Review: KFA2 GeForce RTX 3080 Ti SG

Its a solid looking card.
But cost more then my 6800xt did adding the cost of a water block and is usually slower in most titles.

 

Jay actually slammed this card

 

Not much to look at with that lazy, Wires hanging out the front design and all.

 

I didn't give him my pictures of the kfa2 3090 because I think he wanted me to whatsapp him or something, not interested in doing that
but I can post them here so you get an exclusive view of why KFA2 is really only a brand you buy because you have no other choice


my review of the 3090 KFA2 :
- unbearable fan noise
- good cooling for an air cooler (without using the weird addon fan)
- normal performance except 3dmark port royal for some reason
- reference design = 100% power limited = lower results than every other "unlocked" AIB card
- I fixed it by using this bios but it doesn't support rebar so I might have to drop it one day https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/226727/226727 with a 390w power limit "surprise" it goes from below average 3dmark to average/above average

I bought it for 2 reasons :
1) the day after the NA tariffs went live (roughly +200$) I understood that it was "now or never" they never had any 3080 but they had "cheap" 3090 no one wanted to buy, everyone hoping to find better, I'm not a very optimistic person
2) I was going to watercool it anyway, hoped for an asus/ek or aorus waterforce but those came in stock too late after the price skyrocketed

I bought it for 1600€ at an honest retailer a "bargain" for 2021 I'm not mentioning it in USD because americans can't understand that their currency took a major plunge in the recent years and that their MSRP is now a fantasy, and that they won't be able to buy cards at those fake MSRPS, that Linus called out in a video btw Nvidia never intended to sell more than a few cards at those ultra low "US only" prices

EDIT : sorry if I'm annoying but every day I read comments like "I'll buy a 3080 when it's 599USD" no you won't it's never going to happen especially not when you own one and you know it's DOUBLE the performance of a 1080Ti DOUBLE...most of my games now run 250-300fps if I don't use vsync in 1080p...the performance gap is HUGE and clearly worth more than "same price or less" than a 1080ti

 

How does it perform with mining? much worse then a 3070 of 3080?

 

Literally wires sticking out of card.
How it's a "solid looking card" , I do not understand.

1500€ and aluminium heat pipes?
I would expect copper. But I guess that's something only Palit and maybe XFX will offer.

 

It shouldn't be used for for mining as you are basically stealing from gamers that can't get one, it only should be used for gaming.

 

I have a 3080 I mine on when I'm working or not home and game on when I can. I already paid for the whole card + profit mining on it. It's not stealing anything.

 

I have this card too and you must be unlucky, the noise is quite ok for me. And I paid it roughly the same as you did, and even if it's not the best model, I'm quite happy with it. Coming from a 1080ti too it's really a big step up.