Gigabyte is launching a new graphics card with a blower style cooler that it is calling the GTX 1080 TT. The card, which is likely based on the NVIDIA reference PCB, uses a lateral-blower style single “WindForce Turbo Fan” fan. The orange and black shrouded fan takes design cues from the company’s higher end Xtreme Gaming cards and it has a very Mass Effect / Halo Forerunners vibe to it.

The GV-N1080TTOC-8GD is powered by a single 8-pin PCI-E power connector and has a 180W TDP. Despite not using more than one external power connector, the card does still have a bit of overclocking headroom (a total of 225W from the PCI-E spec, though overdrawing on the 8-pin has been done before if the card is not locked in the BIOS to not do so heh). External video outputs include one DVI, one HDMI, and three DisplayPorts. I wish that the DVI port had been cut so that the blower cooler could have a much larger vent to exhaust air out of the case with, but it is what it is.

Out of the box the Gigabyte GTX 1080 TT runs the Pascal-based 2560 CUDA core GPU at 1632 MHz base and 1772 MHz boost. In OC Mode the GPU runs at 1657 MHz base and 1797 MHz boost. The 8 GB of GDDR5X memory is left untouched at the stock 10 GHz in either case. For comparison, reference clock speeds are 1607 MHz base and 1733 MHz boost. As far as factory overclocks go, these are not bad (they are usually at least this conservative).

The heatsink uses three direct contact 6mm copper heat pipes for the GPU and aluminum plates on the VRM and memory chips that transfer heat to an aluminum fin channels that the blower fan at the back of the card uses to push case air over and out of the case. It may be possible to push the card beyond the OC mode clocks though it is not clear how stable boost clocks will be under load (or how loud the fan will be). We will have to wait for reviews on that. If you have a cramped case this may be a decent GTX 1080 option that is cheaper than the Founder's Edition desgin.

There is no word on pricing or an exact release date yet, but I would estimate it at around $640 at launch. 

Also read:

The GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Founders Edition Review – GP104 Brings Pascal to Gamers

CES 2016: Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming Series GPU with RGB LED Fans (video) @ PC Perspective