Lori Grunin/CNET
New graphics cards bring chance. For much better gaming, faster efficiency and pricey hardware sales. They also bring obstacles, with driver problems, style difficulties and typically supply shortages..
As provided by GeForce RTX 3080-based graphics cards, the latest version of the companys GPU architecture accomplishes playable frame rates in video games which use fancy RTX-specific features like ray-tracing and worldwide lighting. Its AI-based upscaling feature, DLSS, lets you finally play in 4K at (frequently) better-than bare-minimum frame rates without visible degradation in quality. The GPU also raises performance over predecessors in games that dont make the most of the whizzy features by about 20% -40% on average, which is really most video games..
The 30-series of GPUs Nvidia released at the beginning of September, powered by the brand-new Ampere architecture, has already run into issues. Thereve been reports of instability with some third-party 3080-based cards because of capacitor style, along with cost gouging due to scarcities. And Nvidia has currently bumped the ship date of the RTX 3070– likely to be one of the most popular cards with prices in the $499 variety– until the end of October, though that might be to prevent the stock problems of the 3080.
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However you reveal me a GPU launch that hasnt had similar problems, and Ill reveal you a GPU thats just a ho-hum rote refresh. This is the rate of using the bleeding edge, and why I constantly suggest waiting before opening your wallet for new tech..
However, I have not waited. Ive been spending the previous few weeks with 2 RTX 3080 cards– the Nvidia RTX 3080 Founders Edition and an EVGA RTX 3080 XC3, both running in the Origin PC Chronos video gaming desktop– and didnt run into any issues. Yes, there was one blue screen of death without any recognizable cause. But the reported 3080 problems appear to be connected to the GPU clock going beyond 2GHz, and neither of mine ever rose above it, striking simply a hair below.
If youre preparing to buy a system with among these new GPUs ASAP, youll most likely have to go with an air-cooled variation up until the revamped liquid-cooling systems almost all video gaming PC makers provide have increase. Due to the fact that the brand-new cards are physically longer than the 20-series, they dont suit a few of the tighter areas, including the Maingear Turbo into which I was initially hoping to set up the Founders Edition. (Maingear is swapping out the cooling system of my eval unit and setting up the card, so stay tuned for that review.).
To upgrade your system, youll not only require to make sure the card fits, but that your power supply (PSU) can manage it. It truly requires a minimum of a 750w PSU, however the majority of not-maxed-out systems have 650 watts or smaller sized. Because case, youll either have to swap in another PSU or decide for the less greedy RTX 3070.
RTX 3080 specs.
Memory.
10GB GDDR6X.
Memory bandwidth.
760GB/sec.
Memory clock (GHz).
1.71.
GPU clock (GHz, base/boost).
1.44/ 1.71.
Memory data rate/Interface.
19Gbps/320 bit.
Texture fill rate (gigatexels per second).
465.1.
RT cores.
68.
CUDA Cores.
8,704.
Texture mapping units.
272.
Streaming multiprocessors.
68.
Tensor Cores.
272.
Process.
8nm.
TGP/min PSU.
320w/750w.
Max thermal (degrees C).
194F/90C.
Size.
PCIe 4.0 x 16.
GPU name.
GA102.
Bus.
2+ slots; 11.2 x 4.4 in (285 x 112 mm).
Origin PC Cryo Core Millennium.
Keep in mind:.
Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS).
Geekbench 5 (CUDA).
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition).
Falcon North West Talon 20th AE.
Origin PC Cryo Core Millennium.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider gaming test.
Keep in mind:.
Longer bars show better efficiency.
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition).
Note:.
Longer bars show better performance.
Theres more than just a bigger power draw. Your precise setup matters, too.
Unlike the previous generation of Founders Edition cards, which blew the hot air into the case, the 3080 vents out the back.
Lori Grunin/CNET.
How quickly does it fly?
Though technically the RTX 3080 changes the RTX 2080 Super in the $699 rate class, it feels more like a follow up to the 2080 Ti card since of its specifications, which remain in the very same ballpark. It vastly outshines the 2080 Super because it has so much more of everything: memory and memory bandwidth and ray tracing, Tensor (AI) and CUDA (texture processing) cores. It also needs a lot more power than the 2080 Super and Ti– 320 watts vs. 250w– and much more than the flagship Titan RTX (280 watts).
In addition to the speed benefits provided by the second-gen RT and third-gen Tensor cores, such as new algorithms and guideline sets that make them a lot more efficient and a switch to an 8nm procedure size from 12nm, the 3080 (and 3090) have another efficiency perk you will not discover in the 3070 or any other lower-end cards Nvidia launches– GDDR6X memory. Microns GDDR6X integrates brand-new signaling technology that basically doubles the information rate over GDDR6, the memory utilized by the RTX 3070 and 20-series cards. If thats more specification detail than youre utilized to, my guide to the best PC GPUs can provide a little background..
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3.So, how does the new 3080 perform? Using dual displays in Lightroom Classic can get laggy and glitchy, however the RTX 3080 worked as efficiently as Ive ever seen.
Surprisingly, I saw no considerable performance difference between the EVGA and Nvidia cards. Thats uncommon, since normally Nvidias factor for the Founders Edition is to offer a best-case-performance example of a flagship card. The EVGA did tend to run a little hotter when maxed out, however, about 88C vs. 85C.
As quickly as the RTX 3080 is and as much as I liked both the Founders Edition and the EVGA cards, I d still wait to see how the RTX 3070 accumulates before plopping down $700– and see what AMD has up its corporate sleeve later on this month, when it introduces its RX 6000 series. Between the upcoming consoles and brand-new graphics processor statements, these are fascinating times to be a speed freak.
Geekbench 5 (Vulkan).
Price.
Around $699.
3DMark Port Royal (RTX).
MSI Trident X.
Origin PC Chronos.
And Nvidia has actually already bumped the ship date of the RTX 3070– most likely to be one of the most popular cards with rates in the $499 variety– until the end of October, though that may be to prevent the stock issues of the 3080.
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1909 ); (oc) 3.8 GHz Intel Core i7-10700K; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,932; 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super; 1TB SSD.
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition).
Falcon Northwest Talon 20th Anniversary Edition.
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (2004 ); Intel Core i9-10900K; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 3,200; 10GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (EVGA); 1TB SSD + 500GB SSD.
Maingear Turbo.
Keep in mind:.
Longer bars indicate better efficiency.
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (1909 ); 3.8 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 3900X; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 3,200 MHz; 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super; 2TB SSD RAID 0.
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition).
Technically the RTX 3080 replaces the RTX 2080 Super in the $699 rate class, it feels more like a follow up to the 2080 Ti card due to the fact that of its specifications, which are in the very same ballpark. Microns GDDR6X includes new signaling innovation that basically doubles the information rate over GDDR6, the memory used by the RTX 3070 and 20-series cards. The EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3.So, how does the brand-new 3080 carry out? Using dual screens in Lightroom Classic can get glitchy and laggy, but the RTX 3080 worked as smoothly as Ive ever seen.
Origin PC Cryo Core Millennium.
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Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1909 ); 3.8 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 3900X; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM; 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super; 1.5 TB SSD (2TB SSD for console).
Corsair One Pro.
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1909 ); 4.3 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 3950X; 32GB DDR SDRAM 3,200 MHz; 24GB Nvidia Titan RTX; 1TB SSD + 2TB HDD.
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (1909 ); 3.3 GHz Intel Core i9-10940X; 64GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,667 MHz; 11GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti; 2TB SSD.
System setups.
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (2004 ); 3.8 GHz Ryzen 9 3900XT; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 3,600; 11GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti; 1TB SSD + 4TB HDD.
Origin PC Cryo Core Millennium.
