For our temperature testing, we measure the peak GPU core temperature under load, as well as the GPU temperature with the card idling on the desktop. A reading under load comes from running the 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra stress test 20 times. An idle reading comes after leaving the system on the Windows desktop for 30 minutes.
Well then. Gigabyte's RTX 2080 Gaming OC is a stellar performer when it comes to thermal dynamics. Its peak of just 65C on the GPU core is a fantastic result that says a lot about the Windforce 3X cooler that Gigabyte has deployed here. It's a full 10C cooler than the Founders card.
As we would expect considering the GPU core only hit 65C, the thermal gun shows nothing to be concerned about. In fact, its peak of just 63.3C on the side of the card is again a fantastic result, while the 58.9C hot spot on the rear of the card really shows the benefits of including a backplate to the rear of the PCB.