Zotac Gaming RTX 2080 Ti Amp Review
Peter Donnell / 5 years ago
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1. Introduction2. A Closer Look3. How We Test4. 3D Mark & Unigine5. DirectX12 Gaming Benchmarks6. DirectX11 Gaming Benchmarks7. Overclocking, Noise, Heat and Power8. Final Thoughts9. View All Pages |
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Zotac Gaming RTX 2080 Ti Amp
Today is a pretty special day for me here at eTeknix. Today is the first time I’ve gotten my hands on an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card. Furthermore, it’s from the fantastic brand that is Zotac! I’ve only ever tested one Zotac GPU here at eTeknix, and that was their stunning 1070 Ti Amp! Extreme Edition. Now they’re back with another high-end card and given it’s promising to be one of the fastest cards we’ve ever tested, we should be in for some pretty fantastic benchmark scores today.
“Get guaranteed more speed with AMP, factory overclocked ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX graphics cards right out of the box.
More speed, more performance.” – Zotac
The Amp! edition from Zotac comes pretty well equipped, as one would expect from a flagship GPU such as this. It comes with active fan control, as well as their newly revised fan design for improved cooling performance. It also supports their new FireStorm software, and OC Scanner, allowing you to tweak all the usual GPU settings, as well as customise the built-in RGB lighting. The huge triple fan cooler also helps it reach a Boost Clock of 1665 MHz, and no doubt more once we overclock it.
Ray Tracing and DLSS
With the new cards come new features, such as real-time ray tracing and their new deep learning supersampling. These promise some of the most impressive graphics techniques ever seen, as well as massively improved AA performance even at 4K. Our current benchmark suite doesn’t cater to these, and for a few weeks at least, no games support them. However, we’ll be exploring these features this week, so stay tuned for some cool updates from us any day now!
Features
- Active Fan Control
- New Fan Design
- Spectra Lighting
- GDDR6 memory
- FireStorm
- OC Scanner
20-Series Features
- Geforce Experience
- Nvidia Shadow Play
- Nvidia Ansel
- DirectX 12
- Nvidia G-SYNC
- HDR
- Ray Tracing
- Nvidia DLSS
Specifications
For in-depth specifications, please visit the official Zotac product page here.
What Zotac Had to Say
“The all-new generation of ZOTAC GAMING GeForce graphics cards are here. Based on the new NVIDIA Turing architecture, it’s packed with more cores and all-new GDDR6 ultra-fast memory. Integrated with more smart and optimized technologies, get ready to get fast and game strong like never before.” – Zotac
What’s in the Box
The GPU comes bundled with a pair of power adaptors and all the usual documentation. I’m still saddened to see cheap looking PSU adaptors with such an expensive GPU though, they should be made of gold and diamonds as far as I’m concerned, or not included at all; if you have this GPU, surely you have the right PSU for the job?
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1. Introduction2. A Closer Look3. How We Test4. 3D Mark & Unigine5. DirectX12 Gaming Benchmarks6. DirectX11 Gaming Benchmarks7. Overclocking, Noise, Heat and Power8. Final Thoughts9. View All Pages |
Next Page » |
Topics: 2080, 2080 ti, amp, Gaming, gpu, graphics card, Hardware, nvidia, Raytracing, review, Turing, zotac
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Zotac RTX 2080 Ti AMP review: the fastest graphics card we’ve ever had in our test bench
When Nvidia released the RTX 2080 Ti it was hard to get our heads around the price the company was asking for its top-end GeForce gaming graphics card.
With an overclocked Founders Edition SKU coming out at launch with a $1,200 price tag that seems like an offensive amount of money to be asking for a gaming-focused GPU. But then it’s not really a graphics card for us gamers, it’s this generation’s Titan. An ultra-enthusiast, epic-class GPU for the minority of people desperate for performance at all costs.
Doubling down on that finite market comes Zotac’s own overclocked version of the the top Turing GPU, the Zotac RTX 2080 Ti AMP. We were promised that we’d see some reference-clocked versions appear around the more reasonable – though still thoroughly unreasonable – $999 MSRP. But what the hell, Zotac has released an RTX 2080 Ti with a similar price tag to the Founders Card, and with performance to make it blush.
Now it doesn’t totally embarrass Nvidia’s own version, but the extra clock speed boost the Zotac GPU has been given allows its AMP edition card to come out on top across the board, and its superior chip chiller means it does it all a whole lot cooler too.
The Zotac RTX 2080 Ti AMP manages to do this by virtue of its factory overclock and triple-fan design. Now, if you look simply at the relative boost clocks of the Nvidia Founders Edition and this Zotac AMP Edition you might wonder at how such a small increase can have that much of an effect, it is after all only rated some 30MHz quicker. But once you get them both gaming you can quickly see where the real difference is.
| Zotac RTX 2080 Ti AMP Ed. | Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti Founders Ed. | |
| GPU | TU102 | TU102 |
| CUDA cores | 4,352 | 4,352 |
| RT Cores | 544 | 544 |
| Tensor Cores | 68 | 68 |
| VRAM | 11GB GDDR6 | 11GB GDDR6 |
| Memory bus | 352-bit | 352-bit |
| Base clock | 1,350MHz | 1,350MHz |
| Boost clock | 1,665MHz | 1,635MHz |
| Price | $1,363 (£1,224) | $1,200 (£1,099) |
At full gaming load the Founders Edition RTX 2080 Ti is only able to run its TU102 GPU at up to 1,755MHz, which is still far quicker than the rated 1,635MHz it comes listed as.
But while the Zotac AMP version has a 1,665MHz rating for its own boost clock, it manages to push its GPU up to 1,890MHz. That’s where the extra gaming performance comes from, and is mostly down to the extra cooling power baked into the Zotac design.
The rest of the Zotac card’s make up is essentially the same as the Nvidia Founders Edition. That means the same TU102 GPU, with 4,352 CUDA cores across its 68 Turing SMs, and 11GB of new GDDR6 video memory. And, compared with the Founders Edition RTX 2080 Ti it might not fall over so much…
Inside that Turing graphics silicon is also all the RTX goodness that we have yet to find a genuine use for out in the wild. At the start of this generation all the talk was about the real-time ray tracing potential of the new GPUs, as well as the performance-enhancing AI power baked into the graphics cards. The 544 Tensor Cores in the RTX 2080 Ti have been designed specifically for the AI side while the 68 RT Cores are all about real-time ray tracing.
Unfortunately they’re all a bit redundant until Microsoft gets around to properly releasing its Windows 10 October Update.
By the way, guys, it’s November…
None of that is Nvidia’s fault but we were hoping to at least have the ray traced shadows of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to enjoy, and some extra Final Fantasy XV DLSS performance by now. But as it is the only way we can talk about the performance of this, the first generation of genuinely ray tracing capable graphics cards, is how they perform in traditional rasterized workloads.
Thankfully, on that score, the RTX 2080 Ti is an undisputed monster. The RTX 2080 is, as of right now, a little harder to get excited about, but especially with the Zotac RTX 2080 Ti AMP the gaming performance we’re seeing from the top-end Nvidia Turing GPU is unprecedented from a single graphics card.
For practically every game on our benchmarking list the Zotac card can deliver 60fps or more at the highest 4K game settings.
Except Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, because that’s an impossibly harsh mistress. And across the board the Zotac RTX 2080 Ti is pulling ahead of the Nvidia Founders Edition.
But, despite the fact that its GPU clock speed is so far ahead of the Nvidia version, there is only ever a few frames per second in it. That doesn’t really change when you move down the resolution ladder either – the extra ~150MHz doesn’t really net you that much in the grand scheme of things.
Where the Zotac RTX 2080 Ti card does show a real performance win compared with Nvidia’s own card, however, is in the GPU cooler the two designs use. The Founders Edition might look very cool, but under peak loads the twin-fan chip chiller maxes out at 79°C, and goes up to 88°C when you push it anywhere near the clock speed of the Zotac card. That, in turn, never goes above 65°C even when it’s overclocked further than it;s out-of-the-box pace.
That’s the benefit of the triple-fan cooler… unfortunately, while it is a mighty impressive performer, it’s not much of a looker.
The Founders Edition looks great; all wide-eyed fans and brushed metal plating, but the Zotac card looks like a rather basic thing in comparison. But do you want style over substance or a graphics card that’s actually capable of delivering performance without breaking a sweat?
I’ll take the performance every time, but it’s still a shame that this $1,360 (£1,224) graphics card doesn’t really have a particularly luxurious aesthetic. Even so it does have the gaming skills, and ray tracing potential, to make it the most powerful graphics card we’ve ever run through our test rig, just not the prettiest.
A fantastically powerful graphics card, and the fastest version of the RTX 2080 Ti we’ve tested, beating the Founders Edition at every turn. It just doesn’t really look like a $1,200 luxury GPU.
Review Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 2080 Ti AMP
Zotac is famous for making high performance graphics cards. The products of this manufacturer are in demand due to the fact that video cards always have an improved cooling and power system, as well as maximum performance.
The new RTX 2080 Ti AMP is a cooler-equipped graphics card with 3 built-in fans. Its length without a cooler is 264 mm, with a cooler — 308 mm. Device width — 57 mm (2.7 slots). The video card comes in a massive box, and in order to get to it, you need to open a lot of packaging elements. The device comes with documentation and a power cable. The video card is made in black tones. And although its design is not distinguished by the presence of interesting solutions, it still looks very stylish and impressive.
On the back is a metal plate with a cutout behind the GPU. Several ports are located on one panel at once: HDMI for 4K 60FPS monitors, Display Port (3 pieces) for connecting to SK 60FPS monitors, USB-C. The latter is needed in order to connect a new generation virtual reality helmet, which consumes up to 27 watts through the port. There is no DVI connector, but if you can connect the chipset only through it, then there is an output. To do this, you need to use an HDMI-DVI cable or adapter.
The main parameters of the video card
In comparison with the previous model, this one has much better indicators of the base and clock frequencies, their parameters are 1515 and 1830 MHz, respectively. Turing 12 nm core, 4352 Cuda cores. It has 8 GB of memory, while its bandwidth is 448 Gb / s. The cache memory of this model is 6 GB. The improved throughput of the device is achieved thanks to the introduction of new technology.
In addition, DSR technology is introduced here, which allows you to reduce the resolution of a 4K image to that of a monitor. And at the same time, image quality is maintained to the maximum. Suitable video adapter for operating systems Windows 10, 7 (for 64-bit). At the highest loads, its temperature does not rise above 98 degrees Celsius. Power consumption — 250-300 W. A 650W power supply is recommended.
Features of the cooler
The radiator is made of aluminum, it also has copper tubes built into it.
Unlike the previous version of the video card, this one is equipped with three fans (only one was installed before). However, their disadvantage is that they do not stop working in idle mode, although their speed at this time of course decreases. If during hard work the indicator is 1.965 rpm, then without load it drops to 1,300 rpm.
In any case, they do their job and provide very good cooling. This is achieved by creating a large air flow. The correct area of the radiator itself and the thickness of the cooler also contribute to cooling. The diameter of each fan is 90mm. Even under heavy load, the cooler operates silently.
Chipset Capabilities
This graphics card was designed for true gamers. It combines real-time ray tracing techniques with AI. Therefore, the game process becomes more exciting. AI (artificial intelligence) is a feature of Nvidia and this model has not been left without new technologies. Therefore, now with the help of a video adapter, you can enjoy the realism of the battles unfolding on the screen.
The picture is very good. With the help of the new model, you can completely immerse yourself in the game world.
Thanks to a special in-game photo mode, you will be able to take high-quality pictures. Screenshots will fully convey the atmosphere of the events that were captured, since the image is of high quality. It is especially interesting that the picture can be fixed with a viewing angle of 360 degrees.
And if you connect a virtual reality helmet (for which there is a special connector) to the video card, you can get indescribable emotions. Apparently the model was created in order to please gamers. The performance of the chipset is several times higher than that of previous versions. This ensures smooth operation and no lag. Therefore, we can conclude that this model meets the expectations of gamers and is worth their attention.
Summing up
None of the available games and breakpoints currently use the new features of the Turing architecture and we will see that support for ray tracing and DLSS will begin after some time.
However, all improvements will affect the visual component, then there will be better special effects, and the process of the game itself will remain unchanged. It is not clear whether something will change after the next updates. So here everyone should think. It may be worth choosing a different GPU.
Compared with other models from the same manufacturer, the performance of the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti AMP is much better. That is why the price of the chipset is much higher than that of the same GTX 1080. But even despite the improved performance, the price of the chipset has increased by 40%, which seems like a very large number. Therefore, speaking about this model, only one point remains. If this cost of the chipset is feasible, then hardly anyone will regret buying it. Moreover, if you monitor your computer and try to update all the elements in order to end up with a powerful PC, then this video processor cannot be ignored. And despite the high cost, it should be noted that the video adapter has a high performance.