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The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 is the first available graphics card using the 16nm Pascal architecture, and it is currently positioned as the top GPU in the high-end range. The GTX 1080 has 8GB of GDDR5X memory, three DisplayPort 1.4 connections, a single DVI-D port and an input for HDMI 2.0b. The RoG Strix Aura RGB OC model by Asus features a different cooler than the reference Founders Edition and offers increased clockspeeds.
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Better performance than most custom GTX 1080 cards
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%. The RoG Strix offers even better performance due to 10% faster clock speed compared to the reference GTX 1080.
Pro Overclockable
Can be pushed to 1950 MHZ (an almost 200 MHz improvement) and may still have some more speed left.
Pro Good build quality
The Asus ROG Strix has a full-size metallic backplate which provides extra rigidity. Around the backplate Asus has included Aura RGB lighting with a wide array of different effects available, making the ROG Strix a good choice for building a rig into a windowed chassis.
The effects and color can be customized by installing an additional free utility which is also pretty lightweight.
Pro Extremely quiet operation
When idling, the triple fan setup of the Asus Strix 1080 has no need to turn on, and are thus completely silent.
In gaming situations, the unique cooler works very well: measured from a distance of 1 meter, the sound is very quiet at just 33.3 dBA. That's less than the noise a refrigerator produces. Even under heavy load it usually peaks at about 40dBA.
Pro Usually stays relatively cool
The reference temperatures of the GTX 1080 are set at about 80 degrees C. Above that, the card will start shutting down processes and reducing the voltage to cool down. The Strix however, doesn't surpass the 67-70 degree C threshold for even the most demanding games.
Pro Aura RGB
There is Aura RGB controlled lighting included on this card. The shroud and the backplate both light up, to then allow control of those lights through Aura RGB. You can sync all your Aura products. Looks Amazing.
Cons
Con Some coil noise may be present
When playing at lower FPS there's no noise whatsoever (fan or coil noise). However, when going over 100FPS there's some slightly noticeable coil noise present in the background noise. It's not super annoying but it's still present and should be mentioned.
Con The Aura (RGB lights) software can be better
The software that controls the backlights can be better and has some missing features which feel like it would have been pretty easy to bake them in, especially for this price and for the fact that Asus went through the hassle of adding them in the first place.
Things like being able to set the temperature for which the lights change or making the lights a certain color when playing a certain game.
Even though this is not very important, for the price asked for this graphics card and since Asus wants to have an aura of "premium" around it, there's no reason for details like this to be missing.
Con The I/O is weird
It comes with a DVI (nobody uses those) 2 HDMI (if you want to drive a TV and a be headset?) and 2 DP 1.2, so you can't run high refresh rate 4K or surround.
Con Requires additional 6-pin power connector
The RoG Strix OC version of the GTX 1080 requires an extra 6-pin power connector, for a total of one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector. A reference GTX 1080 only needs a single 8-pin connector, but this ASUS card requires the extra connector because of the higher clock speeds and included lights. Although the TDP (thermal design point and maximum power consumption) of the RoG Strix GTX 1080 has been rated at 180 watts, the TDP is around 196 watts in reality. It only uses 12 more watts than a reference GTX 1080 during full load, but the extra power connector can be inconvenient for cable routing or for power supplies with a limited power capacity and connectors.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Pro Very power efficient
While performance is higher than its competitors, the GTX 1080 FE 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.
Pro Well optimized
NVIDIA properly optimized the GTX 1080 for DirectX. This means that games supporting DirectX 11 will see a slight performance boost, but more-so for the upcoming games using DirectX12.
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.
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.