NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti review roundup: True 4K gaming at last?

NVIDIA's newest graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, is here at last, and promises of viable 4K gaming have hype levels sky high. When it was first revealed, NVIDIA made it clear that this was the best graphics card it has ever produced, even beating out the fabled TITAN X in a couple of areas. Reviews are beginning to hit the Internet, and now the question becomes whether or not NVIDIA delivered on its promise of insane power.

The answer seems to be yes, for the most part. The GTX 1080 Ti is getting rave reviews from a lot of sites, which suggests that if you're an enthusiast gamer who can handle the $700 asking price, this is the only card for you at the moment.

That's especially true if you've been waiting for the arrival of affordable 4K gaming – with the GTX 1080 Ti, the dream of 60 frames per second gaming at 4K resolutions seems to be coming true without the need to plop down more than $1000 to take home a TITAN X.

"The hype is real. The GTX 1080 Ti is indeed the ultimate GeForce card, and easily so," PCWorld senior editor Brad Chacos wrote in his review. "Adios, graphics compromises for 4K gaming. Adios, fussy multicard setup requirements for top-end UltraHD gaming. Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti delivers."

In putting the card through its paces, PCWorld found that the GTX 1080 Ti outclasses the original GTX 1080 by an average of 25.8%. That's a ridiculous increase in power, especially when you consider that the GTX 1080 seemed like such a jump ahead when it was released less than a year ago.

Anandtech's Ryan Smith points out that this card is worth upgrading to for some NVIDIA GPU owners, especially those who decided to wait on last year's GTX 1080. "For GTX 980 Ti and GTX 780 Ti owners, this is the card NVIDIA would like to sell you as your next upgrade," Smith writes. "And if you managed to hold off on buying a GTX 1080 FE last year, then the GTX 1080 Ti is going to bring a lot more performance for the same price."

Finally, over on the pages of Ars Technica, reviewer Mark Walton makes an interesting distinction. While he says that the GTX 1080 Ti is a good value when compared to the TITAN X, he also points out that it isn't as good of a value as it could be when compared to the original GTX 1080, offering a roughly 30% increase in sheer power but a 40% increase in price.

Still, those who know they want the best of the best can stop looking, because they've found the card for them. "The GTX 1080 Ti might not be a great value proposition, but it is undoubtedly a fantastic piece of engineering — cool, quiet, and without rival. Those that demand the absolutely very best in cutting-edge graphics need look no further."

That seems to be the common theme through a lot of these reviews: while it's perhaps a little overboard for most gamers, the GTX 1080 Ti has secured its spot as king of the hill for the time being. It won't be that way forever, though, and all eyes will certainly be on AMD as it prepares to launch its RX Vega cards sometime within the next few months.

What do you think of the GTX 1080 Ti? Are you going to picking one up for yourself, or are you going to pass on the card and its $700 price tag? Head down to the comments section and let us know!