EVGA GTX 1080 FTW Hybrid Review vs. MSI Sea Hawk X

[@paskowitz]

You can't fool me, Linus doesn't go into this much detail.

[@Deletistjerk]

Or have the hair :)

[@seraphis]

Linus does have the socks and sandals though.

[@Deletistjerk]

seraphis a shoobie. gross.

[@syedabdulmoiz9104]

so true

[@seraphis]

You have a good editing person. Pay them more.

[@legoNerd01245]

Are you the editor

[@sahilkhamkar4270]

Editor*

[@salamand3r-]

The VRAM cooling solution on the EVGA card reminds me a bit of how the Alphacool Nexxxos GPX hybrid blocks work - cold plate is rather large and directly contacts an aluminum plate which in turn contacts the VRAM, passing the heat into the loop rather than using a heatsink to dissipate. Great video, as always, and thanks for the attention to detail.

[@GeorgeCee]

I ended up buying the EVGA 1080 HYBRID card from NewEgg for $729 (free shipping) a few days ago. They suprised me and delivered it on Saturday for no extra charge. I OC'd this card to a stable OverClock in Heaven Benchmark using Precision XOC at the following levels: Slave Bios with the switch, 130% power, 100% Full voltage with the slider, +125MHz GPU (2138Mhz) and +800MHz Mem (11600Mhz). The indicated temperature in Precision XOC never went any higher than 46C. The fan stayed at 56% and around 1170 RPM the whole time and never fluctuated. I guess my fan curve wasn't aggressive enough. That's as far as the card will go before screen artifacts appear. I am happy and satisfied with 2138MHz GPU and 11600MHz Mem running at 46c. Awesome Graphics Cards. Looks good in my case too. Note: In my GPU OC process, I got excited at saw 2151MHz and even 2164MHz, unfortunately they were not stable. Silicon lottery man! Regardless, I'm cool with a stable 2138MHz. :)

[@echto]

I know this card is an older card, but I'm looking at getting one. Thanks for all the tech info. Good job!

[@danhex]

Lol I just got one and it kicks ass

[@yeti9254]

Man, it's all fun and games when we have the newest tech. As soon as something new comes out and displaces our "shiny, best-of-the-best" component it just feels bad man.

[@zMeul]

what if you stick small radiators over the EVGA's copper VRAM plate?

[@zMeul]

Jiz Tom static1.caseking.de/media/image/zura_202_1g.jpg

[@qwormuli77]

Heatsinks?

[@justinvalentin8983]

Question since I can't seem to find a good answer anywhere: can the EVGA's cooler be upgraded using other AIO coolers? I'm looking to replace mine with a 280 or 360 rad if possible. There's only so much two fans in push-pull can do.

[@Jonbmx666]

Awesome review, just ordered my ftw hybrid off amazon with primes free two day shipping for a flat price of $730. cannot wait for it to get here thursday. Been on the fence between this card and the high clock Asus strix card but with the new case i went with (Thermaltake view 27) I opted for the water cooled card to keep temps in check. (gets hot and balls in my room) As always, thx for honest and good reviews man.

[@cryohellinc]

As always amazing non-biased review. Thank you Steve and GN!

[@ConfusedRaccoon]

After using the msi/corsair card for the last 4.5 years, having to use a separate fan header for the rad fan is a royal pain in the arse. Also using a founders board + power really feels limiting. It wants to go further but it just can't get enough power.

[@AndreBorralho]

Again, awesome content and joke lol. One of the fewer reviewers that actually explains how and why things works the way they work. Thanks Steve!

[@XFourty7]

lol @ calling for Dennis. Great review, thanks for putting all the work into it!

[@vondrook4]

I love the detail of your videos, it really sets you apart from other channels. Some of it flies over my head, but I appreciate the attention to detail and tech stats. The first video I ever watched was a GTA-5 graphics settings analysis which was super in depth and I still use that reference to adjust my settings.

[@BrianAz]

@Gamers Nexus I just want to say Steve Burke is THE BEST reviewer of all time! No nonsense, well spoken, and total super geek factoidness is outstanding! Great job! Getting my 1080 FTW Hybrid tomorrow. Prices have come down a lot since this video.

[@mr.c.3760]

excellant review and commentary, great job as always

[@Lv100FlexingFurby]

what about the hybrid kit you can buy vs the actual hybrid? i have a evga 1080 sc with the hybrid kit on it and it doesnt have that copper plate that cools the vram too, so would my temps be better? i also have my radiator in push pull with high static pressure fans so im sure that will help me. but as far as the copper plate not being there would my card naturally be cooler?

[@yallahhabibi7467]

Awesome! This review was so much more detailed than the others i've watched and make my choice really cleair. Im gonna go for the EVGA FTW Hybrid GTX 1080. With that 20 bucks saved. I can buy a SP120 Fan so i can get better temperatures. Its also worth noting though, that the stock fan is plugged into its own individual system together with the GPU. This means that the fan wont spin until it hits a ceartain temperature, but if you buy a quality fan (or just any fan) you can plug that straight into the MOBO, and have control over the Temperature at which you want them to go nuts, or just straight up spin 100% asap. Thanks for the quality review, and much love to you all. :D

[@Macho_Man_Randy_Savage]

Great comparison! Not just a generic VS review, you really go into so much detail us enthusiast love! I still love my GTX 1080 SLI Hybrid 'GN' Style! Only 62K? C'mon people!!

[@GeorgeCee]

Great review. You are my #1 source for the real deal reviews on these new 1080's. Your channel has by far the most detailed and most useful graphics card reviews on the internet. I'm getting close to buying a 1080. Just waiting to see if Asus releases a Martix/Poseiden 1080 or even maybe 1080ti. So far, the 1080 FTW hybrid is at the top of my list.

[@ryangreenberg2232]

Steve quality work as always!

[@dariofranciskovic7961]

I love your videos. Only the data that matters is presented and the content is very well structured. Keep up the good work! :)

[@viko207]

Good work guys! Also - More Buildzoid!

[@RegularDudeInTraffic]

I have the geforce gtx 1070, I am quite happy with it, great video by the way.

[@TNStrikeman]

It would be nice if EVGA sent me the dam card as I pre ordered it 95 days ago... :(

[@LamGorYun]

keep dreaming

[@TNStrikeman]

@LIAM GLANVILLE Nope I canceled it and got a titan XP instead :)

[@danhex]

I just got this card and I am maxxed out basically all games 1440p 60fps...I am happy. Oh, and the card took 125mhz core and 500 memory boost no problem

[@Great_America]

You guys completely missed a main point - the EVGA Hybrid is much quieter due to use of a non-standard propeller based fan instead of the blower style fan. And you incorrectly stated the EVGA Hybrid was a full 10C higher, when actually it was only 6C higher. Lastly, you didn't outline the difference between using the master vs. slave BIOS on the card when overclocking. You all have some more work to do - so get to it!

[@SkinUpMonkey]

Can you tell how 29-18=6?

[@vrunchycrunchy9272]

+SkinUpMonkey I see no problem with that...

[@GamersNexus]

Please check your math. And do try visiting the article.

[@Great_America]

+Gamers Nexus My math is fine. However, you may want to recalibrate your instruments.

[@SkinUpMonkey]

Dan K Please show this math of yours.

[@ButtonPusher]

Thanks guys, i am in the market for a serious GPU upgrade and i will be looking at this EVGA product very closely, especially as we near the time when Asus will (potentially) announce their Poseidon version of the Strix 1080. I hope to see some comparisons / benchs when that time comes. Great work here guys.

[@johnlee2595]

does anyone use space to shortcut scroll to the comments? i hate how I press space to pause the video and it scrolls down the page to hide the video instead.

[@iemgote7249]

Sorum M Press K

[@Ks-zz9lh]

love these videos! by far best reviews :) keeeeeeeep it up :D

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

I would've gone for the EVGA hybrids, being cheaper, a more well rounded PCB, and I'm an EVGA loyalist. But the Seahawks I settled for weren't vaporware and could be found in stock. They haven't dissapointed.

[@2002chaiwa]

Good work, very good review.

[@caffeineaddict213]

This. This right here is quality content. In depth, objective and straight to the point. Gamers Nexus, if you're reading this comment, look out the window, you might still be able to see my giant thumbs up. Look east, I live in Denmark.

[@olssonan]

Solid review. One thing i would like to know though, in a small mitx case, is the Seahawk preferable due to blower style fan? How much heat is is coming from the regulators?

[@lokfrok]

Hi, good review. But i have a question, i consider watercooled grapichs card because im building inside a fractal nano s and are going for a quiet set up. Would one of theese consideratly lower the sound from my set up? the rest of the set up is optimised for low sound btw

[@Thermalcool]

Kristoffer F EVGA should be quieter as it has a better fan for noise than MSI's blower style fan

[@dayveegravy]

Were you guys able to remove the evga hybrid cooler, or did you use footage from your earlier custom cooled ftw? Reason i ask is bcos another reviewer sample had screws stripped to prevent removal. I want to buy one but if i get a dud i want to reserve the right to shunt mod it, or do the custom BIOS's make that unnecessary?

[@KCdoesVOXMetalVocalist]

Great work, as always.

[@Pliskin5000]

I run two liquid cooled 1070's sea hawks and man this thing is a beast. Its gets a graphics score of 33.723 in fire strike benchmark with out any over cloaking.

[@theguyfromsweden1137]

You can just add liquid metal to 1 resistor on the 1080 fe board to remove any possible power limit. Just go with the cheapest one and watercool it = 2050 mhz stable on the core

[@mrchriz1000]

Great video.. alot of insight thanks!

[@chubbysumo2230]

lol, crank up the fans on the hybrid. I put mine on a motherboard header instead of the GPU plug, and turned it up, and it came in steady under 45C under a 2200mhz overclock on the second BIOS.

[@ScullyBrewing]

Wait did i hear correctly that buildzoid will be doing PCB analysis? Thats pretty cool! i watch his overclocking streams :D

[@Fengatsu]

LOL loved the end with the Linus stuff haha

[@davidhammer6508]

great review!

[@haades_svk]

Should I buy it?

[@Ariranhaa]

Thanks for the video. What's with this "delta T" thing? How does it work?

[@Kureiji-Desu]

thank you based steve, i've been waiting for days.

[@pabpabpabpabpabpabpabpabpa1942]

the fan blades on the evga board are inverted so does it blow out the big hole on the plate or suck and exhaust out the back like a blower style?

[@rodiculous9464]

Steve I have a question, do you think the 1080 ti will be coming out soon, and will we ever see aib clones for the Pascal titan? Trying to decide if getting the 1080 now is a good idea, seems like there's a lot more on the horizon with the volta release getting bumped up.

[@ScullyBrewing]

Were acoustic tests done? Seeing as the fans are different, the EVGA one seems like it would be a quieter card

[@Omkarah]

It would be interesting to see testing on the MSI GTX 1080 SEA HAWK X EK.

[@brent4770]

So is the thermal paste crap? Do you recommend taking it apart and putting on different Thermal paste?

[@reply1112]

can we replace stock aio cooler with the standard cpu aio cooler or we have to purchase evga stock cooler in future in case it fails ?

[@aksshaysharma96]

can we only replace the cooler on these cards if the cooler stops working or leaks?

[@predcon1]

If I only wanted to run stock speeds, and I wanted the LC purely for card lifespan purposes (I've killed cards at stock speeds before just by riding them pretty hard for a year-and-a-half; I wasn't mining, honest!), are these pretty much the same? Do all the extra caps and chokes on the FTW only help overclocking, or do they reduce strain as well on out-of-the-box settings?

[@drees84]

"btw, link in the discription below." subtle! ;)

[@jesusraya4484]

I am still having a tough time deciding which of these to buy. Any reasonable input is appreciated. MSI SEA HAWK 1080 $599 (579 after MIR) - NEWEGG EVGA HYBRID 1080 $609 ($589 after MIR) - NEWEGG Or the ASUS ROG 1080 $569.00- NEW EGG - I like this one due to the reviews that show it is an amazing card, cooled well and quiet. But it's not water cooled so will run hotter and is also near the same price point for a included water cooling AIO package. MSI Sea Hawk- look to run cooler, has FE board & power delivery and looks less appealing to me aesthetically speaking at least. and is 3 year parts, 2 years labor warranty. I have read some coil whine issues with the card on reviews. EVGA Hybrid runs a bit warmer than the msi. Even with the 2 8pin and custom PCB it seems to run at about the same, as most 1080's do. So the main point for getting this card to me would be for the looks, led and possible overclock ability. Comes with 3 years parts and 3 years labor warranty. So for now I like the evga slightly better due to mostly aesthetics but ultimately i want the better card overall. PLZZ HALLP ME BUY ONE OF THESE TODAY.

[@cracklingice]

I would have put those little copper stick a heat sink on top of the copper plate on the ram then the ram could be hybrid cooled with air and water to make it most effective.

[@purifierphoenixthemecca]

which one is better, I dont give a shit about overclocking, I just want a graphics card that doesn't throttle and stays relatively cool and doesn't explode.

[@TheBloodyConverse]

you and me buddy

[@KuriouzOne]

You guys reckon an upgrade to the Seahawk X 1080 from a strix 980ti is worth it? As of now I am running on a Acer X34 monitor with fps dipping between 40 - 50 for most games at max reso.

[@m0rtl]

Did you mention that the fan noise is different? The EVGA GPU fan should be more quiet.

[@RobertBaindourov]

Where can I buy the tubes that go from GPU heatsink to the radiator? Mine has a cut in it!

[@shadowssok7]

can i use the ftw hybrid and replace the aio with a 280mm corsair aio or will it not fit?

[@carlosrios7088]

i dont know deltas. what was each other their idle temps and each of their temps under load?

[@3rdGenGuy]

how are you getting 1.081V? my 1080 won't go above 1.062V

[@Raivo_K]

Use MSI AfterBurner. I can get 1.093mV with it wich is slightly above the default 1.062

[@johntotten4872]

If I remember correctly stock PCB cards limit the voltage. Once you get a custom pcb the voltage will go higher.

[@3rdGenGuy]

John Totten I have a Custom PCB 1080 and an EK block. I can't get over 1.062v even with sub 70% power limit

[@johntotten4872]

Not An Argument. I screwed up. I meant to say custom or dual bios. I have a 1070 sc and also 1070 ftw model. My FTW model with dual bios can get to 1.08v easy I didn't test the SC enough to check if the bios was the limiting factor. I was using MSI afterburner on my ftw model.

[@RaceOfAce]

I believe all Pascal cards are hard limited at around 1092 mV. The only way you will get near this is by maxing power limit and voltage on the card and increasing thermal limit to max, while ensuring the card is very very cool (under 75c).

[@ThaWhistle]

daaaaamn. that's a lot of quality data

[@edeka3]

What about the noise levels?

[@standuporshutup]

30 celcius as a load temp is pretty darn good. Water cooling is pretty damn powerful. That wasn't the greatest Linus bit at the end, not nearly enough purposefully terrible jokes.

[@SkinUpMonkey]

No its 30c+room temperature

[@mecheng1993]

Someone doesn't understand delta T over ambient lol

[@Mr.Stalin116]

So I have evga 1080 ti sc2. I was wondering if I could use this kit for my gpu?

[@Alchemymetalist]

Please give us a comparison between these two and the Zotac EMP! Extreme Edition

[@FadNad0731]

Are you able to measure the temps of the rest of the components, for example the vrm to try to see what the temps are at and possibly see if they are contributing to the overclock limitation? I would like to see that for educational purposes.

[@GamersNexus]

We're also interested -- but there's no software way to do it. We'd have to use thermocouples and drill holes into the cold plate, which would be a little involved for our capacity right now.

[@FadNad0731]

Thanks for the honest response. Hopefully as your channel continues to grow in the near future you will be able to take on such projects. Thanks for all the hard work you and your team puts in!

[@Alexandra-Rex]

Would it be possible to change the cooler with, say, a Corsair H100i, on any of these? If you happen to have one laying around :P

[@roteroktober360]

could you theroetically swap out the MSI seahawks AIO cooler for a different Asetek one?

[@4gbmeans4gb61]

I keep seeing this OC number of 2164 on alot of reviews of cards lol. Is this like the max clock allowed by the card?

[@bmanuelangel]

where i can buy an 1070 hybrid with VRAM plate? (i dont think is a good idea not use that plate just to have a bit lower temperature)

[@MBpotato89]

Wow.. Information overload on the charts

[@bobbyarliss]

$20 more affordable if you can ever actually find the EVGA card in stock. I've been waiting for a month with no luck. Might be time to go with the MSI. I like me some EVGA, but don't have the patience.

[@Xstewminatorgames]

So I'm looking at upgrading the cooler on my hybrid, I am wondering if any standard size asetek liquid cooler can replace the one they have on it. From what I can tell, an h110 from corsair would mount up fine, but the stock evga cooler has that protrusion and i dont know if that would be an issue. If anyone knows that would help me out tremendously! Thanks!

[@otakusyndrome8539]

gamers nexus .. I bought the hybrid 1070 . now hearing that the other models (dual fan ones ) are blowing up because of poor v ram cooling.. And need thermal pads to solve the prob.. But there's nothing said about this model.. I've already ordered this one.. So will I need to put thermal pads on the v ram of the hybrid.. Plz reply

[@Thermalcool]

Dark Mist nope it's based on FTW so you don't need it only ACX 3.0 affected

[@thatalerusguy2924]

Since the sea hawk is now cheaper then the hybrid on amazon Should i get the sea hawk?

[@jamespetersen9863]

Hey guys, I'm looking into getting a ftw hybrid and was wondering if you can upgrade the aio. Like put a 240mm aio on there. thanks

[@heychicken8341]

so which one would you choose if the price is the same

[@TechWeLove]

Edit : In some of the games benchmarked. In Grand Theft Auto the 1070 Sli stomped the 480 Crossfire, but its all interesting. Woah, look at that. 2 X 480 Crossfire, is beating the 1070 sli, at 1080p. I care about minimum frame-rate the most, and that is a real eye opener for anyone buying a gpu. Maybe getting 2 X 480 is the smartest thing, then again, what if the games you play, don't support Crossfire ? Its a gamble, and I would need to see how many games support it, and which ones among my favorites.

[@Qimchiy]

+Gamers_Nexus so which one runs cooler? Which runs faster? Which is the best of both cooling and performance?

[@phokas260]

My waterforce has higher temps than the hybrid it seems, but it is cooling the mosfets as well.

[@TheJmg339]

Will this work with the Titan x Pascal?

[@Demon09-_-]

if the water pump cools the vrm why does it not have the fan stop like the air cooled ftw cards as these cards could be fine on low load with no fan spinning

[@MikeMessiah]

EVGA 1080 Hybrid is $580 now. Must buy!!

[@bigballinhustla]

Now its $200! Must buy!

[@deepthoughtgaming5646]

but the first and third chart both show the msi seahawk as better.

[@admarvelwarlock]

Does It work with a GTX FOUNDERS ?

[@kane100574]

Very well said! Thanks!

[@warmcolorwednesdays5169]

Great video thanks

[@BlasianRice]

Can you please try to get your hands on a 1080 from Galax and review it?

[@evaldofilho190]

Thanks for this review. Now i'm crying a lot... because i bought the msi gpu card yesterday. Oh god, why? huehuehue :'(

[@RezzaNL]

Well sell it.

[@JoshuanadonVG]

Trust me, it makes the smallest difference, you'll barely notice it..

[@danyala.1659]

I have a question!!! If im buying a $30 used ipad 2 32gb Should I pay a extra $12 for 1 yr warranty? Tell meh pls.

[@mojodrago]

do not buy an ipad 2, that thing is gonna run like shit

[@cooleren1]

+Mojodrago well its $30

[@danyala.1659]

Pls answer the question tho

[@mateuscampello]

No.

[@Arlyon9999]

I wouldn't.

[@Zraupp10]

yes the core temp is higher, but is the vram cooler? vram runs a lot hotter then the core, .....

[@bogdankp]

your videos are too long, but informative

[@Simon74]

It's all down to the quality of the GPU and not the cooler at this point.

[@GamersNexus]

The cooling difference is entirely dictated by the cooler -- but yet, the FPS is largely based on silicon quality.

[@brunoyuji9203]

Nvidia designed a really good architecture. It's both good and bad for enthusiasts. Everyone gets good performance out of the box, but those that want to watercool it don't see that huge of a gain in performance. I have mixed feelings, I miss those times that better cooling those super hot gpus allowed for a lot of overclocking, but nowadays I have to admit I love that we're seeing good increase in performance but also in efficiency.

[@Simon74]

Bruno Yuji Kimura de Carvalho I think that is down to the FinFET proccess. The RX480 is the same, it's almost maxed-out with it's stock clocks.

[@james2042]

why didn't companies start doing this around the gtx 480 days?

[@MotoGoato]

Why didn't you use all the voltage?? 1080s top out at 1.094 ... well my FE board (with an EVGA Hybrid cooling kit fitted to it) certainly does and so have all the 1080s that jayztwocents has tested :/

[@GamersNexus]

We maxed it out.

[@MotoGoato]

That'll be due to the pump being powered from the the GPUs fan header then I guess .. I set up my EVGA kit so that my GPU pump is powered direct from my PSU ...