The GTX 1080 is hitting shelves this Friday, but sadly in only one flavour. The anticipated entry into consumer Pascal cards is coming exclusively from Nvidia for the first wave, with the more expensive Founders Edition looking likely to be the only card on sale for a considerable time. The likes of ASUS and Gigabyte (as well as many other manufacturers) are expected to launch their own cards with custom cooling in the weeks to follow, which means it’s time for some tasty teasers.
Gigabyte actually kick things off early, and right now they’re the only ones mentioning June as a possible release date for both their GTX 1080 and 1070. The company teased their cooler design on Twitter earlier this month, with the 3X Windforce design looking likely for the adoption. Gigabyte is also going to be developing custom PCBs for better overclocking performance, and are supposedly going to be making the full reveal at Computex next week.
Something is right around the corner 🙂#XtremeGaming pic.twitter.com/qAqEalByZc
— GIGABYTE USA (@GIGABYTE_USA) 9 May 2016
ASUS might have only really signaled their intent last night, but out of everyone they’re the company I’m most excited to see tinker with the GTX 1080. I’ve trusted ASUS designs for years now, and it seems the Pascal range is going to be allowing them to introduce a new line of their ever popular DirectCU coolers. This design seems to be carrying with it RGB lighting, with strips running down the three fan strong face. Of course, there should be custom PCBs too, and in general ASUS cards have overclocked nicely in the past.
ROG fans, something real big is coming soon. Can you guess what it is? pic.twitter.com/l2taC3p6IM
— ASUS ROG (@ASUS_ROG) 22 May 2016
What does this matter if Nvidia is releasing their own cards later this week I hear you ask? Well the reviews might be singing the GTX 1080 praises now, but there’s one thing they all seem to note. The Founders Card runs hot, and is already reaching temperatures in excess of 80-degrees Celsius with a little overclocking. Custom coolers almost always end up doing a better job, and so are generally better cards thanks to their increased overclocking capabilities. The Founders Edition is nice, but it’s certainly not the best Pascal card coming.
Those will arrive in the weeks that follow after Friday, and hopefully don’t take months to arrive. But if you simply cannot wait, there seems to be GTX 1080 stock ready to ship this Friday locally already.
Last Updated: May 23, 2016
Ottokie
May 23, 2016 at 09:01
Gigabyte will most probably bring out the “more” reliable card as usual 🙂
Pariah
May 23, 2016 at 09:02
MSI > all
Ottokie
May 23, 2016 at 09:04
Bang for your buck they are unbeaten. But Gigibyte always has the looks. And as a MMO player
looks >>> power
Pariah
May 23, 2016 at 09:05
O_o
What MMO’s do you play? Obviously you’re not into high-end raiding or min-maxing, because looks can suck an egg. 😛
Muahahaha.
Also, I prefer the looks of MSI too. And their coolers are world-class.
Ottokie
May 23, 2016 at 09:06
I am the retired kind of high end MMO player xD
VampyreSquirrel
May 23, 2016 at 09:12
Heavily retired.
Ottokie
May 23, 2016 at 09:13
I am hoping Legion will re spark that lost flame 😛
VampyreSquirrel
May 23, 2016 at 09:16
Yeah, that’s in a few months… will see if you decide to actually stick to a game for more than a couple weeks XD (Warframe doesn’t count :P)
Ottokie
May 23, 2016 at 09:19
I don’t think you have ever seen my WoW addiction xD
VampyreSquirrel
May 23, 2016 at 09:26
Lol, not sure if I need to, Garth’s is bad enough… so is my friend Megan’s.
Ottokie
May 23, 2016 at 09:28
If Barry is not going back with me it’s 100% horde on your server with my free boost
HairyEwok
May 23, 2016 at 10:20
Wait, so you have people looking into you computer tower everyday?
Greylingad[He Charges!]
May 23, 2016 at 09:30
Yup!! I agree, beautiful cards that are about as robust as Colossus’s groin bits, and not at all as over priced as anything else…
Ghost In The Rift
May 23, 2016 at 10:21
Here Here, love my GTX 960 version to bits plus that RED DRAGON FTW!!!!!!!
gondie
May 23, 2016 at 20:43
Msi is a joke have fun dealing with grace Liao and the stoned idiots working the customer service line when your card breaks. Will never buy another msi product.
Darren Peach
May 23, 2016 at 09:13
Anyone ever go gagga for a golden sample ?
Pariah
May 23, 2016 at 09:19
Why would you pee on a card?
Darren Peach
May 23, 2016 at 09:24
Lol. When I used to buy gaming cards, I always looked out for Golden samples. They were “special” versions of specific cards that had extra headroom for overclocking. The cards were exactly the same in every way, shape and form but the hardware had been tested and shown to do well when overclocked. Just natural variations in the manufacturing process. A happy accident.
Pariah
May 23, 2016 at 09:25
Yes I know the term, back from when I could afford to be enthusiast level. I was just being my usual troll-faced self. XD
Darren Peach
May 23, 2016 at 09:26
The best one I ever had was a Gainward GT something or another. I had it when Fear first came out.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
May 23, 2016 at 10:53
To show your dominance
chimera_85
May 23, 2016 at 12:44
I like EVGA
Maskmoth
May 23, 2016 at 14:03
I see that Rebelteh.co.za is advertising the Gigabyte GTX 1080 founders edition for R14 699
DennySliiiiiim
May 25, 2016 at 19:15
I will be buying whichever card has the coolest temps under load. For me, the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 970 was the coolest on the market, so I went with that and I have no complaints. I will probably buy the Gigabyte or the Asus one. In my experience while EVGA has great performance on their cards, they do tend to skimp on cooling.