With the march of digital ports and connectors, their older analog counterparts have started to slowly die off. Last month, Intel revealed their plans to kill off the analog 3.5mm audio jack in favour of the digital USB Type-C. This month, it looks like Nvidia is finally killing off D-Sub VGA support starting with the GTX 1080. This comes as the DVI connector for the card no longer has the pinout for VGA passthrough.
Listed as a vague DL-DVI connector on the GTX 1080 website, a closer examination reveals that it is the pure digital variant DVI-D and not DVI-I present on the card. This is news as the GTX 980Ti launched last year still used a DVI-I connector. Without wiring, it means that those who wish to continue VGA displays with the GTX 1080 and likely other high-end Pascal cards will have to resort to DisplayPort to VGA adapters.
Of course, those with the cash to purchase the GTX 1080 probably can afford to get a DP to VGA adapter or upgrade their displays. It remains to be seen if the GTX 1070 will follow the same move. For lower end cards, I expect some to be rebrands which will keep the DVI-I and others may continue to support DVI-I to better target the budget market. There is unlikely to be many complaints given that AMD already removed DVI-I starting with the R9 290(X) back in 2013.
