GN resident overclocker ‘Buildzoid’ just finished digging through the details of EVGA’s GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 ($780) video card, noting that the card is one of the most overbuilt 1080 Tis that we’ve seen yet. The FTW3 over-engineers its VRM and power delivery solution and cooling solution equally, the latter of which we detailed in our 1080 Ti FTW3 tear-down a few days ago.
Much of this is to do with the FTW VRM discussion of last year, something we closed the book on in November. Our conclusion was that the cards were operating within thermal spec, but that there were supply-side QA issues that happened to fall on EVGA. The engineering team decided to design for this by over-engineering every aspect of the VRM on the new ICX and 1080 Ti cards, something we see in today’s PCB analysis:
Timestamps:
- 0:12 – EVGA FTW Controversy Backstory
- 3:08 – VRM Cooling Overcompensation
- 5:01 – Minor VRM Analysis & VCore pt1
- 9:40 – EVGA Loses its Mind: VCore VRM Design
- 17:25 – Amperage Ratings
- 22:38 – Conclusion & Recap
Our review is forthcoming, as is the conclusion of the 1080 Ti Hybrid mod (in-depth article + video). Stay tuned for all that. In the meantime, Buildzoid’s analysis of the FTW3 PCB & VRM is well worth the watch. Lots to learn, here.
Editorial: Steve Burke
PCB Analyst: ‘Buildzoid’