The battle of high-end graphics playing cards is one poised with excessive body charges, excessive resolutions, and more and more excessive costs. Want to know which muscle-car-level GPU deserves your hard-earned {dollars}? Welcome to contest between Nvidia’s RTX 3080 and AMD’s RX 6800 XT. We’ll go over pricing, availability, and which of these excellent graphics cards provides one of the best efficiency in your buck.
Nvidia RTX 3080 vs. AMD RX 6800 XT: Price
When Nvidia launched the RTX 3080 at $699, our jaws dropped on the price-to-performance it supplied. AMD fired again with the RX 6800 XT at $649, and the extremely aggressive chops to make the RTX 3080 sweat.
Quickly we have been in for a impolite awakening: Enter the good GPU scarcity of 2020-2021 (and past…). What was imagined to be an entertaining spar between buddies, rapidly became a critical bout with a heavy weight boxer. Stock ranges depleted instantly, and costs skyrocketed to file heights.
The RTX 3080 reached an all-time excessive of over $2,000 on the secondhand market in the course of the May 2021 peak; the 6800 XT not far behind within the mid $1,000s. These astronomical costs have come down barely, however you’re nonetheless practically twice the unique MSRP of each GPUs.
AMD’s Radeon RX 6800 XT
Thiago Trevisan/IDG
These excessive costs are usually not simply out of your pleasant neighborhood scalper, nonetheless. Third-party GPU manufactures corresponding to Asus, EVGA, and MSI have additionally elevated base MSRPs over time. This is because of tariffs and continued shortages. This bumps the MSRPs of those graphics playing cards properly over the $1,000 mark. Do observe that the Nvidia Founders Edition and the AMD reference fashions of their respective GPUs have remained at their authentic pricing; however these are a lot rarer to seek out.
Nvidia RTX 3080 vs AMD RX 6800 XT: Performance
The AMD RX 6800 XT brings forth unimaginable efficiency that elevates Radeon to the taking part in discipline of high-end Nvidia GPUs for the primary time in years. The Nvidia RTX 3080 got here able to battle with a myriad of Nvidia-specific applied sciences, nonetheless.
Let’s first focus on the VRAM variations; 10GB on the RTX 3080 versus 16GB on the 6800 XT. The RTX 3080 comes geared up with GDDR6x taste, which is quicker than the vanilla GDDR6 on the 6800 XT. This can have an effect in favor of the RTX 3080, even when the VRAM measurement is smaller. Currently 10GB of VRAM continues to be acceptable for 4K gaming, however there are some titles that will quickly begin to move that threshold, making the 6800 XT’s 16GB a bit extra future-proof. Coupled with 128MB of infinity cache, and it’s spectacular {hardware}.
Another essential distinction consists of superior ray tracing efficiency on the RTX 3080. When mixed with DLSS expertise, it supplies unimaginable efficiency each visually and with increased body charges. AMD does provide Smart Access Memory, which will increase GPU efficiency when paired with a Ryzen 5000 CPU.
Brad Chacos/IDG
In Gears Tactics, from Brad Chacos’s RX 6800 review, the RX 6800 XT is neck and neck with the RTX 3080 at 1440p and 4K. At 1080p, we see the 6800 XT take off by a bigger margin. This appears to be consultant of many video games; the RTX 3080 is marginally higher however solely at excessive resolutions.
Brad Chacos/IDG
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 4K, we see how potent Nvidia’s DLSS may be. Here ray tracing efficiency outpaces the 6800 XT by a large margin. AMD does have a competitor to DLSS within the works, “FidelityFX Super Resolution,” or FSR, however it’s nonetheless within the early levels. While Nvidia has the clear benefit now, the 6800 XT does have 16GB of VRAM, which ray tracing clearly will like; we simply want additional optimizations in software program.
In non–ray tracing titles, the 6800 XT places up a improbable effort versus the RTX 3080. If ray tracing is one thing you need extra of, nonetheless, the RTX 3080 at the moment is one of the best at that. The ray tracing efficiency of the 6800 XT is suitable at the moment, and future enhancements ought to make it extremely aggressive.
Power draw and different issues to know
The RTX 3080 TDP is available in at 320W in comparison with the 300W of the RX 6800 XT. These new-generation GPUs actually run hotter than ever, so correct cooling shall be important for each. Do needless to say the GDDR6x VRAM of the 3080 (and 3090) can run extremely popular in comparison with the GDDR6 within the 6800 XT relying in your use case.
Thiago Trevisan/IDG
If you’re buying a Founders Edition RTX 3080, some have had points with insufficient thermal pads from the manufacturing unit, leading to increased than regular VRAM temperatures and thermal throttling. Some customers have improved this by both water cooling their GPUs or changing the thermal pads, however your mileage could fluctuate. Third-party 3080s are much less affected if they’ve a beefy cooler, nonetheless. The AMD 6800 XT usually runs scorching on account of its energy, however properly inside its limits.
How about LHR, or Lite Hash Rate fashions? Nvidia has launched this characteristic with a view to enhance availability particularly for players. The non-Founders Edition RTX 3080s now have this moniker, that means they’re much less potent at crypto-currency mining (though work arounds have been popping up recently). The AMD 6800 XT has no such distinction, however it has typically not been as fashionable with crypto miners in comparison with the Nvidia GPUs as a result of price-performance ratio.
Which is one of the best GPU for you?
Brad Chacos/IDG
Even amid historic shortages, we’re fortunate to have such high-performance GPUs obtainable from each Nvidia and AMD. The caveat of shopping for a GPU in corresponding to market at all times falls by yourself funds and desires; costs are a lot increased than we’d wish to see, if you could find them.
Which is one of the best GPU? While the 6800 XT places up a valiant effort, the RTX 3080 sneaks by for the win. Despite the VRAM measurement handicap, the ray tracing plus DLSS efficiency make it a hotrod whereas holding visuals maxed out. This is very true at 1440p and 4K resolutions, the place this GPU shines. If you want Nvidia-specific options corresponding to Nvenc encoding, and G Sync, you’ll know the place to go. Otherwise, the 6800 XT is correct up there as properly. If you’re planning on excessive refresh fee 1080p or solely going as much as 1440p with minimal ray tracing, it’s additionally a worthy selection.