[SOLVED] Wait for RTX 3080 Ti or get a 3080?

[celpas]

At my local shop, I am next in queue to get an RTX 3080. Should I get it or wait for RTX 3080 Ti release in January? I am currently using an RTX 2080. Is the Ti release relatively certain or doubtful?

 

[sizzling]

I went from a 2080S to 3080 for predominantly 1440p 144Hz and a little 4K 120Hz and I have no regrets. As far as I have seen any timeline on when 3080Ti will release is a guess and at the moment it would very likely mean another long wait for stock for many. Historically the 80Ti variant has released 9-12 months after the original 80 card.

If going to game predominantly at 4K 60fps while running max settings the extra VRAM might be a feature worth waiting for. As I mainly game at 1440p and choose settings to get 130+ FPS (not max settings) I have seen no evidence that 10GB VRAM is going to be a problem any time soon.

 

[RTX 2080]

At my local shop, I am next in queue to get an RTX 3080. Should I get it or wait for RTX 3080 Ti release in January? I am currently using an RTX 2080. Is the Ti release relatively certain or doubtful?

I'm basically in the same situation as you. I have a 2080, want a 3080, am waiting for a 3080 super/Ti at the moment. I have a reason for waiting though, because I play MSFS 2020 at 4k and that game is a VRAM hog. If that's not your situation though and you're next in line for a 3080, I'd be temped to just go with that.

 

[sizzling]

I'm basically in the same situation as you. I have a 2080, want a 3080, am waiting for a 3080 super/Ti at the moment. I have a reason for waiting though, because I play MSFS 2020 at 4k and that game is a VRAM hog. If that's not your situation though and you're next in line for a 3080, I'd be temped to just go with that.

I am not suggesting you should do otherwise but even MSFS 2020 doesn't seem to have any problems with 10GB VRAM from the reviews I have seen. If in your position I might do the same but I'm still to see any reviews where 10GB is limiting.

 

[RTX 2080]

I am not suggesting you should do otherwise but even MSFS 2020 doesn't seem to have any problems with 10GB VRAM from the reviews I have seen. If in your position I might do the same but I'm still to see any reviews where 10GB is limiting.

True, but that's because those reviews are reviewing the RTX 3080 on MSFS 2020 as-is, without any mods. As soon as you modify the airport with scenery that makes extensive use of PBR on a large number of objects and surfaces, the VRAM requirements go up significantly. I personally use a lot of such scenery, and I don't want to be turning down texture resolution because the RTX 3080 only ships with 10 GB of the stuff.

 

[sizzling]

True, but that's because those reviews are reviewing the RTX 3080 on MSFS 2020 as-is, without any mods. As soon as you modify the airport with scenery that makes extensive use of PBR on a large number of objects and surfaces, the VRAM requirements go up significantly. I personally use a lot of such scenery, and I don't want to be turning down texture resolution because the RTX 3080 only ships with 10 GB of the stuff.

Makes sense

 

[RTX 2080]

Makes sense

Not to thread -jack, but in your opinion do you think Nvidia was too conservative with VRAM this generation? I know what everyone is saying, that there's a difference between memory allocated vs memory utilized and that 10 GB is plenty fine for 99% of the use cases and that AMD and Nvidia GPUs use VRAM differently so you can't compare the two, but I mean come on; Nvidia has been pushing the RTX 3080 as the successor to the RTX 2080 Ti and that GPU had 11 GB of the stuff (even if it was a bit slower). And then let's not forget the GTX 1080 Ti which also had 11 GB of VRAM (GDDR5X I believe). That was four years ago, and after two generations of GPUs, we've managed to actually go down in VRAM rather than up. I mean, how much more money would it have cost Nvidia to make the RTX 3080 a 12 GB card? That would be an almost symbolic gesture of increased performance over the 11 GB shipping in the the 1080 Ti / 2080 Ti, but at least it would be in an upward trajectory.

 

[sizzling]

Not to thread -jack, but in your opinion do you think Nvidia was too conservative with VRAM this generation? I know what everyone is saying, that there's a difference between memory allocated vs memory utilized and that 10 GB is plenty fine for 99% of the use cases and that AMD and Nvidia GPUs use VRAM differently so you can't compare the two, but I mean come on; Nvidia has been pushing the RTX 3080 as the successor to the RTX 2080 Ti and that GPU had 11 GB of the stuff (even if it was a bit slower). And then let's not forget the GTX 1080 Ti which also had 11 GB of VRAM (GDDR5X I believe). That was four years ago, and after two generations of GPUs, we've managed to actually go down in VRAM rather than up. I mean, how much more money would it have cost Nvidia to make the RTX 3080 a 12 GB card? That would be an almost symbolic gesture of increased performance over the 11 GB shipping in the the 1080 Ti / 2080 Ti, but at least it would be in an upward trajectory.

It’s hard to say. I don’t think they ever said the 3080 was the successor to the near double the price 2080Ti, just that it out performed it. It was more showcasing the generational lift in performance. I do think they have been a bit stingy, 12GB would have felt much better but I also expect it would have lifted the RRP by £50-£75 and possibly pinched supply chains even harder. I would be more concerned if 4K with highest settings was my main objective but it’s not. At 1440p and game settings to achieve >120-130 FPS I don’t see it being a problem any time soon. NVidia also works very closely with game devs to help them get the most performance out of games.

 

[RTX 2080]

It’s hard to say. I don’t think they ever said the 3080 was the successor to the near double the price 2080Ti, just that it out performed it. It was more showcasing the generational lift in performance. I do think they have been a bit stingy, 12GB would have felt much better but I also expect it would have lifted the RRP by £50-£75 and possibly pinched supply chains even harder. I would be more concerned if 4K with highest settings was my main objective but it’s not. At 1440p and game settings to achieve >120-130 FPS I don’t see it being a problem any time soon. NVidia also works very closely with game devs to help them get the most performance out of games.

I just remember in the RTX 3080 reveal Jensen Huang said that it was the "new flagship" which I understood to be the RTX 2080 Ti replacement.

That much more huh? I guess that GDDR6X is pretty expensive.

Well, I game at 4K 60 FPS (well, trying; its more like 30 FPS with 80 % resolution in MSFS 2020) so the VRAM amount matters more to me.

Not that I could even buy a RTX 3080 right now anyway if I wanted to ... these shortages ...

 

[Joseph_138]

You're going to have to wait for either one, so you may as well get the 3080 Ti.

 

[TechyInAZ]

FYI it's not fully confirmed that the 3080 Ti will launch in January 2021, we only have one source that says so at the moment. So take that date with a grain of salt.

As for VRAM, it entirely depends on what you are doing with the card. For now, for regular AAA titles, the 10GB VRAM buffer is perfectly fine, but if you need to run really demanding games and run mods, i highly doubt 10GB will be enough. And in the future say you want to keep the 3080 for like 3 years and run AAA titles 3 years from now, it's highly doubtful the 10GB of vram is going to be enough. Especially with Ray tracing, ray tracing takes a LOT of VRAM as well.

This where AMD's RX 6800 XT really shines, the 16GB frame buffer is awesome and will endurance wise will make that card the superior choice in my opinion.

The only exception would be DLSS technically DLSS can lower the VRAM utilization because your rending at a much lower resolution, so if you plan on running every single game you own in DLSS mode, then the 10GB will probably be okay.

FYI I'm saying this if you want to maintain ultra quality presets, if you don't mind lowering quality a little bit for future titles, then that 10GB of VRAM should go a long way.

 

[spentshells]

The performance increase from 3080 to 3090 is underwhelming from what I've seen in videos, at 4k anyway.

 

[RTX 2080]

The performance increase from 3080 to 3090 is underwhelming from what I've seen in videos, at 4k anyway.

Yeah, but in this case the question is not about the performance increase due to a higher core count, but about VRAM. The issue of waiting for a 3080 Ti/Super is not about the increased core count (which will only increase the performance a bit) but about the increased VRAM that it'll likely ship with (which for MSFS 2020 with mods or with ray-tracing at 4k is an important consideration).

 

[_dawn_chorus_]

At my local shop, I am next in queue to get an RTX 3080. Should I get it or wait for RTX 3080 Ti release in January? I am currently using an RTX 2080. Is the Ti release relatively certain or doubtful?

GET THE 3080! If you have a chance in the queue do it. Whenever the 3080Ti comes out this stock issue and scalping will persist and you will be back at the bottom of a months long list. I managed to get a 3080 FE and AC:Valhalla on max settings at 4k is hitting 6.5gb of vram. People don't seem to understand that this is gddr6X vram and has almost double the through put of gddr6. Also from what I understand that little bar games show you is allocated usage not actual usage. 10gb of gddr6x will be fine for a while...
Secondly if the 3090 is only 10-15% better in games than the 3080 then that doesn't leave a whole lot of room for improvement for your extra wait and extra cash, because the Ti won't be better than the 3090.

 

[HappyTrails]

Liked what see from the 6800xt AIB so far not that can buy those either. Watch something about AMD supposed to address inflated AIB pricing seems reasonable but time will tell. $699 Red Devil would be nice $799 Red Devil wait whats? What the mess nvidia and amd makes but it is exciting to watch unfolds

 

[larsv8]

If you can get your hands on 3080, you should.