NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti release date, specs, price rumors: quieter top-tier graphics card consumes less power

The GTX 1080 is Nvidia's latest high-end graphics card not only because it is more powerful in terms of performance, but it consumes less power and therefore emits less heat and noise.

To achieve this boost in performance, the company has accordingly shifted from its previous architecture called Maxwell and introduced a new technique called Pascal. One of the key features of Pascal is that it uses a smaller manufacturing process, which by doing so increases performance with a much smaller effect on power consumption. This also reduces heat and noise. Small wonder why Nvidia had to spend billions to get this new architecture to the market.

Based on the tests conducted by the company, the peak power draw for the entire test system was only 286 W, compared to 270 W and 336 W on the GTX 980 and GTX 980Ti, respectively, cards previously built by Nvidia.

Another cool feature in this new graphics card is the Ansel, which Nvidia describes as "an in-game 3D camera." Instead of just capturing a 2D image, Ansel allows players to pause their game, then explore the environment using a floating camera. With it, players can apply several filters and effects to the scene with user-friendly tools. Players can also adjust the resolution to their liking. The tool can support up to 4.5-gigapixel images. Ansel is designed to be the SLR camera inside the games one plays.

It is not just the processing power that has been upgraded. The GTX 1080 uses GDDR5X memory – like the RAM in one's laptop, but much faster and more expensive – replacing the GDDR5 found in the previous generation of Nvidia GPUs.

The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti will cost around $1,000. According to insider sources, NVidia's upcoming GTX 1080 Ti graphics card is launching at next year's CES in January.