Nvidia has unveiled its latest entry in the RTX 30 Series, the RTX 3080 Ti. It's the second most powerful GPU that Nvidia offers in 2021, and while that means it's equipped with enormous performance, it also comes at a steep price.
The past few months have been somewhat rocky for Nvidia. Back in September 2020, the company introduced its lineup of RTX 30 graphics cards for the very first time. All of them were incredibly well-received, and as of June 2021, the lineup has continued to grow with more options to fit as many budgets as possible. While the cards themself have been fantastic, actually trying to buy one has been a different story. Thanks to a combination of the chip shortage, scalpers, and crypto miners, buying an RTX 30 GPU has become virtually impossible for the average shopper. The cards are constantly out of stock, and when one is available, it's often selling for hundreds more than its MSRP. Simply put, it's a far from ideal situation.
Despite all of that trouble, Nvidia hasn't stopped churning out new RTX 30 models over the past year. Following the likes of the RTX 3050, 3050 Ti, and 3060, Nvidia has now taken the wraps off of the RTX 3080 Ti. It's the successor to the already powerful RTX 3080, offers very similar performance to that highest-end RTX 3090 card, and comes in at a price to match its abilities. Nvidia says the RTX 3080 Ti will cost $1,119 when it goes on sale on June 3. If it's like any of the other RTX 30 cards that have come out so far, don't be surprised if the 3080 Ti becomes just as elusive as its older siblings.
The RTX 3080 Ti Is One Of Nvidia's Most Powerful GPUs
Assuming someone is actually able to get their hands on the RTX 3080 Ti (and, hopefully, at MSRP), they'll be in store for a legitimately impressive piece of tech. It features an identical design to that of the regular RTX 3080, but ample spec bumps across the board deliver noticeably better performance. Taking a look at the 3080 Ti's spec sheet, it comes equipped with 80 GPU clusters, 10,240 CUDA cores, 12GB of memory, and a bandwidth of 912GB/s. By comparison, the 3080 clocks in with 86 clusters, 8,704 CUDA cores, 10GB of memory, and 760GB/s for bandwidth. The RTX 3080 Ti is surprisingly similar to the top-tier RTX 3090, with the main difference being the 3090's expanded memory (24GB) and larger physical design that allows for better cooling.
Outside of all that raw horsepower, there are a couple of other specs to keep in mind for the RTX 3080 Ti. It requires the same 350W of power as the 3090, meaning gamers will need to ensure they have enough power to spare in their gaming rig before getting the new GPU. It also comes equipped with Nvidia's new Lite Hash Rate technology, which blocks the card from achieving its full performance when mining cryptocurrency. It's an attempt from Nvidia to ensure the RTX 3080 Ti and other GPUs get in the hands of gamers rather than crypto miners, so fingers crossed that has a positive impact on its availability.
Overall, the RTX 3080 Ti is shaping up to be a really impressive release from Nvidia. It's certainly not a card for gamers on a budget, but for those that can afford its steep asking price, the overwhelming power that's on display is unignorable. For folks that want an ultra-powerful GPU and don't need the added memory of the 3090, the RTX 3080 Ti looks like a fantastic alternative.
Source: Nvidia