Should I Take NVIDIA 3080 Ti Back? Is 3080 Ti is the best value VIDEO CARD??

Ethan
Updated on 2023-06-29
3080 Ti is coming, ready for this amazing VIDEO CARD? Here is the FULLY REVIEW, CHECK BEFORE YOU BUY!!

Yo, what's going on, guys? Here is your old friend. Today, let's talk about the new video card --- 3080Ti. I believe lots of people already waiting for this card for a long time. I have already simplified the contents for you guys, and let's see 3080Ti is good to buy or not.

Intro of 3080 Ti

Today, NVIDIA launched two essential things: the RTX 3080 TI, a GPU as powerful as their previous King, but at a significantly lower price, and a refreshing change in attitude. Let's talk about both of them and our sponsor, Aorus. The Z590 Aorus master motherboard is compatible with Intel's 11th and 10th Gen processors has a wide array of IO, and has built-in Intel WiFi 6E. Get yours today at the link in the video description. 

What even is 3080 Ti?

Let's start with the elephant in the room. NVIDIA would love for us to compare the RTX 3080 TI directly to the RTX 2080 TI, given that it is, like, the replacement. But given how few people bought those, I doubt it's a burning question for many of you. Besides, the more exciting reference point is the RTX 3090 because it is so freaking similar. By comparison, the 3080 TI is missing two and a half percent of the RTX 3090's core count and memory bandwidth and runs at only a 2% slower boost clock. Same GDDR6 RAM, same total graphics power, same NVENC encoder, the same absolute GPU unit, except for the main difference. Apart from the smaller cooler on the founder's edition card, it only has half of the memory at 12 gigs. Now, that's less than AMD's competing 6,900 XT, which has 16, and it could be a problem if you're one of the eight people trying to gain that 8K. But considering how few loads benefit from 24 gigs of RAM, it's more likely to end up being a significant win for the 3080 TI since it should help bring pricing down more in line with team Red's Radeon our RX 6,900 XT. 

Test & Gaming Result

So, without further ado, here's our test bench. We've got five GPU's for your consideration today, and I am. I'm expecting a lot, and my expectations are met. Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition starts things off extremely strong for the 3080 TI. It manages to keep within the on-paper expected 2% of the RTX 3090 in every parameter, but the minimum frame rate. And guess what, that's the very worst news we have for you. NVIDIA's new King, I think I have to call it that, is straight-up faster than the RTX 3090 in both F1 2020 and Forza Horizon 4. Perhaps, as a direct result of it having less RAM, that means more power for the GPU itself, allowing it to opportunistically turbo more often. And this same but different trend continues with Assassin's Creed: Valhalla and CS GO, where the 3080 TI proves itself to be a competent gaming card, which, I mean, of course, it is. It's an RTX 3090, except for the cutdown RAM. 

Productivity Result 

So, what does the smaller frame buffer mean for productivity? Well, for the most part, not much. And the RTX 3080 TI continues to show off its 3090-like prowess with nearly identical render times in Blender, in both the CUDA and OptiX renderers and the same thing in V-Ray, where we are still within that 2% range. Even Creative Cloud gives more favourable results, with 1% being the most common delta between these cards. So, unless your large projects require more RAM, you're giving up nothing in these use cases. In DaVinci Resolve, however, that veneer does begin to crack somewhat, and we see a larger 6% difference that is difficult to pin down exactly. It may be that Resolve either wants more memory capacity, or it could be that it's more bandwidth-sensitive, but, unfortunately, accurately measuring resolves VRAM usage isn't possible at the moment, so we're not sure. What we are confident about is our water bottles from lttstore.com. You can measure those 20 or 40 ounces for the same price. Whatever the reason for this result, OctaneBench also sees a larger than average performance Delta and SPECviewperf continues the trend with anywhere from 2%, which we expect, all the way to 21% in the case of the memory-intensive energy benchmark, which, I guess, we also wish. I mean, the RTX 3090's claim to fame is its massive high bandwidth frame buffer. So, what the real story is then is just how competitive the 3080 TI is without this.

Thermals & Power

As for thermals, NVIDIA ended up reusing the same much smaller cooler as the RTX 3080. So, we weren't sure what to expect going into this thing. I mean, there's no GDDR6X on the back of the PCB now. So, at least we don't have to worry about repeating the memory overheating problems we saw with the 3090. But, we are still looking at, roughly, the exact core count and clock speed, and power consumption rating. And yet, thermals look spot on. We were never breaking past 80 degrees throughout SPECviewperf. The RTX 3090, of course, did get better thermal results, but that card is a triple slot beast. And what's most impressive is that the 3080 TI managed all of this at 11 Watts less power draw. And it didn't even throttle like Core Clocks were a solid 1.9 gigahertz throughout our heavy loaded testing, which is just a hundred megahertz lower than the RTX 3090. All in all, it's, I don't know if it's a surprising result cause we didn't know what to expect, but it gives us some insight, at least, into just how power-hungry and hot GDDR6X can be, which, incidentally, is now rated for 105 degrees on Micron's website. I guess they got tired of all the inquiries about RTX 3090's overheating at a hundred degrees.

NVIDIA Rationale & New Attitude

Of course, I promise to talk about more than just a new GPU today. So, let's change gears and talk about the new straight-talking approach that NVIDIA has taken around this launch. Basically, this is a 3090, a card that they already can't make enough of to meet demand. We asked NVIDIA what possessed you to release this GPU at a lower price? And then, instead of blathering on about loving gamers, so huggy, muggy, much, they just confirmed what we already suspected. Not only is a 24 gig frame buffer ludicrous for most gamers today, but it's also impacting NVIDIA's ability to make enough cards. Indeed, you didn't think Macron was spared from the silicon shortage, did you? So, with half the amount of memory compared to the RTX 3090, twice as many RTX 3080 TI cards can be produced. That is assuming there are enough GPU's to go around. Not only that, but part of the reason that NVIDIA was able to use a smaller cooler in the first place is that there isn't any memory on the rear of the PCB, like the 3090, which also factors into its lower cost. Speaking of lower cost, get subscribed because we're going to be revisiting our cheap versus expensive VR setups, and trust me, it's getting a lot less obvious than you might think. NVIDIA was also refreshingly straightforward, talking about the supply of these cards, which they admit is not going to meet demand this year and the difficulties they faced making their products available to gamers for MSRP. The target was 9.99, and the idea was to embarrass AMD with superior performance and features at the same price. The features, by the way, they're not new. Still, it is worth reminding you that NVIDIA's hardware video and code functionality and deep learning features, like RTX voice and deep learning super sampling, are very compelling selling points.

Pricing of 3080 Ti

But, due to the ongoing scarcity of components, tariffs are being thrown around willy nilly these days. Not to mention predatory reselling practices, even by some retailers, the MSRP will be higher than they would have liked. Now, we're filming this before hearing the actual price, so I'm going to do a few different reactions, and we'll put it on screen with the matching one. So, whatever it says down there, you could expect to spend more than that unless you end up extremely lucky or participate in the verified actual gamer program. 

Hashrate Limiter

Finally, NVIDIA rather humbly acknowledged that you know what, we weren't entirely wrong about their mining hash rate limiter. I know. I was shocked. They also admitted that, yeah, it'd probably be hacked at some point. So, their new story then is that the primary purpose of the limiter is, actually, pretty similar to what we're doing with the verified actual gamer program, to slow down the acquisition of these cards on mass by crypto miners. See NVIDIA, that wasn't so hard. You didn't have to come out and say it was unhackable and split your product stack like that and pretend it's some gift to gamers. And you know what, the truth is, I'm afraid I still have to disagree with the idea that consumers shouldn't be allowed to run whatever they want with their hardware to the best of its capabilities. But, if this admission is NVIDIA foreshadowing a willingness to remove the limiter, either officially or unofficially, through a leak, once supply catches up, I'd be a lot more receptive to the idea. There's no word yet on whether they would do something like that, but I think consumers should demand it cause it's an excellent way to subsidize your purchase. NVIDIA has just demonstrated a refreshing willingness to listen.

Conclusion

But let's bring it back to the card. Should you spend your money on an RTX 3080 TI? Well, if you can get one at MSRP, it's a no brainer. Suppose you're comparing it to an RTX 3090. In that case, it's cheaper. It's slightly less power-hungry, it has less overall heat output, it's smaller, in the case of the founder's edition, so that compatibility will be better, and, presumably, it will be easier to find in stock. Meaning it's a winner,and while scalpers are likely to continue to price these things out of reach of many gamers, the apocalypse isn't going to last forever. And when the dust finally settles, the RTX 3080 TI is going to stand at the top of the stack for NVIDIA in competition with the RX 6,900 XT.