X memory chips are directly cooled by a second dedicated, smaller heatsink mounted on the PCB itself. The VRM components haven't been neglected either, and they make contact with the primary heatsink through aluminum plates. The copper base plate uses what ASUS calls its MaxContact design, and the company says it has worked to improve the surface smoothness of the heat spreader at a microscopic level in order to allow for better contact and more efficient heat transfer. 

A thick backplate covers the rear of the PCB, where there are sizeable cutouts for airflow and also thermal pads to help whisk heat away from the components on the flip side. 

Overall, this is one large and heavy card, and the 2.7-slot design will require 3 full expansion card slots to accommodate. Instead of NVIDIA's new 12-pin power connector, it also uses more conventional dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors (good news for those who don't want additional cabling to deal with), and onboard LEDs that notify if the graphics power connectors are plugged in securely.

There is also a dual BIOS switch on the PCB as well to let you switch between performance and quiet modes. This just changes the fan profile and doesn't do anything for clock speeds, so it mostly comes down to how averse you are to noise. 

The TUF Gaming card ships in Gaming Mode by default, with a base clock of 1,440MHz and boost clock of 1,710MHz, the same as the Founders Edition card. In OC Mode, this goes up to 1,740MHz for the boost clock, but you'll need to download ASUS' software (GPU Tweak II) to enable it. 

The display outputs are slightly changed from the Founders Edition model. ASUS has added a second HDMI 2.1 port, so you get two HDMI 2.1 and three DisplayPort 1.4a connectors in total. Of course you can't actually use them all, but the extra HDMI port accords you more flexibility in what set of outputs you can connect simultaneously. 

Performance benchmarks

We'll be comparing the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 against the Founders Edition model and the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity, which is the other custom card we have with us at the moment. But because we've already put the GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition through a full suite of gaming benchmarks, we'll be running a more limited selection this time as the results don't normally vary too much from one card to another. 

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[caption=Test cards compared]

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We've tested the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 in OC mode, which is its max official clock speed. All things considered, the minimal differences in clock speeds between the TUF Gaming and Founders Edition models means that there is little tangible difference in terms of real-world performance. Do note that the Zotac card puts out better performance in Wolfenstein: Youngblood because it was benchmarked on the latest patch which improves performance (and that the Zotac was the last to be tested). 

That said, the TUF Gaming card might appeal more to you because of its improved cooling and design, and the fact that you don't need to use NVIDIA's 12-pin adapter.

Temperature Comparisons

As you'd noticed in the charts above, the ASUS TUF RTX 3080's performance doesn't quite stand out. In fact, all three cards are quite on par in terms of performance - with the differences in frame rates so minutiae that it have no bearings in your gaming experiences. In short, if you're expecting the TUF RTX 3080's performance to be any different right out of the box from a 'reference card' like the Founders Edition, then you'd be disappointed. Cards that are shipped with factory-overclocked chips, of course, should have noticeable gains (which we will explore in future separate reviews).

That said, every partners' cards do have their own cooling designs and methods. NVIDIA's push-pull cooling method seems to be unique to the chip maker, with brands like ASUS adopting more traditional heat-sink fan designs. 

So how did the ASUS TUF RTX 3080 card fared? Very well, in fact. It's got the lowest temperature among the three cards tested here. I do suspect that the large surface heatsink (and a well designed one, too) allowed for the heat produced by the card to be dissipated more efficiently than the smaller and more enclosed design of the Founders Edition's.

Conclusion

The TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 is an excellent specimen from ASUS. It successfully beats out both the Founders Edition and Zotac cards, but we're really just splitting hairs here. If you're not set on the unique design of the Founders Edition model though, the TUF Gaming card is shaping up to be a great option with a quieter cooler, better temperatures, and marginally faster performance. Like many other custom cards, it also doesn't need the 12-pin adapter that sticks out from the middle of the card.

Priced at S$1,299, it's also reasonably competitive with other options in the market. You also get a few small frills that are not often mentioned like a 6-month subscription to wtfast GPN for more fluid gameplay thanks to lower ping connectivity and XSplit Gamecaster license that will come in handy if you're into gameplay streaming with advanced features to build your presence in the gaming sphere. Oh, and it runs pretty cool too.

For reference, we've extracted the following pricing information of various RTX 3080 models from our Price Lists section:-

The TUF Gaming sports a fairly versatile design too, with a stealthy shroud that enables it to blend into nearly any setup. If you want something a bit more eye-catching, subtle RGB lighting accents the card, so it's not a completely plain affair either. There's no going wrong with this card, and the TUF Gaming model is an excellent pick if you're in the market for a custom GeForce RTX 3080 that offers more flexibility and a slight advantage in capability.

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