Vortex Gaming

The components that determine the performance of a assembled PC are largely the CPU and graphics card. Both Intel and AMD released next-generation CPUs in the second half of last year, and Nvidia and AMD have started releasing next-generation graphics cards with the start of this year, 2025. Therefore, from a consumer's perspective, it's a better time than ever to build or upgrade a PC. In particular, as Nvidia has started releasing the GeForce RTX 50 series starting with high-end models, many consumers are planning high-performance assembled PCs. Therefore, Gigabyte, one of the four major motherboard brands, is also releasing high-end GeForce RTX 50 series products, including the GeForce RTX 5080 model that considers the SFF assembled PC concept based on small assembled PCs, commonly referred to as Mini-ITX. That's the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF. So, this time, let's take a look at Gigabyte's GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF, which was released with the SFF concept based on the GeForce RTX 5080, which can be said to be the beginning of the high-end of Nvidia's GeForce RTX 50 series.

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■ Product Information -https://prod.danawa.com/info/?pcode=75074732

Looking at the product box, the Nvidia graphics card name, which must be placed on the front right, is marked, and on the left, you can check the Gigabyte model name and the 3-year free warranty period of PC Direct, the official Korean importer. You can also check the Windforce series mark, which is one of Gigabyte's representative graphics card lineups, and OC, which indicates that it is an overclocked version with a higher clock than the reference clock. The back of the box mentions the cooling system and the installation of the rear backplate with images of each part of the product, which will be covered in more detail later, and you can additionally check Nvidia's technology and monitor output port markings below.

The product is packaged in a way that the packaging box is applied once more inside the outer box. When you open the packaging box, you can see that urethane-foam packaging material is used to protect against external shocks, and when you open it immediately, you can see a box containing a guide on the packaging material, and you can check the components, including the graphics card packaged in an anti-static protective vinyl inside. The entire product configuration consists of a Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card, a PCIe 12-2x6 to PCIe 8-pin adapter, a graphics card stand, and product manuals. The graphics card stand can be selected and assembled according to the size of the PC case, and it is not difficult to assemble and use by referring to the provided manual. And, the PCIe 12-2x6 to PCIe 8-pin adapter allows you to change the basic connection method from the PCIe 12-2x6 connector to three PCIe 8-pin connectors.

Then, let's take a look at the Gigabyte Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card in earnest. First of all, the overall color is all-black. Looking at the recent Gigabyte motherboard and graphics card concepts, they are released in all-white or all-black concepts so that consumers can definitely choose their preferences. In addition, in the case of this model, as mentioned at the beginning, it came out with the SFF concept for mini assembled PCs, which is a build-up mentioned by Nvidia from the RTX 40 series for consumers who prefer to assemble high-performance PCs into mini PCs. The length is up to 304mm, the height is up to 50mm, and the width is based on a maximum of 151mm. Therefore, the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card also has a product size (304x50x126mm) within this standard.

Looking at it in more detail, the cooler mounted on the graphics card is a triple fan cooler with three fans, and the fan size is 100mm. In order to maximize the cooling effect, a pattern design inspired by eagle wings is applied to the fan blades, and the manufacturer calls it the HAWK fan. In addition, it is mentioned that the fan life has been increased by 2.1 times by using graphene nano lubricant instead of general lubricant in the bearing part, and the so-called zero-fan technology that does not operate the fan until a certain temperature is reached is also applied, and the direction of the center fan and both fans is also operated in a structure that meshes with each other in contrast.

On the side of the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card, the auxiliary power connector PCIe 12-2x6 16-pin connector is located in the middle of the GIGABYTE logo and the GEFORCE RTX logo, and a switch is also placed on the left. You can check the markings of performance and silent on the rear backplate part of the graphics card. In short, users can adjust the performance by operating the switch. If you want to focus on performance, select performance mode, and if you are sensitive to noise, select silent mode. And, the backplate part that is basically installed on the back also has a large hole treatment so that the heat of the cooler heat sink can be discharged directly because the rightmost part is the part without the PCB board.

And, on the side of the cooler, there are three screw holes that can be fixed with the graphics card stand confirmed in the components earlier, and the PCI slot that connects to the motherboard PCIe slot also provides a cap to prevent corrosion and dust from entering when not in use. Finally, as confirmed in the product box marking earlier, the monitor output port consists of 3 DP (DisplayPort) and 1 HDMI port, all of which are gold-plated to minimize signal loss, and DP is version 2.1b and HDMI is version 2.1b. In addition, the output port also provides a cap as standard to prevent corrosion and dust from entering ports that are not in use.

Then, we will use the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card to configure the system and check the performance. As mentioned at the beginning, both Intel and AMD released next-generation CPUs just a few months ago, so we configured it with the latest specifications. The CPU was selected as the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K because PC Direct, the official importer of Gigabyte graphics cards, is also the official importer of Intel CPUs in Korea, and the motherboard was also selected as the Gigabyte Z890 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 PC Direct model based on the Z890 chipset that supports the latest Intel CPUs. For reference, detailed information about the motherboard is in the previous review(https://piscomu.com/314969)so please refer to it.

Looking at the performance of the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card, it is a high-end graphics card, so we compared it with a mainstream graphics card that is widely selected to see the clear difference. First of all, as a result of comparing through 3DMark, it shows more than twice the difference as a high-end graphics card. It shows about twice the difference in DirectX 12-based Time Spy and 4K Time Spy Extreme, and high-performance Steel Nomad items, and more than three times the difference in DirectX 12 Ultimate-based Speed Way items.

If you compare it with games, when comparing the latest games and representative games based on DirecX 12 at QHD resolution, the results showed at least twice the difference from mainstream graphics cards. In the case of Monster Hunter Wilds, which was released most recently, the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF was evaluated as very pleasant to play, and Black Myth Wukong, which is classified as a triple A game, also allows you to enjoy more than 100 frames with high-quality options. It can be said that high-end graphics cards are essential for consumers who prefer colorful and high-quality graphics.

Finally, the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card is a graphics card tailored to Nvidia's SFF PC build-up, as mentioned earlier. This is a mini PC that is assembled based on commonly referred to as Mini ITX or M-ATX motherboards. In fact, the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card was also assembled into a Mini ITX PC case, and it can be installed and used inside the PC case without interference, so it is very attractive to consumers who prefer high-performance mini PC assembly.

Recently, as Nvidia released the next-generation graphics card GeForce RTX 50 series, Gigabyte also released the GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card in its Windows Force lineup as a non-reference model. The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF graphics card is a high-end graphics card that boasts powerful performance enough to satisfy consumers. If you don't have any financial burden, it will make you fully experience why you should enjoy high-performance games with high-end graphics cards. In addition, it is released in a size that can be installed in a mini PC assembly with the SFF concept, so it can be used comfortably without interference in a general mid-tower PC case, and even when installed in a mini PC assembly, there is no need to worry about cooling by installing a triple-fan cooler with a hawk-fan applied. If you are one of the consumers who have already released the latest CPUs from both Intel and AMD and were waiting for the release of graphics cards and were planning to assemble a high-performance mini PC, we recommend the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WINDFORCE OC SFF, which was released as an SFF high-end graphics card.