Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 Graphics Card Review – More For Less

Introduction – Ampere Refresh

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is Nvidia’s traditional 1-year refresh of its current generation cards as the ampere architecture reaches 1 year. However, unlike the previous RTX 20 series GPUs, the new models this time around have a “Ti” moniker instead of the super branding. Both graphics card fills in the gaps in terms of pricing in Nvidia’s current RTX 30 series lineup allowing gamers to have more options to choose from starting with the base RTX 3060 priced at $399 all the way to the RTX 3090 at $1,499. Nvidia’s decision to release Ti models of 3080 and 3070 could also because of AMD’s current RX 6000 series GPUs particularly the RX 6900 XT and RX 6800 XT which sit at the same price range as the RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti, respectively. That said, the RTX 3080 Ti looks to be the more intriguing card as it’s priced $400 more than the 3080 but is also $300 lower than the flagship RTX 3090.

Ampere Architecture

The latest Ampere Architecture features 2nd Generation RT Cores and 3rd Generation Tensor cores that double the performance compared to last generation’s Turing architecture as well as bringing in new and improved features such as Ray Tracing, DLSS 2.0, Nvidia Broadcast, Reflex, and many more.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti sits in between the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 both in terms of specs and pricing. Nvidia’s Computex 2021 Keynote announcement highlighted that the RTX 3080 Ti’s performance is 1.5 times faster than the previous flagship, RTX 2080 Ti which essentially has the same launch price of $1,119.

Specs-wise, the RTX 3080 Ti has 17% more CUDA, Tensor, and RT cores than the RTX 3080 non-Ti while it has 3% fewer overall cores than the flagship RTX 3090. Based on paper, the RTX 3080 Ti with 3% lesser cores looks to be a good deal over the RTX 3090 since the former is 20% cheaper at $300. That said, having 17% more cores than the RTX 3080 doesn’t seem to justify the 50% price increase. When we take into account AMD Radeon GPUs, the RTX 3080 Ti is priced $200 more than the RX 6900 XT, which in some benchmarks, can keep up with the RX 6900 XT so long as Ray Tracing isn’t involved. That said, the RTX 3080 Ti is in a relatively tough spot as its sandwiched by flagship GPUs by both team red and green.

Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti Series

Inno3D’s RTX 3080 Ti lineup consists of four tiers. The X3 series serves as the base or reference model for their lineup while the iChill X3 is the base RGB variant and sits in the middle of the product stack. The iChill X4 is the flagship model with an extra fan hence the higher number to cool down the GA102 GPU. Inno3D also debuts their pre-installed full GPU water block model dubbed the iChill Frostbite. Our focus for this review is the Inno3D GeForce RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4.

Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 – A Closer Look

There isn’t any design change with the packaging of the Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 as it still follows the iChill design with the cooler shroud render and the large X4 text on the left. Unlike most third-party graphics cards, the packaging on the card only shows the standard Nvidia Ampere architecture features instead of a feature highlight of the model and its cooler.

Packaging Contents are as follows:

• RTX 3080Ti iChill X4
• Warranty Card
• Power Supply Guide
• Installation Guide
• Wrench
• RGB Cable

Props to Inno3D for including a PSU guide which is very helpful even for seasoned PC builders as the RTX 3080 Ti is rated at the same 350W TGP as the RTX 3090. The Installation Guide shows how to use the included wrench for the supposedly included graphics card stand – Our unit doesn’t seem to come with the said GPU holder. An external RGB cable is also included for syncing to other RGB ecosystems such as ASUS Aura Sync, MSI Mystic Light, and ASRock PolyChrome RGB.

The Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 is without a doubt one of the bulkiest cards out there due to its aggressive design. Even So, looking at the cooler shroud itself highlights its ruggedness as highlighted by the two-tone color.

The back of the card shows the cooler to extend through the card’s actual PCB. The solid die casting backplate also extends to the cooler covering the whole GPU. The extended part isn’t fully covered thus making the exposed heatsink function similar to Nvidia’s flowthrough design concept found on RTX 30 series Founders Edition graphics cards.

Inno3D made some changes to the side design of its iChill X4 cooler compared to the Inno3D RTX 3070 iChill X4. The plate of the GEFORCE RTX text is an extension of the backplate which covers the side heatsink.

Inno3D’s signature 4.5cm side rotor fan is positioned where the cooler extends providing additional cooling to the MOSFET area.

Like any other GPUs, the Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 sports the standard single HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a ports. The bottom part of port housing has a perforated design to maximize airflow.

Dual 8-pin PCI-E power connectors are positioned at the end of the PCB which is in between the GEFORCE RTX side plate and the side rotor fan. The Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti requires a minimum PSU wattage of 750W and has a TGP of 350w.

Top GPU: Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 | Bottom GPU: Palit RTX 3080 Gaming Pro

As mentioned earlier, the Inno3D RTX 3080Ti iChill X4 is definitely one of the biggest GPUs across the RTX 30 series. Its three-slot width and side posses a problem for most if not all ITX cases. Next to the Palit RTX 3080 Gaming Pro, its length is relatively standard for higher-end models with only the width and side becoming an issue for case compatibility.

Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 RGB Lighting and Software

Clunky design aside, the RGB lighting on the RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 is one of the brightest I’ve seen for GPUs despite only sporting a strip and text for the lighting. It’s RGB lighting uses a wave pattern by default.

TuneIT OC Utility is Inno3D’s overclocking and RGB lighting software. Frankly, it’s UI makes me not want to use it due to its weird green theme. However, every setting you need to tune your GPU is presented in one window, unlike other applications where it’s mostly segmented by window tabs. The RGB setting is a tricky one to find as you need to click the left arrow on the lighting area near the left side of the fan curve to access the RGB lighting window. Once accessed, you can access different presets, brightness, and speed levels. The software can save up to four RGB profiles.

Note: The v3.05 version of the TuneIT utility doesn’t seem to recognize the GPU as an RTX 3080 Ti

Benchmark Setup and Methodology

Gadget Pilipinas’ testing philosophy is to provide detail-oriented results as accurately as possible that our readers can replicate our tests given that these conditions are met. Different benchmarking apps and sequences are used depending on the component or device being tested.

We use CapFrameX 1.6.2 as our FPS capture and analysis tool for all our gaming benchmarks. The latest build version of Windows 10 and WHQL certified drivers are used for our benchmarks. Readings such as temperatures and power draw are recorded using HWMonitor and HWInfo64 as well as other relevant software are used for cross-checking.

Our benchmark list and methodology may change in the future depending on the industry trend.

Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 – Synthetic Benchmarks

3DMARK

3DMark is the go-to benchmark for gamers because of the ability to share and compare results online. We tested the Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 both in Fire Strike and Time Spy to get a good gauge of DX 11 and DX 12 API performance. We also tested the GPUs in Port Royal, 3DMark’s DX12 Ray Tracing benchmark.

GeekBench 5

Geekbench is a multi-platform benchmark that’s used to gauge CPU performance and compare them across Windows, Mac, and Mobile. Geekbench 5 is the latest version and doesn’t rely on memory as much compared to the previous Geekbench 4, making it a great tool to measure both single-core and multi-core CPU performance. For our GPU reviews, we both measure OpenCL and Vulkan performance

VRAY

V-Ray Benchmark is a stand-alone version of V-Ray developed by Chaos Group. It is designed to test the CPU and GPU by rendering sample scenes at a fixed amount of time. V-Ray is a plug-in mostly utilized by 3D computer graphics software applications mainly for industrial design, product design, architecture, film, and video game production. V-Ray is not limited to 64-threads as it supports multi and mega-threading.

Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 – Gaming Benchmarks

DOTA 2

Most gamers play at least one of the following free-to-play titles: League of Legends, CS: GO, Dota 2, and/or Fortnite. Dota 2 is a good representation of the F2P titles as it is the most demanding game in the spectrum. The benchmark will give you an idea of the graphic card’s relative performance on other lesser demanding titles. Our benchmark sequence is based on a replay of OG vs. Liquid in the TI9 grand finals from the team fight that happened from 28:30 to 29:30.

Far Cry 5

FarCry 5 is an FPS game published by Ubisoft and uses the Dunia engine. It heavily relies on and takes advantage of DirectX 11 to render a realistic environment that makes it taxing to both the CPU and GPU.

Rainbow Six Siege

Rainbow Six Seige is one of the few popular AAA games that’s still popular in 2021 due to its competitive gameplay mechanics. R6S uses the AnvilNext game engine, which is developed by the game’s publisher, Ubisoft. As of writing, Rainbow Six Siege is currently the most popular Tom Clancy title beating out Wildlands, Breakpoint and even, Division 2. Rainbow Six Seige is one of the few popular AAA games that’s still popular in 2019 due to its competitive gameplay mechanics. R6S uses the AnvilNext game engine, which is developed by the game’s publisher, Ubisoft. As of writing, Rainbow Six Siege is currently the most popular Tom Clancy title beating out Wildlands, Breakpoint and even, Division 2.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is arguably the most hyped game of 2020. Developed by CD Projekt Red, the dystopian open-world, action-adventure RPG sports is one of the most demanding titles to date. Cyberpunk 2077 also supports three Ray Tracing settings as well as DLSS which makes the game a great tool to measure Ray tracing performance for both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Shadow of The Tomb Raider or SOTR is the latest installment of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider franchise. Developed by Square Enix, SOTR uses the Foundation engine and is further enhanced by Eidos Montreal. STOR is also one of the first games to come out with Ray Tracing and DLSS support.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus is the third Metro game trilogy based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels. The game is a first-person shooter with survival horror and stealth elements. The post-apocalyptic game is using 4A Engine by 4A games. Released last 2019, Metro Exodus remains to be one of the most graphically pleasing and demanding games that’s popular to date.

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is the latest franchise installment from Ubisoft. It’s by far the most popular and stable Assassin’s Creed title since AC IV: Black Flag. It uses the AnvilNext 2.0 game engine, an updated version of Rainbow Six Siege’s game engine, and uses the DirectX 12 API.

F1 2020

F1 2020 is the official video game of the 2020 Formula 1 and Formula 2 championships developed by Codemasters. F1 2020 is the twelfth installment in the franchise and uses the Ego Engine 3.0. F1 2020 is a good representation of racing games thanks to its realistic graphics and fairly demanding spec requirements.

GODFALL

Performance Summary

The Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 manages to outperform the RTX 3080 by 10-20% in our benchmark suite. The faster and larger GDDR6X memory on the 3080 Ti pays off once we ran the games in 4k resolution.

Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 – Ray Tracing Benchmarks

Due to our limited time with the card and our late access to the drivers, we were only able to test the Palit RTX 3080 Gaming Pro and Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 in our Ray Tracing game suite.

Cyberpunk 2077

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Metro Exodus

Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 – Temps and Power Draw

While the RTX 3080 Ti’s specification is closer to the RTX 3090 than the RTX 3080, it’s very impressive to see the iChill x4 variant running much cooler than the rest of the RTX 3080s that we have in our test suite. The Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 fans stop at idle so it is impressive that the heatsink and backplate alone were able to keep a 37°c idle temperature.

Our maximum recorded power draw via HWInfox64 peaked at 349.394watts for the RTX 3080 Ti. Considering that it has lesser cores than the RTX 3090, I say the borderline 350w power consumption is just about right as it’s also stated in GPU’s TGP spec.

Conclusion

Considering the fact that the Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 is our first RTX 3080 Ti GPU review, we’ll have two separate conclusions one for the RTX 3080 Ti itself, and the second one being the iChill X4 variant itself.

RTX 3080 Ti Conclusion

At first, we were skeptical of the RTX 3080 Ti’s positioning in Nvidia’s RTX 30 lineup given the $400 premium over the RTX 3080 as well as being $300 cheaper than the RTX 3090. After seeing the results of our benchmarks, the RTX 3080 Ti at most, peaks at 30% more performance over the RTX 3080 and averages between 10-20% depending on the resolution. That said, 10-20% not as big if you’re already hitting over a hundred FPS but when at the two-digit mark can mean the difference of a smooth gaming experience. The RTX 3080 Ti is the next best GPU that can deliver the highest frame rate for this generation especially when you want to take advantage of the superb image quality produced by enabling Ray Tracing on some game titles.

Overall, the RTX 3080 Ti can be thought of as a discounted RTX 3090 that manages to squeeze more performance if you find the RTX 3080 lacking in some game titles especially when Ray Tracing is taken into account. The supposed $300 savings over the RTX 3090 can be redirected into getting a high-end variant such as the Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 to maximize the performance of the GA102 chip.

Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 Conclusion

Looks aside, the Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 performs admirably especially when it comes to thermals leaving headroom for overclocking as the only managed to peak at 72°c in our testing. Moreover, its price at Php 69,990 (SRP pre-crypto hike) doesn’t command much premium as a third-party model making it a great value card that prioritizes overall build quality and durability. That said, the Inno3D RTX 3080 Ti iChill X4 is more than meets the eye as it’s capable of rendering high framerates at worry-free temperatures thanks to its robust build quality.

Grant Soriano

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Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.