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The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 is the first available graphics card using the 16nm Pascal architecture and is positioned as the top GPU in the high-end range. The 1080 has 8 gigabytes of GDDR5X memory, three DisplayPort 1.4 connections, a single DVI-D port and an input for HDMI 2.0b.
The GTX 1080 Founders Edition is the reference graphics card and is made by NVIDIA. This edition features a standard backplate and the reference cooler.
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Remains fairly quiet
The GTX 1080 FE runs at or under 41 dB during idle (which is comparable to the noise a refrigerator produces), and at or under 49.4 dB when stressed in benchmarks. It is by far the loudest GTX 1080 card (which runs pretty quiet in operation - it's a high end card, so manufacturers have put high end coolers in their cards), however when compared to lower end graphics cards (and in general use as well) it can be considered to be fairly quiet.
Pro Manually overclock-able
The GTX 1080 Founders Edition GPU can be manually overclocked past its factory settings. For the GPU overclock, you can go 200MHz over stock, and memory can be boosted as well by 189MHz without sacrificing system stability. This provides about a 5fps increase in games.
Cons
Con Poor value compared to other GTX 1080 cards
NVIDIA has priced the GTX 1080 Founders Edition $100 more expensive than non-Founders Edition cards by third-party manufacturers. This price increase is hard to justify, as other GTX 1080 cards perform just as well and may offer a higher performance, lower sound production and lower temperatures.
Con Noisy compared to other custom GTX 1080 graphics cards
The Founder's Edition is by far the noisiest GTX 1080 to date. It produces 49.4dBA under a full load, which is nearly 10X louder than the next noisiest card (decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale)- the EVGA GTX 1080 SC Gaming ACX 3.0 which measures just 40dBA under full load. The rest of the cards are in the 33-39dBA range. Despite this, it isn't obnoxiously loud - about the same noise level as a dishwasher in the next room (source).
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Pro Well optimized
NVIDIA properly optimized the GTX 1080 FE for DirectX. This means that games supporting DirectX 11 will see a slight performance boost, but more-so for the upcoming games using DirectX12.
Pro Amazing performance
GTX 1080 is the most powerful consumer-level GPU offered by Nvidia that's currently on the market. At 1440p with highest available settings it has an average fps of 116.5 for Dirt Rally, 101.9 for Battlefield 4 and 75.8 for GTA V. Compared to the previous high-end NVIDIA GPU, the GTX 980 Ti, that's an average performance increase of 20%.
Pro Very power efficient
While performance is higher than its competitors, the GTX 1080 chip actually uses less power. The maximum amount of power consumption this GPU requires is around 185 watts, which is an improvement of over 35% compared to NVIDIA's previous generation high-end graphical card, the GTX 980 Ti. This also plays a positive role when choosing a power supply, or determining if you need to upgrade your existing PSU.
Con No native support for 3- and 4-way SLI
SLI - short for Scalable Link Interface - is NVIDIA's technology of combining the power of two or more identical GPU's in order to reach a better performance. In other words, you can use multiple GTX 1080 videocards to further increase performance. Although the GTX 1080 supports 2-way SLI without a problem, NVIDIA does not offer support for 3- and 4-way SLI. The included SLI-bridge which serves as a connector between the two cards, is only compatible in a 2-way configuration. 3-way and 4-way SLI are possible, but aren't supported. You'll have to use an older SLI-bridge found on older GeForce models and you'll need to generate an 'Enthusiast Key' on NVIDIA's website. However, NVIDIA does not guarantee a 3- or 4-way configuration will provide any noticeable benefits.
Con Brand new hardware, risk involved in early adoption
It is unknown if there are inherent issues with this GPU (such as quality control, motherboard compatibility issues, driver issues, OS issues, etc) as it was only recently announced and has not undergone large-scale testing in the consumer market.