Nvidia is unveiling its latest flagship gaming GPU today, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. Based on Nvidia’s latest Ampere architecture, the RTX 3080 Ti will succeed the RTX 3080 and promises to deliver 1.5x more performance over the previous generation RTX 2080 Ti. Nvidia is making the RTX 3080 Ti available worldwide on June 3rd, priced from $1,199.
The RTX 3080 Ti looks very much like the RTX 3080, with an identical design and ports. The main difference is a jump in power and VRAM. The RTX 3080 Ti ships with more VRAM than the RTX 3080, with 12GB of GDDR6X in total. This new GPU is essentially as close as you can get to an RTX 3090 on paper, with half the VRAM. The $1,199 price matches the same pricing Nvidia used for the RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition cards, and it’s $300 less than the giant RTX 3090.
RTX 3080 Ti specs
| RTX 3090 | RTX 3080 Ti | RTX 3080 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 3090 | RTX 3080 Ti | RTX 3080 | |
| GPU clusters | 82 | 80 | 68 |
| CUDAs | 10496 | 10240 | 8704 |
| RTs | 82 | 80 | 68 |
| Tensor | 328 | 320 | 272 |
| ROPs | 112 | 112 | 96 |
| Boost clock | 1695MHz | 1665Mhz | 1710Mhz |
| Memory | 24GB G6X | 12GB G6X | 10GB G6X |
| Bus | 384-bit | 384-bit | 320-bit |
| Bandwidth | 936 GB/s | 912 GB/s | 760 GB/s |
| TDP | 350W | 350W | 320W |
| Price | $1,499 | $1,199 | $699 |
You’re obviously losing out on an extra 12GB of VRAM if you opt for the RTX 3080 Ti over the 3090, and what will likely be a small improvement in performance for that $300 difference. But the RTX 3090 is giant because it has a far bigger cooler, and the RTX 3080 Ti has the same hardware design as the RTX 3080. That may prompt concerns around how hot the RTX 3080 Ti will run, but we’ll have to wait on reviews to find out if it’s really an issue.
Nvidia is also including its cryptocurrency nerf on the RTX 3080 Ti, much like new RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 cards. Nvidia offers a separate Cryptocurrency Mining Processor (CMP) for Ethereum miners instead. These cards include the best performance for mining and efficiency, but they’re not designed to handle games.
Elsewhere, the RTX 3080 Ti has the same power requirements as the RTX 3090. You’ll need a 750-watt power supply, and the card can draw up to 350 watts of power. That’s the same as the RTX 3090, but the RTX 3080 draws less at up to 320 watts. Just like the RTX 3080 before it, the 3080 Ti also uses Nvidia’s new 12-pin connector. Nvidia will include an adapter that’s compatible with eight-pin cables.
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Nvidia is also launching a second GPU next week, the RTX 3070 Ti. The $599 RTX 3070 Ti will be available on June 10th, and is designed to offer 1.5x more performance over the previous RTX 2070 Super. It will include 8GB of GDDR6X memory.
Both new RTX cards will support all of Nvidia’s ray-tracing, DLSS, and Reflex technologies. More than 50 games now support Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), offering AI-powered performance boosts to games.
While both of Nvidia’s new GPUs will be available this month, actual availability and pricing is obviously going to differ. Everyone has had a hard time getting hold of new RTX 30-series GPUs since their launch last year, and a flagship RTX 3080 Ti and more affordable RTX 3070 Ti isn’t going to help improve that.
A global chip shortage has pushed GPU prices up, and demand is still incredibly high during ongoing supply constraints. Nvidia has already warned these supply issues will continue throughout 2021, so don’t expect to easily be able to get hold of an RTX 3080 Ti or RTX 3070 Ti any time soon.
