GALAX has joined the list of manufacturers to offer low-profile video cards based on NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1050-series GPUs. The boards resemble similar products from other makers and are designed to upgrade low z-height PCs or build affordable s…
GALAX has joined the list of manufacturers to offer low-profile video cards based on NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1050-series GPUs. The boards resemble similar products from other makers and are designed to upgrade low z-height PCs or build affordable s…
GIGABYTE this week announced its first graphics adapter that belongs to the Aorus line of products – the Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G. The video card features a very high GPU frequency and will be among the fastest GeForce GTX 1080-based offerings from GIGABYTE and other hardware makers. The board will be the first graphics card to be sold under the Aorus brand, but soon other members of the same family will join it.
Over the past several years, GIGABYTE has introduced multiple sub-brands to address the market, from gaming on a budget to the most demanding PC enthusiasts. For graphics cards, the company used the G1 Gaming and the Xtreme Gaming sub-brands for its highest-end products. In the meantime the motherboard arm of the company (which almost acts like a different company internally anyway) was using UltraDurable, SOC Force, G1 Gaming and some other names. The fact that there was a split suggested a lack of synergy, especially when GIGABYTE’s main competitors were unifying their product lines under a single gaming brand.
As a result, in order to make things simpler going forward, the company will consolidate its top-of-the-range offerings under just one brand, ‘Aorus’, which has been used for the company’s premiumhttp://forum.aorus.com/forum/main-forum/5170-what-does-aorus-logo-stands-for?p=5182#post5182 laptops so far and was introduced to 200-series motherboards with the launch of Kaby Lake in January. From now on, GIGABYTE’s most advanced products, including notebooks, motherboards, and graphics cards will carry the Aorus brand.
To clarify ‘why’ Aorus: taken from an Aorus marketing rep forum post on 11/6/2016,
‘the name AORUS stems from the Egyptian patron god Horus and was known for being a symbol of kingship in ancient Egypt. We picked Horus because we strive to be on top. We did replace the “H” with “A” to represent our philosophy of striving for grade A product and collectively as a company being the striving to better ourselves and be the “A-Team”
The Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G (GV-N1080AORUS X-8GD) in many resembles GIGABYTE’s previously announced GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming 8G (GV-N1080XTREME-8GD). The new card has a nearly similar Windforce 3X cooling system with multiple heatpipes, two fans with special fins and RGB lighting, but a slightly altered backplate. This first Aorus video card also has exactly the same GPU frequencies as the previously announce card: 1784/1936 MHz base/boost in OC mode. The new GPU also has the same display output configuration (three DP, one HDMI, one DVI as well as one ‘VR Link’ – a HDMI on the back of the card). Based on the images, the PCBs of the cards are not exactly the same (at least based on the parts we can see on the images below the story), but they may be very similar. In any case, from an out-of-the-box performance point of view, the two cards would appear to perform almost exactly the same depending on firmware.
The fact that the Aorus card resembles the Xtreme Gaming board is not something completely unexpected: development of brand new products takes a long time and the company already has a flagship graphics product with an advanced cooling system and feature-set that satisfies the buyer. Going forward we would expect to see exclusive Aorus offerings, but for now the new cards will resemble existing products. Meanwhile, when it comes to motherboards, all advanced Intel 270 PCH-based offerings from GIGABYTE already carry the Aorus trademark. As soon as GPU companies come up with new processors, the Aorus family will get unique graphics cards as well.
| Comparison of GIGABYTE’s Aorus and Xtreme Gaming GTX 1080 Graphics Cards |
|||||||
| Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G GV-N1080AORUS X-8GD |
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming 8G GV-N1080XTREME-8GD |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition |
|||||
| Stream Processors | 2560 | ||||||
| Texture Units | 160 | ||||||
| ROPs | 64 | ||||||
| Core Clock (MHz) | 1759 – 1784 | 1607 | |||||
| Boost Clock (MHz) | 1898 – 1936 | 1733 | |||||
| Memory | Capacity | 8 GB | |||||
| Type | GDDR5X | ||||||
| Clock | 10 Gbps | ||||||
| TDP | 180 W | ||||||
| Launch Date | Q1 2017 | Q3 2016 | 5/2016 | ||||
| Launch Price | ? | $680 – $744 | $699 | ||||
GIGABYTE did not officially announce the recommended price of the Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G, but since the card has similarities with other products we expect the new unit to cost about the same amount of money. Right now, Newegg offers GIGABYTE’s GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming graphics cards for $680-$744. Both the Aorus and Xtreme Gaming graphics cards come with a four-year warranty in North America (with online registration required).
Related Reading:
GIGABYTE this week announced its first graphics adapter that belongs to the Aorus line of products – the Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G. The video card features a very high GPU frequency and will be among the fastest GeForce GTX 1080-based offerings from GIGABYTE and other hardware makers. The board will be the first graphics card to be sold under the Aorus brand, but soon other members of the same family will join it.
Over the past several years, GIGABYTE has introduced multiple sub-brands to address the market, from gaming on a budget to the most demanding PC enthusiasts. For graphics cards, the company used the G1 Gaming and the Xtreme Gaming sub-brands for its highest-end products. In the meantime the motherboard arm of the company (which almost acts like a different company internally anyway) was using UltraDurable, SOC Force, G1 Gaming and some other names. The fact that there was a split suggested a lack of synergy, especially when GIGABYTE’s main competitors were unifying their product lines under a single gaming brand.
As a result, in order to make things simpler going forward, the company will consolidate its top-of-the-range offerings under just one brand, ‘Aorus’, which has been used for the company’s premiumhttp://forum.aorus.com/forum/main-forum/5170-what-does-aorus-logo-stands-for?p=5182#post5182 laptops so far and was introduced to 200-series motherboards with the launch of Kaby Lake in January. From now on, GIGABYTE’s most advanced products, including notebooks, motherboards, and graphics cards will carry the Aorus brand.
To clarify ‘why’ Aorus: taken from an Aorus marketing rep forum post on 11/6/2016,
‘the name AORUS stems from the Egyptian patron god Horus and was known for being a symbol of kingship in ancient Egypt. We picked Horus because we strive to be on top. We did replace the “H” with “A” to represent our philosophy of striving for grade A product and collectively as a company being the striving to better ourselves and be the “A-Team”
The Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G (GV-N1080AORUS X-8GD) in many resembles GIGABYTE’s previously announced GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming 8G (GV-N1080XTREME-8GD). The new card has a nearly similar Windforce 3X cooling system with multiple heatpipes, two fans with special fins and RGB lighting, but a slightly altered backplate. This first Aorus video card also has exactly the same GPU frequencies as the previously announce card: 1784/1936 MHz base/boost in OC mode. The new GPU also has the same display output configuration (three DP, one HDMI, one DVI as well as one ‘VR Link’ – a HDMI on the back of the card). Based on the images, the PCBs of the cards are not exactly the same (at least based on the parts we can see on the images below the story), but they may be very similar. In any case, from an out-of-the-box performance point of view, the two cards would appear to perform almost exactly the same depending on firmware.
The fact that the Aorus card resembles the Xtreme Gaming board is not something completely unexpected: development of brand new products takes a long time and the company already has a flagship graphics product with an advanced cooling system and feature-set that satisfies the buyer. Going forward we would expect to see exclusive Aorus offerings, but for now the new cards will resemble existing products. Meanwhile, when it comes to motherboards, all advanced Intel 270 PCH-based offerings from GIGABYTE already carry the Aorus trademark. As soon as GPU companies come up with new processors, the Aorus family will get unique graphics cards as well.
| Comparison of GIGABYTE’s Aorus and Xtreme Gaming GTX 1080 Graphics Cards |
|||||||
| Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G GV-N1080AORUS X-8GD |
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming 8G GV-N1080XTREME-8GD |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition |
|||||
| Stream Processors | 2560 | ||||||
| Texture Units | 160 | ||||||
| ROPs | 64 | ||||||
| Core Clock (MHz) | 1759 – 1784 | 1607 | |||||
| Boost Clock (MHz) | 1898 – 1936 | 1733 | |||||
| Memory | Capacity | 8 GB | |||||
| Type | GDDR5X | ||||||
| Clock | 10 Gbps | ||||||
| TDP | 180 W | ||||||
| Launch Date | Q1 2017 | Q3 2016 | 5/2016 | ||||
| Launch Price | ? | $680 – $744 | $699 | ||||
GIGABYTE did not officially announce the recommended price of the Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G, but since the card has similarities with other products we expect the new unit to cost about the same amount of money. Right now, Newegg offers GIGABYTE’s GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming graphics cards for $680-$744. Both the Aorus and Xtreme Gaming graphics cards come with a four-year warranty in North America (with online registration required).
Related Reading:
ASUS has launched five new GPUs and a B150 motherboard that belong to its Expedition family of products. The Expedition video cards promise to wed durability for sustained long-time use with reasonable prices: the boards are made using ASUS’ latest automated production process and feature components with enhanced lifetime ratings over the standard components (albeit with standard cooling and near-reference frequencies). The increased suitability for non-stop use claim comes through the components and additional testing for the range: a combined 144hr compatibility test and burn-in sequence. ASUS plans to market these parts to business such as gaming cafes which remain popular in Asia.
Initially the ASUS Expedition lineup will consist of five graphics adapters based on NVIDIA’s GP104 and GP107 GPUs. The video cards are made using the ASUS Auto-Extreme automated production process that is also used to produce ASUS ROG Strix and some other high-end products. To build the boards, the manufacturer uses dual-ball bearing fans as well as ‘higher-quality’ chokes and other components that are said to be rated for extended durability. ASUS also states that the Expedition graphics cards are stress tested for 144 hours in various demanding environments to ensure their quality. The hardware maker does not elaborate whether all the cards are subject to rigorous testing, or just a number of cards per batch pass those tests, but it emphasizes that the adapters are ready for prolonged gaming sessions. Additionally, similar to its higher-end graphics boards, the Expedition video cards will feature ASUS’ zero-db fans that do not spin until the GPU reaches a certain temperature.
The higher performing card in the lineup is the ASUS Expedition GeForce GTX 1070 OC Edition 8 GB GDDR5 (EX-GTX1070-O8G) that uses the company’s own PCB design (24 cm/9.45” in length) and slightly taller cooling system (13.1 cm/5.16”) with two heat pipes and two fans. It is noteworthy that in default mode its GPU base frequency is 1582 MHz, lower than 1607 MHz recommended by NVIDIA, but the boost clock rate is 1771 MHz, which is higher compared to 1733 MHz on NVDIA’s reference designs. The card also has an OC mode with 1607/1797 MHz base/boost frequencies. As for display outputs, the card has one DVI, two HDMI ports, and two DisplayPort ports.
The other two video cards in the Expedition family are the ASUS Expedition GeForce GTX 1050 OC Edition 2 GB (EX-GTX1050-O2G) and the ASUS Expedition GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC Edition 4 GB (EX-GTX1050TI-O4G), also featuring a custom PCB design and dual-fan cooling systems (in this case, without heat-pipes). Both cards have slightly (~ 50 MHz) higher GPU frequencies than recommended by NVIDIA and thus offer a little bit of improved performance over reference designs. When it comes to the display outputs, these two adapters feature one DVI, one DisplayPort and one HDMI connector. These two cards are paired with non-OC versions (EX-GTX1050-2G and EX-GTX1050TI-4G ) to bring the total up to five.
On the motherboard side, ASUS has listed the EX-B150M-V5 D3 as an addition to the Expedition line. In a somewhat different take on the TUF line (which is aimed at high-end durability), this B150 board is along the similar lines of the GPUs: base hardware with a focus on durability when in a gaming cafe environment.
This board caters for most gaming cafe needs: two memory slots, space for a stock cooler, a single GPU slot, 2.1 audio, SATA ports, USB 3.0 ports, and if needed, an integrated graphics based DVI-D port. The Realtek ALC887 (the top 2.1 codec) gets some Crystal Sound 2 treatment via PCB separation and filter caps, and ASUS states that the USB ports are individually surge protected (in case one fails, the others will keep working). As part of the focus on gaming cafes, ASUS states that this board goes through extensive testing to ensure base compatibility with games and 100+ peripherals.
ASUS has not disclosed MSRPs of its Expedition graphics cards or their availability dates, but since the boards are already listed on the company’s website, we expect them to hit the market shortly. However, if they are truly focused on gaming cafes, they might only be launched in Asia. No word yet if these components come with increased warranties, either.
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