Nvidia's latest and greatest consumer graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1080, is finally official and will be available in stores starting May 27.
It's a big deal for PC gamers who like to live on the bleeding edge of graphics technology, but this time around Nvidia has decided to do things a little differently by introducing a Founders Edition model. What exactly is the Founders Edition? Well, Nvidia didn't make it entirely clear in its launch material, but from what we can gather, Founders Edition is essentially a new name for reference cards.
Our understanding is that reference Founders Edition boards will be available on May 27, followed by custom partner cards shortly after. The stock Founders Edition card won't be specially binned, nor overclocked, but it will feature Nvidia's reference cooler, which has proven popular in previous generations and has been improved this time around with an integrated vapour chamber.
The interesting part, we feel, is that the GTX 1080 Founders Edition will be priced at $699, while partner cards will arrive on the scene priced from $599. In an unusual turn of events, this could result in overclocked designs with meaty coolers costing less than the stock-clocked reference board.
A $100 price disparity can be viewed in many different ways, with the cynics already referring to it as an early adopter's tax. Nvidia's partners, on the other hand, may be pleased to find that they won't be competing directly with the reference design, and given that the Founders Edition will be produced for the entirety of GTX 1080's lifetime, we imagine system integrators will appreciate having a single design to validate and implement.
It's an intriguing twist on a high-profile launch, so what do you, the consumers, make of it all? And if you were in the market for a GTX 1080, would you pay the premium for a Founders Edition, or are you more likely to wait to see what partner cards have in store? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
