Question GPU upgrade

[El_Torrente94]

Hey folks,

I’m planning a GPU upgrade and eyeing the RTX 5080. Current one is 3080 TI.

I noticed the Zotac RTX 5080 Solid is priced around €500 less than the Asus Astral 5080 (in my region) which raised some questions. That’s not a small difference — it’s huge.

Now, here's the thing: a few of my friends have warned me hard against Zotac. Stuff like “don’t even take it if it’s free,” “low quality,” and just generally calling it junk.

But when I went online to check reviews, I couldn’t really find much that backs up those claims. There aren’t many overwhelmingly positive takes either, but nothing stood out as a major red flag.

So now I’m confused. Is there a legit reason why Zotac’s model is that much cheaper? Are the cooling, build quality, or components significantly worse than Asus? Or is it more of a branding/marketing thing?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

What is the make, model and age of your PSU?

(in my region)
Which is where?

Sometimes brands are priced cheaper than their competition to allow for market penetration or their products are lack luster. On the topic of Asus, I've spoke with their brand representatives for my region and they don't have a back answer to when I ask them why their products are actually priced higher than everyone else. They are overpriced, actually.

Zotac used to only make motherboards until they ditched that avenue after lackluster quality. Zotac's AMP range of GPU's for the RTX 2000 series had an issue whereby the memory wasn't in contact with the cooler, let alone a thermal pad.

That being said, every brand has their ups and downs. Speaking of brands, what other brands besides Asus and Zotac do you have access to and what other cards are within your budget in your country?

 

[Third-Eye]

Hey folks,

I’m planning a GPU upgrade and eyeing the RTX 5080. Current one is 3080 TI.

I noticed the Zotac RTX 5080 Solid is priced around €500 less than the Asus Astral 5080 (in my region) which raised some questions. That’s not a small difference — it’s huge.

Now, here's the thing: a few of my friends have warned me hard against Zotac. Stuff like “don’t even take it if it’s free,” “low quality,” and just generally calling it junk.

But when I went online to check reviews, I couldn’t really find much that backs up those claims. There aren’t many overwhelmingly positive takes either, but nothing stood out as a major red flag.

So now I’m confused. Is there a legit reason why Zotac’s model is that much cheaper? Are the cooling, build quality, or components significantly worse than Asus? Or is it more of a branding/marketing thing?

Thanks in advance!

Zotac is not as bad as they used to be, and all the board partners (AIBs) need to follow the NVIDIA reference design specs or have better quality. The failure rate from each board partner is very similarly low, so It mostly doesn't matter what brand you get now. Some models have worse cooling than others and less than ideal build quality, but generally acceptable.

PNY is another brand people crap on, but has been good for at least half a decade, similar to Zotac.

What I'd worry more about, but still isn't a huge issue worth worrying about just yet, is the new 12vhpwr/12v 2x6 power connector.

Personally, I'd skip upgrading this generation and wait for the next generation from AMD and NVIDIA, because this generation is genuinely awful for consumers. A $1000 USD 16GB VRAM GPU selling for 50-100% more is just plain awful for consumers. I feel like the 5080 would only have been worth considering if it had 20-24GB VRAM and actually matched the 4090 in performance.

 

[Flayed]

Hey folks,

I’m planning a GPU upgrade and eyeing the RTX 5080. Current one is 3080 TI.

I noticed the Zotac RTX 5080 Solid is priced around €500 less than the Asus Astral 5080 (in my region) which raised some questions. That’s not a small difference — it’s huge.

Now, here's the thing: a few of my friends have warned me hard against Zotac. Stuff like “don’t even take it if it’s free,” “low quality,” and just generally calling it junk.

But when I went online to check reviews, I couldn’t really find much that backs up those claims. There aren’t many overwhelmingly positive takes either, but nothing stood out as a major red flag.

So now I’m confused. Is there a legit reason why Zotac’s model is that much cheaper? Are the cooling, build quality, or components significantly worse than Asus? Or is it more of a branding/marketing thing?

Thanks in advance!

I recently bought a "cheap" (ha!) 5080 from Palit, their Gaming Pro model. I had wanted to wait for better options but there was a growing list of games my old 3070 couldn't run very well.

The card seems to run well and stays cool around the mid 60s whilst gaming. Strangley HWiNFO 64 doesn't list a hotspot temperature for the card though.