The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 has been officially announced as Team Green's new flagship gaming graphics card, and while it promises great things to power the best PC games, how does it compare to its predecessor, the RTX? 2080 Cool? That's a question we'll answer here, pitting the Nvidia RTX 3080 against the RTX 2080 Super. We'll see if the RTX 3080 is a good upgrade for RTX 2080 Super owners, as well as if the older card is a better buy for gamers on a budget. Because while the RTX 3080 (along with its RTX 3070 and RTX 3090 siblings) is the new draw, the RTX 2080 Super is still a great card in its own right. For people looking to upgrade their gaming PCs, this poses a dilemma: the Nvidia RTX 3080 or the RTX 2080 Super, which GPU is better for you?
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(Image credit: Nvidia)
Nvidia RTX 3080 vs RTX 2080 Super price
As the release of the RTX 3080 neared, many of us were concerned about how badly Nvidia would put a strain on the GPU. After all, the company does have a bit of a reputation for releasing expensive components. However, with the reveal that the RTX 3080 will retail for €699 (£649, around AU$950), we were pleasantly surprised. Sure, it's still high, but not as high as we feared, due to the specs, and it actually launched for roughly the same price as the original RTX 2080 released, as well as the RTX 2080 Super. Now if the 2080 Super was still selling for that price there would be no competition, the RTX 3080 is the one for you thanks to the jump in performance over the Super 2080, and at no additional cost. However, since the RTX 2080 Super launched last year, prices have come down and you can now get it for around $100 / $100 less. With the release of the RTX 3080, prices could drop even further. This would make the RTX 2080 Super a more attractive purchase. However, since the RTX 2080 Super is still a recent and powerful card, don't expect the price to drop too much, especially with some retailers no longer carrying the card. However, this means you could sell your RTX 2080 Super to help finance your RTX 3080 purchase. But would it be worth it? Let's take a deeper look. Today's best Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 deals NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super ... EVGA GeForce 08G-P4-3183-KR, ... EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER ... NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super ...
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Nvidia RTX 3080 vs RTX 2080 Super: specifications
On paper, the RTX 3080 looks like a decent upgrade with some very interesting tech:
- CUDA cores: 8704
- Boost Clock: 1,71 GHz
- Base Clock: 1,44 GHz
- VRAM: 10GB GDDR6X
- Memory interface: 320 bit
- TDP: 320W
So how does this compare to the Super 2080? These are the specifications of the previous card:
- CUDA cores: 3,072
- Boost Clock: 1.8 GHz
- Base Clock: 1,6 GHz
- VRAM: 8GB GDDR6
- Memory interface: 256 bit
- TDP: 250W
By comparing these two specs, you can immediately see how much the RTX 3080 jumps over the RTX 2080 Super, and that's even before you get into the new tensor cores and architecture benefits. Amps of the 3080 compared to the Turing of the Super 2080. The obvious advantages, spec-wise, are in the CUDA cores and memory. On the CUDA front, the RTX 3080 offers more than double that. But what does this really mean? CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) cores are essentially parallel processors that allow an Nvidia GPU to handle multiple complex tasks at once, such as rendering lighting, character models, and outfits at the same time. Basically, the more CUDA cores, the more efficient the GPU is at handling demanding and complex graphics, in the same way that a quad-core processor is better for multitasking than a dual-core processor. So the huge CUDA advantage of the RTX 3080 over the RTX 2080 Super could be one of the main reasons to go for the new card. Then there is memory. The RTX 3080 not only has more, but uses faster GDDR6X memory, compared to the GDDR6 of the 2080 Super. The RTX 3080's memory interface is also faster, so again the RTX 3080 has a huge advantage. Having more memory, faster, will pay off when reading in high resolution. So if you're looking to game at 4K or even 8K resolutions, or if you're going to be using an ultra-wide monitor or multiple monitors at once, the RTX 3080 is, again, the one for you. However, we should note that the specs of the RTX 2080 Super are still very good, and that it has a faster base and boost clock than the RTX 3080. If you have a 2080 Super, don't believe it. obsolete at this time. Now, comparing specs won't help you determine the type of performance difference. Once we've completed our extensive testing of the RTX 3080, we'll be able to better compare the two cards.
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(Image credit: Nvidia)
Nvidia RTX 3080 vs RTX 2080 Super: which one to buy?
So should you buy the RTX 3080 or RTX 2080 Super? If you're looking to upgrade your PC with a new GPU and have the budget, you should always go for the RTX 3080. The spec bump means this is going to be an amazing GPU and one that will be happy to power future games for years to come. When paying that kind of money, you'll want to try and get the best performing GPU possible, which is easily the RTX 3080. The fact that Nvidia has been pretty aggressive with the price of the new GPU means it's even more attractive. If you're on a budget, the RTX 2080 Super may be a more affordable way to get high-end graphics, but temper your expectations with the drop in GPU price. Regardless, the RTX 3070 may be a better buy, as it offers Ampere's features for less. But what if you already have an RTX 2080 Super? Should you update? Perhaps, if you can sell your card for a decent amount, that could mean getting a much more powerful GPU for a low initial outlay. The RTX 2080 Super is still a great card though, you might want to keep it for now, because you'll still be able to easily play modern games at 1080p, 1440p, and even 4K, with relative ease. Then, when the RTX 4000 series comes out, you might find that you can get an even better upgrade.