News Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Review: Great Performance at a High Price

[spongiemaster]

Nvidia simply didn't have any space in their product stack for this card. There may be a massive gap in pricing between a 3080 and 3090, but there is a very minimal difference in gaming performance. In that case you are paying over double the price for a ~11% improvement at 1440p.
Paying 70% more for an 8% gaming improvement still is not anywhere in the galaxy of worthwhile.
It's clear that there was already a 3080 Ti on the market, they just happened to call it RTX 3080. Wedging a third Halo product between their two other halo products only makes the smallest iota of sense in our current "everybody panic buy everything all the time" economy.
To wit, Nvidia actually showed some restraint, considering they could have called this card an RTX 3090 12G, and still sold out with an MSRP of $1489.99

Nvidia is doing pretty much exactly what they did with the 700 series, 900 series and 10 series. Release the Titan (3090) first, then release an 80Ti a few months later which performs almost exactly the same for less money. Usually that release is followed by a new slightly faster Titan whose cost doesn't scale with the performance increase. Nvidia broke that trend with the 20 series when they released the Ti first but gave it a Titan price. Now they have returned to the original strategy and people are losing their mind like we've never seen this before.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Nvidia is doing pretty much exactly what they did with the 700 series, 900 series and 10 series. Release the Titan (3090) first, then release an 80Ti a few months later which performs almost exactly the same for less money. Usually that release is followed by a new slightly faster Titan whose cost doesn't scale with the performance increase. Nvidia broke that trend with the 20 series when they released the Ti first but gave it a Titan price. Now they have returned to the original strategy and people are losing their mind like we've never seen this before.

One could argue this goes all the way back to the 8800 Ultra. And then whoops, here's a cheaper refresh.

 

[-Fran-]

Nvidia is doing pretty much exactly what they did with the 700 series, 900 series and 10 series. Release the Titan (3090) first, then release an 80Ti a few months later which performs almost exactly the same for less money. Usually that release is followed by a new slightly faster Titan whose cost doesn't scale with the performance increase. Nvidia broke that trend with the 20 series when they released the Ti first but gave it a Titan price. Now they have returned to the original strategy and people are losing their mind like we've never seen this before.

It's diferent when you release such cards in a market that is not starved for cheaper cards and is saturated of scalpers and miners affecting (inflating) prices all around.

This is akin to saying water vendors raised the water price in California this year by 20% like every year, except the street price was baselined at 200 per cup instead of 50 cents, so instead of it being a few cents increase it's 40 bucks.

Context matters and nVidia is going all in trying to grab money. Well, I guess that's what they do... Just don't buy into their marketing that is saying "this is for you, the gamers". No, it ain't.

Regards.

 

[Eximo]

Nvidia is doing pretty much exactly what they did with the 700 series, 900 series and 10 series. Release the Titan (3090) first, then release an 80Ti a few months later which performs almost exactly the same for less money. Usually that release is followed by a new slightly faster Titan whose cost doesn't scale with the performance increase. Nvidia broke that trend with the 20 series when they released the Ti first but gave it a Titan price. Now they have returned to the original strategy and people are losing their mind like we've never seen this before.

Which is why I didn't buy a 2080Ti (FE was $1200), now I'm stuck. It is either a 3080Ti at hopefully MSRP, or an overpriced RTX3080, or waiting it out for the next cycle. Which by then would be in the realm of me looking to upgrade from 1440p 144hz, but doing both at once is going to be a serious wallet hit.

Oh, they could still launch a 3090 Ti with GA102 silicon that is currently going to the A6000. That would be terribly minor though.

 

[spunner5]

After years of buying late in the life-cycle, starting with the 680, I started buying the best of the series, expecting it to last several years before the "need" to buy a new revision. This lasted me to the 980 Ti, then the 1080 Ti (a present), and purposely let the ridiculous 2000 series pass to await what? This?

Knowing how things have gone for us enthusiasts since last summer with both Nvidia and AMD cards, how can Nvidia do this to us? One paper launch after another. Watching scalpers charge end-users 3x or more for a $700 card, and then coming out with the "Ti desperation" approach and announcing a MSRP of $500 more? It's basically a similar 3090 card in 3080-sheeps-clothing, same dimensions of a 3080, same damn heat-sink, with half the RAM of a 3090. I LOL'd this afternoon seeing the Zotac 3080 Ti on NewEgg with a price of $1799. I thought "HAH! A ZOTAC card costing $300 more than other, more well known brands?!". Someone has been drinking punch...

I'm sorry Jensen, but F*** YOU!

 

[chalabam]

just buy it.

dont queston the predatory pricing
dont question the hideous price/performance ratio
reward nvidia for its greed

It's called inflation.

The government prints money, and you have to pay more for the same product.

 

[ingtar33]

as long as people keep buying these cards at scalper prices the prices of these cards will keep going up as both AMD and Nvidia realize the market will pay 2x-5x what they used to charge for the same hardware; i know it's mostly cryptominers, but gamers are buying them too.

when all of this ends we'll end up with the "new" normal of top end cards running around 1500-2000 MSRP, and 2nd tier cards running at 900-1200msrp, with so called midranged cards selling for $700 and all the idiot fanboys (red and green) lining up fighting over eachother to buy the latest greatest at every overpriced pricepoint.

I know this, you know this, I'm sure there are people right now mad that these cards are sold out so they couldn't pay nvidia 1300 for their overpriced card. since those people exist, we know the msrp, when supply stabilizes will be much much higher.

The only way to prevent that won't happen. Basically gamers have to be content with what they have, and NOT buy the latest greatest card at an inflated price.

It's called inflation.

The government prints money, and you have to pay more for the same product.

I know what it is, it's still predatory pricing and evidence that both nvidia and amd gpu brands need to be subject to anti-trust laws. and the fact that THG wrote this puff peice hyping this overpriced anti-consumer trash up as if we're all braindead wallets just makes it more distasteful.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Knowing how things have gone for us enthusiasts since last summer with both Nvidia and AMD cards, how can Nvidia do this to us?

Then what do you want them to do?

 

[animekenji]

If it came with 20GB of RAM it would have been ideal. I have an RTX 3080 in an HP Omen prebuilt and all i'm reading is that if you already have an RTX 3080, it's a terrible idea to upgrade.

Then the potential upgrader needs to understand according to leaks that the RTX 4000 series should double the performance of the current 3000 series cards. Even if you don't have an RTX 3080 I still see paying a lot more for a marginal improvement over the base 3080 is a no go for me.

Why do you even need 20gb of RAM?

 

[spongiemaster]

Context matters and nVidia is going all in trying to grab money. Well, I guess that's what they do... Just don't buy into their marketing that is saying "this is for you, the gamers". No, it ain't.

And AMD giving all of you bargain hunters the middle finger by coming out and saying they have no interest in the lowend as long as their is a chip shortage and will only produce premium products doesn't qualify as a money grab? Anyone one on such a crusade to accuse a company of putting money before everything else while not acknowledging every company they are competing with is doing the same thing just makes you a dictionary example of a hypocrite.

Nvidia is certainly chasing the cash, but at least the moves they are making in the process may actually benefit us and lower prices over time. AMD on the other hand just couldn't care less, and isn't even pretending to try.

 

[egda23]

It's called inflation.

The government prints money, and you have to pay more for the same product.

Euh no, this is offer / demand in the GPU problem

 

[SkyBill40]

Does the Ti stand for "technically irrelevant" or "totally inabsentia"? Just want to make sure I'm good on my naming conventions, not that there were any to be had even if I were to have been fortunate enough to actually have a chance at buying one.

 

[randomizer]

It's called inflation.

The government prints money, and you have to pay more for the same product.

Inflation doesn't account for the price increases we've seen each generation. NVIDIA's flagship card in 2009, the GTX 295, launched at $500. Inflation would put that flagship card at about $622 today. Now if you go back in time and buy the GTX 295 in 1980, sure, inflation might have pushed it up to $1500. But all performance tiers have increased in price in real terms in almost every generation. The only recent generation that bucked the trend significantly is the 900 series.

 

[-Fran-]

And AMD giving all of you bargain hunters the middle finger by coming out and saying they have no interest in the lowend as long as their is a chip shortage and will only produce premium products doesn't qualify as a money grab? Anyone one on such a crusade to accuse a company of putting money before everything else while not acknowledging every company they are competing with is doing the same thing just makes you a dictionary example of a hypocrite.

Nvidia is certainly chasing the cash, but at least the moves they are making in the process may actually benefit us and lower prices over time. AMD on the other hand just couldn't care less, and isn't even pretending to try.

I can see AMD GPUs and CPUs in stock. The GPUs are overpriced and overinflated, but at least they are producing enough and they're going down in price. Their CPUs are now at MSRP in most locations and some even are going down slightly in price already.

I have no idea where you're getting what you just said...

Also, AMD hasn't released a 6750XT or a 6850XT for more money and just a 5-10% improvement over the other parts, so it's not even comparable to what nVidia just did in this market. They are still producing what they released as much as they can instead of producing more products you can't get. Overall, they're doing the right thing of focusing on what they already have out and try to fill orders with those instead of strong-arming AIBs to produce even more variants of GPUs no one asked for.

So, when was the last time you saw a 3060 in stock?

Regards.

 

[spongiemaster]

I can see AMD GPUs and CPUs in stock. The GPUs are overpriced and overinflated, but at least they are producing enough and they're going down in price. Their CPUs are now at MSRP in most locations and some even are going down slightly in price already.

Link one site with either 5900x or 5950x in stock at MSRP and shipping. If I have to travel to Great Falls, Montana to pick up my CPU in store, that doesn't count as in stock at MSRP.

Here is Intel's 11th gen in stock and shipped to my door at MSRP from 11400 through 11900k:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/intel-11th-generation

Lisa Su says they are not releasing lower end CPU's, and you are still going to argue otherwise? What do you get out of so blindly praying at the altar of a tech company?

Chip Shortage Causes AMD to Pivot Away From Lower-End PC Processors

AMD GPU's are in stock? You can't be serious. There is no further discussion to be had with someone who just makes up an alternative reality from the one the rest of us live in.

I could have purchase a 3060Ti, but opted for a 3090 instead. I own a 3070 and a 3090, both purchased at MSRP. How many 6000 series GPU's do you own?

 

[egda23]

Link one site with either 5900x or 5950x in stock at MSRP and shipping. If I have to travel to Great Falls, Montana to pick up my CPU in store, that doesn't count as in stock at MSRP.

Here is Intel's 11th gen in stock and shipped to my door at MSRP from 11400 through 11900k:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/intel-11th-generation

Lisa Su says they are not releasing lower end CPU's, and you are still going to argue otherwise? What do you get out of so blindly praying at the altar of a tech company?

Chip Shortage Causes AMD to Pivot Away From Lower-End PC Processors

AMD GPU's are in stock? You can't be serious. There is no further discussion to be had with someone who just makes up an alternative reality from the one the rest of us live in.

I could have purchase a 3060Ti, but opted for a 3090 instead. I own a 3070 and a 3090, both purchased at MSRP. How many 6000 series GPU's do you own?

All this very true, but I must say that here in Europe since a few days you can buy online the AMD CPUs at the European MSRP. I was quite astonished.
Of course, the GPUs are another story ...
https://www.alternate.de/AMD-Prozessoren?filter_-2=true&filter_2533=Zen+3&filter_2524=45&s=price_asc

 

[hotaru.hino]

Inflation doesn't account for the price increases we've seen each generation. NVIDIA's flagship card in 2009, the GTX 295, launched at $500. Inflation would put that flagship card at about $622 today. Now if you go back in time and buy the GTX 295 in 1980, sure, inflation might have pushed it up to $1500. But all performance tiers have increased in price in real terms in almost every generation. The only recent generation that bucked the trend significantly is the 900 series.

Part of the pricing I would argue is also the rise in cost of going smaller in transistor size. A cursory glance at "cost to develop 7nm" keeps pointing me to articles on how since 28nm or so, the cost to develop for a new node has been rising almost exponentially. And given that GloFo and UMC both dropped plans to go to 7nm citing cost reasons, it seems to support that being on bleeding edge is getting increasingly expensive.

Regarding NVIDIA specifically though, they have a fetish for large die sizes. That alone is a significant cost factor. Though NVIDIA seems weary of being on the bleeding edge because they have a history of being burned by jumping on it.

 

[-Fran-]

Link one site with either 5900x or 5950x in stock at MSRP and shipping. If I have to travel to Great Falls, Montana to pick up my CPU in store, that doesn't count as in stock at MSRP.

Here is Intel's 11th gen in stock and shipped to my door at MSRP from 11400 through 11900k:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/intel-11th-generation

Lisa Su says they are not releasing lower end CPU's, and you are still going to argue otherwise? What do you get out of so blindly praying at the altar of a tech company?

Chip Shortage Causes AMD to Pivot Away From Lower-End PC Processors

AMD GPU's are in stock? You can't be serious. There is no further discussion to be had with someone who just makes up an alternative reality from the one the rest of us live in.

I could have purchase a 3060Ti, but opted for a 3090 instead. I own a 3070 and a 3090, both purchased at MSRP. How many 6000 series GPU's do you own?

Ah, right; I am in the UK, so I can find them readily in most UK (and EU) online stores, ready for shipping. In fact, most are actually cheaper than their Intel counterparts, which is even nice.

And I didn't say AMD was planning on doing a lower end release of Zen3; we're talking about GPUs, but it's important to mention both parts of what AMD is doing during the shortage. So, in that regard, I should tell you about that, in the UK, I can find AMD GPUs in a somewhat decent amount (not everywhere, mind you) and still overpriced, whereas nVidia's are nowhere in stock and if you check the online price they're even more ridiculously priced than AMD's.

I've also read that if you live near a Microcenter, you have better chances at getting most parts if you're willing to sprint and beat the waiting mob in the morning! 😀

EDIT: These are the online retailers I normally use in the UK:

Desktop PCs, Gaming PCs, Laptops, PC Monitors, Computer Components Specialists | CCL Computers

CCL specialise in desktop PC computers, laptops, notebooks, netbooks and PC components including motherboards, hard drives, CPUs, graphics cards and RAM from leading brands including Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and more

www.cclonline.com

SCAN UK | PC components and online computer shop

Scan is the UK's leading supplier of computer hardware and PC components. Customise PCs for gaming, music production, video editing and graphics creation

www.scan.co.uk

PC Systems & Components | Overclockers UK

Leading the way in bespoke PC systems and PC gaming, any and all of your components & peripherals needs are met with our vast range of products and services.

www.overclockers.co.uk

All these are linked as well from the AMD site as well.

Regards.

 

[Simon_S]

Dont no who will pay them price with nobody work in the country dont now🙁

 

[Questors]

Yay! Another useless launch complete with an already ridiculously high and unjustifiable price tag. A price that won't be seen anywhere, ever. Add half again what the MSRP states for a beginning price, if you can find one. Why Nvidia and AMD are releasing new cards at a point when what they have is just about completely unavailable and at price points that makes even stupid realize how dumb it is, is beyond me.

I guess my 980s will have to keep working for another who knows how long. I can pay the prices being asked, but it isn't even a remotely intelligent decision to do so.

I don't stand in lines at restaurants; no one's food is that good. I don't pay insane prices for products no matter how many times I am told to, "Just buy it" or "It just works." Doing without isn't such a bad thing. There are so many other things to do.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

Yay! Another useless launch complete with an already ridiculously high and unjustifiable price tag. A price that won't be seen anywhere, ever. Add half again what the MSRP states for a beginning price, if you can find one. Why Nvidia and AMD are releasing new cards at a point when what they have is just about completely unavailable and at price points that makes even stupid realize how dumb it is, is beyond me.

I guess my 980s will have to keep working for another who knows how long. I can pay the prices being asked, but it isn't even a remotely intelligent decision to do so.

I don't stand in lines at restaurants; no one's food is that good. I don't pay insane prices for products no matter how many times I am told to, "Just buy it" or "It just works." Doing without isn't such a bad thing. There are so many other things to do.

If you owned a company and could sell everything you could produce and then some, why wouldn’t you release more products and increase the price? Yes, it sucks; no, I don’t recommend buying GPUs at current prices. But Nvidia and AMD are making record profits on graphics cards right now. Miners and people with too-deep pockets or not enough patience I guess.

 

[Questors]

If you owned a company and could sell everything you could produce and then some, why wouldn’t you release more products and increase the price? Yes, it sucks; no, I don’t recommend buying GPUs at current prices. But Nvidia and AMD are making record profits on graphics cards right now. Miners and people with too-deep pockets or not enough patience I guess.

I didn't question their selling of products. I questioned their morality and yes, the making and releasing of new products at a time when the existing products are relatively unavailable. The 3080 and 3070 Ti are "upgrades" to the non-Ti version at MSRPs that are out of whack with their counterparts. The MSRP is higher than the price per performance provided.

Each company is free to sell their products to whoever they will. I simply don't over pay for their stuff. In a modern society, nothing is singularly that important. In a survival situation, the rules change.

 

[vinay2070]

I guess I will use my 1080ti for another 2 years..

I guess I will do the same with my GTX 1080 @ 1440P (Freesync premium). I don't have a choice at this point. Cannot justify spending so much for a GPU.

 

[rjh2022]

Dell has been out of rtx 3090 cards for months and is now shipping the Aurora R13 with a huge custom nvidia geforce rtx 3080 ti with white LED, power cables top middle/right front and apparently two fans on the bottom and a relatively uncovered front (other side of pci slot). Has anyone seen this card and know if it addresses the cooling issue raised on the original card?

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

Dell has been out of rtx 3090 cards for months and is now shipping the Aurora R13 with a huge custom nvidia geforce rtx 3080 ti with white LED, power cables top middle/right front and apparently two fans on the bottom and a relatively uncovered front (other side of pci slot). Has anyone seen this card and know if it addresses the cooling issue raised on the original card?

Dell's custom graphics cards tend to be okay but not better than average. The 3080 Ti FE had rather poor cooling, as evidenced by the high fan speeds and noise levels. It's basically the same power use as the 3090 FE, which has a triple slot cooler and larger fans and still overheats on the GDDR6X VRAM in some workloads. If you're interested in buying the Aurora R13, with the 3080 Ti, you only get the Dell GPU as an option. If you're trying to buy just the GPU without the R13, I don't think you can do that and still have a warranty. Hope that helps?