Wait for AMD to make its Big Navi move before you buy the Nvidia RTX 3080 – TechRadar

Its crucial to keep in mind that graphics card lineups never all come out at the same time. While the RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080 and RTX 2070 all got announced and launched at the exact same time at Gamescom 2018, we didnt see the RTX 2060 until CES 2019, which was then followed up by the GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660 and GTX 1650. If AMD damages one of the RTX 30 series cards without absolutely controling it, Nvidia can easily launch a brand-new GPU that can simply steal AMDs thunder. Particularly if you have your eyes on the RTX 3070– and you certainly ought to– its super prudent to wait for AMD to show its hand.

Earlier this week, Nvidia revealed its Ampere GeForce cards, led by the RTX 3080 and accompanied by the Titan replacement RTX 3090 and the RTX 3070. All 3 of these graphics cards are bringing major generational improvements over the 2018 Turing lineup, without another price increase like we saw last time around..
And, while its absolutely amazing seeing the pledge of such improved efficiency, its essential to note that Nvidia isnt the only business thats going to be releasing new graphics cards this fall– AMD Big Navi is coming quickly, too..
Beyond claims made on behalf of the PS5 and Xbox Series X– that those consoles will can 4K 60 fps gameplay with ray tracing– we do not really know what RDNA will can, or where precisely it will be competing within this new Nvidia lineup– but you should still wait to see the hand AMD has to play prior to you jump in..

( Image credit: Nvidia) Patience will settle.
Even if youre a die-hard Nvidia patriot, waiting a few months before embracing a new generation of graphics card is just a great concept. Throughout the very first few months of this generation of graphics cards, both AMD and Nvidia will have a lot of kinks to exercise through chauffeur and firmware updates..
Its not like your graphics card is going to blow up or anything prior to the drivers grow, however you might get deteriorated efficiency and game crashes out of nowhere– on top of some possible visual problems..
Beyond that, were about to get in into one of the most competitive graphics card battles in years, and up until AMD reveals its hand, we cant really proclaim Nvidia as the victor yet..
And even if Nvidia does win, getting a graphics card a few months down the line when accessibility stabilizes after the early adoption rush and motorists have a chance to mature is simply a great idea– mashing F5 on Newegg or Nvidias store page is never fun, and with the reception Nvidias announcement had, you can bet that these graphics cards are going to sell out quickly..
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( Image credit: Future) AMD RDNA 2 might likewise slap.
The GPUs in the PS5 and Xbox Series X are incredibly outstanding..
For a console..
It is kind of ludicrous to believe that the GPUs being consisted of in the consoles are not going to be reduced variations of whatever ends up in actual AMD graphics cards, in order to fit the cooling and power requirements that a console has. Consider it– theres no chance that Microsoft and Sony are going to be stuffing a 750W+ power supply in a console, so were going to get a method less powerful GPU..
The actual graphics cards that come out of RDNA 2 will likely be way more effective than what ends up entering into the video gaming consoles. AMD has already stated that its going to be taking on Nvidia at the luxury– maybe not as luxury as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090– so its really possible that whatever top-end graphics card AMD launches will actually put some pressure on Nvidia..
If AMD can launch a graphics cards that deals with the RTX 3080 at 4K, or perhaps exceeds it at the same price, anybody who purchases an RTX 3080 might feel a little burnt..
Its likewise important to note that AMD didnt knock Intel out in the CPU race immediately, either. The very first generation of Ryzen was excellent, but didnt truly threaten Intel too much– similar to the launch of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT in July 2019..
If AMD takes the same method with RDNA that it did with Zen, this generation we might see AMD really begin to strike Nvidia difficult– though it does remain to be seen. Nvidia isnt Intel, after all, and it appears like Ampere is the most significant jump in GPU performance in years, something that cant truly be stated about, say, Coffee Lake..

( Image credit: Nvidia) Only three Nvidia cards to begin.
At its GeForce Special Event, Nvidia only had three cards to show, and while its likely that those will be the only Nvidia cards we get this year, the gaps in performance and price in between the 3 are pretty big. Nvidia is claiming that the GeForce RTX 3070 is slightly faster than the RTX 2080 Ti, whereas the RTX 3080 is obviously almost two times as fast as the RTX 2080– thats a substantial space in efficiency, and is plainly open for Nvidia to slide in another graphics card..
Now, for the sake of argument lets say that AMD introduces a card that comes close to beating the RTX 3080 at the same cost point. We currently saw a Lenovo leak a bit back that revealed an RTX 3070 Ti with 16GB of VRAM that was notably missing from Nvidias showcase..
Its essential to bear in mind that graphics card lineups never ever all come out at the very same time. While the RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080 and RTX 2070 all got revealed and gone for the same time at Gamescom 2018, we didnt see the RTX 2060 until CES 2019, which was then followed up by the GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660 and GTX 1650. And then, we got yet another refresh in middle of 2019 with the Super cards..
With its RTX 30 series, Nvidia likely has a whole cavalcade of graphics cards, that it can likely release whenever..
If AMD undercuts among the RTX 30 series cards without definitely dominating it, Nvidia can easily release a new GPU that can just take AMDs thunder. Especially if you have your eyes on the RTX 3070– and you definitely should– its extremely prudent to wait for AMD to reveal its hand. If Nvidia is going to react to any of AMDs launches, this is the card that will be most significantly affected..