EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 iCX FTW2 Review: Everything Detected, More Than Just A Cooler


EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 iCX FTW2 Wrap Up

Performance Summary: The EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 with iCX technology did not offer many surprises in terms of performance. Its higher clocks give it an advantage over a stock GeForce GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition card and the slightly lower clocked EVGA SC card, but that is to be expected. In terms of noise, power, and overclocking, however, the EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 with iCX was a clear winner. Noise was a non-issue, despite its higher clocks, the FTW2 card consumed roughly the same power as a Founder’s Edition, and the FTW2 overclocked very well – hitting 2.1GHz with minimal tweaking.

evga icx disassembled  
Where the EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 with iCX technology really shines is in in terms of customizability and hardware monitoring. Being able to asynchronously control fan speeds/curves and tweak the lighting on the card for aesthetics or to tailor alerts, are welcome innovations. And being able to see the temperatures from various parts of the card – and not just the GPU -- is not only interesting and useful, but very cool. If you like to know exactly how your system is behaving and performing, EVGA’s iCX technology can provide much more insight into a graphics card’s behavior than before.

There will be am approximate $30 - $40 premium for EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 / 1070 / 1080 cards with iCX technology, but we suspect street prices will settle a bit lower, once availability ramps up. Owners of existing ACX 3.0 cards have a trade-in options as well. EVGA is offering equivalent iCX cards through their trade-in program for $99.
The EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 card with iCX we tested is our favorite GTX 1080 yet. There are higher-clocked cards out there, but with a little tweaking and overclocking, any performance deltas between them and the FTW2 will disappear. EVGA’s latest offering, however, can provide much more data than other GeForce GTX 10-series cards, which opens up more avenues for tweaking and customization, which is kind of what enthusiasts are all about. We dig EVGA’s iCX technology. If you’re going to be in the market for a new GPU soon, by all means check this latest EVGA offering out.



 hot not 
  • Highly Customizable
  • iCX Provides Tons Of Data
  • Power Protection
  • Excellent Overclocker
  • Price Premium
  • Similar Clocks To Older Model

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