Top 8 Best RTX 3080 Reviewed
On September 1st, NVIDIA Introduced its new GeForce RTX 30 Lineup, with major upgrades in Performance and Capability; it was built on the 8 nm process and based on the GA102 graphics processor. The card memory has also been upgraded with 10 GB of GDDR6X; it is more powerful than GDDR6 with higher frequencies and more bandwidth.
NVIDIA has promised us big things with its new generation of graphics cards. The GeForce RTX 3080 has meant to deliver double the RTX 2080 at the same cost. It is even supposed to outshine the RTX 2080 Ti. NVIDIA’s special AI-powered DLSS tech and ray racing have made it possible to enhance the frame rates while maintaining superior image quality. NVIDIA never seemed so upgraded and advanced until its performances are fulfilled with the introduction of RTX 3080.
They integrated a considerably higher number of CUDA nuclei. These cores are in charge of carrying out the difficult calculations a GPU faces to settle, within other tasks, general lighting, shading, removal of uneven edges, or physics. These algorithms gain an architecture that focuses on huge parallelism, so each new generation of NVIDIA graphics card combines more CUDA cores.
There are several changes NVIDIA have done with RTX 3080; the first detectable change is that the dual-fan setup has shifted, so there is one fan on either side of the card. The second big change to the RTX 3080 is the addition of a 12-pin single power connector, and thankfully, power supply vendors are planning single cables that will plug directly into the new12-pin connector.
The third change that might not be noticeable straight away is that NVIDIA switches to a new pennant-shaped board for the RTX 3080. Combined with the new cooling mantle, this pennant shape makes for an attractive-looking graphics card.
In this article, you will get to learn how BEST RTX 3080 can boost your gaming experience.
Our Top 3 Recommendations for Best RTX 3080
The Best RTX 3080 card is the one you can buy since the specific product you are looking for is hard to find due to a shortage of stocks. Still, we will try our best to guide you about all the versions and which is the Best RTX 3080 for you.
After Considerable Research and Countless studies, we have made this list for you so you can pick your Graphic Card Effortlessly.
Best RTX 3080 – Reviews
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Amazon)
1. ASUS RTX 3080 TUF Gaming OC
- NVIDIA Ampere Streaming Multiprocessors: The building blocks for the world’s fastest, most efficient GPU, the all-new Ampere SM brings 2X the FP32 throughput and improved power efficiency.
- 2nd Generation RT Cores: Experience 2X the throughput of 1st gen RT Cores, plus concurrent RT and shading for a whole new level of ray tracing performance.
- 3rd Generation Tensor Cores: Get up to 2X the throughput with structural sparsity and advanced AI algorithms such as DLSS. Now with support for up to 8K resolution, these cores deliver a massive boost in game performance and all-new AI capabilities.
- This GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card with LHR (lite hash rate) delivers 43 MH/s ETH hash rate (est.).
- OC edition: Boost clock 1815 MHz (OC mode)/1785 MHz (Gaming mode)
The Ampere GPU architecture is known to be NVIDIA’s latest and most advanced architecture for CUDA compute applications. The NVIDIA Ampere GPU architecture holds and expands the same CUDA programming model given by former NVIDIA GPU architectures, for example, Turing and Volta, and requests that follow the best exercises for those architectures should usually see speedups on the NVIDIA A100 GPU without any code amendments, More efficient cores means better gaming experience,
NVIDIA enters into the second generation of real-time ray tracing mainly because of its Ampere Architecture. These new GPUs offer a new streaming microprocessor delivering double the speed throughout the last generation; via ray tracing gaming experience becomes more realistic, you get to enjoy the very best graphics.
Its other TFU components, especially the capacitors, enhance durability and Performance. Tensor Cores enable mixed-precision computing, dynamically adjusting calculations to speed up throughout while preserving accuracy. The newest generation extends these speedups to a full range of workloads performance; NVIDIA Tensor Cores deliver new capabilities to all workloads.
GPU Tweak II provides changes in performance tweaking, thermal controls, and system monitoring. ASUS GPU Tweak II utility enables you to monitor and tweak your ASUS graphics card settings for ideal Performance. GPU Tweak II has two user interfaces, the plain Mode and Professional Mode, that allow you to monitor your preset and changeable profiles quickly and to enhance the GPU settings for your game
2. MSI RTX 3080 Gaming TRIO 10G
- Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
- TRI FROZR 2 Thermal Design
- Video Memory: 10GB GDDR6X
- Memory Interface: 320-bit
- Output: DisplayPort x 3 (v1.4a) / HDMI 2.1 x 1
This is MSI’s most ultimate version of different RTX 3080 designs, The card is huge, and it has a lot of power under its immense shroud. It is an undying beast; it has the nostalgia of every gamer who likes three fans, so you are in the treat, guys, because MSI has launched it with Froze Thermal 3 fans design. RGB lovers also include RGB lighting on the front in the form of 2 slits; MSI included a large white plastic strip across the top of the card that helps spread the lighting under it. It is the main source of lighting; it also has a bigger cooler and a better RGB. Its diamond pattern on the front with the elegant matte black colour gives it a beastly look. In looks-wise, we must say it is the best RTX 3080 out there.
We can only compare it with 3080 founders and the memory interface, V ram, and its overclocking speed. It comes with a default 1815 MHz boost clock rather than a 1785 boost clock, and we have to appreciate MSI for that as they are not using some software to boost the clock speed; it is the best alternative to the NVIDIA 3080 founders addition.
It’s packed with a 320-bit memory interface; think of the memory interface as a highway of information. In this sense, the larger memory interface indicates a wider highway. In this example, the speed of the cars to explain it in a much easier way is set on by the clock rate of the memory on your graphics card; hence, more memory bandwidth means better Performance.
Video outputs on the MSI RTX 3080 Trio are the same as on the 3080 Founder Edition, for example, 3 Display Ports 1.4a and one HDMI 2.1. The Asus TUF addition card has an advantage here, as it has a second HDMI 2.1 port. Also, there are the three 8-pin connectors to notice. If you have a smaller PSU of less than 850W, then you need to upgrade it to have a better experience, and it’s officially 850W PSU is recommended for MSI TRIO 3080; one thing we would like to add is if you want to run a bigger processor like i9 9th or 10th gen then you have to step up for the up-gradation of you PSU to 1200W it will be as smooth as butter for you overall PC setup with i9 10th gen with MSI TRIO RTX 3080 10G and a 1200W extreme power supply.
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3. GIGABYTE AORUS RTX 3080 Master
- Digital Max Resolution:7680×4320.Form Factor:ATX
- NVIDIA Ampere Streaming Multiprocessors
- 2nd Generation RT Cores
- 3rd Generation Tensor Cores
- Powered by GeForce RTX 3080
Gigabyte 3080 has multiple streaming processors. We will not go into technicalities about how multiprocessors work in the GPU; you just need to know each CUDA core is known as a streaming processor; more streaming processors mean better Performance.
Gigabyte 3080 includes 2nd generation RT cores, and RT cores have the ability for the Real ray tracing they are twice better than the last generation cores, and these days ray tracing become very popular because of ray tracing experience in gaming, it makes the gameplay more realistic and clear-sighted, with ray tracing on you’ll get the best gaming experience possible in this era.
Tensor cores are the latest generation from NVIDIA; you can also call them 3rd generation cores. Tensor cores boost the adapting ability of calculation and computing while being 100% accuracy, and these latest generation cores can maximize the speedups to a full range of workloads; Tensor cores can boost the Performance to
2.5x for high-performance computing.
It’s not the flagship model for AORUS, but in terms of size, this can be easily the biggest RTX 3080 out there; AORUS 3080 comes with a huge heat sink and three fan configuration system; this GPU features factory overclock and benefits from display outputs.
AORUS 3080 is huge, and probably the most unique, and have an eye-catchy design; its cooler is called max cover cooling, and it is made of plastic, so this is the reason which gives this card a thick look; AORUS has really gone too far this time to give this card illumination lights which are on the front and also hits the fan blades, we got some lighting on the back of the card and edges as well, and the highlight of this model is the LCD screen which is built into the one edge of the card it usually shows GPU stats. Still, you can also customize it with some images, Texts, and Animated GIFS; all of this can be modified via using the RGB fusion two, which is integrated with the AORUS engine software; you can also customize other colour profiles of the cards as well using the same software.
It comes with default direct x12 support; on the back of the card, we have three display ports that can give you 8k at 60 frames per second, and we get 3 HDMI 2.1 ports; these HDMI ports can allow you 4k at 120 frames per second, AORUS requires an 800W power supply and two eight-pin Connectors; AORUS has Dual bios mode.
One has a quiet mode, and 1 has an OC mode.
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4. EVGA RTX 3080 XC3
- Real boost clock: 1755 MHz; Memory detail: 10240 MB GDDR6X.
- Real-time ray tracing in games for cutting-edge, hyper-realistic graphics.
- Triple HDB fans offer higher performance cooling and much quieter acoustic noise.
- All-metal backplate & adjustable ARGB
EVGA RTX 3080 XCR comes with factory 1755MHz clock speed and 10240 GDDR6X memory size; EVGA 3080 contains real-time ray tracing for sharp edges and real extreme graphics, inbox you also get an HDMI to DVI cable, it has a metal backplate, and because of that, it feels heavy in the hands; at the back, it has three display ports and 1 HDMI port with two eight-pin connectors.
Its size is not that big, so you do not have to worry about the Case Room; it can fit easily into the average size casing. Let us talk about its cooler, so the cooler is not huge like other 3080’s out there, but it gets the job done, and the great thing about this cooler is that it has acoustic noise.
This specific version is the cheapest one offered by EVGA RTX 3080 lineup, and there are two led EVGA logos with RGB lightning. However, three fans have no RGB lighting, and it would have been much cooler if EVGA had included RGB fans as well; XC3 fans would stop turning if the temperature goes below 50 degrees EVGA XC3 have the quietest fans noise.
EVGA RTX 3080 has launched with aggressive pricing, while another hand, it is packed with aggressive core clocking, which can compete with RTX 3080 FE. But here is a good thing you can still overclock it. Here’s a tip if you can tweak this card a little, but it can be the best RTX 3080 out there, and we suggest if you buy EVGA RTX 3080, do not just plug and play it a little bit of tweaking can make it the Beast Graphic Card.
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5. ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3080 AMP Extreme
ZOTAC RTX 3080 is packed with a great cooling system ZOTAC named it ice storm 2.0 advances cooling system. To be honest, it works great, and your graphics card temperature is always normal when the temperature is below 50. Fans freeze and have an active fan control system as well.
It does not as good as others RTX 3080 out there in terms of noise, but it does beat them in size because if you are looking to fit in a typical ATX case, you are in luck. After all, its size is decent, and it will fit right in. The good thing is you do not need to use other fan profiles because the default fan profiles are perfect, but if you use a different fan profile while gaming, it can create more noise, or the temperature will run a bit hotter. 69 fan speed does an excellent job; it keeps the noise at good sports sand keeps the temperature under 70 degrees.
Overclocking this card does affect the power consumption, which is not good, and you are getting only some extra fps in exchange, so we suggest you, if you buy this card, do some under vaulting. In this way, you will be able to save some electricity. However, recommended PSU for ZOTAC RTX 3080 is 750W; your card can even run on any bronze rated PSU, but we suggest that you use a gold-rated 850W Power supply, which will have a high Ripple suppression only with a good supply you can find under vault this card.
You will need two eight-pin connectors to power the card, which are located on the centre of the card slots design is similar to the RTX 3080 Fan edition if you want to know what’s beneath the backplate, so it has six larger capacitors, we have tried Modern warfare on it, and it didn’t crash once, but still, if you get any problems in your unit ZOTAC is providing a four year extended warranty, ok now let’s talk about its RGB we got the ZOTAC gaming RGB on the side and on the rear which you can control with their included software ZOTAC is calling this FIRESTORM, you can also sync the RGB with other software, and the good thing is you can not only tune the RGB you can also tune the card itself after you make changes to you RGB you can uninstall or close the software your settings will be saved in you graphic card.
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6. Inno3D RTX 3080 iChill X4
- C30804-126XX-1810VA36H
The first thing you will notice is the title why it CHILL X4 ? because it Comes with four fans; yes, you read it right; it comes with four fans if we talk about Design how they managed four fans on the single card, so let us tell you it has three fans on the front like any other typical GPU design and one fan is on the top of the card if we compare its Design to the previous iChill GPUS this is the sleekest version of them all, card if almost fully made of Metal except fans and some other compartments, the backplate is also Metal and have an eye catchy logo design of GeForce and iChill with the gun metallic and silver colour.
When this card comes to RGB, it is more decent than any other 3080 RGB lighting; this a lot more Modern and Polished, some may don’t like this due to personal choice; some likes much more RGB on fans logos back, and on Top, in this case, you get a cone looking neon type RGB lighting on the front and only one RGB on Top in the form on ICHILL logo and a little 4th fan is also packed with RGB, another thing to notice which makes its Design sleek is a little cutout on the backplate where we can see MLCC array it looks quite futuristic and geeky. Another cool thing about iChill x4 is the thermal Design; we have a huge heat sink with eight heat pipes and a copper base plate covering its MOSFET to give us the best cooling possible. The 4th fan, which is 9cm, is to provide more cooling to the MOSFET. We also have INNOR3D Tune IT software, which controls RGB and Over Clocking.
In Synthetic benchmarks of inno3d RTX 3080, we have tested it on 3D mark time spy extreme it has scored 7877 compared to 6138 from 2080ti, we have also tested it on unigene superposition 4k optimized the RTX 3080 performed 28% better than 2080ti.
We have tested ray tracing and DLSS on the shadow of tomb raider; there are some great improvements in ray tracing if we compare it to previous generations. If we move to 4k, it is time where 3080 shines; we get 14 more fps with DLSS compared to 2080ti. We close both ray tracing and DLSS; we gain respectable 77 frames per second, which is appreciate able.
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7. GAINWARD RTX 3080
Let’s talk about its Design first, and this is the main reason we are hyped for this one because of its design and aesthetics; it has reinforces fan blades with Two balls bearing on the front base the black mesh grille give is a gradient look, and the huge RGB gain ward logo on the whole font gives this card a wow look, on the Top, we have GEFORCE RTX logo which is also an RGB and underneath it has U-type heat pipes and Metal backplate, on the backplate, this contains a large opening, which is used for great airflow which helps the card to optimize the cooling Performance, TBH its Design is unique and futuristic-looking if we compare it to other RTX 3080 brands out there.
On the back, we have three display ports and 1 HDMI port with a silver grill on them; there three eight-pin sockets on the Top it usually means 450 watts; each port require 150W.it have the 0 RPM fan feature, which is the frozen fan it helps you save the energy while you are using you PC as general use or using it for multimedia fans stop moving and when your usage is heavy. Load is much more than the fans start moving if the temperature crosses the 60 degrees mark.
Let us talk about NVIDIA DLSS; it is an innovative AI rendering mechanism that escalates graphics performance using assigned Tensor Core AI processors on RTX GPU. DLSS valve into the power of an extensive studying neural network to enhance frame rates and produce attractive, sharp images for your games. It has factory NVIDIA show play, which helps you share your legendary moments during your gameplay; for example, you can record videos take screenshots, and do live streams.
And on top of that, ray-tracing and 4k really boost your real-time game experience and makes you fall in love with your favourite characters in the games, and of course, real-time graphics also helps you in competitive gameplay, like enemies in crucial spots make them more visible now with the help of
Ray-tracing.
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8. NVIDIA RTX 3080 Founder Edition
- Powered by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics processing unit (GPU) with a 1710MHz boost clock speed to help meet the needs of demanding games.
- 10GB GDDR6X (320-bit) video memory.
- PCI Express 4.0 and earlier PCI Express 3.0. Offers compatibility with a range of systems.
- Antialiasing and anisotropic filtering delivers striking graphics with incredible realism.
- HDMI and Display Port outputs enable flexible connectivity.
So here is the most exciting edition of RTX 3080 Founders Editions. There are many things, which make this card very special. We will talk about some highlights that make it that special, firstly is a very rare card to find it in the market, some people are willing to pay twice the price of it due to stock issues in the market, NVIDIA is the designer of this card with the typical colour combination of the card it has a very minimalist design. If we talk more about its build quality and design, you will be amazed if you hold it in your hand looks very premium and heavy, and it has typically two fans like previous generations. Still, this time one fan is on the front. One fan is on the back, one fan is used to intake cool air from the front, and its exhaust is on the upper side of the card besides its display ports. The back fan intakes cool air from the front and hot exhaust air from the backside of the fan. It has one 12-pin connector. The good thing is we get a dongle inside the box. We get two branding logos of RTX 3080, one on the front and one on the top side of the card front is simple, and the other one has a backlight in white colour and looks so beautiful.
We have tested its power consumption on ideal condition; it goes up to around 70 watts; if we put a stress test on our GPU, it goes up to around 400-450 watts. We have also tested it on a 3D mark. We get awesome results of 15370 and graphics test to have 115 frames per second, and GPU temperature goes up to maximum 60 degrees these are 4k results, so we are fully satisfied, its geek bench scores are 158770 which are great V-RAY GPU scores are 634. if we use and stress test software and fully load it with 100% temperature will maximum go up to 70 degrees which is amazing for RTX 3080.
Let’s talk about some in-game FPS (frames per second); we have tested multiple games but will share some with you (all in-game settings are on a high and ULTRA). On Assassin Creed Odyssey, we get 85 to a maximum of 129 fps; on red dead Redemption, we get 39-143 and average 111 FPS, on Shadow of Tomb Raider, we have tested RTX 3080 in both conditions, one with RTX ON and one with RTX OFF we get 150-359 and average 206 FPS with RTX ON we get 100-273 and average of 133 FPS. There is much more to talk about RTX 3080 FOUNDER EDITION; we believe it is one of the BEST RTX 3080.
Conclusion
This time NVIDIA is not joking around; it is a huge upgrade from its previous RTX generations in terms of speed as well as pricing; it is 31% faster than 2080TI and 60% faster than 2080. We tried our best to explain which you should consider in our top eight brands list, with all the information we have shared with you.
We hope now you can decide which RTX 3080 will be suitable for you, keeping in mind your other PC specs.
But we have to say this time, NVIDIA provided us with a good GPU from price to performance ratio; we think this GPU is worth it, no matter if you are a gamer or a creative designer professional or a video editor.
Buyers Guide on How to Choose the Best RTX 3080
Budget:
The first thing you should consider is your budget; our top 8 list prices are not with a huge price difference, so you have to be careful about your budget first.
CPU:
Secondly, you have to consider is which CPU, Motherboard, Casing, and Rams you are using because it makes a great impact on your graphic card; we have made a shortlist of some CPUs which will work flawlessly if you pair them with your RTX 3080
1. Core i9-10900K
2. Core i7-10700K
3. Ryzen 5 5600X
4. Ryzen 7 3700X
These are just some of the CPUs we suggest; there are many other good CPUs out there as well, which you can consider.
Ram:
After CPU Ram is the major component in the PC required for a great gaming setup because greater MHz value does count here, so we have gathered a little list for you to help you select the best Ram for your setup.
- 16GB dual-channel DDR4 3200MHz CL16
- 16 GB DDR4-3600 CL17
- SL 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 3600MHz
These are some rams that you can use in your setup to boost your Performance, and yes, if you are low on budget, you can get one stick of 8GB DDR4 as well; only if you are planning to upgrade later and late you can get the same stick of 8GB to complete your rig.
Motherboards:
We have shortlisted the best motherboards out there to pair your latest RTX 3080 GPU, We have mentioned both Intel and AMD boards, and we mentioned the old generation Motherboard. Here are some options for the Motherboard that you can pair with your RTX 3080.
1. AORUS X570 Xtreme
2. Z490 Gaming Carbon Wi-Fi
3. B550 Tomahawk
4. Gaming B456 Pro
5. B450M Pro4
So here is the list of some motherboards to pair with your setup; yes, we also have added some budget motherboards, but don’t worry, they will also work great with your RTX 3080.
Casings:
There are some compact and some huge sizes of RTX 3080 in our top 8 list, so you have to consider your Casing size because if you are using a smaller size case, you may face some problems adjusting a massive size graphics card into the case.
We tried our best to give you some names, but yes, you can use any case with a good headroom that will be enough to slide you RTX 3080 in it.
Corsair Carbide Series 277R Tempered Glass Mid-Tower Gaming Case2. TUF GT 301 Gaming case this is a shortlist of casings as we mentioned above, any case with good headroom will be enough for your GPU
Power
POWER SUPPLY also makes a huge difference on your Graphics card; make sure you are using a 750 or 800W power supply to get peak performance from your desired RTX 3080, but if you have a smaller supply like 600-650 watt, Bronze rated power supply
It can get the work done, too; if we have to suggest a power supply, we suggest you get a 1200-watt 80+ Platinum Certified supply, but for that, you have to increase your budget too.
Cooling
We have already mentioned all the details in our top 8 brand regarding their Fans, cooling, heat sync, etc. But if we talk overall, any RTX 3080 will give you good temperatures; no heating issues are recorded yet, and we have tried stress test and multiple games on it too to check its heating, but oh man cooling system on RTX 3080 is great; you will get maximum of 70 Degrees Temperature after 100% workload.
Memory:
RTX 3080 has the latest GDDR6X memory type, and all the brands offer us 10GB v ram.
GDDR6X memory comes with an innovative design that for sure increases the speed of data transfer. These new increments are called PAM4 or Pulse Amplitude Modulation 4.
Ray Tracing:
With NVIDIA’S RTX 30 series, ray tracing has become much more realistic if we
Compare it to NVIDIA’S previous generation of 2080 TI, which has struggled when it comes to ray tracing and DLSS
However, this time, things are promising; with Ray Tracing in NVIDIA RTX 3080, your graphics in games become much more realistic, and your gaming scene comes to life.
That is all, folks. We hope this guide will assist you to Purchase your RTX 3080 with an informed decision.
FAQ
Is it hard to get hands-on RTX 3080?
Yes, it is almost impossible to get an RTX 3080 these days, but if you are lucky and passionate about buying, then you could probably get one after some effort.Yes, it is almost impossible to get an RTX 3080 these days, but if you are lucky and passionate about buying, then you could probably get one after some effort.
Can the RTX 3080 run 4K?
Yes, RTX 3080 can easily max out a 4k 144Hz monitor, while last year, 2080ti suffered a lot in terms of running 4k 144Hz, but this time, things are opposite.
Is RTX 3080 good for gaming?
Yes, undoubtedly, RTX 3080 will provide you maxed Performance in gaming; its new 3rd generation Tensor cores and its enhanced ray tracing are noticeable.
Is 750W enough for RTX 3080?
Yes, NVIDIA officially announced a 750W recommended PSU for RTX 3080. But yeah, you can also use a 600 Watt new Bronze rated power supply as well.
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