PNY XLR8 GTX 1080 Ti Graphics Card Review

PNY XLR8 GTX 1080 Ti The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card series has been with us for some time now, and that means we've got plenty of aftermarket products from many of the top gaming brands around the world. The latest we have in the eTeknix office is the PNY GeForce GTX 1080 Ti XLR8 gaming OC graphics card. This new card comes with a reasonable factory overclock, taking the graphics cards boost speed up to 1645 MHz, and it keeps all this performance in check with its new triple fan cooler and a full-length aluminium back plate. This isn't the craziest GTX 1080 Ti we have seen to date, but it does seem like a big upgrade in terms of cooling performance over the reference model and that means it should run cooler, quieter, and harder for longer while you are gaming. This is especially true since PNY say the new cooler performance three times better than their previous generation cooler. The only downside to this design is but it doesn't appear to have a 0 RPM operation mode, a feature that is often lacking on PNY graphics cards; at least on the ones we have tested in the past. Fast and Silent "The latest addition to the ultimate gaming platform, this card is packed with extreme gaming horsepower, next-gen 11 GBps GDDR5X memory, and a massive 1GB frame buffer. PNY's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti XLR8 Gaming Edition offers fast performance and silent operation." - PNY Specifications Obviously, this graphics card includes all the features you would expect of a 1080 Ti. It still features 3584 CUDA cores, 11GB of VRAM, SLI support, and much more. Those who are eager to run the cards in SLI will be happy to know that it's a strict deal slot design, so it shouldn't conflict in motherboards that have tighter spacings. A Closer Look The design of this graphics card is certainly impressive, with its metal shroud exterior making it look like the kind of tool you would find on Batman's Utility Belt. The card is quite long, but no more so than any other 1080 Ti on the market. The large length of the card does allow for three large fans on the top. This means maximum airflow through the dual heatsink design that sits on top of the PCB. The cooling shroud is slightly raised off of the PCB, allowing for some passive airflow through and around the card. Of course, this should help keep the card temperatures as low as possible. Metal Shroud The metal work on the card looks fantastic, with a brushed finish and a metallic shine that gives it a really aggressive aesthetic. There are some slight hints of red thrown into the mix, which is quite common on gaming hardware, but overall the card is fairly neutral in terms of colours and should blend in with any other hardware, or RGB lighting that you have in your build. On the rear of the card, there is a huge full-length backplate, crafted from aluminium this should allow for some added passive cooling for the rear of the graphics card, as well as giving it added strength to prevent the card from drooping once it is installed in your system. Power! As this is a factory overclocked card, it does have a high power draw, and will require an 8 pin as well as a 6 pin power connector; although that's not exactly unheard of her any other 1080 Ti. Towards the rear of the card, you can see that the cooling system extends beyond the PCB ever so slightly, as does the backplate. There are four thick heat pipes running through the length of the card which should allow for fast heat transfer from the chipset to the cooling fans, and of course help move heat away from the card. Around the rear, you will find four display outputs. There are 3 DisplayPorts, and one HDMI. Unfortunately, no DVI connector, which is a little bit strange, given that there is more than enough room here to accommodate one. Testing & Methodology Please note that on 16/04/2017, the graphics cards featured in this review have are retested. The retesting was done to implement new changes in the way we review, the settings we use, the software required and more. We've also made some slight hardware changes to our test benches, and all games were updated, as has the OS, graphics drivers, etc. Of course, this would mean new results would not be a fair comparison to old. For your reference, the last review to feature our past results is found here. Here is the test system used for all graphics card reviews (pictured above) and game performance analysis: Graphics Card Test System Motherboard – Asus Rampage V Extreme X99 Processor – Intel Core i7 5960X at stock with Turbo enabled RAM – Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 2666 MHz Graphics Card – Varies per review CPU Cooler – Noctua NH-D15S Power Supply – Be Quiet Power Zone 1000W Main Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GB Chassis – Lian Li T80 Open Air Test Bench Operating System – Windows 10 64-bit Primary Display AOC U2879VF 4K Additional Hardware "Killawatt” style electricity usage meter wall plug Precision Gold N05CC Decibel meter Games Throughout the testing procedure, we always use demanding presets which stress graphics cards to reasonable limits. However, in the interest of fairness, any technology which favours either AMD or NVIDIA is disabled. More specifically, this refers to PhysX, Hairworks and similar technologies. Additionally, we also disable all forms of AA, including FXAA, to gauge performance levels which aren't impacted by sophisticated AA. Theoretically, we could have employed FXAA because it only has a minor impact on the frame-rate, but many users strongly dislike the hazy image this causes. V-Sync is always disabled in our testing, graphics card power usage set to optimised or balance, and the system power mode set to High Performance. Some benchmarks may feature more cards, this is due to some tests being older or newer than others, and being used in other game specific feature tests we have conducted, so you'll find all relevant cards included in each chart as we add or remove new and old tests. Selecting strenuous presets especially at higher resolutions can cause hitching and other performance problems on graphics cards with lower amounts of video memory. For example, Rise of the Tomb Raider's Very High textures requires 4GB of RAM to maintain a smooth frame-rate. In theory, we could run the benchmarks at the High setting, but this defeats the purpose of high-end graphics cards which are designed to cope with the absolute best graphics on the market. Furthermore, the notion of enthusiast cards sporting less than 4GB memory has become less of an issue. Of course, whenever we're tackling more affordable GPUs, the settings will be altered accordingly and detailed for clarity. Identical settings are used for all resolutions, 1080, 1440, 2160, and 1440 Ultrawide unless otherwise stated. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Graphics Settings For this game, we use the Very High preset, with some small changes to increase the Texture Filtering, turn off the AA, and all V-Sync settings. Preset: Custom Fullscreen: On Exclusive Fullscreen: Off DirectX 12: On VSync: Off Anti-aliasing: Off Texture Quality: Very High Texture Filtering: 16x Anisotropic Shadow Quality: Very High Sun Soft Shadows: High Depth of Field: Very High Level of Detail: Very High Dynamic Foliage: High Ambient Occlusion: On Specular Reflection Quality: Normal Vignette Blur: On Motion Blur: On Bloom: On Tesselations: On Screen Space Reflections: On Lens Flares: On Screen Effects: On Film Grain: On Rise of the Tomb Raider Graphics Settings Preset: Custom Fullscreen: On Exclusive Fullscreen: Off DirectX 12: On MSAA: Off VSync: Off Texture Quality: Very High Texture Filtering: 16x Anisotropic Shadow Quality: Very High Ambient Occlusion: Very High Contact Hardening Shadows: On Parallax Occlusion Mapping: High Depth of Field: Very High Level of Detail: Very High Volumetric Lighting: On Screenspace Reflections: On Temporal Anti-Aliasing: Disabled Motion Blur: On Sharpen: On Bloom: On Lens Flares: On Cloth Physics: On Subsurface Scattering: On Chromatic Aberration: On Tesselations: On Far Cry Primal Graphics Settings Graphics Quality: Custom HD Textures: On Textures: Very High Shadow: Ultra Post FX: High Geometry: Ultra Terrain: Very High Water: Very High Environment: High Anti-Aliasing: Off Volumetric Fog: Very High Motion Blur: On Ghost Recon: Wildlands Graphics Settings Preset: Custom Antialiasing: Off Ambient Occlusion: SSBC Draw Distance: Very High Level of Detail: Ultra Texture Quality: Ultra Anisotropic Filtering: 16 Shadow Quality: Ultra Terrain Quality: Ultra Vegetation Quality: Ultra Turf Effects: Off Motion Blur: On Iron Sights DOF: On High-Quality DOF: On Bloom: On God Raws: Enhanced Subsurface Scattering: On Lens Flare: On Long-Range Shadows: Ultra Software 3DMark Firestrike 3DMark Time Spy Unique Superposition Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Rise of the Tomb Raider Far Cry Primal Ghost Recon: Wildlands CPU-ID HWMonitor TechPowerUp GPU-Z Noise Everyone has a reasonable noise level preference when it comes to comes to components on a computer. Some can handle all fans at 100% load to keep temperatures down; some want an entirely silent computer. To accurately gauge the noise output of a graphics card, we position a Precision Gold N05CC Decibel meter from one meter above our open-air test bench and take an average reading at idle and load. Power Consumption With electricity becoming increasingly expensive across most parts of the world the need for computer components to become energy efficient has never been more relevant. Graphics cards are often the most power-hungry components of a desktop system so having a capable graphics card is crucial to keeping power bills under control. Power is tied to heat, so lower power consumption means a graphics card is likely to run slightly cooler and put out less heat into your system, meaning your other components will run cooler with improved longevity. AMD and NVIDIA have both made power consumption an integral part of the way graphics cards dynamically overclock, so the need for graphics card vendors to use efficient VRM and PCB designs is becoming essential to maximise performance. We take power readings during idle state with no background applications running. Then again at 25%, 50%, and 99% completion of the Unigine Superposition benchmark, using the average as the final published result. Temperatures The cooling solution which graphics card vendors choose to implement is one of the main differences that consumers have to contend with when selecting a graphics cards. Apart from their acoustic properties, the thermal properties of graphics card coolers are critical. Lower temperatures are always better, and with AMD and NVIDIA opting to use dynamic overclocking algorithms that take temperature into account, it is important that graphics card vendors use high-performance cooling solutions to maximise performance. The era of graphics cards reaching critical temperatures are now in the past, but the importance of low temperatures remains. Lower temperatures mean better stability, longer component longevity, and lower fan speeds. We take temperature readings after 10 minutes of desktop idle with no background programs running, then take the recorded maximum delivered from Unigine Superposition after a 4K optimised run, confirming the numbers are accurate with HWMonitor. Ambient temperature is always kept +/- 1c from 21c. 3DMark The PNY card isn't the most punch of the 1080 Ti range, but it still packs some serious hardware and is more than capable of keeping up with the big boys. It set a solid score of 29112 at 1080p, one of our highest scores to date. It continued to range in 4th place at higher resolutions, and in the DX12 focused TimeSpy benchmark. Unigine Superposition Almost like clockwork, the PNY card maintained 4th place in Unigine too, beating out the stock and the Aorus card, but just behind the more extreme cards we've tested. Overall, it's exactly where you would expect it to be given its specifications. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided This is a high-performance gaming card, so while it did well in synthetic benchmarks, this is the real proving ground. In Deus Ex it delivered some superb frame rates, and while it hovered in 4th or 5th place, that's no bad place to be. While gaming at 4K, it took third place, while is certainly something to be proud of. Rise of the Tomb Raider Our second DX12 task is promising too, with the PNY XLR8 pulling ahead of the stock 1080 Ti as you would expect. Price Vs Performance is adding up nicely too, as it's a little more expensive than the Aorus card, and performs just a little bit better too. Far Cry Primal Again, strong numbers in Far Cry Primal. This game isn't as demanding as our other benchmarks either, so the framerates are very strong even with ultra settings. 4K performance did drop down a little, not sure why, but a few extra retests confirmed. Of course, the performance is still great, so I'm not going to fault the card for this. Ghost Recon: Wildlands As our most demanding gaming test, it can be hard to hit higher frame rates in Ghost Recon: Wildlands. However, just like clockwork, the PNY XLR8 delivers scores on par with every other benchmark we've done, rocking around 5th place and keeping up with the competition. It did drop at 4K again here, but only by a tiny bit, and thermals were fine, so we still can't put our finger on it. My instinct is telling me its a driver issue. Acoustic, Thermal and Power Testing Acoustic Performance The PNY does run a little louder than the other 1080 Ti's, but it's still well within comfortable limits. It no noisier than a stock 1080 Ti at full load temperatures, but given the Nvidia reference card is one of the best made and quieter stock cards around, that's just fine by me. Thermal Performance Acoustics be damned though, as the card puts those three fans to very good use, delviering some killer temperatures. The card peaked at just 63c, which is pretty much on ice compared to the 84c of the stock card. 21c cooler than reference within the same acoustic window. Power Usage Power usage is high, of course it is, this is a 1080 Ti! It's right where you would guess, especially if you've been following the rest of this review, 5th place. Final Thoughts Price The Nvidia 1080 Ti is an expansive graphics card no matter which brand you go for. Adding a custom cooler and any amount of factory overclock is going to bump that price up pretty darn quickly too. With that in mind, I can't find stable pricing information for this card, or many 1080 Ti's right now. Stock limitations, popularity, who knows, but I suggest you check with the retailers you trust to find the best deals. If you can get it as close to £700 as possible, you should be comfortable. Overview There are quite a few high-end GTX 1080 Ti's on the market right now, and it can be hard to pick between them. Of course, the performance is fairly similar between most of them, and as the performance goes up a bit, the price goes up a lot. It's certainly a scale of diminishing returns right now. However, the PNY XLR8, when you can find stock of it, is pretty competitive. Performance The XLR8 1080 Ti isn't the fastest of the bunch, it sits above the reference card from Nvidia by a nice margin and it's close enough to some of the more extreme models to be competitive. It's not really overclocked out of the box, but the much bigger cooler allows it to maintain the raw performance of the 1080 Ti chipset for much longer, giving us solid performance figures. Aesthetics The design is certainly unique, not to everyone's taste I will admit, but that's very subjective anyway. Without a doubt, there will be some of you working on builds where this design will be perfect! The build quality is decent though, and the metal panels of the shroud do look cool. Three large fans deliver lots of airflow, and while not as quiet as they could be, they're a far cry from being a problem. Should I Buy One? If you can pick one up at the right price, the PNY XLR8 GTX 1080 Ti is one of the fastest graphics cards on the planet right now and more than worthy of your attention. Pros Unique design Competitive performance Excellent cooling Competitive price Great for gaming Cons Hard to find stock at most retailers