RTX2080Ti turbo - bug in spec? Is it "two slot" or 42 mm?

[Lezz]

Hi all,

I'm a bit puzzled with what I see in RTX2080Ti turbo spec.

• First, they say it is 42 mm (1.65 Inch) thick
• Next, they say it's two-slot

AFAIU, ATX slot spacing standard is exactly 0.8 inch (20.32 mm), see 1, 2. That is, two slot card must be not thicker than 1.6 Inch (40.64mm). So, which part in the spec is a lie?

I think these additional 1.5mm might be critical for me.

[xeromist]

If they are measuring the absolute thickness with the widest protrusions then that would include the PCI slot bracket overhang. Brackets always mount slightly offset from the slots they are supporting. Look at the end on photo:

[Lezz]

xeromist,
yep, that's a good idea, it looks quite plausible. But... it looks like that is only one of the possible explanations....

If we take that photo and assume that the height of the bracket is 120mm (AFAIU, it's always 120mm), the width, including that part of the bracket would be about 42mm (maybe 42.5mm), but the main body of the card is definitely not thicker than 40mm:

.

I've just measured the same thing on my current GPU, and the result was the same (42mm).

However, this is not the size that is usually reported in spec, is it? E.g. for GTX1080Ti turbo, spec say "1.5 " Inch" (3.81 Centimeter), even though the bracket dimensions should be the same (they are always the same, AFAIU).

I hope those "raised for spacing between cards" part is not the actual reason here (maybe it's just not visible on the first image?).


I've contacted asus support via email, and they kindly escalated this to an engineering team asking them to re-measure it. So, I hope there would be a more confident measurement soon.

[Lezz]

Sadly, I've received a very strange answer (absolutely incompetent and self-contradictory, IMHO) from the email support:

I must apologize for the delayed response however please note that the Dimensions can be found on the product support website:

https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics-Car...pecifications/

10.59 " x 4.49 " x 1.65 " Inch
26.9 x 11.4 x4.2 Centimeter

It has 2.7 slot design and please find more information below:

https://rog.asus.com/articles/gaming...-rog-and-asus/

It looks like they mix info about "DUAL-RTX2080TI-O11G" (which is 2.7 slot, according to its spec and the article they refer to) and “TURBO-RTX2080TI-11G” (which is "42mm" and "2-slot", according to its spec ).

[xeromist]

Yeah, unfortunately I think that's one of those things phone/email support may not be able to address. They have the same documentation in front of them as you.

Looking at the pictures again it really does appear the bracket is larger than the card in both dimensions. The bracket is designed to fit standard ATX case slots and the card body is smaller. So I really don't think you're going to have a clearance issue with the card itself.

[Silent Scone@ROG]

The specified dimensions are as such to accommodate for airflow.

[Lezz]

Looking at the pictures again it really does appear the bracket is larger than the card in both dimensions. The bracket is designed to fit standard ATX case slots and the card body is smaller. So I really don't think you're going to have a clearance issue with the card itself.

I do agree the pics look more like it's a "true 2 slot card". It should be. That's the main reason why one might want to use a blower card.
It might be useful, for example, in a system like this 4.5u 10 GPU server or Asus ESC 8000 G3 or tiny mini-ITX cases or whatever.

The specified dimensions are as such to accommodate for airflow.

Hi Silent Scone@ASUS,
Many thanks for trying to help, but could you please read my very first message in this thread more carefully? I'm not saying "I don't like that this card is 42mm thick". I'm saying that "the specification is self-contradictory". The card cannot be both "2-slot" and "42mm thick".

Concerning the airflow - the card TDP is the same (250W) as TURBO-GTX1080TI-11G, which is 38.1mm thick. Thus, designing a two-slot blower-style cooler shouldn't be impossible.



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I've just received one more reply from the "L3 Customer Care":

We appreciate you reaching out to us, thank you so much and we will definitely reach out to the team to have this addressed! The information is definitely in reference to the TURBO-RTX2080TI-11G so we will have the team update the specifications correctly. Thank you so much for pointing this out.

It sounds like they are going to "fix" the TURBO-RTX2080TI-11G spec, and actually put "2.7 slot" there. Well... That would be funny. It is possible that it is 2.05 slot (even though that would be a crazy design), but I really doubt it is "2.7" slot.

[Silent Scone@ROG]

I do agree the pics look more like it's a "true 2 slot card". It should be. That's the main reason why one might want to use a blower card.
It might be useful, for example, in a system like this 4.5u 10 GPU server or Asus ESC 8000 G3 or tiny mini-ITX cases or whatever.



Hi Silent Scone@ASUS,
Many thanks for trying to help, but could you please read my very first message in this thread more carefully? I'm not saying "I don't like that this card is 42mm thick". I'm saying that "the specification is self-contradictory". The card cannot be both "2-slot" and "42mm thick".

Concerning the airflow - the card TDP is the same (250W) as TURBO-GTX1080TI-11G, which is 38.1mm thick. Thus, designing a two-slot blower-style cooler shouldn't be impossible.



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I've just received one more reply from the "L3 Customer Care":


It sounds like they are going to "fix" the TURBO-RTX2080TI-11G spec, and actually put "2.7 slot" there. Well... That would be funny. It is possible that it is 2.05 slot (even though that would be a crazy design), but I really doubt it is "2.7" slot.

Sorry, it's probably more a case you need to read what I'm saying more carefully, though.

The *specified* dimensions are likely as such to accommodate for airflow, not the dimensions are as such. Probably best not to overthink these things if one has a chassis that can house the GPU regardless. Blower designs still need to be able to draw in air.

Thanks

[Lezz]

Sorry, it's probably more a case you need to read what I'm saying more carefully, though.
The *specified* dimensions are likely as such to accommodate for airflow, not the dimensions are as such.
Thanks

• Well... Usually "dimensions" means "dimensions as such". Otherwise, it's a bug - they should clearly mark this field as "dimensions with account for blah-blah-blah" instead.
• Do they also take power connectors into account (when they specify card height, the "11.4" in "26.9 x 11.4 x4.2 Centimeter")? User definitely needs some space there too.

Probably best not to overthink these things <... >

• Yep. And, IMHO, the simplest possible explanation is that there's a bug in the spec.
• I also have a conspiracy theory though: something happened with NVidia's policy about true 2-slot cards. It looks like they don't like them any more. Their "Founders Edition" is no longer a good choice for a user looking for a "true two-slot" card. They do not offer 2-slot NVlink bridges (except Tesla/Quadro). Maybe they try to make consumer GPUs look incompatible with systems like Asus ESC 8000 G3?

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I've just received my TURBO-RTX2080TI-11G. I've measured the thickness, and I can confirm it's below 40mm. I'd say it's about 37.28+2.16mm, see attached photos here.