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

Name: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 iCX FTW2
Brand: EVGA

by Marco Chiappetta — Friday, February 10, 2017, 12:10 PM EDT

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.

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.

Find The EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 With iCX @ Amazon

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.


Highly Customizable iCX Provides Tons Of Data Power Protection Excellent Overclocker	Price Premium Similar Clocks To Older Model

Tags: GeForce, graphics, GPU, evga, review, (nasdaq:nvda), gtx 1080, icx, ftw2

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com