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As the fifth RTX 4080 that I have now reviewed, there is no doubt in my mind that the ASUS RTX 4080 ROG Strix is the best of the lot – and by a fair distance.
Things got off to a good start as the Strix is incredibly well built, with a metal shroud, backplate and inner frame, all of which gives it a highly premium look and feel. Admittedly, the choice of the blue and red accent colours on the shroud may not be for everyone, but unless you are vertically mounting the graphics card, you wouldn't see them anyway, so I don't think it matters too much.
Cooling performance is a very strong area for the Strix as well – when noise-normalised, we saw the best GPU thermals we have seen from any RTX 4080 so far, though the margins are fairly slim. Arguably more impressive is the low noise output from the card however, particularly if you opt for the Quiet BIOS. This drops fan speed to barely 1000rpm, resulting in a whisper-quiet graphics card.
The dual-BIOS implementation is also very good as a whole, with a choice between the higher power but higher fan speed Performance BIOS, or the lower power but lower fan speed Quiet BIOS. ASUS also included two 4-pin PWM fan headers on the end of the card which is a nice value add if you want to add in a couple of extra case fans that are controlled from the GPU.
All told, I look at the overall design and engineering that went into the Strix and it is hard to come away feeling anything other than highly impressed. However… at the end of the day, this is still an RTX 4080 GPU, using Nvidia's AD103 silicon. As good as the card and cooler that ASUS built are, that doesn't change the fact you are still getting a GPU that simply does not offer good value.
Unfortunately, that is compounded by the fact that the Strix is currently the joint-most expensive RTX 4080 at Overclockers UK, coming in at £1469.99. That's a 22% increase over Nvidia's baseline MSRP, and is just way too close to the asking price of the RTX 4090 – something that just makes very little sense to me. Would you really drop almost £1500 on a graphics card, but not stump up the extra 100 or-so Pounds to get the best of the best?
Because of that, I look at the ASUS RTX 4080 ROG Strix as somewhat of a ‘tech demo', a demonstration of what ASUS can do and what a brilliant graphics card can be like, but ultimately something that isn't a realistic purchase for the vast, vast majority of gamers out there.
We found the RTX 4080 ROG Strix for £1469.99 on Overclockers UK HERE.
Pros
- Incredibly well built.
- Best noise-normalised GPU thermals of any RTX 4080 so far.
- Fasted RTX 4080 we've tested.
- Quietest RTX 4080 yet.
- Excellent dual-BIOS implementation.
- Extra two PWN fan headers on the card.
Cons
- RTX 4080 is poor value overall.
- Very steep price premium over the baseline MSRP puts the price far too close to the RTX 4090.
- Largest card we've ever tested.
KitGuru says: It's the fastest, coolest and quietest – but the pricing is exorbitant for an RTX 4080.
