Aorus gtx 1080 gaming box review in Spanish (full analysis)

We continue to analyze external graphics solutions from AORUS, the gaming division of Gigabyte. This time we have in our hands the AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box system, which includes within it all the power of a GeForce GTX 1080 as its name indicates. Thanks to this preciousness you can enjoy the most demanding video games on your slim ultrabook

Do not miss our complete analysis in Spanish! Let's start!

We appreciate the trust in Gigabyte for the Gaming BOX loan:

AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box technical specifications

Unboxing and design

AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box is a luxury product, something that is noticeable from the first moment you look at its careful packaging. The product arrives in a cardboard box based on the company's corporate colors, and with a great high-definition image of the product.

In the back of the box we find all its most important characteristics and specifications. Once we open the box, we find the device perfectly protected and accommodated, by several pieces of high-density foam to prevent it from moving during transport.

Once we open the box we find the following bundle:

• AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box Cable Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C) Power Cable Installation Guide Driver CD Carry Bag

AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box is the most powerful external graphics solution that we can find on the market, since it comes with a GeForce GTX 1080 inside, which was Nvidia's top-of-the-range card for many months and remains exceptional for two years after its launch.

As in all Gaming Boxes, it includes the power supply for the graphics card inside, this means that the product comes ready to connect and start enjoying.

Its size is only 212 x 96 x 162 mm with a weight of 2360 grams, it is clear that Gigabyte has done a great engineering job to insert such a graphics card in a very small hole.

The internal power supply has a FLEX format, has a maximum power of 450W and is backed by an 80 Plus Gold certificate, which guarantees great energy efficiency. In this way it reduces electricity consumption and the heat generated. Gigabyte has installed an efficient ventilation system with two 40mm fans that will prevent heat from building up inside the AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box. With this, the graphics card will be able to work at full speed in the most intense gaming sessions.

A mesh type grid has been placed on the sides, something important to allow proper cooling of the device.

It will also allow us to enjoy its Gigabyte RGB Fusion lighting system, which we can configure using software in 16.8 million colors, and various light effects. Dust filters are included on both sides to protect the device from dirt ingress.

The device is based on a simple and elegant design, it is made of high quality black aluminum so that it is very robust and durable. On the front we find the brand logo screen printed in silver, it is a pity that it is not part of the lighting system, right?

To communicate with the PC, the advanced Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C) interface is used, which offers a bandwidth of up to 40 Gbps, more than enough to allow the GeForce GTX 1080 to offer great features. As for the graphics card, it is a Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1080 mini ITX, with a very compact design in which it is able to offer excellent performance in the most demanding video games.

It is very important that when choosing a laptop with Thunderbolt it has a “link speed x4” interface to get the most out of the graphics card. In our case, Gigabyte you have not sent a Dell XPS 13-inch laptop but it only works at x2, that is, 20 Gbps, so we will not be able to get 100% performance from this fantastic Gaming BOX.

As we have already mentioned, it internally incorporates an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 with its fantastic 2560 CUDA Cores that operate at maximum base and turbo frequencies of 1607 MHz and 1733 MHz. Its graphics core is accompanied by 8 GB of GDDR5X memory with a 256-bit interface and a bandwidth of 384 GB / s. This graphics card will allow us to enjoy the most modern games at 4K resolution and virtual reality with devices such as Oculus Rift or HTC Vive without problems. This graphics card includes video outputs in the form of 2 DVI, 1 HDMI and 1 DisplayPort.

AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box also offers us 4 USB 3.1 ports, one of them with quick charge Quick Charge 3.0 and Power Delivery 3.0, thanks to which it offers up to 100W of power, to power any peripheral, laptop or desktop computer. That is, it not only serves as an external graphics card, it also helps us to have a greater number of connections and an external power system:)

Steps to install the Aorus GTX 1080 Gaming BOX

The first thing we have to check is that our laptop is compatible with Thunderbolt 3 technology. This data can be verified among the official online specifications of the laptop manufacturer. It is very important to know if the link speed is x2 or x4 . In our case, the laptop that Gigabyte sent us has X2, so we will not be able to get the most out of the graphics card. For example, the Aero 14 has a link speed x4 and in that case if we would have the maximum bandwidth (40 Gbp / s).

In the lower area of ​​the Gaming BOX GTX 1080 we have to locate the power connection, the digital video connection (DVI, D-SUB or HDMI) that we are going to use and the Thunderbolt 3 connector (both on the EGPU and on the laptop ) which will make the connection of the external graphics card to the laptop.

Thunderbolt 3 connection of the Dell XPS 13 (9360).

Once connected we will get a Thunderbolt privilege notice. We must click OK to configure the new device. By default it appears as "Does not connect", we will mark the last option "Always connect" and press OK.

After a few seconds, the external monitor will have a video signal and we can use it. What do we have left? Install updated Nvidia drivers. We will download it from the official Nvidia repositories and install them.

We also recommend installing the “Aorus Graphics Engine” software to take more exhaustive control of our external device.

As in the beginning we will use our laptop to work with the external 4K screen and an external keyboard. My advice is that instead of duplicating the screen, we use "Show only in 1 or 2", this way we can get the most out of our monitor with its native resolution. In this way, we will already have our system configured to 100%.

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Laptop:	Dell XPS 13 (9360) with 8th Generation Intel processor.
External graphics card	AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box

To check the stability of the graphics card we will use a Dell XPS 13 (9360) laptop with processor Low consumption: Intel i7-8550U at 4 GHz, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD NVMe and a 13.3-inch screen.

All the tests we have carried out with the AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box in Full HD, 2560 x 1440 and 4K resolution to satisfy all our readers. Next we leave you the synthetic tests:

• 3DMARK Fire Strike.3DMark Time Spy.PCMark 8.VRMark.

Games

As you know, since the launch of the second generation AMD Ryzen we have renewed our in-game testing. We leave you the list of the chosen ones and their configurations:

• Far Cry 5: Ultra TAADoom 2: Ultra TSSAA x 8Rise Of Tomb Raider Ultra Filters x 4DEUS EX Mankind Divided Ultra with x4 filterFinal Fantasy XV Benchmark

Testing in games 1920 x 1080

Testing in games 2560 x 1440

Game testing 3840 x 2160 (4K)

Final words and conclusion about AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box

It is appreciated that Gigabyte Aorus offers us external graphics card solutions in our country. Currently there are not many solutions, and this system is positioned as a good complement to our work laptop / ultrabook as a sporadic gaming station at home. With the arrival of the new 8th generation i5 and i7 from intel: i5-8250u / i7-8550u (low consumption series) offers us a higher performance than the previous generation that only had 2 cores and 4 threads.

Overall we have been very happy with the performance of the Aorus GTX 1080 Gaming BOX. An excellent external graphics card attached in a very small chassis. This graphics card has a custom tailored PCB. As a possible improvement, we miss an aesthetic improvement to the GPU cooling system, such as a plastic protector. But the most important thing is that it refrigerates well as we see it.

Not only does it serve as an external graphics card, but it also offers the possibility of using it as a complete HUB for USB connectors and connecting various screens on our desktop. As we have said, an ideal complement to our home setup.

At rest it is somewhat noisy, this is due to the two small fans that it incorporates on the right side. Perhaps with an ultra slim 120mm fan, we would have better results in cooling and loudness. We may also have a problem with the installation, in our case we had to restart the Dell XPS 13 laptop from the factory to recognize the external graphics card using thunderbolt 3.

As they tell us from Gigabyte its price in online stores will fluctuate 720 euros. We think it is a decent price, taking into account the price that the GPUs are at the moment for mining, more considering the Aorus GTX 1070 of 8 GB for 599 euros. What do you think of this type of solution? Does it seem as interesting to you as it does to us?

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ SUPER COMPACT	- LISTENING TO FANS AT REST, BUT NOTHING ALARMING.
+ VERY POWERFUL, AS IT INCORPORATES A GTX 1080
+ REAR USB AND USB TYPE-C CONNECTIONS.
+ MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

The professional review team awards you the gold medal and recommended product.

AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box

COMPONENT QUALITY - 92%

DISSIPATION - 90%

GAMING EXPERIENCE - 95%

SOUND - 77%

PRICE - 75%

86%