EVGA's latest GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is liquid cooled and packed with sensors

EVGA offers a total of seven GeForce GTX 1080 Ti models, almost all of which are entirely air cooled. The lone exception is EVGA's new GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid Gaming (11G-P4-6598-KR), which combines an all-in-one liquid cooling solution with air cooling to keep things nice and chilly.

The new SKU also features EVGA's iCX technology, which means it's loaded with thermal sensors for targeted cooling and to let you to monitor temperatures throughout the card. In this instance, there are nine additional sensors strategically placed, along with multiple MCUs (memory controller units) embedded on the PCB. Using EVGA's Precision XOC utility, you can monitor each of the sensors in real-time.

Out of the box the SC2 Hybrid comes factory overclocked, though EVGA did not go crazy here. The card has a 1,556MHz base clock and 1,670MHz boost clock, up from Nvidia's reference clocks of 1,480MHz and 1,582MHz, respectively.

While nothing is guaranteed when it comes to overclocking, it's reasonable to expect some additional headroom. At the very least, the card should not throttle as much as a regular GTX 1080. According to EVGA, its hybrid cooling solution lowers the GPU temps from around 80C to around 45C compared to a standard GTX 1080 Ti, while the memory is cooled from around 85C to under 60C. There is a dedicated memory plate that makes direct contact with the water cooling block to stay chilled.

All of this cooling performance comes at a premium—EVGA's asking price is $810. If that doesn't scare you off, you can grab one now direct from EVGA.

Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).