Introduction

It doesn't seem that long ago that everyone would dismiss a reference card out of hand. The coolers were rubbish, the noise levels high, and they had all the visual attractiveness of a concrete bunker. Whilst the main manufacturers - AMD and Nvidia - have greatly improved all those aspects of their own brand designs, the truth is that almost everyone instead buys a partner vendor card.

Perhaps you've just seen the numbers available from the Nvidia RTX 4080, the latest entry in their Ada Lovelace range of graphics cards. If so then you'll be champing at the bit to get one into your system. Should that desire coincide with a preference for Gigabyte hardware, or perhaps you prefer a whiter card than the ones usually available, then their Aero range might scratch that itch.

The Aero range is a fairly new brand in the Gigabyte range, sitting above their most basic models, but below their Aorus range. All the comfort of a big brand, none of the extra expense of a flagship sub brand. Let's see how it performs.

Technical Specifications

The Aero is very close to the reference Nvidia specifications, with just a small 30 MHz boost at stock. We know that GPU Boost technology renders the paper clock speed irrelevant, so we are keen to discover if the Aero cooler takes the Gigabyte higher than the Nvidia card.