When comparing ASUS RoG Strix GTX 1080 Aura RGB OC vs GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming Premium Pack, the Slant community recommends ASUS RoG Strix GTX 1080 Aura RGB OC for most people. In the question“What are the best GTX 1080 cards?” ASUS RoG Strix GTX 1080 Aura RGB OC is ranked 1st while GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming Premium Pack is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose ASUS RoG Strix GTX 1080 Aura RGB OC is:
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 a regular GTX 1080.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Just as fast as the 1080 Founders Edition
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 a regular GTX 1080.
Pro Stellar cooler
The cooler used on this Republic of Gamers card pays off. Under full load, the GTX 1080 chip itself doesn't get hotter than 63 degrees Celsius - which is amazingly low. For comparison - a reference GTX 1080 will generate a load temperature of around 80° C. A lower temperature ensures a longer lifespan and less throttling, where the graphics card slows itself down to stay cool.
Pro Extremely silent operation
In an idle, normal situation the triple fan setup of the Asus Strix 1080 won't even spin at all and are thus completely inaudible. In gaming situations, the unique cooler works very well: measured from a distance of 1 meter, only 33.3 dBA are produced. That's less than the noise a refrigerator produces. The card doesn't suffer from irritating sounds such as coil whine.
Pro Cheaper than the GTX 1080 Founders Edition
Less expensive, but the GPU is the same and thus offers the same performance.
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 DirectX 12.
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 Very quiet operation
The extensive cooling solution of the Xtreme Gaming GTX 1080 results in a very quiet operation. In idle situations, the cooling fans don't spin up which means the graphics card doesn't produce more noise than any other component in your system. Under full load, a sound production of 38 dBA was measured, which is considered to be very quiet by graphics card standards. For comparison: The reference Founders Edition of the GTX 1080 produces 49.4 decibels (A) under load. Decibels use a logarithmic scale, which means the Xtreme Gaming card is effectively two times as quiet as a reference GTX 1080.
Pro Adjustable RGB lightning looks great
The exterior of the Gigabyte GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming features a lot of RGB lights and you can adjust the color of these lights via Gigabyte's included software package. This allows you to customize the look of the graphics card, which can be useful if your setup is built with a specific color scheme in mind.
Pro Very long 4 year warranty
Gigabyte is offering an extended Xtreme Care warranty period of 4 years, which is a major improvement compared to the regular 1-year warranty on graphics card. In the event of a failure within this period, Gigabyte will repair the card or send you a replacement model. Online registration is required.
Pro Comes with a frontpanel for easier use of virtual reality headsets
The GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming cards are especially suitable for virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive, which require two HDMI-ports. Included in the packaging is a 5.25" extension bay, with two USB 3.0 ports and a set of HDMI inputs. With this frontpanel, users are no longer required to route their VR headset through the back of the system. The graphics card itself features two HDMI-ports on the opposite site of the usual ports, which allows a quick pass-through to this frontpanel. When using these two specific HDMI ports, two of the three DisplayPort inputs are disabled.
Pro Excellent cooling temperatures
The GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming reaches a maximum temperature of 66 degrees Celsius under load with the increased clock and memory speeds. This is a major improvement over the Founders Edition's 82° C and an impressive feat for an air cooler. This not only extends the longevity of the card, but also prevents throttling from happening. Throttling can occur when temperatures reach around 80° C or higher. This is when the graphics card will slow itself down (reduce clock speed) in order to stay cool, effectively sacrificing performance. With the default clock speeds, this should never occur with the Xtreme Gaming card.
Pro Extra performance over a reference GTX 1080
The higher clock and memory speeds of GIGABYTE's Xtreme Gaming edition of the GTX 1080 results in better performance. In Battlefield 4 using 1440p resolution and maximum settings, an average framerate of 118 was achieved. For comparison, a GTX 1080 Founders Edition only managed to achieve 110 fps, an almost 7% difference. Similar results can be seen in Far Cry Primal, again with 1440p resolution and maximum settings. The Xtreme Gaming card manages to get 84 frames per second on average, compared to the Founders Edition's 78 FPS. In DOOM, the difference is even more noticeable. With maximum settings and 1440p resolution, an average FPS of 140 was achieved for the Xtreme Gaming card - a 15 FPS improvement over the reference card. When tested in 4K, the Xtreme Gaming managed to achieve 72 average FPS compared to the Founders Edition's 62 frames per second, a difference of almost 14%.
Cons
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 Bulky
The Republic of Gamers Strix GTX 1080 is quite bulky due to the triple fan combination and isn't recommended for use in smaller cases.
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 Requires additional 8-pin power connector
The GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming requires the use of two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, compared to only one 8-pin connector for a reference GTX 1080. Although this means there is more headroom for large overclocks thanks to the extra connector, the card doesn't require this amount of power at all. An extra 6-pin power connector which adds 75W instead of the 8-pin's 150W, would be a more logical choice. This can be an issue for users with limited available connections on the power supply.
Con Not very good looking
Con Slight coil whine can be heard
When using the card in an open environment, a slight but noticeable coil whine noise can be heard. Coil whine is an annoying, undesireable high-pitched sound.