The GeForce RTX 3080 delivers the ultra performance that gamers crave, powered by Ampere—NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX architecture. It’s built with enhanced RT Cores and Tensor Cores, new streaming multiprocessors, and superfast G6X memory for an amazing gaming experience. Get ready to experience the power!
Nvidia’s upcoming GeForce RTX 3080 is the best-selling graphics card of 2020 and currently has over 60% market share in both the desktop as well as mobile arenas. This latest addition to the GeForce family continues Nvidia’s legacy with powerful features that continue its growth. In this review, we will look at what new features are now available on the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and whether you should consider buying it.
Specification
- Chip: GA102 8 nm / Ampere architecture
- Memory: 10 GB GDDR6X (1920 MHz) (throughput 7 60 GB / s, 320-bit bus)
- Chip clock: 1710 MHz (1710Mhz is a reference)
- Connection: PCI-E 4.0 x 16
- Ports: 3 × DisplayPort 1.4a, 2 × HDMI 2.1
- Shading units: 8704, 272 TMU, 96 ROP, SM 68, Tensor Cores 272, RT cores 68
- Power: 30.55 Tflops power at basic clock
- Height: 2.7 slots
- Maximum power consumption : 320 W
- Power supply: 2 x 8-pin
- Recommended source: 750 WCard size: 320x128x56 mm
Pros
- Excellent 4K performance
- Two 8-pin power ports
- Some of the lowest GPU temperatures
- Ventilation that remains relatively discreet
Cons
- Limited availability at the time of testing
- Expensive
- No USB-C
GPU Acceleration
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 includes up to 12GB of memory (eight RX6070 models), which are capable of delivering significantly more performance than 8GB of GDDR6 RAM when running high-end games. You can use the GPU with the free version of the GeForce Resolution XR.
Directed by HBM2X and powered by our own custom power system, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is arguably the most potent graphics card ever. While not quite as fast as some other products in our testing, we are certainly impressed by the speed up offered by the new card over its predecessor. This means that you can experience ray tracing capabilities as well as support for 4K resolution, a feature already available to download on current cards. Directed by HBM2X and powered by our custom power system, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is arguably the most potent graphics card ever.
Support for 4K Resolution
One of the biggest benefits of using an HBM2X chip is the ability to run 4K resolution on your entire video card. Using the GTX 1080Ti, you can play 4K resolution games such as Doom and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, two of the most popular titles since launch this year. With this information and other features, we think the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is going to be one of the first gaming machines to include up to 4K resolutions. If you are unsure of exactly how the game industry intends to push up 4K resolution, check out what happened on YouTube, where they went live without 4K. It seems like Sony plans to do the same as well.
Directed by HBM2X and powered by our custom power system, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is arguably the most potent graphics card ever.
The GeForce RTX 3090 offers a similar suite of features in terms of specs with only three models. However, if you do decide to go with these models, you will have to utilize less memory to handle them. These chips provide four cores with compute and two data centers with memory but, again, there is a single model and it would still deliver 4K resolution performance. There are also no VRAMs in the model. We would recommend that you purchase the GeForce RTX 2060X instead of the full GeForce RTX 3090. For maximum performance, you should opt for these units.
If you choose to opt for either of the two models, you will still benefit from the faster processing speeds and higher memory bandwidth of the Intel RTX 3090. Both models have access to 32GB of GDDR6 VRAM and 3GB of GDDR6 VRAM.
Support for All Newer Layers
One of the most exciting features about these cards is their inclusion of the latest DLSS layers. As of right now, there are only 11 layers available and with the next release of the Core i7-9700K series, expect even more DLSS support.
While many games support up to eight simultaneous DLSS layers, two of which are multi-resolution. To support up to 64 layers, the GeForce RTX 3080 will need 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM and 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM while the RTX 3090 requires 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM and 7GB of GDDR6 VRAM. Of course, if you want to play at 4K resolution, you should select the GeForce RTX 3080 over the GeForce RTX 3090.
Ethernet Controller
Two important things to note about an EEC is the fact that it allows for faster network management compared to Ethernet-only controllers. When using an Ethernet-only controller, you are limited to only one connection per computer. That means that your whole network is dependent on only one switch to manage it and sometimes it may limit your overall network availability. By contrast, with a router-based EEC, you can manage the entire network as though it were its own. Unlike Ethernet-only controllers, however, a router-based EEC allows you to choose different connections or paths to communicate between multiple computers.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 provides Ethernet-based networking at a much lower price point while remaining incredibly powerful.
Directed by HBM2X and powered by our custom power system, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is arguably the most potent graphics card ever.
One of the greatest advantages of using a router-based EEC over Ethernet-only controllers is that it allows for faster network management and improved scalability, enabling you to connect as many computers as possible. For instance, you can create virtualization domains that allow different networks to seamlessly communicate between all available computers, saving time and money when creating applications. Additionally, by default, the new Nvidia routers support dual-GPU systems and so you can have two separate GPUs for each individual application. Though this might make it harder to control and maintain, it seems like companies like Apple and AMD are taking steps towards incorporating dual-GPU support into future hardware releases. If you get this built into a future product, it could mean significant cost savings down the line.
Nvidia also released another update for its EEC last month – the new NVIDIA G-Sync technology – in order to enable enhanced smoothness in large scale games. So, you should consider making the upgrade before purchasing if you are interested. On top of that, don‘t forget to download the latest driver firmware to ensure stability and reliability.
The NVIDIA RTX 3080 packs a significant amount of power into the box, allowing for an incredibly powerful experience. Even now, many of the new feature cards are hard to come by. Considering the global shift towards 4K resolution, you should feel confident that this is no exception. After all, it appears like gamers want to continue pushing up the refresh rate. A recent report in Forbes indicates that the new generation of consoles could bring back 40% of the average playing time to 1440p, resulting in a huge increase in revenue. As long as people continue to desire high-end features, new graphics cards remain a viable option.
