Following the resounding success of the ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition, ASUS and Noctua have presented another graphics card that runs exceptionally quiet thanks to a jointly-developed cooling solution: Like the GeForce RTX 3070 model, the new ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition employs two Noctua NF-A12x25 fans and a tailored heatsink, which enables it to run quieter than any other card in its class.
At typical auto-speed fan settings, the Noctua Edition runs 4.5 dB(A) quieter than the ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 while achieving 3°C lower GPU temperatures and 14°C lower VRAM temperatures. In sum, the Noctua Edition provides lower noise levels across the entire speed range with the most prominent improvement of almost 9dB(A) at maximum fan speed and 2-5dB(A) at lower speeds. The reduced noise levels go hand in hand with lower GPU temperatures as well as substantial reductions in memory temperature of up to 22°C.
The lower temperatures are enabled by a larger copper base making contact with the GPU and memory, which is apparently more efficient than the regular TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080’s separate heatsinks. The larger copper base also wicks heat into a substantially thicker heatsink, and of course, there are two excellent Noctua NF-A12x25 fans to push more air through the fins at lower RPMs, resulting in the significant improvements in both noise and thermals.
ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition Specs
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (GA104) Samsung 8N |
| Clocks | Up to 1815MHz (OC Mode) |
| Memory | 10GB GDDR6X (19Gbps) 320-bit memory bus 760GB/s memory bandwidth |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 |
| Outputs | 2 x HDMI 2.1 3 x DisplayPort 1.4a |
| Dimensions | 310 x 144.8 x 87.5 mm |
| Price | RM5219 |
In summary, the ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition is the ideal card for quiet cooling enthusiasts who demand serious GPU performance without sacrificing quietness of operation.