26 Jan
Blog

Nvidia RTX 3050 review: Budget GPUs are officially back

RTX 3050 graphics card under PC accessories.

Nvidia RTX 3050 review: Budget GPUs are officially back

RRP $249.00

"The RTX 3050 is a return to budget GPUs for Nvidia, with solid performance backed by DLSS."

benefits

  • Solid 1080p gaming performance

  • Low list price

  • Supports DLSS

  • Decent ray tracing

disadvantage

  • Prices will likely be high

  • Slight stuttering in memory intensive games

2022 is the year that budget GPUs will make a comeback – or at least it looks like it. I assumed that GPU class was dead; Nvidia eventually skipped the RTX 2050 and prices for the best graphics cards continue to rise. The $249 RTX 3050 is a return to form and could be the most affordable GPU this year.

I had a chance to test the card and while it holds its own against the rest of the Nvidia lineup and AMD's competition, it's its features that set the RTX 3050 apart from the rest. With rumors of increased supply and an attractive list price, the RTX 3050 could be an antidote to the GPU shortage that budget-conscious gamers have been waiting for.

Prices and Availability

RTX 3050 graphics card sits upright.Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Nvidia hasn't released a reference design for the RTX 3050, but the company has still set a list price of $249. There are a number of options from board partners including graphics cards from EVGA, PNY, Colorful and Asus. I got my hands on the EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black, which is available now for $249.

My card arrived with the wrong BIOS intended for the slightly more expensive EVGA RTX 3050 XC. This BIOS offers a 68MHz boost clock speed. It's a difference, but no more than 3% at most, and you can easily compensate for it with manual overclocking.

Like all graphics cards in 2022, expect the RTX 3050 to sell out right away. The saving grace is that models are available at list price on launch day. That's cheaper than you can currently buy almost any graphics card, including options that are several years old.

On paper, the RTX 3050 is $50 more expensive than the recently released AMD RX 6500 XT. I haven't had a chance to test AMD's card yet, but the amount of benchmarks I've seen shows that the RTX 3050 deserves its higher price tag. Not only does the extra $50 buy you a more powerful GPU, it also gets Nvidia Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and ray tracing, which isn't bad.

The RTX 3050 is cheaper than the RX 6500 XT.

If you can get an RTX 3050 for $250, you should – there's no better value in today's GPU market. However, that is not the reality for most. Once the starting stock gets into the hands of scalpers, you can expect to pay twice the list price. The RTX 3060, for example, costs around $750 on the used market.

For the RTX 3050 I expect used prices to be around $500. In that case, the RX 6500 XT is about $100-$150 less. Still, the RTX 3050 is better value for money in my eyes. The performance of the RTX 3050 isn't nearly as important as the fact that it's a 30-series GPU. Even as nothing more than a vessel for DLSS and ray tracing, it's still more impressive than AMD's competing graphics card.

specifications

The RTX 3050 is a true budget graphics card and has the specs to match. The card, which sits at the bottom of Nvidia's current lineup, slices off a number of cores from the RTX 3060, cutting power consumption by almost half and capping the amount of video memory. However, unlike some newer GPU versions I've seen, the RTX 3050 has no issues based on the spec sheet.

CUDA cores increase speed storage capacity TDP price
RTX3050 2.304 1.74GHz 8GB GDDR6 90W $249
RTX3060 3,584 1.77GHz 12GB GDDR6 170W $329
RTX 3060Ti 4,864 1.67GHz 8GB GDDR6 200W $399
RTX3070 5,888 1.73GHz 8GB GDDR6 220W $499

The most noticeable change compared to the RTX 3060 is the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. The RTX 3050 pushes that memory through a smaller 128-bit bus, reducing memory bandwidth to 224 GB/s. Also, the RTX 3050 drops about 36% of the RTX 3060's CUDA cores.

In return, the card runs at a much lower wattage. 90W is all you need for the base spec, meaning you can buy with a 250W power supply. Performance limits continue to rise and for the first time we have an RTX 30 series graphics card running under 100W.

Ports on the RTX 3050 graphics card.The EVGA RTX 3050 XC Black includes three DisplayPort connectors and a single HDMI. Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Compared to AMD, the RTX 3050 stands out with its PCIe interface. Like most current generation GPUs, the RTX 3050 supports PCIe 4.0. The RTX 3050 supports 16 tracks – in contrast to the recently released RX 6500 XT. That should give systems bound to PCIe 3.0 – any platform below 12th Gen Intel and AMD Ryzen 5000 – uninterrupted bandwidth.

gaming performance

The RTX 3050 stacked on another graphics card.Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

The RTX 3050's main competitor is AMD's RX 6500 XT. I don't have an RX 6500 XT to test at the moment – although I'll update this review with benchmarks once my unit arrives – but I still wanted to get an idea of ​​how Nvidia's latest budget attempt stacks up. I used AMD's RX 580. It's an older GPU, but the benchmarks I've seen show that it's about on par with an RX 6500 XT.

To eliminate the CPU, I ran my tests on the latest build of Windows 10 with a Ryzen 9 5950X and 32GB of memory. Here are my results at 1080p with the highest graphics preset:

RTX3050 RTX3060 RX6600 RX580
3DMark Time Spy 6,749 8,629 8,071 4,820
Red Dead Redemption 2 52 fps 65 fps 59 fps 35 fps
Fourteen days 79 fps 132 fps 98 fps 56 fps
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 55 fps 64 fps 71 fps 42 fps
Battlefield V 92 fps 123 fps 120 fps 74 fps

Outside of the suite, the RTX 3050 only managed over 60 frames per second (fps) in Battlefield V and Fortnite. It's no big surprise, but the card failed to meet that coveted framerate target in Red Dead Redemption 2 or Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The RTX 3050 is a 1080p graphics card, but it doesn't target the highest graphics preset.

Lower graphics presets were much more impressive – 64 fps in Assassin's Creed Valhalla and 134 fps in Battlefield V. In 2022, most graphics cards won't let you choose a lower graphics preset with the right resolution. The RTX 3050 does, but that's not a bad thing. If anything, it shows how little the highest preset does and how much performance you can gain by turning the settings down.

Compared to the RX 580, you can see how much faster a budget GPU should be in 2022. The RTX 3050 was approximately 40% faster in 3DMark Time Spy, 41% faster in Fortnite, and 24% faster in Battlefield V. I haven't had a chance to test the RX 6500 XT yet, but I've seen enough to say that the RTX 3050 is the faster card.

The RTX 3050 is about 20% slower than the RTX 3060, but 25% cheaper.

That's what you see at the bottom of the barrel options though. Conversely, the RTX 3050 was about 20% slower than the RTX 3060 in Red Dead Redemption 2. In Battlefield V, the difference was even greater at 25%. The RTX 3060 hits a sweet spot that the RTX 3050 can't handle. However, the RTX 3050 is about 25% cheaper and only 20% slower.

There were issues outside of raw performance. Storage caused issues that aren't reflected in average frame rates. In Battlefield V, my first few runs resulted in minimum frame rates in the single digits, which manifested as stuttering during the playthrough. It depends on the smaller memory bus and 8 GB of VRAM. Titles with many high-resolution textures experienced stuttering when loading the game and assets were dragged into memory.

PX1 logo on the RTX 3050 graphics card.

nvidia rtx 3050 review 5

Still, the RTX 3050 lands where it should. And compared to the competition AMD is presenting right now, that's great. I still think the RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti hit the price/performance mark better than the RTX 3050; However, there's a good chance the RTX 3050 will sell for significantly less than these cards on the used market.

Content Creation Performance

The RTX 3050 is a gaming graphics card and you should get something more powerful if you plan on using it primarily for 3D modeling or rendering. I still wanted to throw the card on a few content creation benchmarks to see how it fares, and while the results aren't terrible, they're not great either.

RTX3050 RTX3060 RX6600 RX580
Blender BMW (lower is better) 76 seconds 45 seconds 86 seconds 168 seconds
Blender Classroom (lower is better) 279 seconds 208 seconds 167 seconds 370 seconds
Blender Koro (lower is better) 227 seconds 162 seconds 156 seconds N / A
Pugetbench for Premiere Pro 766 703 605 603

On the three Blender renders, the RTX 3050 was about 32% slower than the RTX 3060 and similarly slow compared to the RX 6600. It had better performance in PugetBench for Premiere Pro, but as is the case with the RX 6600 and RTX 3060 , this benchmark relies heavily on the CPU and system memory.

Nvidia RTX 3050 graphics card sits on the back.Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Compared to the RX 580, it's no competition. The RTX 3050 can use CUDA for rendering, unlike the RX 6600 and RX 580, resulting in faster render times than OpenCL. I've seen significantly higher render times with the RX 580, and in the case of the Koro renderer, I couldn't even complete the test.

Make no mistake: the RTX 3050 is not a good graphics card for content creation. It holds its own, but upgrading to a higher class of graphics card — either from AMD or Nvidia — will pay off exponentially.

DLSS and ray tracing

GeForce logo on the RTX 3050.Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

For the first time in a while, Nvidia differentiates itself not with raw performance but with a list of features. DLSS is an essential feature for the most demanding games, and last but not least, the RTX 3050 offers a way to use DLSS in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Control. It also offers hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which works significantly better than AMD's competition.

RTX3050 RTX3060 RX6600
Control (no RT) 58 fps 76 fps 67 fps
control (high RT) 35 fps 47 fps 27 fps
Control (High RT + DLSS) 62 fps N / A N / A
Cyberpunk 2077 (no RT) 47 fps 59 fps 46 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra RT) 23 fps 28 fps 10 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra RT + DLSS) 47 fps N / A N / A

My results above were run using the same testbench at 1080p with the highest graphics preset. I've included the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 for reference, not as competition for the RTX 3050. These two cards are in a class above the RTX 3050, and unsurprisingly they perform better across the board.

However, I didn't expect how close the RTX 3050 would be to the RX 6600. With ray tracing enabled, you can see how quickly the RX 6600 is falling apart. In Control, where the two GPUs hit almost identical average frame rates, the RX 6600 sunk much lower than the RTX 3050 with ray tracing turned on.

DLSS is the best feature of the RTX 3050 – no competition.

It's a testament to how solid Nvidia's ray tracing cores are, but really, you wouldn't play any of the above games at their ray tracing frame rates. This is where DLSS comes into play. Even in modest Balanced mode, the RTX 3050 maintained performance as if ray tracing was turned off. In the case of Control, the average framerate was actually higher.

DLSS isn't present in every game, but the list of supported titles keeps growing. For a large chunk of major AAA releases that wouldn't otherwise be playable on the RTX 3050, DLSS makes it possible to play new games with all the visual bells and whistles. It's the best feature of the RTX 3050 – no competition.

Our opinion

The RTX 3050 is a graphics card that wins by default. Compared to the tragic RX 6500 XT, Nvidia could have released almost any graphics card and prevailed. On its own, the RTX 3050 is a good graphics card that manages to deliver performance that scales with its price, and that's all I can ask for.

It earns an extra point on the back of DLSS, which catapults the RTX 3050 from a good – but not great – GPU into a top choice for gamers on an extreme budget. Prices are inflated now, but hopefully we'll see plenty of $250 RTX 3050s by the end of the year – quite unlike Nvidia's recently released 12GB RTX 3080.

Are there alternatives?

Not now. Nvidia jumped that price point with the previous generation, and AMD's RX 6500 XT falls woefully behind the RTX 3050. The only alternatives are the premium GPUs from Nvidia. Hopefully by the end of 2022 you can find something like an RTX 2070 or RTX 2060 Super for around the same price.

How long it will take?

The RTX 3050 is not built for the future. It barely hits the mark for 1080p AAA gaming right now, and within a few years you'll be struggling to hit sustained frame rates at the highest graphics settings. If you're okay with turning your settings down, or you mostly play less demanding games, it should last four to five years.

DLSS also helps a lot. Assuming the list of DLSS games continues to grow, you'll be able to enjoy the power of the RTX 3050 for many years to come.

should you buy it

If you can find the RTX 3050 at list price, buy it. After launch, it comes down to what price you can find the RTX 3050 at. It's a solid graphics card, but you're better off with the RTX 3060 or RTX 3060 Ti if you can find one for a reasonable price.

Editor's Recommendations



25 Jan
Blog

MSI GE76 Raider review: Alder Lake and RTX 3080 Ti dominate

msi ge76 raider review 02

MSI GE76 Raider

RRP $3,999.00

"The MSI GE76 Raider is an old-school gaming laptop with new-school PC parts."

benefits

  • Fantastic gaming performance

  • Super fast video editing

  • Many ports

  • 1080p webcam

  • MUX switch included

  • Good thermals

disadvantage

  • thick and heavy

  • Bad touchpad

  • Low battery life

The MSI GE76 Raider is a very conventional gaming laptop. It's bulky. it's fat It's not something you would take with you to work.

But beneath the surface, this gaming laptop offers a small taste of the next generation of gaming components, including the new Intel Core i9-12900HK and the Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti. These top-of-the-line PC parts show just how good PC gaming is in the year 2022 can be – despite some hurdles that this particular gaming laptop puts in their way.

draft

This gaming laptop has some high-end components inside, but you wouldn't recognize it from the outside. The latest version of the MSI GE76 Raider doesn't offer anything new on the outside. It's still a massive 17-inch laptop that weighs 6.4 pounds and is over an inch thick.

It's an old-school gaming laptop, even down to the aggressive vents and gamery design language. If you want something more modern and sleek, you'll have to go for the MSI GS66 Stealth, Razer Blade, or a number of other options.

My device comes in a toned down “Titanium Blue” color that is barely black. The screen is accented by angled edges on the lid and a beefy chin that sits beneath the 16:9 aspect ratio screen.

The soft glow of the light strip brings color to your desk.

But being fit and stylish isn't the motto of this laptop. Instead, it's all about practicality. Convenient ports, a big screen and, of course, unbridled power.

The only interesting thing, however, is the light bar on the front. Laying down on the keyboard deck and along the front, the soft glow of the light bar neatly splashes some color on your desk. It's fully customizable within the SteelSeries GG app, as is the per-key RGB keyboard. None of this is new in this year's model, but it's a nice touch nonetheless.

power

The MSI GE76 Raider has two brand new components inside: the Core i9-12900HK and the RTX 3080 Ti. Intel's latest flagship processor in particular brings a lot of expectations. With the recent rise of AMD, especially in the laptop space, even premium gaming laptops are offering the Ryzen 9 5900HX as an option.

We have a separate Alder Lake mobile review that details processor performance and even a breakdown of the new video editing improvements. Suffice it to say that Intel's new 14-core chip looks extremely impressive. As can be seen in the chart below, we see massive gains in both single-core and multi-core performance compared to the last-gen Ryzen 9 5900HX and Core i9-11950H. These are far better than a normal generation jump.

MSI GE76 Raider (Core i9-12900HK) Asus VivoBook Pro 16X (Ryzen 9 5900HX) HP ZBook Studio G8 (Core i9-11950H) MacBook Pro 16 (M1 Pro)
Cinebench R23 (single / multi) 1872 / 16388 1486 / 11478 1594 / 11788 1531/ 12343
Geekbench 5 (single / multi) 1855 / 13428 1544 / 8299 1637 / 9139 1773 / 12605
PC Mark 10 7691 6287 6432 n / A
Handbrake (lower is better) 72 seconds 90 seconds 89 seconds 95 seconds

Synthetic benchmarks aside, the MSI GE76 Raider is a powerful video editing engine. It's the highest-scoring Windows laptop in Pugetbench's Adobe Premiere Pro benchmark, and it even comes remarkably close to the M1 Max MacBook Pro. However, performance alone doesn't necessarily make the MSI GE76 Raider a great video editing machine – more on the display later. In terms of raw performance, it's way ahead of the competition.

Of course, gaming performance is what this laptop is designed for. The fantastic single-core performance also helps with gaming, which is fantastic. These are easily the best frame rates we've seen in our gaming tests on laptops. Of course, most of this improvement can be attributed to the new RTX 3080 Ti, but CPU-heavy games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Civilization VI will certainly benefit from the Core i9-12900HK as well.

MSI GE76 Raider (RTX 3080 Ti) Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (RTX 3070) MSI GS66 Stealth (RTX 3080) Asus ROG Strix G15 (RX6800M)
3DMark Time Spy 12421 9175 9097 10504
Fourteen days 143 fps 101 fps 140 fps 108 fps
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 93 fps 61 fps 70 fps 77 fps
Civilization VI 169 fps 114 fps 149 fps 150 fps
Battlefield V 152 fps 73 fps 117 fps 109 fps

MSI says it can deliver a total of 220 watts of power to the CPU and GPU, which is 25 watts ahead of other similar competitors.

As always, it's difficult to compare apples to apples to laptops. Interestingly, the GE76 Raider with the RTX 3080 Ti doesn't have that much of an advantage over the RTX 3080 machine in the more GPU-dependent games. Frame rates in Fortnite were quite similar to what was the case in Battlefield V. This could indicate that the CPU is wielding some weight.

I also tested the MSI GE76 Raider in Rise of the Tomb Raider to compare it directly to the MacBook Pro. In the game's built-in benchmark, it averaged 142 fps at the highest settings of 1080p. That's pretty good compared to the 84 fps (frames per second) I got while testing the M1 Max MacBook Pro.

All of these tests were run at 1080p with maximum graphics settings and Balanced performance settings. Confusingly, MSI comes with "Gaming Mode" turned on by default, which automatically switches to the very loud "Extreme Performance" setting when a game boots up. This maximizes fan speeds, but in the games I tested, switching between these performance profiles only impacts frame rates by a percentage point or two.

MSI also offers a discrete-only mode. The laptop ships in hybrid mode, also known as Nvidia Optimus, which activates the MUX switch. Discrete-only mode offers even better frame rates in GPU-bound games. For example, in Battlefield V, switching to Discrete Only mode resulted in a 9% increase in framerate. However, it shortens battery life drastically.

During the tests, the game mastered its thermals excellently. Both surface and internal temperatures remained cool throughout, and that's thanks to the "phase-changing" Liquid Metal Pad, which prevents crystallization of the thermal conductor. MSI says this delivers 10% better performance than its competitors. I can't prove that until I test other 12th Gen Intel laptops with the RTX 3080 Ti.

specifications and price

The exact model I checked is not currently for sale. According to MSI, it's worth around $4,000 and comes with the highest-end GPU and CPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and 2TB of storage.

However, the MSI GE76 Raider starts at just $1,599 for its base configuration. You still get one of Intel's new 12th Gen processors, the Core i7-12700H, but only an RTX 3060 for graphics. It also features a 1080p 144Hz screen, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a TB SSD.

Prices increase dramatically from there, topping it off with the $4,199 4K 120Hz model.

In a way, that means the MSI GE76 chassis is built with mid-range design sensibilities, despite its ability to be configured up to $4,000+.

display

The MSI GE76 Raider uses a 1920 x 1080p resolution panel paired with a 360Hz refresh rate. These have become the go-to choice for super-fast 1080p gaming lately, but it's still not a great choice for the average gamer . Only in the lightest games can you achieve frame rates that exceed 300 fps. If you are not a professional CS:GO or Rocket League player, you may not be able to tell the difference.

So if you're spending thousands of dollars on a premium gaming laptop, I usually recommend a device with a 1440p resolution or QHD+, both of which are upgrade options for the MSI GE76 Raider. That's especially true for larger displays like this 17.3-inch panel. In fact, MSI charges the same price of $2,999 for a 1440p 240Hz model as for a 1080p 360Hz model.

It remains one of the few gaming laptops that gets the bump in to a 1080p webcam.

The higher resolution would also make sense outside of gaming, considering how fast the MSI GE76 Raider is in video and photo editing. But the low resolution and matte finish aren't ideal outside of gaming, and neither is the color saturation. 100% sRGB and 79% AdobeRGB is good for a gaming laptop but doesn't do justice to professional content creators.

As for the rest of the panel, the GE76 Raider gets the job done. Contrast is solid at 1000:1 and the screen is well calibrated with a Delta-E of 1.09. It tops out at 273 nits, which is a bit under the 300 mark that we like to see. It's not a big deal as the matte finish eliminates reflections and glare. Still, this is a laptop and you can move it from place to place in your house.

cam

There is also a 1080p webcam above the display. The GE76 Raider remains one of the few gaming laptops to make the jump from 720p to 1080p, and the quality is noticeably better.

Unfortunately, the GE76 Raider does not include biometric security. No IR camera or fingerprint reader.

ports and connectivity

The MSI GS76 Raider has ports on both sides of the chassis and along the back – and the options are pretty much anything you can think of. On the left side you have USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, USB-C 3.2 / DisplayPort and a headphone jack. On the right side you get two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 for accessories and a full-size SD card slot.

On the back you'll find USB-C Thunderbolt 4, Mini-DisplayPort (haven't seen one of those in a while), HDMI 2.1, Ethernet jack and power plug.

It also comes with a Killer Wi-Fi 6E card and Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity.

keyboard and touchpad

Both the keyboard and the touchpad were a disappointment. Being a gaming laptop is no excuse for feeling cheap. Let's not forget: this laptop costs well over $2,000 in most configurations.

The keyboard is full-size, which means it includes a number pad and full-size arrow keys. The layout is pleasant, but I found the keystrokes to be a bit too soft. They're squishy and feel imprecise, but I got used to them over a couple of days.

The per-key RGB backlighting is decent, though, and customization is done via the SteelSeries GG app.

The touchpad is where I have a bigger problem. It's not as big as that of the MSI GS66 Stealth and feels choppy. The click mechanism also feels too loose. With this laptop, you'll want to use a mouse most of the time. That's an obvious statement in gaming, but it's a nuisance in other work.

battery life

This laptop struggles with battery life. But that doesn't surprise anyone. Between the 17-inch screen and the power-hungry RTX 3080 Ti, I didn't expect to get much out of it.

Despite my lowered expectations, the MSI GE76 Raider still managed to disappoint in this regard. But three hours and 40 minutes? That's a shame. And that's just for simple web surfing. You can't safely spend much time away from the wall, and that limits this laptop's ability to serve as a work laptop.

It has a 99.9 watt-hour battery, which is the largest you can legally take on a plane. Unfortunately, even with the Nvidia Optimus turned on, you won't get more than a few hours. To be fair, other great gaming laptops like the HP Victus 16. For a gaming laptop with better battery life, check out the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, Razer Blade 15, or the MSI GS66 Stealth.

Our opinion

On the outside, the MSI GE76 Raider is a blast from the past. Inside, it's a glimpse into the future. These are some powerful components, and the result is incredibly good performance. While the MSI GE76 Raider isn't my favorite gaming laptop with this CPU and GPU duo, I can't deny how well it performs.

Are there alternatives?

Many of the latest gaming laptops in 2022 will use the same combination of graphics cards and processors. However, I haven't tested many of them. Laptops similar to the GE76 Raider include the Alienware m17, ROG Strix G17, Razer Blade 17, and many more.

How long it will take?

Gaming laptops typically last around four or five years. It may last longer if your usage is not that heavy. The MSI GE76 Raider should future-proof you for some generations of processors and graphics cards. Even the heaviest games play well on it and the build quality is solid.

MSI offers a one-year limited warranty on its laptops as standard, although that depends on the retailer you're picking it up from.

should you buy this

Yes, but be aware of what you're getting yourself into. This is a laptop that puts performance first and doesn't care about the subtleties.

Editor's Recommendations



20 Jan
Blog

Nvidia RTX 3080 12GB review: The bad version of a great GPU

RTX 3080 graphics cards among other GPUs.

Nvidia RTX 3080 12GB review: The bad version of a great GPU

RRP $1,249.00

"The RTX 3080 12GB is a powerful graphics card that has been acidified by Nvidia's shady practices."

benefits

  • Still a solid 4K graphics card

  • Outstanding design in MSI Suprim X version

  • Increased memory bandwidth

disadvantage

  • Significantly more expensive than the 10GB model

  • Slight improvement in performance over the 10GB model

  • Worse availability than other GPUs

  • Increased power consumption

  • Additional memory does very little

Imagine you are in charge of Nvidia. CEO Jensen Huang has retired to his kitchen, and now you can decide how to launch a new flagship GPU: the 12GB RTX 3080. What do you do? Do you use a list of influencers and media to spread the news? Do you use a big stage like CES?

No matter what you did, you probably wouldn't release a new flagship by burying the announcement at the bottom of a blog post focusing on a new GPU driver three days after the card's launch. And you certainly wouldn't launch the card a week after the biggest tech event of the year without day-one reviews.

That's what Nvidia did with the RTX 3080 12GB, and people are rightly confused. It's a graphics card that needn't exist with Nvidia's current offerings, and it shows a worrying trend for where GPU prices could be headed in 2022. The 12GB RTX 3080 is a bastardized version of one of the best graphics cards you can buy – and that's a shame.

price and availability

RTX 3080 on a pink background.Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Our reviews usually start with a discussion of design, specs, and performance, but remember: it's impossible to talk about a graphics card other than price. Performance alone doesn't matter. The performance in relation to the price makes the difference.

And in this case, it's the most important element of the 12GB version of the RTX 3080.

Nvidia has never set a list price for this graphics card, and while the list price doesn't say much, it still serves as a comparison. Even amidst the GPU shortage that has prices rising and falling, the cards still stack up as list prices suggest – the RTX 3080 costs more than the RTX 3070 and so on.

So what is the price of the 12GB RTX 3080? At the lower end, it's around $1,249 – $50 more than the RTX 3080 Ti. For example, the EVGA XC3 Ultra version is listed at this price. That's $40 more expensive than the RTX 3080 Ti version of the same model and $440 more expensive than the 10GB version. I'm not comparing high-end cards either. These are the most basic versions of EVGA.

You pay an inflated price no matter where you get your card.

The Asus ROG Strix version costs $1,600, which is $400 more expensive than the 10GB ROG Strix model. Technically, it's cheaper than the RTX 3080 Ti version, but that's only because this card is non-stock and Asus doesn't offer list prices on its website.

Even with inflated prices, you're looking at a much more expensive graphics card. On eBay, the 12GB model sells for about $300 more than the 10GB model, which is actually closer to the prices advertised by retailers. Prices at retailers and on the used market may be closer now, but that just means you're paying an inflated price wherever you buy your card.

There are a number of speculative reasons why the 12GB RTX 3080 is so expensive, but it boils down to this: the 12GB RTX 3080 will continue to sell at scalper prices once the market settles down. I'm not against Nvidia or board partners taking advantage of their products, but I'm against releasing a marginal upgrade to a GPU at a significantly higher price point when most people still can't even buy the base model.

draft

RTX 3080 graphics card on a pink background.Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

If it's not already clear, I'm not a fan of the 12GB RTX 3080. However, I have to give credit where it's due, and credit goes to MSI.

MSI was kind enough to send me a 12GB RTX 3080 Suprim X, which is great considering Nvidia doesn't have a Founders Edition model of the 12GB RTX 3080. Regardless of what Nvidia plans to do with this card, the Suprim X remains a wonderful design.

It's technically a dual slot card as it only occupies two slots on the back of your device, but the extra cooler height takes up almost enough space to occupy a third. As with other Suprim X models, this model includes a dual BIOS switch to toggle between Silent and Gaming modes, but even with Gaming mode set, the card was never loud enough to become an issue.

Despite the silicon underneath, MSI has created an excellent graphics card.

Similarly, it comes factory overclocked with a 180MHz boost over Nvidia's official spec, as well as a 50W power boost. To help with the increased power draw, the card uses three 8-pin connectors for power. To help with the massive cooler size, MSI includes a GPU bracket in the box.

Despite what I think about the underlying silicon, MSI has created an excellent graphics card here. I particularly like the RGB MSI shield on the backplate, which is accompanied by an RGB stripe that runs the entire length of the card.

Even in 2022, graphics card manufacturers are designing cards that look great from the front. The Suprim X looks great from the front, but MSI has gone to great lengths to make it look great while it's installed in your computer. This is perhaps the first time I like the backplate design more than the cooler.

Power connectors on the RTX 3080.

RTX 3080 RGB shield logo.

All of this is to say that MSI made a great graphics card, but Nvidia made a so-so GPU. The Suprim X makes the best of a bad situation, and if you have a choice between 12GB RTX 3080 models, this is the one to go for.

specifications

The 12GB RTX 3080 is just an RTX 3080 with 2GB more video memory, at least on the surface. The extra VRAM is the most noticeable change, but there's a little more going on in the specs, especially when compared to the RTX 3080 Ti.

RTX3080 12GB RTX3080 10GB RTX 3080Ti
CUDA cores 8,960 8,704 10,240
boost clock 1.71GHz 1.71GHz 1.67MHz
reminder 12GB GDDR6X 10GB GDDR6X 12GB GDDR6X
memory bus 384-bit 320-bit 384-bit
effective bandwidth 912.4GB/s 760.3GB/s 912.4GB/s
tensor cores 280 272 320
RT cores 70 68 80
power consumption 350W 320W 350W

This is almost an RTX 3080 Ti, but with a big emphasis on almost. Compared to the 10GB RTX 3080, the 12GB model bumps the memory bus to 384-bit and power consumption to 350W, both specifications of the RTX 3080 Ti. It also has a slightly lower base clock, but that doesn't make a difference when gaming , when the boost clock is almost always active.

The main difference is that the 12GB RTX 3080 has a 3% higher core count over the 10GB model, which is significantly lower than the RTX 3080 Ti. Here's how you feel about the card: It's an RTX 3080 Ti, but with the core count of an RTX 3080.

It's clear that the 12GB RTX 3080 doesn't have to exist.

You should also think of it as an RTX 3080 Ti. The 2GB bump in VRAM might seem insignificant, but combined with the larger 384-bit memory bus, the 12GB model has a much higher memory bandwidth: 912GB/s compared to 760GB/s for the 10GB -Model.

Even before you get to the performance data, it's clear that this is a graphics card that doesn't have to exist. It doesn't fill any requirement that isn't already met by the base or Ti model, and it illustrates a breaking point of granularity in Nvidia's lineup where the minute differences between the models become irrelevant.

Of course, the first question you ask yourself about a new graphics card is, "What are the specs?" In the case of the 12GB RTX 3080, where specs are more important than most other GPU versions, the technical data do not paint a clear picture. They are insignificant in some areas and impractical in others. The only way to know what the 12GB RTX 3080 is trying to do is to see it in action.

Play

RTX 3080 installed in a PC.Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

An extra 2GB of storage doesn't matter when gaming – or at least that's what you'll hear ad nauseam in comment sections and forums around the web. It's true that at a certain point video memory doesn't play a huge role in performance, but the increased memory bandwidth does matter.

I ran all my tests with 32GB of memory, an Intel Core i9-10900K, and the latest version of Windows 10. My comparison GPUs are Founders Edition cards, so I downclocked the Suprim X and capped the performance to meet Nvidia's specs. With this particular card, you can expect higher average performance. Here are my results at 4K with the highest graphics preset.

12GB RTX 3080 10GB RTX 3080 RTX 3080Ti RTX3090
3DMark Time Spy 17,071 16.108 17,634 18,341
Red Dead Redemption 2 65 fps N / A 72 fps 77 fps
Fourteen days 76 fps 95 fps 93 fps 78 fps
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 61 fps 62 fps 55 fps 63 fps
Battlefield V 103 fps 100 fps 104 fps 121 fps
Civilization VI 212 fps 255 fps 259 fps N / A

My results are not too surprising. In 3DMark Time Spy, the 12GB RTX 3080 is about 3% slower than the RTX 3080 Ti and about 6% faster than the 10GB model. Battlefield 5 further illustrates this point, with just a single frame separating the 12GB RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti.

Fortnite only yielded a two-frame difference between the 12GB RTX 3080 and RTX 3090. My middle two benchmarks were run on a different patch of the game, so don't compare these results to the others. The difference between the 12GB RTX 3080 and the RTX 3090 paints the picture clearly: the 12GB RTX 3080 doesn't offer a huge performance advantage.

Red Dead Redemption 2 and Civilization VI are superfluous. Here the trend is clear. The 12GB RTX 3080 is intentionally handicapped or free to run at full speed. It's a slight upgrade over the 10GB model and sits below the RTX 3080 Ti. The RTX 3080 Ti was already a slight improvement over the base model; This 12GB variant just splits the difference.

content creation

GeForce logo on the RTX 3080.Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

I was hoping that the additional bandwidth of the 12GB RTX 3080 would boost content creation performance, but that wasn't the case. Even with no performance or clock speed limitations, the card performed at roughly the same level as the 10GB model, and by a decent margin to the RTX 3080 Ti.

12GB RTX 3080 10GB RTX 3080 RTX 3080Ti RTX3090
PugetBench for Premiere Pro 799 821 855 855
Blender BMW (lower is better) 19 seconds 23 seconds 19 seconds 17 seconds
Blender Classroom (lower is better) 100 seconds 71 seconds 56 seconds 79 seconds
Blender Koro (lower is better) 65 seconds 75 seconds 63 seconds 57 seconds

The chart above shows diminishing returns in action. There are only minor differences between the 10GB RTX 3080 and the RTX 3090, with the latter only offering an advantage in dedicated workstations. Overall, the 12GB RTX 3080 sits between the 10GB model and the RTX 3080 Ti as it should, but the results here are so close that it hardly matters.

Content creation is all about what you need the graphics card for. There aren't enough advantages to justify the 12GB RTX 3080 over the 10GB version, even if you only care about content creation. Given the pricing, which I'll get to next, the RTX 3080 Ti is the better choice overall, and the RTX 3090 takes the crown.

Our opinion

The 12GB RTX 3080 does not have to be present. Even the RTX 3080 Ti was a disappointment considering how much more expensive it was than the RTX 3080, and this 12GB variant just splits the difference between those two. It's unnecessary product segmentation for the sole purpose of increasing the RTX 3080's base price.

Nvidia says the 10GB model will live on, but I find it hard to believe. There's no reason to choose the 12GB RTX 3080 over the 10GB version or the RTX 3080 Ti, and Nvidia is aware of that. There's a reason we haven't had many day-one reviews or a public launch like we did with the RTX 3050 and RTX 3090 Ti.

Given the GPU shortage, you should buy almost any graphics card you can get at a reasonable price. There's a chance this is the 12GB RTX 3080, and in that case the card is a great performer. However, if the price trends I'm seeing continue, the 12GB RTX 3080 will remain a bad buy compared to the 10GB and Ti models, even with inflated scalper prices.

Are there alternatives?

Yes. The 10GB RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti are close enough to this model to serve as viable alternatives. On the AMD side, the closest competitor is the RX 6800 XT, although it struggles with ray tracing.

How long it will take?

While the 12GB RTX 3080 is a disappointing graphics card, it's not bad. Like the base 10GB model, this one will last at least the next few years at 4K and probably several years at lower resolutions.

should you buy it

No. The 12GB RTX 3080 would be among the best graphics cards if it weren't for the 10GB version and the RTX 3080 Ti. They do, and they strike a much better balance between price and performance.

Editor's Recommendations



27 Jun
Blog

Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti Review: More of What Gamers Need

nvidia rtx 3070 ti rating 2

Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti in the test: More of what gamers need

"The Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti is a reasonable value for great 4K gaming performance."

  • Beautiful design

  • Decent value

  • Great 4K gaming

  • HDMI 2.1 included

  • Strong performance in content creation

  • Requires more power than the RTX 3070

  • Closer to RTX 3070 than 3080 in performance

The Nvidia RTX 3070 was already one of the most recommended graphics cards. It delivered powerful 4K performance but cost a reasonable $ 500. That's downright cheap in today's market where graphics cards are sold for twice their retail price.

After Nvidia released the overpriced RTX 3080 Ti last week, Nvidia is releasing their more modest RTX 3070 Ti. It costs just $ 100 more than the 3070, and it fills the market with lower-priced options that offer the performance PC gamers need.

Is the RTX 3070 Ti the best graphics card you can buy or is it just as unnecessary as the RTX 3080 Ti?

Specifications

RTX 3070 Ti RTX 3070 RTX 3080
GPU GA104-400 GA104-300 GA102-200
interface PCIe 4.0 PCIe 4.0 PCIe 4.0
CUDA cores 6,144 5,888 8,704
Tensor cores 192 184 272
RT cores 48 46 68
Base clock 1.575MHz 1,500MHz 1.440MHz
Boost clock 1.770MHz 1.725MHz 1.710MHz
memory 8GB GDDR6X 8GB DDR6 10 GB GDDR6X
Bandwidth 608 GB / s 448 GB / s 760 GB / s
Memory bus 256-bit 256-bit 320-bit
TDP 290W 220W 320W

The RTX 3070 Ti represents a small advance in specifications over the RTX 3070. It has only 4% more CUDA cores than the RTX 3070, while the RTX 3080 has 29% more cores. If that tells us anything, it is that the RTX 3070 Ti has a lot more in common with the 3070. That might sound obvious given the name, but the RTX 3080 Ti was actually a bigger step up from the 3080 in the raw CUDA number.

Of course, there is much more to these cards than just the core number. The RTX 3070 Ti has a faster GDDR6X memory with a greatly expanded bandwidth, now up to 608 GB / s (gigabytes per second). The bus size remains the same, however, so the wider 320 bits are left to the RTX 3080.

The RTX 3070 Ti's faster clock speeds should also help with gaming performance. This is noteworthy as the frequency tends to decrease as more cores are added to a card. For example, the RTX 3080 Ti has a lower clock rate than the standard RTX 3080.

Of course, the RTX 3070 Ti also has a bit more tensor and RT cores to help with both ray tracing and DLSS performance. It's only a marginal improvement, however, and leaves a larger gap between the 3070 Ti and the 3080.

design

I tested the reference device, the RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition manufactured by Nvidia itself. Like other cards in the RTX 30 series, the 3070 Ti has a beautiful dark silver case accented by beveled edges and a black aluminum back plate. The intake fan is on one side and the exhaust is on the other, creating the same “push-pull” system found on the other cards in the RTX 30 series.

It looks identical to the RTX 3070, but is a little longer. Both are standard two-slot cards, but the 3070 Ti is an inch longer at 11.5 inches. That's just 0.3 inches shorter than the RTX 3080 and 3080 Ti. That means you may have a harder time fitting it into smaller form factor cases than the RTX 3070.

Unlike the RTX 3070, the Ti model requires the use of both 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The reason? Well, the RTX 3070 Ti sucks 290 watts of power compared to the 220 watts of the RTX 3070. This also means that Nvidia recommends a larger 750 watt power supply in your system – compared to a 650 watt device with the RTX 3070.

Like the other cards in the series, they must be routed to the card's 12-pin connector using the adapter supplied by Nvidia. It was mentioned up to the point of nausea, but the need for an adapter creates a messy look in your rig.

On the back there are three DisplayPort 1.4 ports and an HDMI 2.1.

performance

I tested the RTX 3070 Ti in the same system as the 3080, 3080 Ti and Radeon RX 6700 XT. It was in a 30-liter case with 32 GB of RAM and an Intel Core i9-10900K. Unfortunately, we did not have a test device of the RX 6800 XT, which is a closer price and performance comparison to the RTX 3070 Ti. All titles were tested in 4K, 1440p, and 1080p with maximum and medium graphics presets. However, the following results are in 4K at maximum settings.

Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti Nvidia RTX 3080 AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
3DMark time spy 13893 16108 11726
3DMark fire strike 26516 28460 26830
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 50 52 42
Battlefield V 80 100 69
Fourteen days 70 95 58
Civilization VI 139 158 115

If you want a general idea of ​​performance, the RTX 3070 Ti is about 8% faster than the 3070, while the RTX 3080 is 14% ahead of the 3070 Ti. Of course, these numbers can vary quite a bit from one game to the next. Take a look at Battlefield V, for example, where the RTX 3080 is 20% faster. Then there's Fortnite, which was 26% faster on the RTX 3080.

In a CPU-bound game like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, of course, the margin was tighter. We're only talking about a few frames per second (fps). And unfortunately, the RTX 3070 Ti can't quite play the game at maximum settings in 4K. The game's average 68 fps at 1440p was a smoother and more enjoyable experience. This also applied to Cyberpunk 2077. Even with medium settings in 4K, the RTX 3070 Ti only achieved an average of 48 fps. If you want to turn on the ray tracing effects (which you really should) that's another reason not to even bother playing in 4K.

We also tested the RTX 3070 in a different system, the Dell XPS 8940. It is a smaller desktop with more limited cooling and a non-standard GPU, so it was not included in the standardized test results above. Based on the numbers provided by Nvidia, it's around 3% slower than our XPS system, which I took into account in my evaluation and comparison.

This is an important consideration as the RTX 3070 Ti costs $ 100 more than the RTX 3070 and $ 100 less than the 3080. Hundreds of dollars for 10% better performance isn't bad, especially when compared to the RTX 3080 Ti's one-sided pricing of $ 1,200. This card cost $ 500 more than the RTX 3080 and offers roughly the same increase in performance. On the other hand, the performance is closer to the RTX 3070 than the RTX 3080, which means that both the 3070 and 3080 offer slightly better performance per dollar.

In all of my tests, the card never got too loud or rose above the maximum 83 degrees Celsius. In my Time Spy runs, the GPU temperature never exceeded 76 degrees.

I've also tested some creative accomplishments. First, I tested the RTX 3070 Ti in the Blender benchmark, which allows you to choose the component that will render the image. Many applications use a combination of CPU and GPU, which makes the Blender benchmark a great way to test the strength of the RTX 3070 Ti on its own. I ran the first three tests in the benchmark and found between 11% and 22% slower render times compared to the RTX 3080.

The difference in graphics performance in PugetBench Adobe Premiere fell into a similar void at 11%. This test measures how much the GPU speeds up important video editing tasks like playing and exporting 4K videos.

Our opinion

Any other year would be hard to argue for an RTX 3070 Ti. The 3070 and 3080 launched less than a year ago and were already great graphics cards that offer great 4K gaming at a decent price.

The global shortage of chips and the spread of crypto mining have made the existence of the RTX 3070 Ti a little more meaningful. It ranks between the 3070 and 3080 in terms of both performance and price. And unlike the RTX 3080 Ti, Nvidia didn't raise the price just because it could.

Are there alternatives?

The RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 are both good alternatives from Nvidia. The 3070 Ti is sandwiched right between the two and performs just as well for the price. On the AMD side, the closest competitor is the Radeon RX 6800 XT for $ 649.

How long it will take?

The RTX 3070 Ti should keep your rig up to date for over 10 years. It supports the latest technology and screen resolutions and is designed to ensure that PC games released in five years' time can still be played.

Should you buy it?

If you can find it at (or near) retail price, buy it.

Editor's recommendations



17 Sep
Blog

Nvidia RTX 3080 Review: A New Standard For PC Gaming

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 review: a bright future for PC games

"The Nvidia RTX 3080 sets a new standard for high-end PC games."

  • Fast and smooth 4K gaming

  • Attractive new design

  • HDMI 2.1 support

  • Improved ray tracing and DLSS performance

  • Requires cumbersome adapter

  • Needs more power

The gaming world's attention is focused entirely on the upcoming console launches. I get it. Players can finally get PC-level games in the living room. Between the price and the updated internals, these new consoles are a big deal.

Nvidia won't let the consoles powered by AMD hardware steal the limelight, however.

The Nvidia RTX 3080, available starting today with the rest of the RTX 3000 series, represents the future of PC gaming. With the most significant generation leap in the history of Nvidia, the RTX 3080 wants to prove that real high-end gaming always belongs on the PC. Is this the next leap forward in PC gaming? Or have consoles finally caught up?

design

The RTX 3080 is a classy looking graphics card.

The previous generation of Nvidia GPUs, from the RTX 2060 to the RTX 2080 Ti, wanted you to know how top notch your experience was. The case and back plate were made of aluminum, and the “Nvidia GeForce” logo glowed green when switched on. The super models even added a highly reflective glass-like texture to the surface.

The RTX 3080 takes a more subtle approach. A matte, dark gray material is used. It even has a white backlight instead of green. None of this is flashy, but it is in line with the simpler direction of modern gaming equipment. It won't be noticed when sitting next to a stark white NZXT H510i case or a Razer Blade 15. Straight lines and muted colors are all the rage, and the RTX 3080 reflects that.

For something with a bit more edge, third-party cards from Asus or MSI will likely work just fine. To me, Nvidia's reference model looks great.

In addition to its looks, the RTX 3080 also has a redesigned cooling system. A fan flanks each side of the cover using a unique "push-pull" system for thermal management. One side sucks in air and another sucks it out at the back. According to Nvidia, this results in better airflow, but the RTX 3080 runs a little hotter than the RTX 2080 Ti. In the same run of 3DMark Time Spy, the RTX 3080 hit a maximum of 76 degrees Celsius, four degrees hotter than the RTX 2080 Ti. Both Still stayed away from the 80-degree mark during all of my tests.

The RTX 3080 is almost identical to the RTX 2080 Ti and the 2080 Super. In contrast to the massive RTX 3090, the 3080 only has a standard design with two slots. It could be easily pushed into a 28-liter housing that previously housed an RTX 2070 Super. It's still a great graphics card, of course, but it will fit in your rig as well as the previous generation.

Power supply and connections

While it probably fits your case, the RTX 3080 is power hungry. It requires 320 watts of dedicated power. To keep this in mind, Nvidia recommends at least a 750 watt power supply to support your entire system. That alone can mean buying a new power supply for your system. So far, 650 watts have been the standard to support cards like the RTX 2080 Super or the 2080 Ti.

And yes, the rumors are true – the RTX 3080 has a new 12-pin power connector that requires an adapter to work with your old cables. Nvidia includes the adapter in the box, but in your case it still leaves an awkward dangling dongle.

For ports, the Nvidia RTX 3080 includes three DisplayPort 1.4a, which support up to 144 Hz at 4K, as well as an HDMI 2.1 port. These are the first graphics cards to support this new HDMI standard that can display 144 Hz at 4K resolution. It is noteworthy that the next generation of televisions also includes HDMI 2.1, which for the first time enables a high refresh rate in the living room.

The USB-C port is gone. This was a feature of the RTX 20 series to support NVLink, a way to run two GPUs over SLI. Connecting multiple cards to increase the frame rate is now an exclusive feature of the RTX 3090. Support for multiple GPUs is already dwindling, and removing NVLink on the RTX 3080 is the nail in the coffin.

Architecture

The Nvidia RTX 3080, along with the 3070 and 3090, uses Nvidia's new Ampere micro-architecture. It is based on Samsung's 8nm node and downsizes the chip compared to the 12nm node used in the Turing architecture. This means more transistors and theoretically higher efficiency.

Ampere offers a massive 50% jump in CUDA cores, now up to 8,704. Nvidia's GPUs are made up of streaming multiprocessors (SM), the individual units of processing power that make up the CUDA cores.

There is one important caveat here. The Ampere micro-architecture has changed the way every CUDA core works so that each one is a little less powerful. So a 50% increase in CUDA cores does not directly increase frame rates by 50%, even though you get the 29.7 teraflops of theoretical performance. However, this is a significant increase in core count and – spoiler alert – will have an impact when we get to our performance tests.

Cuda kernels memory Storage interface Boost clock Graphics card performance
RTX 3090 10,496 24 GB GDDR6X 384-bit 1.70 GHz 350w
RTX 3080 8.704 10 GB GDDR6X 320-bit 1.71 GHz 320w
RTX 3070 5,888 8 GB GDDR6 256-bit 1.73 GHz 220w
RTX 2080 Ti 4,352 11 GB GDDR6 352-bit 1.54 GHz 250w
RTX 2080 Super 3.072 8 GB GDDR6 256-bit 1.82 GHz 250w
RTX 2070 Super 2.560 8 GB DRR6 256-bit 1.77 GHz 215w

Ampere also brings more ray tracing and tensor cores to the table, expanding the forward tilt capabilities of the RTX 3080. Later more.

Finally, the RTX 3080 has 10GB of 320-bit GDDR6X memory. That's two more GB of faster video memory, almost up to 11 GB, which is offered in the RTX 2080 Ti. This is an important specification that is beneficial for games that use large textures and large amounts of screen data. It also shows how Nvidia has moved its entire GPU line up one notch.

performance

Let's get down to business, shall we?

The performance of the RTX 3080 is impressive in almost all cases. By the time the RTX 3090 launches in a few weeks, it is sure to be the most powerful graphics card you can buy. That's not too surprising, however, as there is no real competitor to AMD.

I assumed it would beat its predecessor, the RTX 2080 Super. But the real fun was discovering how much faster it really is. The comparison with the much more expensive RTX 2080 Ti was the icing on the cake.

My test system included a CML B460 MATX motherboard, 16 GB DDR4 2933 MHz RAM, and an Intel Core i7-10700 processor. These specs are not exhausted, but they are able to support the tests I ran and generally represent what we would recommend putting together a well-balanced gaming rig today.

Until the launch of the RTX 3090, the RTX 3080 is by far the most powerful graphics card you can buy.

I started with 3DMark Time Spy, the DirectX12 benchmark, which is a level playing field for testing graphics of all kinds. Here the RTX 3080 outperformed the RTX 2080 Ti by 15%. Not a huge head start, but let's not forget the $ 500 difference in price between these two cards. This is a bigger price gap than between other cards in the deck. The performance gap between the RTX 2080 Ti and the RTX 2080 Super is also larger.

In the meantime, the RTX 3080 beats the 2080 Super by 28% with no price hike.

That lead continued when I tried a number of games, both in 1440p and 4K. The RTX 3080 doesn't force gamers to choose between high resolution and high frame rate – it's a smooth gaming experience no matter which monitor you're using.

Let's start with the most challenging title first. Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a game that no system I have tested can play with native 4K values ​​at 60 frames per second (fps) and extremely high settings. However, the RTX 3080 sets a new standard with an average of 61 fps (frames per second). The RTX 2080 Ti only reaches 47 fps, while the RTX 2080 Super reaches 43 fps. I can't exaggerate how impressed I was with the RTX 3080's 23% lead over the RTX 2080 Ti (and 30% over the RTX 2080 Super).

Next, I started Battlefield V. Historically, it's one of the few games where Nvidia GPUs lagged behind AMD. But not this time. The RTX 3080 has made its biggest leap in the games I tested and now averages up to 97 fps in 4K on Ultra. Entire 4K monitors with a refresh rate of 144 Hz are still uncommon. You need one to get the most out of the RTX 3080 in this game. Here the RTX 3080 is 22% ahead of the RTX 2080 Ti (with 76 fps) and 33% ahead of the RTX 2080 Super (with 65 fps).

As expected, the RTX 3080 has the highest lead at 4K, where the GPU takes a higher load. It's still a great card for 1440p gaming, of course. Assassin's Creed Odyssey averaged 78 fps and Battlefield V 147 fps, both 17% faster than the RTX 2080 Ti.

At Fortnite, the winnings weren't quite as high, mostly because the RTX 2080 Ti was already playing well. It was the only game where the RTX 2080 Ti actually outperformed the RTX 3080 in lower resolutions (like 1080p). In 4K, the RTX 3080 averaged 78 fps at epic settings, 17% more than the RTX 2080 Ti, and 29% better than the RTX 2080 Super.

Finally, let's look at a lighter tariff. Civilization VI is a game ideally suited for 4K, offering a wider view of the map and more detail for your expanding empire. Civilization VI averaged 168 fps for Ultra, compared to 141 fps for the RTX 2080 Ti and 117 fps for the RTX 2080 Super.

With all of these games, you won't see that much gain at 1080p or lower settings. In Battlefield V with 1080p Ultra settings, for example, the RTX 3080 was only a few fps ahead of the RTX 2080 Ti. This also applies to Fortnite and Civilization VI, where you are gradually losing some of the RTX 3080's value. Unless you plan on upgrading your monitor for a higher resolution or refresh rate, the RTX 3080 is not worth your time. You'd better save some money and wait for the RTX 3070 or the inevitable RTX 3060.

Content creation

Outside of gaming, a powerful GPU like the RTX 3080 can greatly speed up content creation like video rendering or 3D modeling. Although much of the heavy lifting of these tasks is done by the CPU, a powerful GPU can improve render times.

I started with Adobe Premiere Pro where I loaded a project with a two minute 4K video clip. With the RTX 3080, exporting the clip to ProRes 422 took 2 minutes and 27 seconds. This is 11% faster than the RTX 2080 Super in the same video export and only 5% faster than the RTX 2080 Ti.

Ray tracing and DLSS

The RTX 2080 Ti, launched with almost zero titles, supports ray tracing or DLSS. That was extremely disappointing. However, developer support for real-time ray tracing has grown slowly but steadily, and two years later, many new AAA games are supporting Nvidia's RTX capabilities in one form or another. Implementing a la carte is still frustrating as many games opt for more limited (and less strenuous) RTX features.

Still, RTX is much stronger today than it used to be. It's a good time to launch some new high-performance GPUs that take both ray tracing and DLSS to the next level.

I tested one of the first games to incorporate RTX functionality: Battlefield V. Fortunately, I've found that the RTX 3080's ray tracing capabilities have improved over the RTX 2080 Ti.

In the Tirailleur mission, the RTX 2080 Ti allows for some brilliant reflections in the puddles of water near the start of the level, which can slow the frame rate down to an average of 33 fps. Once DLSS was turned on, this was increased to 45 fps. This was in 4K with settings on Ultra.

The real implementation of real-time ray tracing is still a challenge for even the most powerful graphics cards.

With the RTX 3080, those numbers look a little more promising. This new card processes the same scene with the same settings at 55 fps and jumps up to 69 fps with DLSS. There's room to grow, but at least in Battlefield V, ray tracing isn't entirely useless.

I also tested the new ray tracing features in Fortnite. The shadows, reflections, and global lighting are beautiful. Reflections on the water are flawless and even the shadows on the back of your character look incredibly realistic.

But even with the RTX 3080, these RTX functions are still a performance bottleneck. It averaged 53 fps in 1440p in Ultra, with all RTX functions maxed. But in 4K? The game was only played at 23 fps.

Of course, the game also offers a number of DLSS settings (quality, balance, or performance) that increase the frame rate through upsampling. The Performance setting adds noticeable blurring to distant textures, while the Quality setting only brings back up to 27 fps. In the end, the combination of DLSS and ray tracing is still enough for a performance hit that most people will prefer to leave out. That's a shame because the ray tracing is great.

Our opinion

The RTX 20 series has been criticized for being ray tracing and A.I. as raw achievement. The RTX 3080 shows how seriously Nvidia took this criticism. The performance levels open up new possibilities for gamers and no longer force them to choose between high resolutions and high frame rates. Nvidia achieved this raw performance boost without sacrificing its heavy investments in features like ray tracing and DLSS, as it was determined to keep the PC at the forefront of the conversation in next-gen games.

The RTX 3080 will never be Nvidia's most popular card at $ 699, but as an industry leader and flagship model, it's the best PC gaming can offer.

Are there alternatives?

The next alternatives are also offered by Nvidia: RTX 3090 and RTX 3070. The 3090 is the most expensive (and most powerful) graphics card Nvidia has ever made, and it probably doesn't fit into your average PC case. At $ 499, the RTX 3070 is cheaper and, according to Nvidia, also more powerful than the RTX 2080 Ti. The RTX 3090 will be available on September 24, while the RTX 3070 will be available in October.

Rumor has it that AMD's upcoming RX 6000 graphics will include a high-end GPU that could definitely challenge Nvidia's top-notch graphics cards. As of now, however, AMD's offerings are limited to the RX 5700XT.

How long it will take?

The Nvidia RTX 3080 should last at least five years. The graphics cards most used by Steam gamers are still cards from the Nvidia 10 series, which were first launched in 2016. Nvidia grants a generous three-year warranty on its Founders Edition GPUs that covers hardware defects and errors.

Should you buy it?

Yes. The Nvidia RTX 3080 sets a new standard for first-class, incredibly fast PC games.

Editor's recommendations