GALAX GeForce RTX 3080 10GB SG Review

GALAX GeForce RTX 3080 SG (1-Click OC)

GALAX RTX 3080 SG is a custom graphics card featuring a unique quad-fan cooling solution. 

The SG series from GALAX represents a mid-range in the manufacturer’s lineup. These cards offer custom board and cooler designs, but they are generally slower than EX Gamer or HOF series the company also offers. The graphics card featured in this review based on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 SKU based on GA102-200 graphics processor using 8nm NVIDIA Ampere architecture.

The graphics card is equipped with 10GB of GDDR6 memory attached to a 320-bit memory bus. This provides a maximum theoretical bandwidth up to 760 GB/s. The RTX 3080 was the first SKU to be publicly announced with the new memory technology unlocking frequencies above 19 Gbps.

GALAX RTX 3080 graphics card features GA102 GPU with 8704 CUDA Cores, 272 Texture Units, and 96 ROPs. The graphics card is also featuring NVIDIA’s third-generation Tensor cores in a number of 272, which are used for AI-powered resolution upscaling technology. NVIDIA’s GA102 is also equipped with 2nd gen Ray Tracing cores, which introduce faster hardware raytracing acceleration for the games that support this technology.

The RTX 3080 SG (1-Click OC) features a reference clock speed of 1710 MHz out of the box, however, as the name suggests the card also features a simple automatic overclocking applied through the bundled software. The application automatically detects the installed model of the graphics card and as long as it’s in the database, optional overclocking profiles will be shown. All tests in this review have been performed using both modes.

Card design

GALAX GeForec RTX 3080 SG features triple 92mm fans with an updated 11-blade design. The fans themselves are translucent and there is an RGB lighting behind each fan. This graphics card is also among the first to support HDMI 2.1 display connector. The SG model comes with one HDMI port accompanied by a trio of DisplayPort 1.4 connectors.

The innovative feature of this graphics card is the 1-Click Booster fan. This is an auxiliary fan that can be optionally attached to the back of the graphics card, where the card has exposed ventilation holes. The fan itself is actually very easy to install but requires an additional cable, which may not look great in all cases.

GALAX GeForce RTX 3080 SG has RGB lightning behind the fans. The ‘What’s your game’ logo is also illuminated by LEDs. The RGB lighting is controlled through GALAX’s Xtreme Tuner utility that can be downloaded from the company’s website.

Board and cooler design

The GPU and memory are cooled by a big aluminum base plate attached to seven heat pipes. A large heatsink measures 26.5cm, which is a bit shorter than the cooler shroud itself measuring around 31cm. The heatsink has direct contact pads for the VRM section.

The graphics card features dual 8-pin power connectors attached to 12 power phases.

Bundle

The graphics card comes with a 1-Click Booster fan and VGA holder with RGB lightning (the cable can be attached directly to the graphics card).

Testing platform & methodology

This review features an innovative way of displaying performance. Instead of just using simple bar charts, we rely on a more sophisticated method of displaying data. Each bar chart is accompanied by a time-based graph showing how exactly did the card perform during the test. Please note that:

• We rely on built-in benchmarks when possible.
• We let the game decide whether it should run in borderless or exclusive fullscreen mode
• All games were tested with two monitors connected to the system

More official photos from GALAX: