![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
Which RTX 3090 customer to choose
- Thread starter Lucky75
- Start date
Mylex
Gawd
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2018
- Messages
- 852
I would do 2,4,1,3,5 in that order. I just am not a fan of the look of the FE cards or paying that much over but I would pay more for the Strix over the FTW3.
Going to echo this same order. I also think STRIX cards have binned chips while the FTW3 cards do not (verify to be sure). But I’d personally go with 3090 AIBs that are close to MSRP as the overclocking headroom on these cards are already pretty much maxed unless you want to get 5-10% more performance for a whopping +100w of power.
I also do not like the FE cards this time around. The 12-pin connector location is not ideal and the TUF has a better, quieter cooler (at least on the 3080).
In that case any of those work. Get the cheapest one if you plan to keep it stock or try and overclock it a little. If you want to get the best performance regardless of power consumption then your best bet will probably be the STRIX for currently released cards.
Silicon lottery is pretty much the most important factor for these cards for overclocking given they are already mostly maxed out from the factory.
This being the case, then the primary concern is availability of a water jacket. You need to slow your roll, wait for widespread availability of the cards, and then look at which ones you can get a water jacket for that jives with the rest of your setup.
I would guess that, given all those limitations, the EVGA XC3 is likely to be the best bet for you.
There are already ASUS STRIX and TUF water blocks from EKWB and AlphaCool I believe. EVGA cards likely to follow soon. EKWB is supposed to release a block for the FE cards but it sounds like they’re going to market it as a very premium water block which means $$$.
My take from reading various build posts especially for thermals in small cases, I'd put it like this.
Every single card out there is able to hit massive clocks from the perspective of the silicon. If you are OCing, it's going to be about the support the card gives to the silicon. Since you are going to water cool, that means you need to focus on power delivery. That means teh FTW3 ultra or the strix from your list. The 2x8 pin cards have a "don't set shit on fire" limit of 375w max of power. The 3x8 pin cards add another 150w to that theoretically.
For SFF on air, the FE is the winner as long as the pull through fan isn't blocked. If you have a case like that, the XC3 is the winner for fitment and cooling, but the TUF may fit, and if it does that is the likely winner in the most number of SFF cases.
For bang per cubic inch, the small board design for the FE is looking like it will yeild the absolute smallest footprint with water cooling via custom loop.
Oerall I think the FE is the value leader.
The SFF community has been sharing a lot of numbers, especially for sandwich style cases. If you can get the pull fan on the FE even a little bit of airflow space, it seems to be working pretty well. In general even the three fan designs are better behaved for a lot of SFF builds than the 2080ti was despite everyone predicting they would be worse. I don't think there is a definitive winner for best performance in a case with shitty airflow. The FE has an edge in being able to work around it, but the triple slot cards have more heat mass and radiating surface. So you have the choice of taking longer to heat soak or more ability to recover form it in a shitty case design. It's not clear that it matters outside of benchmarking.
Manny Calavera
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2004
- Messages
- 3,986
VirtualMirage
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2011
- Messages
- 470
FE works great in smaller cases. I have one in my Fractal Design Node 804 and I have yet to see it exceed 69c under load using the stock fan profile. It's also helpful that with a hybrid blower style fan setup, some of the hot air is exhausted out of the case.
If water cooling, the board on the FE is shorter and should allow you more room in your case with a water block installed over the other boards that are using a more traditional board layout. However, it seems like the FE water blocks are taking longer to arrive. Depending on your urgency to water cool, this may or may not be an issue. I was strongly considering water cooling mine, but I am not in a rush, so this isn't an issue for me. But seeing how well and quiet the stock cooler is, I might not even water cool. I will wait and see how much of improvement it makes for others first and what kind of additional radiator capacity is going to be needed for this video card before I commit.
Lastly, from a cost perspective, the FE is one of the cheapest boards to acquire while not really skimping on build quality.
If water cooling, the board on the FE is shorter and should allow you more room in your case with a water block installed over the other boards that are using a more traditional board layout. However, it seems like the FE water blocks are taking longer to arrive. Depending on your urgency to water cool, this may or may not be an issue. I was strongly considering water cooling mine, but I am not in a rush, so this isn't an issue for me. But seeing how well and quiet the stock cooler is, I might not even water cool. I will wait and see how much of improvement it makes for others first and what kind of additional radiator capacity is going to be needed for this video card before I commit.
Lastly, from a cost perspective, the FE is one of the cheapest boards to acquire while not really skimping on build quality.
Monstieur
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2011
- Messages
- 440
My 3090 FE is stable at +100 core, and does +750 memory with no performance degradation. It makes no sense to spend $200 to $300 more on an AIB 3090 given that the 3090 already costs $1500 for 15% more performance than a $700 3080. Put that extra money into a waterblock.
The Corsair waterblock for the 3090 FE comes with a 2-slot IO bracket.
The Corsair waterblock for the 3090 FE comes with a 2-slot IO bracket.
Not sure why people are recommending the OP the FE based on exhausting heat out of the case. He said he was going to watercool the card...
Analysis of the 3080 TUF PCB (essentially the same as the 3090 TUF).
TL;DW the components used on the TUF PCBs either match or surpass the components of the FE. At MSRP the TUF is the card to get. Going above MSRP it’ll depend on your price point. But the STRIX’s PCB is also praised in the video above.
Analysis of the 3080 TUF PCB (essentially the same as the 3090 TUF).
TL;DW the components used on the TUF PCBs either match or surpass the components of the FE. At MSRP the TUF is the card to get. Going above MSRP it’ll depend on your price point. But the STRIX’s PCB is also praised in the video above.
Whichever one you can get your hands on is the glib but serious answer.
I always get evga or nvidia, just because you don’t get any warranty problems even if it’s had a waterblock on.
It never seems worth paying for the higher end ones when you are watercooling it. You get way more head room from it being 30 degrees cooler than you do off the binning. Obviously you’d get still more but you’re really chasing diminishing returns.
I just get the cheapest evga one basically.
I always get evga or nvidia, just because you don’t get any warranty problems even if it’s had a waterblock on.
It never seems worth paying for the higher end ones when you are watercooling it. You get way more head room from it being 30 degrees cooler than you do off the binning. Obviously you’d get still more but you’re really chasing diminishing returns.
I just get the cheapest evga one basically.