Best GTX 1080 Ti Cards of 2019

As of the time of this writing, the GTX 1080 Ti GPU from NVIDIA is one of the best value-to-performance video cards you can buy, and far easier to get hold of than the new RTX’s! The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is based on the last-generation Pascal architecture and is still so powerful it delivers simply amazing frame rates in games at 4K and in VR. It features 3584 cores and a whopping 11GB of 352-bit GDDR5X memory. The GTX 1080 Ti is the most powerful gaming Pascal-based graphics card on the market and is a perfect combination with a high-resolution monitor, multi-monitor setups, or VR headset.

Available in a number of configurations, you can get a 1080 Ti for every specific need, from power-hungry overclockers, to those of us who want a low-noise option without sacrificing quality. Some of us just want something with a nice-looking shroud and adaptable lighting, and the 1080 Ti’s have you covered there too.

If your performance simply can not be compromised, whether you need features, curb appeal, or just the raw power, this is without a doubt the video card for you. In this guide we will overview the top aftermarket GTX 1080 Ti cards on the market in 2019 – similar to our RTX 2080 Ti recommended aftermarket cards guide.

Our GTX 1080 Ti recommendations

Award	Design	Model	Retailer
Best GTX 1080 Ti 2019		ASUS GTX 1080 Ti ROG Strix edition
Best GTX 1080 Ti for overclocking		ASUS GTX 1080 Ti ROG Strix edition
Quietest GTX 1080 Ti		EVGA GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid edition
Best GTX 1080 Ti brand		EVGA
Best value GTX 1080 Ti		ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini
Best reference GTX 1080 Ti		EVGA Founders Edition GTX 1080 Ti
Best dual bios GTX 1080 Ti		EVGA FTW3 Gaming edition
Best GTX 1080 Ti VRM		ASUS GTX 1080 Ti ROG Strix edition
Smallest GTX 1080 Ti		ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini

Best GTX 1080 Ti of 2019

There are a lot of options with the GTX 1080 Ti. There are small form factor cards, nearly silent cards, and monster dual BIOS cards for overclocking junkies. Having to decide on just one for the year’s ‘best GTX 1080 Ti aftermarket card’ was not an easy thing to narrow down, but (not for the first time!) ASUS brings us the very best all around option. 

The ASUS GTX 1080 Ti ROG Strix edition is a fantastic combination of form and features. It comes with a factory-stable 1708MHz boosted clock speed in OC mode, and features the standard 11GB GDDR5X 352-bit memory. It is equipped with ASUS’s Aura Sync RGB lighting technology with an additional 4-pin RGB header, enabling you to sync with other Aura Sync enabled products. It is capable of handling up to 7680 x 4320 resolution, and is even used by a number of esports players in the competition. ASUS has also equipped this card with two HDMI 2.0 ports, a pair of DisplayPort 1.4 ports, and a DVI, enabling simultaneous connection to a VR headset and 4 independent monitors.

With the Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti hardware, and ASUS’s top notch quality and features, this card is an easy decision when you are looking for the best all around GTX 1080 Ti of 2019.

Best GTX 1080 Ti for overclocking

Overclocking is currently a very competitive and exciting endeavour for a lot of gamers, hardware enthusiasts, and even developers. Finding the best possible card to maximize your overclocking potential can take a bit of luck, but with a good comparison of GPUs available, and a good bit of historical data to work from now, the clear winner is the ASUS ROG Strix GTX 1080 Ti.

This card has a number of ASUS features that make it a good choice all around, as made clear in the ‘best of 2019’ category, where it also came in number one, but it also carries a number of overclocking specific features that give it an edge over the competition.

With a factory boosted clock speed of 1708MHz, it comes as no surprise that ASUS has a number of tricks up their sleeve for squeezing as much power out of this GPU as possible. They use MaxContact plus Auto-Extreme manufacturing technology which delivers up to 2x more GPU-to-heatsink contact for increased cooling efficiency, using Super Allow Power II components. The fans mounted on this card are the patented wing-blade 0dB models, with FanConnect II, which maximized cooling using a trio of axial fans. This delivers 105% more air pressure, and sports dual 4-pin headers for referencing chassis fans to GPU temperatures using their GPU Tweak II software. With all of the attention to cooling and GPU performance, the Aura RGB lighting is a nice addition, giving this card a stellar look while it reaches maximum overclocking speeds.

Quietest GTX 1080 Ti

EVGA has a number of GTX 1080 Ti variants. One of their more impressive-looking models, the SC2 Hybrid edition, is our pick this year for quietest GTX 1080 Ti. This card boasts a number of impressive specs, including a 1556MHz base, 1670MHz boosted clock speed, the standard 11Gb of 352-bit GDDR5X memory, and a sleek black and grey color scheme.

The stand out feature of this card, however, is the self-contained watercooling system it is equipped with. The cooling system includes a 120mm radiator with cooling fan pre-configured. You will need a spare fan bay for the exhaust, but with the water cooling system, and the whopping nine thermal sensors embedded on the card, it can achieve temperatures up to 30 degrees cooler under load. This means that the cooling fan barely, if at all, needs to spin up, leaving you with near-silence even while gaming hard.  EVGA includes an intelligent wiring system and sleeved tubing with the cooling system, giving it a sleek look, as well as their standard 3-year warranty.

In a recent test of popular aftermarket GTX 1080 Ti cards, the EVGA SC2 Hybrid operated the lowest temperatures at 40dBA, at 41.6 celsius, keeping the lowest VRAM temperature through the cooper plate cooling the CLC.

If you need a quiet rig (combining a quiet GPU with a silent PC case), that can still dominate in 4K or VR, you need to look at the SC2 Hybrid from EVGA as soon as you’re done reading this paragraph!

Best GTX 1080 Ti brand

This next category does not discuss one specific card model above the rest, but rather looks to the manufacturers themselves, to find out who has the best customer support.  When you are spending up to nine hundred dollars, or more, for a top-end graphic card, the last thing you need is to find yourself with a defective GPU, and a manufacturer who does not stand by their product.

This year, like many other years, we are sticking with EVGA for this award. EVGA offers one of the longest and comprehensive warranties in the business. With an attention to detail, and top quality parts, EVGA is able to offer three full years on their GPUs. Their staff is friendly and responsive, and in the very unlikely case that you do receive a defective 1080 Ti from them, they make it right for you. Their 1080 Ti lineup has a plethora of options, ranging from a 1480MHz base clock speed on the lower-tier models, to a blazingly fast 1683MHz on their most elite model. They have one, two, and three fan options, and even a all-in-one watercooled GPU for the most extreme of us. All of their options, budget to specialized, to elite-tier, come with the same warranty, quality, and support, they treat their budget customers just like elite ones, and that’s worth mentioning. EVGA is a solid company, and deserves a yearly nod to their dedication to their customers.

Best Value GTX 1080 Ti

It isn’t often that a ‘mini’ edition of any GPU line wins more than the ‘smallest’ category, but for the 2019 GTX 1080 Ti’s, we have exactly that situation. Not only the smallest 1080 Ti in the world, this Zotac 1080 Ti Mini (at the time of this writing) is also the best possible value of this GPU line. You may think this cheaper-than-average 1080 Ti lacks features, but you would be pleasantly surprised. It has a fully metal backplate for rigidity, is equipped with their IceStorm tech for amazing cooling in a tiny package. This card features a pair of smaller-sized 100mm fans, and five variably sized heat pipes which maximize heat extraction from the core. It has a stock clock speed of 1506MHz, and even though it is such a small card, with all of Zotac’s cooling tech, it reaches an admirable 1620MHz boosted speed. If you want the best VR and 4K performance available, but you need to be as budget-minded as possible, give this card a look, it is little in size, and little in price, but big on performance and value.

Best reference GTX 1080 Ti

Once in a while, you may have a need for a stock GPU with no aftermarket enhancements or upgrades. This can be the case when rolling out a large number of desktops for enterprise use, for benchmarking, or for testing purposes. This category is meant manufacturer. Every mainstream GPU manufacturer puts out a reference model GPU when AMD or nVidea releases a new model or chipset, and there should be no difference between them, besides build quality and vendor support. This year, we have chosen the EVGA Founders Edition GTX 1080 Ti as the best reference of the year. EVGA has a rock solid history of quality, so you know you are getting top notch equipment. EVGA also backs up their GPUs with one of the best warranties in the business, making this a perfect choice in this category.

Best GTX 1080 Ti w/ dual bios

To find this years best 1080 Ti sporting a dual BIOS, we look to EVGA’s FTW3 Gaming edition graphic card. This EVGA masterpiece comes with a base clock speed of 1569Mhz, and a  factory boosted clock speed of 1683MHz for stellar VR and 4K performance. Featuring a total of 11 global patents (pending or granted), iCX from EVGA is perfected efficiency. With 9 additional sensors embedded on the PCB, a newly designed die-cast baseplate and backplate, purposefully-directed airflow chambers, and full control using EVGA Precision XOC, EVGA’s iCX is the very definition of Interactive Cooling. With PC gaming growing, it is important to provide “Peace of Mind Gaming” to the user. With EVGA’s new iCX technology, users can have a better understanding of their card’s operation. This includes temperature monitoring on key components (not just GPU), interaction with other devices and better cooling with asynchronous fan control providing better overclocking capabilities, including, believe it or not, independent fan curvature control. Combined with EVGA’s industry-leading warranty and customer service, if you’re looking for a dual-BIOS equipped GPU, look no further.

GTX 1080 Ti with best VRM

If longevity is something you must have, be it for budget or enterprise reasons, VRM quality is something to take an interest in. Finding the year’s best pick for VRM quality was actually quite easy, as ASUS has fantastic quality and design on their GTX 1080 Ti ROG Strix edition GPU. The ROG Strix 1080 Ti is built on a custom PCB with a high-quality VRM (10+2 phases versus only 7 on the other editions) for clean, high-current power delivery. It requires two 8-pin power connectors to ensure ample supply, and with good reason, this card boasts a whopping 1708MHz factory overclocked boost speed. Considering ASUS also bundles this card with their Aura Sync lighting technology to synchronize lighting between ASUS products, MaxContact plus Auto-Extreme manufacturing tech to deliver twice as much heatsink-to-GPU contact (with their Super Allow Power II components), it is easy to see why this card nabs 3 of our picks for this year!

The cooling system included is ASUS’s patented wing-blade 0dB fans with Fan Connect II to maximize cooling performance, and features three axial fans, delivering 105% more air pressure to the card. This is a top-quality card, and especially for highest-quality gaming in VR or 4K, it is an easy choice.

Smallest GTX 1080 Ti

When building a small form factor PC in an ITX enclosure, or custom gaming rig, there are times when size can be more than a relevant issue, it can be a deciding factor. If uncompromised  VR and 4K gaming are your goal, but you don’t have room for a monstrous triple-fan card, the ZOTAC 1080 Ti mini is the card you should be purchasing. This card from Zotac features the standard 11Gb 352-bot GDDR5X memory to handle anything you can throw at it, and Zotac even is able to ship this mini powerhouse with a boosted clock speed of 1620MHz. There are faster options out there, but considering this tiny card comes in at such a small size (a mere 8.3 x 1.6 x 4.9 inches!), it is absolutely respectable. Zotac manages this with their IceStorm technology, enhancing thermal regulation with a slimmer profile. They utilize five variably configured sized heatpipes to maximize heat extraction from the die, while the wide aluminum fin array disperses heat. Mounted with dual super-wide 100mm fans to push more air with less rotations, it makes less noise than the average 1080 Ti as well. Zotac’s tagline for this technology is apt – ‘it’s the perfect storm for any system’.

Summary

Award	Design	Model	Retailer
Best GTX 1080 Ti 2019		ASUS GTX 1080 Ti ROG Strix edition
Best GTX 1080 Ti for overclocking		ASUS GTX 1080 Ti ROG Strix edition
Quietest GTX 1080 Ti		EVGA GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid edition
Best GTX 1080 Ti brand		EVGA
Best value GTX 1080 Ti		ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini
Best reference GTX 1080 Ti		EVGA Founders Edition GTX 1080 Ti
Best dual bios GTX 1080 Ti		EVGA FTW3 Gaming edition
Best GTX 1080 Ti VRM		ASUS GTX 1080 Ti ROG Strix edition
Smallest GTX 1080 Ti		ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini