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Rounding out our launch day coverage of the new RTX 4080 Super, this review has focused on the Palit RTX 4080 Super JetStream OC, a relatively stripped-back card that targets the £959 price point.
By and large, it is a fine card, offering a decent cooler that just manages to out-perform the Founders Edition model when noise-normalised, while it also offers low out of the box noise levels, thanks to the three fans spinning at just 1400rpm.
We did, however, observe some interesting behaviour from the GPU, as it clocked anywhere from 70-120MHz slower than the 4080 Super Founders Edition. This could just be the silicon lottery and I was unlucky to get a slightly below-par AD103 chip, but it actually meant our 4080 (non-Super) Founders Edition was a frame or two faster. I don't think you'd notice the difference in the real world, but it does show how much of an underwhelming new GPU this is, considering a higher-performing 4080 is actually faster than a slightly below-par 4080 Super!
Overclocking headroom is also limited by Palit's decision to lock the maximum power limit at 100%, or 320W, meaning it cannot be increased. This saw the card ran at less than 2800MHz when overclocked, whereas the Gigabyte Gaming OC has a 400W power limit and was stable at over 3GHz in my testing.
Those two quirks are enough to give me some pause about recommending this card, along with the lack of dual-BIOS which hurts at this price point. The JetStream OC isn't bad, in fact the cooler is actually quite effective, but when you're spending almost £1000 on a graphics card, I think it's fair to want a little more than what is on offer here.
You can find the Palit RTX 4080 Super JetStream OC for £959 from Scan HERE.
Pros
- Simple, understated design.
- Cooler is a slight improvement over the Founders Edition.
- Fans are quiet under load, spinning at 1400rpm.
- Targets the £959 MSRP.
- Support for the full RTX feature set including DLSS, ray tracing etc.
Cons
- My sample didn't boost particularly high, meaning it was actually a touch slower than the RTX 4080 non-Super.
- Lacks dual-BIOS.
- Power limit cannot be increased.
- Appearance and lack of lighting won't appeal to everyone.
KitGuru says: If you find it at a good price and don't mind the lack of dual-BIOS, the JetStream OC has a solid cooler than runs quiet under load. It's just a shame my sample didn't run that fast, while it also has a locked power limit.
