TheOverclocker Presents - GALAX Hall Of Fame 10th Anniversary OC LAB Edition

THEOVERCLOCKER PRESENTS

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition

THEOVERCLOCKER PRESENTS

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition

THE OVERCLOCKER PRESENTS

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition

W

hen one says ‘the best graphics card’, what does that mean exactly? Is it the best looking, perhaps the best performing, the most affordable? There are many ways in which one could attempt to answer such a question. Some of these easier to deal with than others.

Perhaps it is better to define the context first, from which one can hopefully attempt a more measured answer to this question. That context for this particular graphics card, is in overclocking. More specifically in extreme or competitive overclocking.

Afterall, this is the only context with which we can test the

validity of any such declaration.

One which GALAX doesn’t make for any of their their components, not even this one, their finest work thus far.

The - GALAX 10th Anniversary Hall Of Fame GeForce RTX 2080 Ti OC LAB Edition. At the very least, this HOF card is in the hall of fame for the longest product name in history.

THEOVERCLOCKER PRESENTS

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition

“...THE HOF CONTINUES TO DELIVER RECORD BREAKING PERFORMANCE...”

That’s more than a mouthful, but for the sanity of all involved I'll refer to it as the“HOF” henceforth.

All foolishness aside, of utmost importance are the performance and overclocking records this graphics card has delivered. If one is to ask what is the best graphics card of this generation

within our competitive overclocking context. It is without doubt, the HOF as no other graphics card holds as many records in GPU frequency and the resulting performance.

The HOF is not only the highest performing RTX 2080 Ti on record. It is in several benchmarks, the highest performing graphics card, This is

despite several entries from TITAN graphics cards at what I would consider high GPU clock frequencies (2500MHz+). As we all know, HOF cards are cable overclockers. The OC Lab Edition's however are the only cards built entirely for and around records and little to nothing else this generation.

Since the OC Lab’s 5th year

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition OGS's TimeSpy record breaking HOF setup

anniversary at around this time last year, the numbers have only continued to climb. Based off the work which had been done on the HOF since then, it is only natural to have that be the basis of their hallmark 10th Anniversary HOF Graphics card.

As much as I would to like to say there's some technical wizardry happening here which you should care about. That sort of information isn’t readily accessible, despite how interesting and how crucial it is in what the HOF is capable of. There would simply be no way for the graphics card to reach these performance levels without thorough and solid electronics foundations and components. Literally all the magic happens here. Internet willing, the HOF only needs the 'unlocked' or more commonly known as the LN2 BIOS for it to fly.

All this would mean nothing though if there were no verifiable scores. After all, it’s not what you say that matters, but what you can do, and what the HOF can do in capable hands (i.e. not mine) is nothing short of amazing. Time and time again between just a handful of professional overclockers, the HOF has banged out

record after record. At one point all within the space of a single week, shattering 11 performance records. No easy feat considering the competition at that level.

As one expects, a gathering at GALAX’ s OC LAB helps in achieving all these performance milestones. Not only does the lab have all manner of useful hardware and tools to extract the most from the graphics card. More importantly, the OC LAB has all the minds which work with, on and around the graphics card ready to lend a hand. That said, even outside of this space, the HOF continues to deliver record breaking performance.

It lays to rest any claims of such achievements being confined to the controlled & particular environment of the OC LAB (This shouldn't matter anyway).

Consider that at the time of writing, the RTX 2080Ti HOF OC Lab Edition ( a 1:1 identical card to the 10th anniversary edition apart from the latter’s Hybrid liquid/Air cooler ) held a total of 13 RTX 2080 Ti records. Eight of these records by Stavros ‘OGS’ Savvopoulos with a scorching card capable of up to 2820MHz in TimeSpy and a gargantuan 2940MHZ in GPUPI.

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Roberto ‘rsannino’ Sannino taking two records in 3DMark03 and 3DMark Time Extreme with his graphics card capable of 2745MHz (although Time Spy Extreme record was done at 2730MHz). Tobias ‘Rauf’ Bergström lays a further claim to a couple of records, in Unigine’s Superposition 8K and 1080P Xtreme benchmark. His GPU capable of up to 2730MHz in these benchmarks. The final record held by the HOF is in

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition

Catzilla 1440P, recorded with a GPU clock of 2,670MHz courtesy of Ronaldo ‘Rbuass’ Buassali.

It’s quite astonishing that such core clocks thought previously unattainable, have become somewhat 'common' on the HOF cards. In GPUPI 1B for instance, all top 8 scores for the RTX 2080 Ti are by the HOF. All top three cards clocking in at 2940MHz, 2880MHz and 2835MHZ respectively.

But, what of my own testing

under cold conditions? As with all my tales, it starts with, "well, the thing is". I kid.

Truth is I had a single session with dry ice which is far from what LN2 can provide.

Regardless, 2,385MHz was the highest core clock reached, but towards the end of the session (end of the ice rather) it turned out 2,400MHz GPU core was possible in 3DMark TimeSpy Extreme.

In light of this, it does

Score by OGS - 2820MHz GPU clock

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition rsannino's record breaking TimeSpy Extreme setup

actually make sense to have GALAX celebrate the 10th straight year of making Hall of Fame cards with their best yet, the 10th Anniversary OC LAB Edition.

With everything the HOF cards have achieved to date, the card is obviously quite remarkable.

Not only where the RTX 2080 Ti is concerned, but I’d say in all graphics cards one could buy today. In overall clock frequency, records held and consistency, it is unmatched by any other. It is without a doubt the final word in the RTX 2000 series for overclocking.

As stated earlier the 10th Anniversary edition differs only from the OC LAB edition in packaging or presentation .

These differences are entirely cosmetic for the most part, but are going to be of genuine interest to some, so they are

well worth delving into.

Especially as they do make this one of the 'purdiest' graphics cards ever. Even if you don't care much for the RGB lighting (which I must say looks quite incredible) One can appreciate the hybrid cooler at least. This is not a full coverage block of course or even a GPU block in the traditional sense. In practice, the part that is liquid cooled on the heatsink is smaller than you'd think. The liquid cooled part seems to share it's benefits with the rest of the heatsink complex via direct contact. As opposed to a full coverage block where the liquid runs over most of the block .

I can't speak to this hybrid cooling solution's efficacy, but I can say the air cooler works as well as expected.

Temperatures, depending on the load (3D benchmarks for overclocks) regularly hit the mid to late 70s with the clock frequency adjusting accordingly. This is at least the norm with NVIDIA partner cards that have massive heat sinks and triple fan solutions.

The HOF cooler delivers temperatures directly in-line with the best of these cards, even though the cooler itself is lighter than all others (more on this in a bit). With the aid of liquid cooling working in tandem with the fans, temperatures are bound to drop substantially.

What may be responsible or rather, what allows the GPU cooler to be lighter than usual, could be the two-part cooling design. That’s the HOF Armor+ and the Cetus hybrid cooling main unit. The former is a

THEOVERCLOCKER PRESENTS

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition

Score by rsannino - 2730MHz GPU Clock

frame which acts as a heatsink for various SMDs on the board including the Samsung GDDR6 memory. This aids in cooling, but also helps resist the torqueing that otherwise occurs with such large heavy cards.

The net effect here is the main

unit is only responsible for direct contact cooling of the GPU core and the VRM, but nothing else. With six pipes running directly through the three fin stack sections, this solution proves adapt at keep the TU102 GPU heat

under check.

To all this GALAX adds a 90mm three fan solution. The main fan able to operate independently from the two on the side. The center fan sporting the most stunning RGB colour wheel

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition rauf's Superposition record breaking setup

Score by rauf - 2745MHz GPU Clock

THEOVERCLOCKER PRESENTS

10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080Ti OC LAB Edition

“...IT’S ALL BEFITTING OF WHAT IS ARGUABLY THE BEST HIGH-END GRAPHICS CARD OF ALL TIME...”

I’ve seen on any hardware component to date. The execution of this colour scheme on this graphics card is fantastic, completing an already striking piece of hardware. The only downside here, specific to the coat on the back of the card is that it scratches easily and those scratches are easily visible.

Such blemishes on the pristine cover are best avoided, so care is a must here.

Finally I want to discuss the software that drives it all. It’s no secret that After Burner leads in GPU software functionality and popularity. So naturally the GALAX HOF AI is measured against it as these are largely serving the same

purpose. The long and the short is that it’s nowhere near as feature rich (none are, but Precision X is for sure the closest), but is simple enough to use with all the basic functionality covered.

Presentation wise, it’s certainly clearly laid out and easy to navigate. The vehicle instrument panel dials are interesting to look at, however that space could be better utilized for reporting clocks, temperatures and other useful bits of real time info about the graphics card. HOF AI is not offensive by any means and certainly has a better UX than many others. It’s just that in the context of the 10th anniversary edition card, HOF AI lacks inspiration.

In as far as the overall HOF 10th Anniversary edition is concerned; it's nothing short of incredible. From presentation to packaged goodies - it’s all befitting of what is arguably the best highend graphics card of all time and certainly the best to have come from GALAX. So, is the GALAX 10th Anniversary GeForce RTX 2080 Ti OC LAB Edition the best graphics card to date? I’d say most likely but again that's context sensitive.

What I am sure of though are numbers and by numbers it is unmatched. It costs an absolute fortune, but with that you also get to own a card that's in one word - peerless.