question on GPU from AIB partners

[transparos]

for those who often buy high end gpu like 80s or 90s GPU, do u go for the better variant? is it worth it?
do people pay more because it is nicer looking and maybe cooler is better? because the difference in the variant is like quite substantial and previously i will just go for the cheapest brand zotac. i am building a new pc soon and thinking whether to buy a better variant or the money can be put elsewhere if there is not much difference in performance, maybe 1-2% between the different variants of each brand.

for example:

Asus: tuf gaming vs strix
MSI: ventus vs gaming x trio vs suprimx
Gigabyte: gaming oc vs aorus master vs aorus extreme

 

[Yongkit]

you can have a look at this youtuber research and you can use auto translate to english subtitle too.

I suggest to go main stream model of each brands based on your build (if any) in term of theme build or warranty example the TUF / Gaming X / Aorus master which have better build material / fan speed cooling capabilities & higher GPU clock speed than FE model.

Zotac is also good choice with good warranty coverage period, the only draw back i find it was normally perform very close to FE model and for 3080 it was slower than FE model in performance based on some youtuber test.
Nevertheless Zotac also have higher OC model which price very close to other brand main stream model.

 

[Op_Valkyrie]

My rule of thumb is as long as ekwb or other bigger wc companies are building their blocks for those AiB models, you won’t go wrong with that as most of the research (technical/market) were already done by them before they sink in their r&d cost.

 

[watzup_ken]

There is little reasons to get the high end models. For the premium you pay, it is not going to result in a significant improvement in performance no matter how much you can overclock it. The cooler solution may be better, but these cards generally have a higher power limit which also results in higher heat output.

 

[transparos]

so can i summarise and say for example the strix model, u pay premium for the better cooling feature and maybe 1-2% more performance than the tuf model? besides that no other advantages?

if like this i dun think i will be going for strix, i am not a theme build person, e.g must asus theme build etc, or all white build.

 

[Kapish]

i always go for the longest warranty which is zotac
makes sense if you are buying 4090 for long term

 

[royfrosty]

so can i summarise and say for example the strix model, u pay premium for the better cooling feature and maybe 1-2% more performance than the tuf model? besides that no other advantages?

if like this i dun think i will be going for strix, i am not a theme build person, e.g must asus theme build etc, or all white build.

Going for "theme build", this alone already mean that you are probably not gonna get anything value from the parts you choose. Cause this means that you will pay more for asthetics.

Any way back to your original question.

AIB partners tend to charge more for their higher end models. But ultimately, it is still the same GPU chip. The main difference is the PCB board that they have created. Also they have catered an X amount of power to the GPU chip to push the frequency upwards.

However, there is a slight difference in clock speed from the cheapest to the most expensive models. If you pay more, you get higher clocks speed out of the box without much tinkering. This is something guaranteed on the manufacturers end. So basically, they tested this card to be running faster than the cheaper models.

As for if you buy the cheapest model or the reference model. You really need to push it to the fullest in order to gain some performance.

I give you an example, I bought the Galax RTX 3080 SG OC, this model is a reference design PCB with a power capped by Galax at 340w (IIRC). In order to really push it, there is only that much you can do with the given 340w power target. Where by if you buy an Asus Strix RTX3080, the power capped is significantly much higher.

For a Galax to go touch the Asus Strix, i needed a BIOS flashing of probably the same reference design board but with a higher power target. That will risked my card bricked and some instability issues. Just to get near to the Asus Strix. Even if i were to do so, the Cooler strap to it might not cut it.

Was it worth it? Depends, if you are curious on overclocking and you dont wish to spend the extra money, why not?

But if you wanna squeeze every ounce of performance out from the GPU chip, then obviously you got to buy the higher end ones instead. But take note, despite buying the highest end model, you could still overclock or tune it further, but you will also meet up with the power limit OR Nvidia max power locked.

In real life, your percentage gain? Small. Even despite doing all you can, the performance gain is not that big. Single digit frame.

 

[Yongkit]

so can i summarise and say for example the strix model, u pay premium for the better cooling feature and maybe 1-2% more performance than the tuf model? besides that no other advantages?

if like this i dun think i will be going for strix, i am not a theme build person, e.g must asus theme build etc, or all white build.

I would not considered the 1-2% variance conclude the finding as it really depends on how good is your overall system setup.
As if your CPU become the bottleneck of the gaming performance then the 1-2% could be increase 5-10% possiblity

 

[transparos]

i always go for the longest warranty which is zotac
makes sense if you are buying 4090 for long term

Yea. Current rig of 6 years still using zotac. Have to say it last quite long haha.

But just thinking of other brands with different variant for my next build

 

[transparos]

Going for "theme build", this alone already mean that you are probably not gonna get anything value from the parts you choose. Cause this means that you will pay more for asthetics.

Any way back to your original question.

AIB partners tend to charge more for their higher end models. But ultimately, it is still the same GPU chip. The main difference is the PCB board that they have created. Also they have catered an X amount of power to the GPU chip to push the frequency upwards.

However, there is a slight difference in clock speed from the cheapest to the most expensive models. If you pay more, you get higher clocks speed out of the box without much tinkering. This is something guaranteed on the manufacturers end. So basically, they tested this card to be running faster than the cheaper models.

As for if you buy the cheapest model or the reference model. You really need to push it to the fullest in order to gain some performance.

I give you an example, I bought the Galax RTX 3080 SG OC, this model is a reference design PCB with a power capped by Galax at 340w (IIRC). In order to really push it, there is only that much you can do with the given 340w power target. Where by if you buy an Asus Strix RTX3080, the power capped is significantly much higher.

For a Galax to go touch the Asus Strix, i needed a BIOS flashing of probably the same reference design board but with a higher power target. That will risked my card bricked and some instability issues. Just to get near to the Asus Strix. Even if i were to do so, the Cooler strap to it might not cut it.

Was it worth it? Depends, if you are curious on overclocking and you dont wish to spend the extra money, why not?

But if you wanna squeeze every ounce of performance out from the GPU chip, then obviously you got to buy the higher end ones instead. But take note, despite buying the highest end model, you could still overclock or tune it further, but you will also meet up with the power limit OR Nvidia max power locked.

In real life, your percentage gain? Small. Even despite doing all you can, the performance gain is not that big. Single digit frame.

I see. Thanks for the insights

 

[transparos]

I would not considered the 1-2% variance conclude the finding as it really depends on how good is your overall system setup.
As if your CPU become the bottleneck of the gaming performance then the 1-2% could be increase 5-10% possiblity

I see. Waiting to get the recently announced x3d chips. Therefore gpu wise considering the different types of variant.

Maybe the amount save on buying tuf instead of strix for example can be use to buy 7900x3d instead of 7800x3d. So thinking about it now

 

[86technie]

so can i summarise and say for example the strix model, u pay premium for the better cooling feature and maybe 1-2% more performance than the tuf model? besides that no other advantages?

if like this i dun think i will be going for strix, i am not a theme build person, e.g must asus theme build etc, or all white build.

For ASUS graphic card there are many series. Dual -> TUF -> STRIX
STRIX will be highest end with better cooling as lighting.
Tuf will be in the middle with solid cooling solution but the lighting is either minimal
or just a logo.

Dual will be entry but higher end graphic card doesn't have dual models.
There is also Phoenix range but these range are not sold locally which is for good reason
since it uses one fan.

STRIX have better performance than TUF? No, you pay more for better cooling as well as
the light bar.

ASUS STRIX RTX 3080

ASUS TUF RTX3080

If you go for ASUS, TUF will be more than enough unless you want the fancy light.
ASUS graphic card usually are pricey so alternative options are either Zotac or MSI.
Only Zotac provides 5 years warranty unlike most other with three years warranty.

So which to choose really depends on your budget than anything else.

 

[watzup_ken]

so can i summarise and say for example the strix model, u pay premium for the better cooling feature and maybe 1-2% more performance than the tuf model? besides that no other advantages?

if like this i dun think i will be going for strix, i am not a theme build person, e.g must asus theme build etc, or all white build.

At stock, premium cards are just clocked a tiny bit faster. In reality, the slight bump in clockspeed will likely see a negligible increase in performance. I don't even think that factory overclock will result in a 1% improvement in performance. What the higher end cards offer is usually a higher power limit, which allows you to overclock better. But there is no guarantee that you can achieve a certain level of overclocking, and the returns as you can find in reviews are also in the low single digit %. The premium on the Asus Strix for example is way over what it is actually worth. For example if you look at the RTX 4080, they are charging the Strix version at RTX 4090 price. That's at least 600 bucks overpriced just for a high power limit, where the likes of Zotac AMP AIRO can achieve the same. Instead of paying that 600 bucks to Asus, I rather keep the money to buy a custom water cooling solution if cooling is a priority. So my recommendation, just check for reviews and just get a card that is reasonably priced.

 

[watzup_ken]

For ASUS graphic card there are many series. Dual -> TUF -> STRIX
STRIX will be highest end with better cooling as lighting.
Tuf will be in the middle with solid cooling solution but the lighting is either minimal
or just a logo.

Dual will be entry but higher end graphic card doesn't have dual models.
There is also Phoenix range but these range are not sold locally which is for good reason
since it uses one fan.

STRIX have better performance than TUF? No, you pay more for better cooling as well as
the light bar.

ASUS STRIX RTX 3080

ASUS TUF RTX3080

If you go for ASUS, TUF will be more than enough unless you want the fancy light.
ASUS graphic card usually are pricey so alternative options are either Zotac or MSI.
Only Zotac provides 5 years warranty unlike most other with three years warranty.

So which to choose really depends on your budget than anything else.

I feel Asus cards are in the first place overpriced. Coming to Singapore, there is another "premium tax" on it. So much so that they are often ridiculously overpriced. Again taking the example of the RTX 4080 Strix, that is in the price range of a RTX 4090. And no matter how well you can overclock the card, you cannot reach the performance of the RTX 4090 at stock.

As you have pointed out, the cooling solution is better. This I agree. But if you look at the pictures of the 2 cards, the Strix uses 3x 8pin power, so higher power limit, thus, necessary for better cooling. The TUF on the other hand uses just 2x 8pin. That extra 150W in the Strix generally only translates to about 150 to 200 Mhz better clockspeed. Basically I think we are hitting the limit of the silicon more than we are hitting a power ceiling, since the diminishing return is hitting hard. And 200 Mhz don't translate to a meaningful increase in performance.

 

[ragnarok95]

Don't know about RTX4000 TUF pricing but when i got my Asus RTX3070Ti TUF, it was actually one of the cheaper model available after Galax and Zotac. So, it was a obvious choice for me. Beside, the TUF design looks better than that of Zotac and Galax. Another plus point for me.

 

[86technie]

I feel Asus cards are in the first place overpriced. Coming to Singapore, there is another "premium tax" on it. So much so that they are often ridiculously overpriced. Again taking the example of the RTX 4080 Strix, that is in the price range of a RTX 4090. And no matter how well you can overclock the card, you cannot reach the performance of the RTX 4090 at stock.

As you have pointed out, the cooling solution is better. This I agree. But if you look at the pictures of the 2 cards, the Strix uses 3x 8pin power, so higher power limit, thus, necessary for better cooling. The TUF on the other hand uses just 2x 8pin. That extra 150W in the Strix generally only translates to about 150 to 200 Mhz better clockspeed. Basically I think we are hitting the limit of the silicon more than we are hitting a power ceiling, since the diminishing return is hitting hard. And 200 Mhz don't translate to a meaningful increase in performance.

Exactly like my Asus RTX 2060, I got the Dual which is more than enough than strix model.
If I pay more doesn't mean more performance, like you mention it will hit the silicon performance.

TUF series is more than enough for any PC builders. However if TUF isn't available for that graphic chip than Dual series can be considered.

Strix is overpriced and just a fancy card for those who can afford it.