PNY GTX 1080 Ti XLR8 OC Gaming 11GB Review

PNY's GTX 1080 Ti XLR8 OC Gaming is probably the most conservative interpretation of Nvidia's GTX 1080 Ti to undergo KitGuru testing. PNY has taken the Founders Edition card, swapped the cooling assembly and embedded a mild factory overclock into the vBIOS.

The end result is that the PNY GTX 1080 Ti XLR8 runs cooler and faster than the Founders Edition card with similar levels of noise based on our testing. The PCB design and I/O haven't changed but PNY's addition of a backplate and an improved cooling solution make this card a definite upgrade on the Founders Edition, providing there is no specific requirement for the rear-exhaust blower cooling system.

Pricing and availability will underpin whether or not a consumer decides to purchase this PNY graphics card. PNY need to keep pricing competitive; similar to that of Nvidia's Founders Edition model and below that of rival overclocked offerings that deliver more features. At the time of writing UK pricing and availability was impossible to come by while in North America PNY has tacked on a $35 premium over the Founders Edition which is reasonable enough all things considered. PNY provides a 3 year warranty with this graphics card.

The bottom line for PNY's XLR8 OC Gaming GTX 1080 Ti is that many of its rivals (at least those tested by KitGuru) are better in terms of cooling, features, noise and performance. PNY needs to keep pricing at the entry point of the market since the PNY XLR8 OC Gaming only really offers a tangible upgrade over the Founders Edition and blower-style GTX 1080 Tis.

Given that pricing remains an unknown at the current point in time due to mining-induced market volatility it is hard to make a concrete judgement. Our best advice would be that the PNY card should remain a price-sensitive “consideration” to prospective GTX 1080 Ti owners. However, when a GTX 1080 Ti already requires significant outlay (£670+) to purchase, what's another £50 to upgrade to highly-rated custom solution with excellent cooling and a rich feature set?

Pros

• Dual-slot form factor
• Full-cover Backplate
• Improved cooling and performance over Founders Edition
• 3 year warranty

Cons:

• Lacking features such as RGB lighting, BIOS switches, passive fan mode, etc.
• Struggles to keep up with the cooling, noise and performance of rival custom GTX 1080 Tis
• Hampered by lack of availability

KitGuru says: PNY's GTX 1080 Ti XLR8 OC Gaming is a no-frills custom-cooled graphics card that offers improved cooling and performance over the reference Founders Edition model.

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