NOVEMBER 2020 PCWorld 73power for the Founders Edition at 320W—more
than the RTX 2080 Ti’s 260W, and nearly 100W
more than the RTX 2080’s 225W rating.
Appropriately, the recommended power supply
wattage for the RTX 3080 FE is 100W higher
than the 2080’s. Nvidia says you’ll need a 750W
PSU for this card.
- NVIDIA’S RADICAL FE
DESIGN IS GORGEOUS
AND EFFECTIVE
Taming this much power takes more work
than before, too. Nvidia introduced a wholly
redesigned Founders Edition cooler for the
RTX 30-series, featuring a radical new “flow-
through” push-pull fan design.
The fan at the rear of the system stays in its
normal place, embedded in the shroud at the
bottom of the card. The front fan moves to the
top of the graphics card, where you’d
normally see a backplate or bare PCB. The
rear fan pushes air through the rear I/O
bracket on your card, while the top-mounted
front fan pulls cool air up through the FE’s
substantial heatsink fins and into the top of
your case, where your case fans can exhaust
the hot air out the back of your systems.
It’s weird, but it works. The GeForce RTX
3080 Founders Edition tops out at 79
degrees Celsius under load (comparable to
past Founders Edition models), but it runs
noticeably quieter. Custom versions of the
RTX 3080 will still probably run cooler. This
gets the job done very well, though.
The Founders Edition card bristles with
thick black heat fins enshrouded by a
gorgeous, pewter-colored wraparound
shroud. A white illuminated GeForce RTX
logo on the edge serves as a cherry on top.
Nvidia’s graphics card is drop-dead gorgeous
and feels dense in your hand.
It’s not all good, however. The heavily
integrated design will be a nightmare to tear
apart, while the flow-through cooler could
prove tricky in small-form-factor systems.
Nvidia also used a shortened custom PCB for
its Founders Edition so it could squeeze in the
unique flow-through cooling design. That
necessitated switching to a custom 12-pin
power connector. The adapter required toWhole system power draw. Yup, the RTX 3080 FE
is hungry.
SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE282361354375Whole system power draw
WattsNvidia GeForce GTX 1080 FEEVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 FENvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super
FE
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti FENvidia GeForce RTX 3080 FE43348255.450.856.756.957.862.3Load Idle