Since Nvidia revealed their RTX 30 GPU series, the PC parts world has seen a brighter future. The “mid-level” card of the lineup is the RTX 3080, and it has been received with a mix of skepticism and hope. The truth is the card is built to deliver even more than it initially promised.
We already saw how the 3080 card behaves on 2020 AAA games like Doom Eternal. On 4K, with Ray Tracing active, it crushes the game with an average of 120 frames per second, even on the craziest parts.
We’ve already seen dozens of tests and benchmarks showcasing how the RTX 30 cards are a full resolution beyond the current RTX 20 series. That means they can get the same results on 1440p as the RTX 20 on 1080p with all of the graphical features working.
A new batch of testings is overclocking the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU for world-breaking results. But with its innovative liquid nitrogen cooling system and impressive hardware, the result was no less than obvious.
OverviewOverall, the performance and the low price of the RTX 3080 compared to the RTX 20 cards are outstanding. It sells for about 40% less while offering about 50% performance increase.
No wonder how pre-ordering the units is such a feat. However, you could also go for an aftermarket version like the MSI Trio RTX 3080.
That’s why we say the upcoming Ampere GPUs represent a real improvement over its predecessors.
Overclocking the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
GPU maker Ronaldo Buassali, from Galax KFA2, craked the brand’s Galax RTX 3080 SG graphics card up to 2340MHz. The company broke the 3DMark Port Royal benchmark record. The score was 13,488 points. GPU maker Ronaldo Buassali, from Galax KFA2, craked the brand’s Galax RTX 3080 SG graphics card up to 2340MHz. The company broke the 3DMark Port Royal benchmark record. The score was 13,488 points.
The test left the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti and the Nvidia Titan RTX cards way behind. Keep in mind both models are much pricier than the newer 3080 model.
At the same time, Buassali’s team broke the record in the 3DMark Time Spy Extreme test. The RTX 3080, running at 2310MHz, got a score of 10,595. The previous winner, the RTX 2080 Ti, got about 7% fewer points.
Another world record was in the Fire Strike Ultra test with 12,815 points. It goes beyond the previous winner, the Titan RTX, which got about 9,000 points, depending on the CPU.
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Fan-made testings are even better
Additional testings from RTX 3080 owners are also putting the GPU high up in the charts.
Currently, the 3D Mark Port Royal Hall of Fame charts place the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 at the #1 place with a score of 14069, which is higher than Galax’s results.
I also have to note that the highest scores are achieved with an Intel Core i9-9900K CPU instead of a Ryzen 9 processor.
| 14069 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 | Intel Core i9-10900K Processor |
There’re also some RTX 2080 Ti cards high on the chart. But, as I said, remember these are pricier:
| 13090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | Intel Core i9-9900K Processor |
3D Mark Port Royal Hall of Fame
These benchmarks are different approaches to testing a GPU under stressful situations. Without going into many details, the Nvidia RTX 3080 is, so far, the best GPU in the market. They also try to imitate how the GPU would behave under high-demanding 4K video-game sessions.
3080 vs. 3090The price difference between the two is quite significant, albeit the performance difference is only about 20%. Going from the RTX 3080 towards the RTX 3090 might not be worth the investment.
The RTX 3090 asks for $800 more for an average of 10 frames-per-seconds more.
What does the RTX 3080 mean for the video-game industry?
When the RTX 20 series GPUs debuted, ray-tracing was not a thing. Most fans considered the tech as too much and too resource-hungry. For the time being, they were right.
Early adopters could not truly enjoy the features, especially not at 4K. Ray tracing needed rigs beyond $2000 to work. The price of entry for ray-tracing video-gaming was too high.
A year has passed, and now it’s a trend. Nvidia spent a full decade researching how to recreate lights, shadows, reflections, and distance. But AMD is now joining by including ray-tracing on the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X / Series S.
With the upcoming custom RDNA-2 GPUs for the next-gen consoles and the RTX 30 series cards, ray-tracing has been consolidated in the market. And we’re not going back.
Overall, it seems next-gen gaming needs 108’p/1440p/4K, 60fps/120fps, and ray tracing. On top of that, it needs SSD storage drives for super-fast load times.
You’d better hurry and build your new gaming PC for all of those tasty video games coming in 2020 and 2021. I mean…Have you seen how Cyberpunk looks with ray-tracing on?
In Summary
Between bots and e-bay re-sellers, finding a stock Nvidia RTX 3080 is a difficult task. Luckily, you can just wait until it’s out on your local store as the pieces’ price is not going to deter anyone. The thing reeks of performance-per-dollar.
Its overclocking stores are leaving 2019’s high-end GPU cards behind. Moreover, the regular performance of these cards is also leaving their older brothers in the dust. Even the Nvidia Titan is feeling ridiculously pricy at this point. All we have to do now is thank the early adopters of the RTX series for funding its improvement.
I would say these cards will have a longer life-span than any other generation of GPUs. They are so far beyond the max requisites of any game they could probably last seven years before feeling outdated.
That is unless the PC parts market keeps pushing for unnecessary resolutions. 4K is great, but then going for 8K opens the way for 16K, 32K, 64K, and who knows what. And each resolution jump means pricier parts.
I’d say 1440p (also known as 2K) is the perfect scenario. Moderately expensive, and relatively resource hungry. And, as I said, the RTX 3080 performs just as good on 1440p as the RTX 2080 ti on 1080p.
Let’s stick to the RTX 30 series and 1440p resolutions for now.
