Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super FE in the test

– After the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super and the GeForce RTX 2070 Super, the GeForce RTX 2080 Super is still missing as the fastest variant of the three new Turing models. The graphics card is faster than its direct predecessor, but ultimately not more than a small upgrade.

The GeForce RTX 2080 Super, the GeForce RTX 2060 Super and the GeForce RTX 2070 Super, is the fastest expansion stage of the three new Turing graphics cards, because at least according to the current status there won't be a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Super. The GeForce RTX 2080 Super is said to cost 739 euros – both Nvidia's own Founders Edition and the first partner cards.

The unrivaled GeForce RTX 2080 Super

The GeForce RTX 2080 Super is a loner. While the GeForce RTX 2060 Super competes against AMD's new Radeon RX 5700 and the GeForce RTX 2070 Super duels the Radeon RX 5700 XT, the GeForce RTX 2080 Super has no opponent. The graphics card is faster than the conventional GeForce RTX 2080, but the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti remains the flagship. There is currently no opponent of AMD in this performance class.

BitcoinMinersHashrate has tested the GeForce RTX 2080 Super Founders Edition. This is basically the new reference design, which is exclusively distributed by Nvidia itself and acts as the basic model. The GeForce RTX 2080 and the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti serve as opponents, as does the Founders Edition.

The premiere: a full TU104 and a faster GDDR6 memory

There are two premieres on the GeForce RTX 2080 Super. For example, Nvidia uses a fully activated TU104 GPU on the graphics card for the first time. There were 46 streaming multiprocessors and thus 2,944 ALUs on the GeForce RTX 2080, the super model, on the other hand, uses all 48 SMs, which results in 3,072 ALUs and, with the same clock rate, a four percent higher computing power.

Since this is not enough to distinguish itself significantly from the predecessor with identical technology, Nvidia has raised the power limit on the GeForce RTX 2080 Super from 215 watts (225 watts on the FE) to 250 watts. The clock rates were also increased to a base clock of 1,650 MHz and an average turbo clock of 1,815 MHz. Compared to the GeForce RTX 2080 FE, this is only 15 MHz more. If you compare this with the reference data, you get at least 105 MHz.

For the first time there is a faster GDDR6 memory

For a further speed increase, the GeForce RTX 2080 Super is no longer equipped with 7,000 MHz fast GDDR6 memory, but for the first time with faster memory – premiere number 2. With 7,752 MHz, the plus is 752 MHz, which means that the memory bandwidth at the same 256- Bit memory interface increases by eleven percent. The memory expansion remains at 8 GB.

The GeForce RTX 2080 Super Founders Edition in detail

The GeForce RTX 2080 Super Founders Edition is available exclusively from Nvidia and costs 739 euros. Those who strike early will receive the Control and Wolfenstein: Youngblood games for free – the promotion is limited in time. The Founders Edition is a "basic model", so the partner cards should either be the same or faster. Similar or even higher prices can also be expected in terms of price.

The GeForce RTX 2080 FE and the GeForce RTX 2080 Super FE are identical in terms of PCB and cooler. The models can only be distinguished by the other lettering and the "mirror" on the new product. Since the board and cooler are identical, the graphics cards also have similar advantages and disadvantages.

So the board with the eight-pin and the additional six-pin power connector has no problem with being overclocked. Nvidia enables a power limit maximized from 250 to 280 watts, the temperature limit can be increased up to 88 degrees Celsius. The cooler behaves exactly like the other Founders Edition models. This makes operation for a reference design fairly quiet when playing, but also quite loud on the Windows desktop, since the fans consistently run at least 1,500 revolutions.

The GeForce RTX 2080 Super FE can control monitors using three DisplayPort 1.4 outputs and an HDMI 2.0b connection. The former master “display stream compression”. There is also a VirtualLink connection for VR headsets, which is carried out via USB Type-C.

On the next page: Benchmarks in Full HD, WQHD and Ultra HD