Why it matters to you
If price isn’t an issue for you, Palit’s GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card surpasses the Titan Xp in performance.
After introducing new GeForce GTX 1080 Ti cards under its JetStream and GameRock brands, Palit Microsystems is serving up an overclocked limited edition GTX 1080 Ti card through its Galax and KFA2 labels: The Hall of Fame Limited Edition. The card was reportedly built from scratch with extreme overclocking in mind and will sell for more than $1,200 when it arrives at the end of May.
Here are the specs of the upcoming HOF Limited Edition card compared to Nvidia’s reference design and the GTX Titan Xp:
Nvidia GTX Titan Xp
Galax/KFA2 HOF Limited Edition
Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti
Graphics chip:
GP102
GP102
GP102
Manufacturing process:
16nm
16nm
16nm
Transistor count:
12 billion
12 billion
12 billion
CUDA cores:
3,840
3,584
3,584
Texture mapping units:
240
224
224
Render output units:
96
88
88
Base speed:
1,481MHz
1,645MHz
1,481MHz
Boost speed:
1,582MHz
1,759MHz
1,582MHz
Performance:
12.1 TFLOPS
12.6 TFLOPS
11.3 TFLOPS
Memory amount:
12GB GDDR5X
11GB GDDR5X
11GB GDDR5X
Memory speed:
11.4GT/s
11GT/s
11GT/s
Memory interface:
384-bit
352-bit
352-bit
Memory bandwidth
547.2GB/s
484GB/s
484GB/s
Max power usage:
250 watts
350 watts
250 watts
Price:
$1,200
~$1,200
$700
As the chart shows, Palit’s upcoming GTX 1080 Ti definitely cranks the performance up a notch with higher base and boost speeds. It will be slightly higher in price compared to the GTX Titan Xp card, which crams 256 more cores into the GP102 graphics chip. Palit’s card also appears to outperform the GTX Xp despite having a slightly smaller memory amount and memory bandwidth.
Overall, the Galax and KFA2 models appear to be identical outside their packaging. Both include one DVI-D port, one HDMI 2.0b port, and three DisplayPort 1.4 ports. They also have a HOF-branded anodized aluminum backplate to prevent the printed circuit board from bending and to increase the card’s cooling performance.
That said, both models ship with the Trimax cooler that comprises of three 90mm fans encased in a white shield. This shield also plays host to a nifty onboard display so users can quickly see the card’s real-time info such as the current speed, the temperature, the current driver version, and so on. Owners can also use the free Xtreme Tuner Plus software to program custom messages.
Highlighting this screen is the card’s HOF lighting system, which illuminates the center fan’s border, the HOF logos parked on each side of the display, and the three eight-pin power connectors. That is right: You need three eight-pin connectors to keep this overclocked card juiced given that the PCI Express bus does not provide enough electrical meat to feed this beast.
Based on the product pages, the illumination system features the full RGB spectrum and different lighting effects although the card appears to use the “breathing” effect out of the box. Palit suggests that users can “create your own gaming rig,” indicating that the illumination is customizable through the Xtreme Tuner Plus software.
Overclockers UK lists the KFA2 model now to pre-purchase for around $1,232. The product listing shows the card to feature several noise-reducing technologies, a 12-layer printed circuit board, and a two-slot height requirement. Palit suggests using a 600-watt power supply to handle the card.