ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Trinity Black: specs and fit

The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Trinity Black Edition is a high-end graphics card built on NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture. It is meant for gaming at high resolutions and high settings, and for creative work that uses the GPU. It is a large card with specific power and space needs, so this page covers what the specs mean and what to check.

The GPU and memory

The card uses the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER GPU with 10,240 CUDA cores and 16GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus running at 23 Gbps. CUDA cores are the parallel processing units that do the bulk of the work, and memory bandwidth (bus width multiplied by speed) controls how quickly data reaches them. Sixteen gigabytes is generous for current games at 4K and for large textures or scenes in rendering software.

The listing gives a boost clock of 2550 MHz in the feature list and 2610 MHz in the detailed specifications, so check the maker's page for the figure that applies. A boost clock is the maximum speed the GPU can reach under suitable thermal and power conditions, and real speeds vary.

DLSS 3 and ray tracing

ZOTAC lists NVIDIA DLSS 3 and full ray tracing. DLSS uses AI upscaling and, in version 3, frame generation to raise frame rates in supported games. Ray tracing simulates light for more realistic reflections and shadows, at a cost in performance. Both work only in games that support them.

Cooling and noise

ZOTAC's IceStorm 2.0 cooler uses a large heatsink with a composite heatpipe, three 90mm fans, vibration dampeners and a metal backplate. Two features affect noise:

• FREEZE Fan Stop: the fans stop at low temperatures, so the card is silent at idle and in light use.
• Active Fan Control: fan speed adjusts with temperature.

Size and the support stand

The card measures 306.8 mm long, 119.4 mm high and 2.5 slots (58.5 mm) wide. Cards this size can sag in the PCIe slot because of their weight, so ZOTAC includes a GPU support stand. Measure your case's clearance, including the space between the card and the front fans or radiator.

Power requirements

ZOTAC lists a 320W maximum power consumption and recommends a 750W power supply. The card has one 12VHPWR connector, and the box includes an adapter cable from three 8-pin PCIe connectors. If your power supply has a native 12VHPWR cable, you can use that. Make sure the connector is pushed in fully, and follow the manufacturer's manual.

Display outputs and software

There are three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs and one HDMI 2.1a connector, and the card can drive up to four displays at once. It supports HDCP 2.3, is described as 8K ready and VR ready, and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.3 and OpenGL 4.6. It works with Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), with Game Ready and NVIDIA Studio drivers. ZOTAC's FireStorm utility handles tuning and lighting, including the SPECTRA RGB lighting.

PCIe 4.0

The card uses a PCI Express 4.0 x16 interface. It also works in older slots at lower bandwidth, though an older platform may limit it somewhat.

What to check before you buy

• Case clearance: length, height and 2.5-slot thickness.
• Power supply: wattage, connectors and a spare cable path to the card.
• Motherboard slot: a free x16 slot with room above and below.
• Processor balance: a very weak CPU can hold a card like this back.
• Display ports: confirm your monitors use DisplayPort or HDMI.
• What's in the box: card, manual, adapter cable and the support stand.

The short version

• A 16GB GDDR6X RTX 4080 SUPER card with 10,240 CUDA cores and a 256-bit bus.
• DLSS 3 and ray tracing support, for games that use them.
• Triple-fan IceStorm 2.0 cooling with fan-stop at idle and a metal backplate.
• 320W maximum, 750W supply recommended, one 12VHPWR input.
• Large 2.5-slot card, with a support stand included.

Bloiq is reader-supported. Some links may earn us a commission; it never affects what we write. How we make money.