The Pascal series of GPUs from Nvidia was a giant leap forward as, for the first time, the flagship 1080 Ti was almost more than 70% faster than its predecessor, the 980 Ti. Almost everyone praised the 1080 Ti, which became the go-to graphics card for 4K gameplay then.
Then came the wave called cryptocurrency mining, which soared GPU pricing over the moon, and pascal cards like the 1080 Ti were sold for more than $1000. Many people took advantage of the price hike while gamers held their cards tight to ride this wave.
The next generation of Nvidia cards, namely the Turing architecture 20 series cards, were revolutionary in their way as they bought the ability to play games with Ray Tracing.
However, with the release of the 30 series ampere GPUs, people were inclined to the very first time to upgrade from the 1080 Ti to the 3080.
So, here in this 1080 Ti vs 3080, I will compare both these GPUs and find out whether it is a good idea to upgrade or still hold on to your older GPU in hopes of upgrading to it when the next generation of Nvidia GPUs launch.
Technical Specifications
| GPU Name | RTX 3080 (10GB) | GTX 1080 Ti |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Cores | 8704 Units | 3584 Units |
| Base Clock | 1440 MHz | 1481 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1710 MHz | 1582 MHz |
| Video Memory | 10GB GDDR6X | 11GB GDDR5X |
| Memory Bandwidth | 760.3 GB/s | 484.4 GB/s |
| Bus Width | 320-bit | 352-bit |
| Architecture | Ampere | Pascal |
| Process Size | 8 nm | 16 nm |
| TMUS | 272 | 224 |
| ROPS | 96 | 88 |
| Power Draw | 320W | 250W |
| Recommended PSU | 750W | 600W |
1080 Ti vs 3080 Gaming Benchmarks (1440p Ultra)
Testing Setup
- CPU: Intel i9-10900K
- RAM: G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series 32GB (16GB*2) 3200MHZ
- MOBO: MSI Z490 Gaming Carbon
- GPU #1: GEFORCE RTX 3080
- GPU #2: Asus GTX 1080 TI ROG Strix
- PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-850
- Storage #1: Samsung SSD 960 EVO NVMe M.2 500GB
- Storage #2: WD Green 2TB
#1: Assassin’s Creed: Origins
The first game on my list is Assassin’s Creed: Origins, where we get back to 49 BC to Ancient Egypt, where Bayak, the bodyguard of the Pharoah, goes on an epic adventure to take revenge for his son.
I first tested the GTX 1080 Ti, where I got an average frame rate of 71 frames per second with a 1% low of 49. This is a fine result, as this game still has some slight optimization issues, which is why the 1% low suffers.
Switching to the 3080, I immediately saw an increase in the average frame rate; now, the game ran at 101 frames per second with a 1% low of 65.
#2: Metro Exodus
The next game on my list was Metro exodus. The legendary 1080 Ti averaged at around 75 frames per second with a 1% low of 57 frames per second which I believe makes the 1080p a competent 1440p card even in 2022.
The 3080, however, does give the 1080 Ti a run for its money as I saw an increase of around 20 frames, with the average fps now sitting at 95. The 1% low was 60 frames per second.
#3: Microsoft Flight Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator is notorious for bringing graphics cards to their knees, especially when you crank the settings up to ultra. This shows as my 1080 Ti could only manage to do an average of 47 frames per second with a 1% low of 34 frames per second.
The 3080, on the other hand, does manage to go over the 60 fps threshold with an average frame rate of 62 frames per second; however, the 1% low is a measly 43 frames per second.
#4: Battlefield V
Battlefield V managed to run very well on both graphics cards as the 1080 Ti at 1440p with ultra graphics settings averaged 92 frames per second with a 1% low of 63 frames.
The 3080, on the other hand, shows its superiority in this game, as well as it runs this game at an average frame rate of 126 fps with a 1% low of 78.
#5: Shadow of the Tomb Raider
The final game on my list today is Shadow of the Tomb Raider, where we get to experience the shenanigans of Lara Croft as she vandalizes archeological sites.
I am joking, of course, but what is not joking here is the 1080 Ti, which runs this game at an impressive 96 frames per second with a 1% low of 66.
The 3080 is way faster than its older brother as it runs this game at an average frame rate of 118 frames per second, and the 1% low recorded by the benchmarking software was 85 fps.
1080 Ti vs 3080: Ports, Memory, And Clock Speeds
The GTX 1080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR5X Video memory which runs on a 352-bit memory bus with a bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s.
The clock speed of the memory is 1376 MHz. The clock speed of the cards at the base is 1481 MHz which boosts to 1582 MHz during graphically intensive tasks.
The 1080 Ti is a chunky dual-slot card and has a lot of ports for you so that you can enjoy a multi-monitor setup. On the back of this card, I find four ports: an HDMI 2.0 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a.
The 3080, undoubtedly a faster card, has one 1 GB less memory than its older brother with 10 GB of faster GBBR6X memory, which runs on a 320 Bit bus with a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. The memory clock is 1188 MHz. The base clock here is 1440 MHz with a boost clock of 1710 MHz.
The 3080 is also a big girl, requiring two slots to fit into the chassis of your PC. On the back, I have an upgraded HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a, allowing me to connect four monitors simultaneously.
1080 Ti vs 3080: Price Comparison And Availability
The 1080 Ti and the 3080 were released at the same MSRP of $699, and both of them shot up in price later on due to cryptocurrency mining and the silicon shortage.
The 1080 Ti is still a pretty capable card, and you can find it very easily on the second-hand market for an excellent price nowadays. A reasonable price for a 1080 Ti nowadays would be around $300.
You can find some for way less than that if you are lucky; however, if you are in a hurry, then everyone will sell you theirs for around the $300 mark.
The 3080, on the other hand, is a whole different story. Due to this card being new and the interest of crypto miners, and the silicon shortage still intact, you would be hard-pressed to find this card at its MSRP. There are stories of people being scammed on many online marketplaces by people offering this card at MSRP.
So, keep in mind that at the time of writing this article in August 2022, the 3080 is available at a price of $800, which is not a good price to pay. If you have a 1080 Ti, I suggest you ride this storm with it and upgrade to it when prices normalize.
1080 Ti vs 3080: Features And Architecture
The architecture of a card generally means the generation or the family of the card it belongs. The 1080 Ti belongs to the legendary pascal architecture of Nvidia cards.
Even though it is now over five years old, it still has support for the latest DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 3.0, Vulkan 1.3, CUDA 6.1, and shader model 6.4.
The 3080 belongs to the latest Ampere architecture of Nvidia GPUs. One of the most significant upgrades over the 1080 Ti is the ability to play games with Raytracing enabled and DLSS 2.0. This card also supports the latest DirectX 12, OpenGL 2.6, OpenCL3.0, Vulkan 1.3, CUDA 8.6, and Shader Model 6.4.
1080 Ti vs 3080: Power Consumption And Thermals
The GTX 1080 Ti was built on a 16 nm process size. The card is thermally very efficient, with the temperatures on my single fan reference design card at 70 degrees under load. The card has a thermal power draw of 250 watts, with the PSU suggested for this card being 600 watts.
The RTX 3080, on the other hand, was built on an 8 nm process size. This card comparatively needs more power, and you may need to upgrade your PSU along with your card as well, as the thermal power draw here is 320 watts, with the PSU suggested being 700 watts. These cards peaked at 70 degrees during intensive tasks.
My Final Thoughts On It!
The GTX 1080 Ti was a beast of a card when it was released, and it was praised left and right by everyone and their mothers for its performance and capability of 4K gaming.
However, as time passes, newer cards like the 3080 take their place and leave the older legends in the dust with their extremely high performance.
However, in 2022, you cannot go wrong with a 1080 Ti in your rig as it can still play every game with high frame rates and ultra settings, especially at 1080p.
But if you want to do 4K gaming in higher settings, you should go for the 3080, as it would give you higher frame rates with better visual fidelity.
More comparisons:
- Rtx 3060 vs 3060 ti
- Nvidia rtx 3070 ti vs 3080
- Nvidia rtx 3070 vs 3080
- Gtx 1660 ti vs rtx 2060
- Rtx 3080 ti vs 1080 ti (ultimate comparison)
