GALAX GeForce RTX 2080 Super Work The Frames Edition Review

Is your graphics card working those frames fast or hard enough? If not, check out the GALAX GeForce RTX 2080 Super Work The Frames edition – featuring a unique backplate design that lights up just like the stars above. The GALAX RTX 2080 Super Work The Frames (or WTF for short) features a custom PCB design with three 90mm fans. One of the main attractions of this graphics card is the RGB lighting; on the fans, on the logo and on its backplate. Need more eye candy for your gaming rig? Continue reading our GALAX GeForce RTX 2080 Super WTF review below.

GALAX GeForce RTX 2080 Super Work The Frames Review

The GeForce RTX 2080 Super is basically an upgraded or beefed-up version of the RTX 2080, its predecessor. Its performance isn’t close to the RTX 2080 Ti, but it’s a bit faster than the RTX 2080. It’s an ideal graphics card for 1440p and 4K UHD resolution.

The RTX 2080 Super is based on a full TU104 GPU chip, with 3072 CUDA cores and 48 Streaming Multiprocessors. Its base clock speed is 1650MHz with a boost clock speed of 1815MHz, and a TGP of 250 watts. According to NVIDIA, the RTX 2080 Super is faster than the Pascal-based NVIDIA Titan Xp. The Titan Xp was basically faster than the famous GTX 1080 Ti; so this makes the GeForce RTX 2080 Super faster than the GTX 1080 Ti. And let’s not forget, it has ray tracing features.

Aside from the features like real-time ray tracing, DLSS, GPU Boost 4.0, GDDR6 memory, and the other features that the non-Super RTX cards have; the newer RTX Super graphics cards doesn’t have anything “new” or new features that would separate them from the previous generations. They are basically an improved version, perhaps a refinement of their predecessors.

The Galax RTX 2080 Super WTF is basically the same as any other RTX 2080 Super in the market in terms of its core components. But what separates the RTX 2080 Super WTF from the rest are its unique design / aesthetics and cooling solution. We’ll discuss its features as we take a closer look on the graphics card itself after its specifications table below.

GALAX GeForce RTX 2080 Super WTF Specifications

Packaging and Closer Look

The box and packaging of the RTX 2080 Super WTF is more or less similar with the other RTX cards in the market. The only difference here is that you can see a photo of the WTF graphics card on the front and the “tattooed-face-hoodie-guy” that Galax has been using as a mascot in some of their graphics card series. Some of the graphics card’s features are also printed at the back of the box.

There’s not a lot of accessories included in the box actually. You only get the graphics card itself, a quick installation guide and a 4-pin molex to PCIe power adapter. I’m not sure why they still include a molex adapter. This applies if you have an old power supply (PSU); and I would not recommend that you use that as well. If you can afford an RTX 2080 Super, you should invest on a high quality 80 Plus rated PSU that already comes with PCIe power connectors.

The Galax GeForce RTX 2080 Super Work The Frames features 3x 90mm fans with 11 “wings” or fan blades. The angled fan blades not only adds to the aesthetics, but according to Galax it also provide high air flow and keeps air pressure at minimum noise level. The fans do stop when they are idle, and they are also silent when in full load. Though they become audible at 80% to 100% fan speed.

The back plate of the graphics card is quite unique. As you can see, it has a picture of a galaxy on it. And not only that, some of the stars have RGB lighting. The stars aren’t individually lit. There’s a sheet in between the back plate and the PCB that diffuses the RGB lighting. Weather you like the effect and its aesthetics or not, that’s going to be a personal preference already.

The Galax RTX 2080 Super WTF has three DisplayPort 1.4 and an HDMI 2.0b port. It does not have a VirtualLink connector or the USB Type-C port, unlike with the Founders Edition or other RTX 2080 Super cards. I’m not sure why Galax decided not to include one, but be mindful that this model doesn’t have one. If you are not into VR gaming or you don’t have a use for that port then it won’t be an issue.

Like most RTX 2080 Super in the market, Galax’s Work The Frames edition also has an NVLink connector and draws power from a 6-pin + 8-pin PCIe power connector.

The graphics card itself measures 328mm x 150mm x 53mm, and will occupy 2.5~2.7 PCI slots. The cooler shroud is mostly composed of plastic; although some of the cut-out feels metal in nature.

Below, you can see how the stars on the back plate would look like once the RGB lighting is turned on. It’s turned on by default by the way, but you can customize the RGB lighting effect.

Above, you can see different shots of the RTX 2080 Super WTF’s fans with different RGB lighting effect. The logo on the front-side looks cool and the angular fan blades further enhances or emphasizes the lighting effect on the fans.

GALAX Xtreme Tuner Utility

GALAX has a GPU software utility called Xtreme Tuner that can be download from Galax’s website. It’s a small tool where you can monitor the graphics card’s status; overclock it using the 1-click option; customize the RGB effect and control the fan speed.

The Xtreme Tuner is not as comprehensive as the After Burner GPU utility. But you can also use the After Burner if you plan to manually overclock the graphics card. The 1-click OC setting isn’t that aggressive at all. It will only give you a measly 15 MHz boost once you activate it.

The RTX 20 series cards features GPU Boost 4.0, and it will boost to its highest attainable clock speed provided that the GPU is cool enough. So I don’t it’s worth activating the 1-click OC at all. Better to manually overclock the graphics card if you want to squeeze every bit of performance the card has to offer.

While, the Xtreme Tunner may not be the best software for manually overclocking this graphics card, you will need it if you want to control the RGB lighting.

GALAX RTX 2080 Super WTF Test Setup

In testing and benchmarking the GALAX GeForce RTX 2080 Super Work The Frames, the system we used is powered by an 8th Gen. Intel Core i7-8700K, overclocked to 4.9 GHz. The CPU is installed on an MSI MEG Z390 ACE motherboard. Below are the rest of the system specifications:

Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64bit ver. 1903
Motherboard: MSI MEG Z390 ACE
Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K
CPU Cooler: SilverStone PF240 AIO
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200MHz
Graphics card: GALAX GeForce RTX 2080 Super WTF
Storage Drives: Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSD, Crucial MX500 2TB
Power Supply: Seasonic 850W Prime Titanium
Chassis: Thermaltake Core P5

When we tested the GALAX RTX 2080 Super WTF, we used the GeForce driver version 441.41 for Windows 10 64bit. This time, we are only going to test the RTX 2080 Super WTF in two gaming resolutions – 2560×1440 WQHD and 3840×2160 4K UHD. We were getting some inconsistent results in the 1080p tests, so we decided to scratch that one out for now. After all, the RTX 2080 Super is intended for higher resolution and fast refresh rate monitors.

For the synthetic benchmarks, we used the benchmark tools from 3DMark and Unigine 2. We also used the following games to test the graphics card: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Metro Exodus, Middle Earth Shadow of War, Monster Hunter World, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt.

Below is the GPUz screenshot of the GALAX GeForce RTX 2080 Super Work The Frames:

Noise and Temperature

The Galax GeForce RTX 2080 Super Work The Frames features a beefy aluminum fin stack with 6 heat pipes. I’m impressed that during idle to light load situation the temperature is only 43° Celsius, and the fans don’t even run at this state. At this point, the graphics card is basically dead silent since there are no fan running.

We fired up Furmark to test its temperature on full load. All three fans kicks-in running at around 58% fans speed or around 1700 RPM. The temperature stabilized at 66° Celsius after more than 20 minutes. This card definitely runs cooler than the RTX 2080 Super Founders Edition, even cooler than the other graphics cards we’ve tested. Not bad at all, and I think it’s a great cooling solution.

Now time to see if this Galax RTX 2080 Super is working those frames fast enough.

GALAX RTX 2080 Super WTF Synthetic Benchmark Results

First, let’s check out the results we got with the synthetic benchmarks. Some of you might not be interested in synthetic benchmarks, but there are others who would like to see them. This also gives us an idea of the general performance of the graphics card and its standing.

For the synthetic benchmark results, I include 3DMark Fire Strike, 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme, 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra, 3DMark Time Spy and 3DMark Time Spy Extreme. I’ve also included Unigine 2’s Superposition benchmark at 1080p, 1440p and 2160p resolution. Below are the scores that I got for the Galax RTX 2080 Super WTF.

As you can see from the benchmark results above, the Galax RTX 2080 Super WTF is faster than the RTX 2080, but not by a huge margin. It is still far from RTX 2080 Ti level of performance and it’s not Galax fault. Most of the RTX 2080 Super have similar performance and NVIDIA made sure that their top of the line RTX 2080 Ti GPU is much faster to separate it from the other graphics cards.

GALAX RTX 2080 Super WTF 1440p Game Benchmark Results

The GeForce RTX 2080 Super is basically intended for higher resolution and high refresh rate monitors. This means it is an ideal graphics card for 1440p 144Hz monitor or faster, or a 4K UHD monitor.

Below are the game benchmark results that we got with the GALAX RTX 2080 Super WTF. All games are tested in their respective ultra or highest graphics quality.

As you can see from the results above, the RTX 2080 Super WTF can handle tipple-A titled games with max / ultra settings on a 1440p gaming resolution quite well. If you are using a high refresh rate monitor, you may want to set the graphics quality to high or tone down the graphics quality a bit to reach higher frame rates to match the monitor’s refresh rate.

GALAX RTX 2080 Super WTF 2160p Game Benchmark Results

The Galax RTX 2080 Super is also geared towards 4K UHD gaming, but personally I would recommend that you go for the RTX 2080 Ti if you are gaming at this resolution. Not unless you are willing to tone down the graphics quality just a bit to get higher frame rates. This resolution is really demanding as it is equivalent to four 1080p resolution. It’s like driving 4x 1080p monitors simultaneously.

However, if you are just going to play eSport title games and other non-graphics intensive games on a 4K UHD resolution; the RTX 2080 Super would be able to drive them at this resolution quite well. As for non-gaming activity, this card doesn’t have any problem driving a 4K or even a 5K monitor at all.

Below are the results that we got for the 3840×2160 resolution. All games are at their ultra or highest graphics quality as well.

As you can see from the results above, the RTX 2080 Super may be able to drive triple-A titled games at 4K resolution, but you definitely need to use a lower graphics quality setting. Even the RTX 2080 Ti struggles a bit at driving games using ultra or highest graphics quality at this resolution. Nevertheless, the RTX 2080 Super is the second fastest graphics card around and they remain unchallenged to date.

We’ve seen the performance of this graphics card, time to conclude this review.

GALAX RTX 2080 Super Work The Frames Review Conclusion

We have tested the RTX 2080 Super Founders Edition before, so I already have an idea how the Galax RTX 2080 Super Work The Frame would perform. Basically, these cards with the same GPU perform closely to one another. Some would perform just a bit faster thanks to better cooling solution and/or higher factory overclock settings. But basically, they don’t perform far from one another.

The RTX 2080 Super doesn’t have a direct competition as well and it, together with the RTX 2080 Ti, remains unchallenged to date. Currently, the newer and faster card AMD has to offer is the RX 5700 XT; the Radeon VII is technically the fastest, but it’s basically dead at this point. In our tests, we can see that the RTX 2080 Super WTF is a good graphics card for 1440p gaming resolution. You can also use it for 4K gaming, but the RTX 2080 Ti would do better at 4K UHD.

Galax’s Work The Frames edition is a unique graphics card, aesthetically speaking. It’s literally the only graphics card in the market that has stars and galaxy printed at the back. Though it’s not the only RGB-featured graphics card in the market, its implementation is undeniably unique.

I notice that Galax experiments with their graphics cards’ aesthetics and I praise them for that. They are not afraid to try out new designs, even though some people may not like the design. I personally don’t have a problem on how the Work The Frames look. I think it’s unique, especially the (RGB) stars at the back. Though it’s certainly is a niche type of product and design.

In terms of its cooling performance, I’m basically impressed with it. The graphics card remained well under 70° Celsius even on full load. Not to mention, the fans run relatively silent as well. Although, I notice that if you are using a closed-case setup, you will need a good amount of air flow (in and out). So that the heat coming from the graphics card would be exhausted properly out of the system.

I don’t see any major flaws in the design of the graphics card. However, if I have to nitpick, this particular model doesn’t have a USB Type-C port for VR. Also, it would be nice if Galax included plugs or cover for the display ports, NVLink connector and PCIe interface. Also, I like the stars on the back plate, but perhaps they should have chosen a better picture of a galaxy, perhaps darker. Or something that would not be visible unless the RGB lighting kicks in.

Bottom line, Galax’s latest Work The Frames Edition is a great addition to their lineup. It performs well, cooling solution is excellent and if you like the design and aesthetics, we don’t have a problem recommending this graphics card.