Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity review: Plain looks, fast performance

Introduction and design

The Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity sits pretty low in Zotac's hierarchy of cards, coming in below models with more bells-and-whistles like the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 AMP Extreme Holo. It is one of the more plain-looking custom cards on the market, featuring a simple plastic black shroud that houses three fans. It's a pretty stealthy and minimalist look overall, and the front face of the shroud and fans remain unadorned by any LEDs.

Measuring 317.8 x 120.7 x 58mm, this is a fairly long and thick card, requiring a good three expansion card slots of clearance for its 2.5-slot design. You'll also want to make sure you've got enough room in your case for it, and some cases may even require you to remove the drive cage at the front. 

The card uses Zotac's new IceStorm 2.0 cooling system, which has been built specifically to offer wider coverage of the GPU. The new 11-blade 90mm fans are supposed to increase airflow by up to 10% compared to the previous-generation design, while the heat sink comprises three groups of aluminum fin stacks and seven copper heat pipes to improve heat transfer and distribution. The heat pipe layout has also been improved to increase direct GPU contact in a more densely packed space. The GPU die makes contact with a large base plate, and it's framed by thermal pads to help whisk heat away from the surrounding components, such as the memory chips. 

The three fans support semi-passive operation, or what Zotac calls Freeze Fan Stop. The fans will automatically spin down when the GPU is idle, reducing wear-and-tear and also system noise when loads are low. In addition, Zotac also offers something called Active Fan Control, which allows you to have more control over the fans in the FireStorm software. You can adjust the fan speeds independently of each other and increase airflow to specific areas of the card if you wish.

A reinforcing metal frame helps provide some extra rigidity for the card, and also adds a measure of passive cooling for the VRM circuitry. Finally, a metal die-cast backplate covers the rear of the PCB, adding further structural reinforcement and also an illuminated Zotac logo. It's pretty neat and looks good in person, adding a unique bit of flair to what is otherwise a pretty plain design. 

Those aren't the only LEDs found on the card though, and the side profile of the card also lights up in Zotac's Spectra 2.0 lighting. You can customise it using the company's FireStorm software, and it'll ensure that your card stand out through the side window of your case. 

You'll need dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors to power the card, like many other custom cards on the market. It's a relief not to have to use NVIDIA's odd-looking 12-pin adapter, and it also means that custom uni-sleeved cables will look better when paired with the card as well. Round the back, you get three DisplayPort 1.4 and a single HDMI 2.1 display output, the same as the Founders Edition card. 

So how does it perform? Hit the next page to find out!

Performance benchmarks

We'll be comparing the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity against the Founders Edition model and the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080, 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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But with a boost clock of 1,710MHz, the same as the Founders Edition model, there is hardly any significant difference between the latter and the Zotac card. In addition, the ASUS TUF Gaming model edged slightly ahead, owing to its higher boost clock of 1,740MHz in OC Mode. However, 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).

Temperature 

With all three cards being more or less neck-and-neck in performance, thermal performance is going to be one of the key factors in differentiating them. Each card has its unique cooling design, which explains the far wider variance in load temperatures. While NVIDIA's card uses an unconventional hybrid design that combines both vapour chamber cooling and a heat sink fin array, the ASUS and Zotac cards rely on a more traditional heat sink to dissipate heat, albeit with their own implementations. 

Compared to the ASUS card, the Zotac model, unfortunately, fell short by a fair bit posting a mere 3°C improvement over the Founders Edition model. It's worth pointing out that the ASUS card does have a more elaborate cooling design, featuring even a dedicated heat sink for the VRAM components, so its stronger performance is not entirely surprising. 

Conclusion

At S$1,199, the Zotac card is priced about the same as most of its rivals from ASUS, Gigabyte, and Palit. With a GeForce RTX 3080 at its core, you won't find yourself complaining much about performance, and whether or not you pick this card will come down to things like thermal performance and aesthetic preference. 

There really isn't a lot that sets the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity apart from the pack, and despite its seemingly no-frills design, it isn't cheaper than the competition at all. Here's a look at the prices of some of the other GeForce RTX 3080 cards available now as extracted from our Price Lists section:-

Unfortunately for Zotac, cooling performance is rather lacklustre on this card, and it sets a rather low bar for other similarly priced cards to clear. You won't go wrong with the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity, but with the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 priced just a little more with greater cooling performance, it all boils down to your priorities for a top-end graphics card. 

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