The first benchmarks show how "super" the RTX 2080 Super really is. Source: TechSpot

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The Nvidia RTX 2080 also has a new "Super" flavour

25.7.2019

Translation: machine translated

More shader cores and a higher clock rate make the RTX 2080 Super slightly faster than the non-Super card. However, this comes at the expense of power consumption. Read on to find out why the Super model is still interesting.

After the RTX 2060 and 2070, Nvidia is also following up with the 2080 and introducing the Geforce RTX 2080 Super version. With the exception of the 2080 Ti, all of Nvidia's current graphics cards have now been released in a new edition. Did Nvidia overestimate the competition - the AMD RX 5700 XT? Or is the chip yield of its own TU104 graphics processors so strong that it no longer needs to be artificially capped? Whatever the question, the RTX 2080 Super is the answer.

What's inside

The RTX 2080 is supposed to be the card that everyone has been waiting for: finally with a full shader count, high-clocked memory and at a price that is only slightly higher than its predecessor. AMD has done a great job with the RX 5700 XT: The benchmarks make you sit up and take notice. Nvidia wanted - or needed - to up the ante and has done so with the 2080 Super. As far as the specifications are concerned, the whole thing doesn't read too bad.

The RTX 2080 is now also available with the label «Super» on it. Source: Rock Paper Shotgun

The same chip is installed as in the 2070 and 2080 models, the well-known TU104 chip. For the first time, the non-professional sector also gets a card with more shader units: There are now 3072 instead of the previous 2944. The GDDR6 video memory is overclocked to a relatively high 7.75 GHz - no other manufacturer can currently boast a higher value - and as is usual for Nvidia, a 256-bit interface is used.

	RTX 2080	RTX 2080 FE	RTX 2080 Super FE	RTX 2080 Ti	RTX 2080 Ti FE
Chip	TU104	TU104	TU104	TU102	TU102
Shader	2944	2944	3072	4352	4352
TMUs	184	184	192	272	272
RT-Cores	46	46	48	68	68
Tensor-Cores	368	368	384	544	544
GPU-Takt	1515 / 1710 MHz	1515 / 1800 MHz	1650 / 1815 MHz	1350 / 1545 MHz	1350 / 1635 MHz
Speicher	8GB GDDR6	8GB GDDR6	8GB GDDR6	11GB GDDR6	11GB GDDR6
Interface	256 Bit @ 7 GHz	256 Bit @ 7 GHz	256 Bit @ 7.75 GHz	352 Bit @ 7 GHz	352 Bit @ 7 GHz
ROPs	64	64	64	96	96
Board-Power	215 Watt	225 Watt	250 Watt	250 Watt	260 Watt

The 2080 Super consumes more power, about as much as the RTX 2080 Ti. However, it is much faster and therefore more efficient. With the boost clock beyond the 1800 MHz limit, Nvidia seems to have set a frequency beyond the sweet spot, which is slowed down by its own watt power limit. Custom designs will hopefully remedy this shortcoming. In terms of the circuit board, the Super model is almost identical to its smaller RTX 2080 brother. Only the two fans are slightly louder under load due to the higher waste heat.

How good is "Super"?

Golem has already tested the card. With a Core i9-9900K, 16 GB DDR4-2667 RAM, a 1 TB WD Black SN750 and the latest driver for the graphics cards, it was given a test run. In terms of frame rates, the Super version achieves around five per cent higher values compared to the normal 2080 model. This puts it almost 30 per cent above the Radeon RX 5700 XT when playing at 1440p or 4K. The 2080 Ti version is 20 per cent ahead of the 2080 Super, provided it is not limited by the processor.

With hardware-accelerated ray tracing in "Battlefield 5" (with 1440p and ultra-detail), the frame rate of the RTX 2080 Super drops from 105 to 65, in Metro Exodus with the same settings from 59 to 43 fps and in "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" from 91 to 52 frames per second. The power consumption is not surprising: In idle mode, the 2080 Super is as economical as the Radeon at around 10 watts, and under load it even consumes slightly more than Nvidia specifies at 254 watts. As with all other cards, the energy requirement depends on how high the load actually is: with 60 Hz Vsync, for example, you consume well under 200 watts.

PC Games Hardware also tested the 2080 Super. It ran at a minimum of 1860 MHz and a maximum of 1935 MHz. For even more details, I also recommend the article with the benchmarks from ComputerBase.

Is digitec also "super"?

For all information on prices and availability of the Nvidia Geforce GTX 2080 Super, follow our colleague Jan Heidenreich or read his article.

The digitec editorial team will endeavour to obtain a 2080 super copy as soon as possible so that we can test it out for ourselves. Stay tuned!

Header image: The first benchmarks show how "super" the RTX 2080 Super really is. Source: TechSpot

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Raphael Knecht

Senior Editor

raphael.knecht@digitecgalaxus.ch

When I'm not stuffing my face with sweets, you'll catch me running around in the gym hall. I’m a passionate floorball player and coach. On rainy days, I tinker with my homebuilt PCs, robots or other gadgets. Music is always my trusted companion. I also enjoy tackling hilly terrain on my road bike and criss-crossing the country on my cross-country skis.

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