Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti review

Under regular circumstances, this could be the proper time to unleash the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. Nine months separate the RTX 3080 and the brand new Ti, the everyday time-frame for an replace. And, whereas this mid-generation refresh has been launched into the wild in accordance with that schedule, it’s a wierd time for it to look. After all, there’s nothing regular about these instances or this technology of GPUs, whether or not from Nvidia or AMD.

The greatest graphics playing cards have been close to not possible to purchase due to a worldwide silicon scarcity, limiting provide of obtainable inventory. On prime of that, potential customers have needed to cope with retailer lotteries and, even worse, scalpers. Considering the beginning worth of this graphics card is a premium $1,199, discovering one among these just isn't going to be straightforward.

The RTX 3080 Ti takes the RTX 3090 and trims it all the way down to half the VRAM of the flagship GPU for a nonetheless remarkably highly effective card. And, whereas there are rumors swirling of a good beefier 20GB model of the 3080 Ti, it shouldn't have any points dealing with nearly any recreation on the market at 4K 60 fps. Considering how shut in efficiency it's to the RTX 3080, and the way far in worth, it could be a tough card to suggest if the market ever goes again to regular.

Price and availability

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is offered June 3, beginning at $1,199 / £1,049 / AU$1,949. Prices for the RTX 3080 Ti will most likely differ wildly from that minimal worth, and third-party variations of the GPU will most likely promote for a lot larger.

Given that the RTX 3080 launched in September 2020 for simply $699 (£649, about AU$950), you’re paying not less than twice as a lot for the RTX 3080 Ti. Given that this GPU has simply 2GB extra VRAM and 17% extra CUDA cores, that 100% worth mark-up could be exhausting to swallow proper now.

Although, this graphics card does ship just about the identical stage of efficiency because the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 at $300 cheaper (not less than going by MSRP), so it could be value grabbing in case you had your eyes on Nvidia’s top-end graphics card.

Chipset and options

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

(Image credit score: Future)

Just like the remainder of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series, the RTX 3080 Ti is constructed on the Nvidia Ampere structure, and brings with it the identical enhancements as the remainder of the lineup. There is one thing new to the desk, nevertheless.

As with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 that launched in March 2021, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti has a hardware-based hash fee limiter that ought to restrict the enchantment to cryptocurrency miners. We don’t take a look at mining efficiency at SociallyTrend, so we are able to’t communicate to how efficient this restrict really is. But on condition that the hash fee limiter on the RTX 3060 was unintentionally bypassed by Nvidia’s personal driver replace, we’ll simply have to attend and see how nicely this really dissuades miners from shopping for this graphics card in bulk.

Beyond that, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is definitely fairly a bit beefier than the unique RTX 3080, and that largely falls to core depend and reminiscence bandwidth.

Because, positive, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti does have extra VRAM, with 12GB of GDDR6X in comparison with 10GB of the stuff on the unique card, however it’s additionally on a quicker 384-bit reminiscence bus. That means you get 912 GB/s of reminiscence bandwidth on the RTX 3080 Ti in comparison with the RTX 3080’s 760 GB/s. With quicker VRAM, to not point out simply extra reminiscence, the RTX 3080 Ti must be much more adept at 4K gaming sooner or later.

The RTX 3080 Ti is straight up extra highly effective, as nicely. The GPU has 10,240 CUDA cores throughout 80 compute items, in comparison with the RTX 3080’s 8,704 CUDA cores. That’s a 17% enhance in core depend, however don’t count on a strict 17% efficiency enhance - extra on that later.

You’re additionally going to get entry to Nvidia’s complete suite of software program options, and it’s not simply restricted to gaming.

The one we're nonetheless in love with is Nvidia Broadcast, which is ostensibly designed for streamers and content material creators, however we discover that it's extremely helpful in simply day-to-day life. We use it loads after we’re taking conferences, and even simply hanging out with mates in Discord, particularly as a result of it filters out many of the New York City avenue noises outdoors our street-facing condo window.

Of course, you additionally get entry to Deep Learning Super Sampling, or DLSS. This tech makes use of the Tensor cores – the RTX 3080 Ti has 320 of these – to upscale a decrease decision to your native decision. The thought is that DLSS will allow you to activate extra of the shiny graphics choices, so that you don’t should sacrifice picture high quality simply to hit an honest framerate, particularly at excessive resolutions like 4K.

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Design

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti we reviewed is Nvidia’s Founders Edition, and, nicely, it seems to be like the remainder of the RTX 30-series Founders Edition playing cards. The graphics card has a beautiful black and gunmetal grey colorway. You’ll aso see Nvidia and RTX 3080 Ti branding etched into the steel. That’s not one thing you’ll discover when you even have the graphics card in your PC, however it’s a pleasant contact.

The RTX 3080 Ti is the very same measurement and weight as the unique RTX 3080, which implies it’s 4.4 inches thick and 11.2 inches lengthy, so it ought to match typically.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

(Image credit score: Future)

There are two followers on the RTX 3080 Ti and similar to the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090, there’s one on the entrance and one on the again. This fan configuration pulls air by the entrance of the cardboard, it’ll undergo the cardboard, and exit by a fan on the again of the cardboard, most likely capturing the new air by the highest of your case.

It’s an especially efficient technique of cooling the RTX 3080 Ti, and even with a peak energy consumption of 350W, the RTX 3080 Ti peaks at simply 78.9C. That is loads larger than the RTX 3090’s 72C peak temperature, though that card has the identical stage of energy consumption.

But it’s really spectacular that Nvidia was in a position to get that shut in thermals, contemplating that it was in a position to shrink the cooler again all the way down to a dual-slot design, quite than the large triple-slot RTX 3090 Founders Edition.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

(Image credit score: Future)

Finally, Nvidia has in fact included the 12-pin energy connector. It does imply that you simply’re most likely going to have to make use of an adapter to energy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, however in fact, Nvidia has included an adapter within the field.