Palit RTX 2080 Super JetStream Graphics Card Review

A Closer Look

First impressions of the new Super JetStream are good, as the card has a hefty size to it and that often bodes well for performance. The triple slot cooler design does make it pretty darn heavy though, so a motherboard with reinforced PCIe slots or a chassis with a brace is going to pay off to prevent any sagging. All that weight is good though, it means we’ve got a lot of heavy-metal \m/ hiding inside, which hopefully means a very competent cooler.

There are two fin stacks in the card, each cooled by the large dual-fan configuration. There’s ample ventilation on all sides of the card too, allowing for passive and active heat dissipation. This is a powerful card, and it’s factory overclocked, so there’s more than enough reasons to need such a chunky cooler.

Two Tone Design

Aesthetics are on point too, as the card is pretty slick and I’m loving that simple two-tone design. I don’t think there’s a flat surface to be found anywhere here, as everything is angled, curved, carved, etc. The metal trim does look nice though, and a nice break from more plastic heavy designs.

It looks interesting though, and with RGB lighting in the bottom left zone (pictured below) and in the top slots cut along that bottom edge, it should look pretty slick powered up. 

Ventilation

Around the back, you can really appreciate how bulky that cooler really is. As you can see, the card still uses a dual slot backplate though. There is ventilation, but it’s not really attached to the airflow design as the card vents heat from all sides fairly equally by design. There are good connections though, with three DisplayPorts, one HDMI, and the new VR USB Type-C interface all present. Hooking up multiple 4K, HFR, HDR, or VR devices shouldn’t be an issue here.

On the back of the card, you’ll find a full-length backplate. It’s finished with black brushed aluminium and has this gorgeous JetStream print on the back; obviously! This gives the card a lot of added strength, which is good given the size of it. Of course, it also provides some extra passive cooling capabilities to the back of the PCB.

Here you can also glimpse those frankly massive heat pipes. There are only four of them, but they certainly make up for that with their girth.

Factory Overclocked

Overall, this is a pretty impressive looking card. Again, that thicker cooler design is ideal for helping the card maintain lower temperatures, even at higher clock speeds. The bigger factory overclock is ok, but I’m betting this card will push a bit harder with a manual overclock too; assuming you give the card the required air flow.

So, enough of staring at the RTX logo on the side, let’s get this beast in the test bench and put it through its paces!