Ended up getting really lucky and buying this from Amazon Warehouse in "like new". While the box was damaged a bit and the CD looked pretty beat up, the card itself did look pristine. I couldn't tell if it was used or "abused". Been benchmarking the card for the last week to make sure and the card exceeded expectations with some things that people should know:
1) The ASUS GPU Tweak II software must be loaded in order for any custom OC settings to kick in. If this doesn't happen, sometimes the your OC setting will stick and sometimes they won't. There is an issue with the latest version of this software and Windows 10 build 1067 where it will not auto load on Windows start even if you check the options. So for now, I have to start the application every time I boot. It's annoying.
2) In GPU Tweak II there are presets. I'll only talk about "Gaming Mode" and "OC Mode". Gaming mode is the default and supposedly running stock clocks. However, I found this to not be true via various monitoring software - GPU-Z, Afterburner, and even ASUS's monitor software. In Gaming Mode, you're actually running OC clocks. I think it's a bug in their software. So in this mode, I can achieve not just the advertised 1936 MHz clocks but up to 2000 MHz. So this is great! What does "OC Mode" do then? Well this actually takes your OC even higher and attempts 2088 to 2100 MHz. The card is fairly stable there BUT, for me, I'm not able to pass 3D Mark Firestrike at all unless I drop it down to 2038 MHz or so. One thing to note here is that when Firestrike fails, the test stops gracefully - no hangs or artifacting. I can pass Heaven though @ 2100MHz. So it's likely ok to run in OC Mode but realize it's really pushing the gpu clocks. This may explain why people complain the GPU is not stable because they "think" in order to get to the advertised 1936MHz you have to run OC Mode and what happens is that they're pushing 2100MHz, which I feel is the borderline. So despite my benchmarking, I never encountered artifacting. Had I seen any, I probably would have presumed card was abused and returned it.
3) I've adjusted the fan profile and can maintain ~70 C at highest OC. If you don't do this the default fan profile is biased towards being quiet which means fans don't kick in until you hit higher temps. Some people have stated that the fans don't work when they don't realize that they actually don't kick in until 40C or so. It may be higher with default fan profile. I never bothered trying to figure this out and set my own profile. So the fans are likely working but they will not spin like you may be used to until the card gets to a certain temp.
4) Memory OC, I've read can go as high as 11000MHz. I have mine set at 10500MHz with no problems. I'm pretty confident I can hit 11000MHz but I wanted some buffer to ensure stability. The last few 100MHz for either GPU or Memory clock isn't going to make much of a difference in gaming or benchmarks. Just with the OC I have, I'm only getting a few hundred points increases in Firestrike. 1080 GTX stock is already a beast!
Overall, if you get this card, you will get more than the advertised 1936 MHz boost and the ASUS software is already setup to attempt fairly aggressive OC. So if you're not the kind to tweak your OC you can easily get a nice stable OC out of the box. The card is very quiet vs. my old Sapphire 7970 Radeon and runs much cooler in terms of temps.
This card has one, if not the fastest, OC clocks advertised out of the box which is why it's hard to get. Check the "other seller" section often and if you see one in "like new" condition from Amazon Warehouse, GET IT at a nice discount!!! It will be gone before you know it. And absolutely DO NOT pay more than the $679.99 MSRP. Anyone else trying to sell you higher is taking advantage of you and ripping you off.
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Update: 11/10/16
People buying ASUS on Amazon be aware that you WILL NOT get Gears of War 4 promotion even though it qualifies. I tried to work with ASUS customer support but they've taken a "not our problem attitude". The rub? For all the Asian countries ASUS gives promo codes direct and there's a process. For any country outside their special list, you're pretty much SOL. I had multiple exchanges with ASUS support and they keep telling me to go to Geforce.com to get my code. And when you go there it redirects you back to ASUS. I tried to explain this to ASUS customer support and they keep saying the same thing - go to geforce.com to get your code. It's like talking to a robot. If they have a process to provide GoW4 codes for other countries why can't they do it for the rest of the customers? Customers buying their product should be treated equally. Perhaps this can be a class action lawsuit. Card may be good but customer support SUCKS!! It's making me think twice and will check out other vendors like EVGA. I've heard they honor their promo codes with no hassle and treat customers they they should be treated. Disappointing! >:(
| Max Screen Resolution | 7680 x 4320 |
|---|---|
| Memory Speed | 1835 MHz |
| Graphics Coprocessor | gddr5 |
| Chipset Brand | Nvidia GTX 1080 |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 8000 MB |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
