GTX 1080: video card specifications, reviews and tests

The flagship graphics accelerator with the fastest performance in a single-chip version is the GTX 1080. The characteristics of this product are really impressive, and its capabilities do not leave even a slightest chance for competitors. Of course, this video card is the future, and it will be relevant for more than one year.

On which market segment is this video card aimed?

As it was mentioned earlier, the GTX 1080 is aimed at the premium segment of graphics accelerators. Its characteristics are really beyond competition. The level of performance in this case is so high that even the top products of the previous generation can not be worthy of competition to this video card. Among other features of this accelerator is the support for virtual reality systems and HDR-monitors. And if the first group of devices can already be found on the shelves of stores and, if necessary, purchased, then HDR monitors are not yet available. Their announcement is scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2017. Another area where such a product can find its application is 4K monitors.

As a result, it can be noted that this accelerator is ahead of time and has a fantastic performance margin. Its parameters will still be relevant for quite a long time, and more than one generation of graphics adapters will be equal to it.

Equipment

A very modest bundle for a premium product from the GTX 1080. Its characteristics lead to a completely opposite thought. But the logic of the company-developer in this situation is also understandable. The video card is not cheap, and if necessary its owner will be able to add a relatively small amount against the cost of an accelerator for the purchase of one or another additional accessory. Otherwise, the bundle of this video card is as follows:

• The adapter itself.
• Multilingual instruction manual, supplemented by a warranty coupon.
• Disk with a set of software: utilities, drivers and test software.

Product Specifications

The first important feature of this accelerator is the technological process by which a semiconductor crystal is made. It corresponds to a tolerance of 16 nm. All the predecessors of this product were produced at 28 nm, and this video chip is revolutionary.

The code name for this semiconductor product is Pascal, and the chip is labeled GP104. The number of transistors in this case is 7.2 billion. The operating frequency range of the graphics chip ranges from 1607 MHz to 1733 MHz. Exactly in this frequency range shader units function, the number of which in this case is 2560. According to this indicator, the current flagship is inferior to its predecessors.

In the GTX 980, their number was 2816, and for TITAN - 3072. But the frequency formula was more modest, and as a result, the reduced number of shader units is compensated with more than their higher operating frequency range. The number of TMUs for each pipeline is 160, and the ROP-64 block. The graphics adapter itself is oriented to the installation in the PCI-Express slot 3.0 and supports Direct X 12.

Graphics accelerator memory

A new type of operative graphics memory uses the GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card. Its characteristics are really impressive. The name of this RAM is GDDR5X. If the previous type of RAM GDDR5 maximum frequency was 7 GHz, then in this case this value was already equal to 10 GHz. The amount of memory for the hero of this review is 8 GB, and this is enough for a virtual reality, HDR-monitor or 4K-monitor.

The size of the memory bus is 256 bits, and according to this indicator the GTX 1080 loses to its predecessors in the face of the GTX 980 and TITAN (these accelerators had a RAM bus capacity of 384 bits). But the improved optimization of the RAM controllers, the higher frequency of RAM and the advanced technology of compression of graphic information make it possible to easily bypass their predecessors to the hero of this review and to compensate for the reduced bit depth of memory chips.

Overclocking and performance increase

Not bad overclocking potential of NVidia GTX 1080. The characteristics of this product indicate that the base frequency of the chip is equal to 1607-1733 MHz, and the RAM - 10 GHz. The results shown in the overclocker forums indicate that in practice, it is not difficult to increase the previously mentioned values for the graphics processor and RAM, respectively, to 1770-2000 MHz and 11.5 GHz. On average, this allows you to get an additional 30% to the speed. Now the overclocking of such a product is irrelevant for the reason and so its excessive level of performance. But after four years, the owners of such an accelerator may have to resort to such an operation.

Analogues

The characteristics of the GTX 1080, as noted earlier, are much better than those of the previous generation. On average, it is 20% faster than the GTX 980 and TITAN. Even more separation from the flagship AMD in the face of Fury X, which is in the range of 30 to 40%. To date, this phenomenal product of NVidia has no competitors, and when they appear - it is unknown.

Own lineup of accelerators is only presented, and its updates in the foreseeable future are not expected. Well, the new generation of video accelerators AMD at best will be released in the first half of 2017. Therefore, for a long time, the hero of this article will not experience any significant competition.

Tests

Almost in all applications has a 20-30% advantage over its closest competitor GeForce GTX 1080. The characteristics of the chip itself even point this out. The only toy in which the new flagship can not show an impressive result in the nominal frequency mode and the output of a 2K image with ULTRA settings is Quantum Break. FPS is in the range from 22.4 to 25.3. At the same time, AMD's flagship in the face of Fury X boasts a range of FPS from 22.5 to 26.1.

Overclocking the new flagship allows even to bypass AMD's decision in the regular mode with FPS 23.4 - 26.4. But in this case, most likely, the program code is optimized for AMD solutions, and the advantage is obtained from them. For comparison, in a similar mode of image output and when Direct X 12 is activated in the game, the Hitman GTX 1080 is capable of producing 42.1 - 49.4 fps, and Fury X - 39.8 - 47.4. And this game is optimized for AMD products, but the advantage, albeit insignificant, is on the side of the new flagship from Nvidia. In other cases, the flagship graphics cards of the previous generation are hopelessly losing to the hero of this review. For example, the GTX 1080 in the GTA V game in 2K mode and with Direct X 11 on can give FPS at 38 - 67.3, and its predecessors GTX 980 and Fury X, respectively, are 31.4 - 54.4 and 26.4 - 44.6. And in most modern gaming applications, this is the situation that is observed.

Price and reviews

The order of 50.000 rubles is currently NVidia GeForce GTX 1080. The characteristics of it are entirely the same as this price. It is able to solve any problems, and its parameters provide a sufficiently large margin of productivity for the next few years. Extra confirmation is a lot of feedback from satisfied owners of this product. Also to the advantages of the accelerator is the excellent overclocking potential.

Results

Really revolutionary graphics solution was the GTX 1080. Features, like the speed level, allows this card without any problems to cope with any task. And this picture will be preserved for the next three years. Also, the key features of this product include support for 4K-monitors and televisions, not yet released HDR-monitors and virtual reality technology. All this in total allows to note that NVidia has released the best video card in single-chip performance to date.