Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central) You should buy this if ... Built on their brand new Ampere architecture, NVIDIA’s popular RTX 3000 series is finally here and appears to have already exceeded expectations. This is not the only way it differs from the other RTX 3080 cards. It only has two 8-pin power connectors, while the Founders Edition comes with NVIDIA’s new 12-pin standard. Zooming in on the I/O area, we’re presented with three DisplayPort (v1.4) ports and two HDMI (2.0b) ports. The maximum digital resolution is a whopping 7680×4320 (8K). The I/O plate has large vents to let some of the heated air escape directly out of the chassis. Power is fed to the card through three 8-pin PCIe connectors.

This limited edition of the ROG Strix GeForce RTX™ 3080 features a completely white colorway on top of all the generational improvements to the ROG Strix series. Now’s your chance to build a high-end white-themed gaming rig with the latest in graphics technology. Furthermore, the driver problems have also been ironed out to an extent. Right now, getting an RTX 3080 is probably the best gaming choice you can make. Yes, that includes getting a next-gen console. We’re also happy to report that the RTX 3080 is now much more readily available despite some availability issues at launch. Zotac used its IceStorm 2.0 cooler for this card, and this is probably the reason why its version performs better in the cooling department. The 3-fan design, along with a new heat pipe layout, have outperformed the FE card. Given how NVIDIA touted its new fan design, this is a massive win for Zotac. Our Thoughts Our Axial-tech fan design has been optimized for a new, larger heatsink that features more fins and surface area than last gen. The blade count has been increased on all three fans, with 13 on the center fan and 11 on the auxiliary fans. The barrier ring on the side fans has been slimmed down to allow for more lateral intake and to provide better airflow through the cooling array. The center fan’s extra blades and full-height ring provide boosted static pressure to blast air directly onto the GPU heat spreader.

This is the GPU to get for 4K gaming.

The first thing you’ll notice about the RTX 3080 ROG Strix OC is its size. It’s absolutely massive, and you could easily mistake it for an RTX 3090. The usual 3-fan design and the physical BIOS switch on the card itself are present, with ‘Performance’ and ‘Quiet’ modes available. It’s worth saying that there isn’t much difference between these two modes in terms of performance, but the different sound levels will be much more noticeable. Top-shelf capacitors, chokes, and MOSFETs are selected to effortlessly deliver hundreds of watts at a millisecond’s notice. The Super Allot Power II parts are soldered to the PCB using our advanced Auto-Extreme automated manufacturing process. Smooth joints on the rear of the PCB and the elimination of human errors ensures each graphics card meets our rigorous specifications.

Generation Tensor Cores: Get up to 2X the throughput with structural sparsity and advanced AI algorithms such as DLSS. Now with support for up to 8K resolution, these cores deliver a massive boost in game performance and all-new AI capabilities. Fire Strike (Extreme) is a DX11-based test that runs at 1080p resolution. UL says the graphics are rendered with detail and complexity far beyond other DX11 benchmarks and games. 3DMark Time Spy is a DX12 benchmark designed for Windows 10 PCs. It supports new API features such as asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, multi-threading, and runs at 2560×1440 resolution. ROG Strix GeForce RTX™ 3080 V2 White OC Edition 10GB GDDR6X with LHR offers a buffed-up design that delivers chart-topping thermal performance. The Asus card takes things a step or two further over the FE cards with more robust power delivery and Super Alloy II hardware, a higher power limit, and of course the monster cooling solution tasked to tame over 320W worth of power. The new cooler did a great job at keeping the card cool and being quiet while doing so. The card even has two 4-pin fan headers on the end for additional chassis cooling needs.The same system is responsible for good cooling numbers in benchmarks, but that performance comes at a price. The result of stronger cooling is often the dreaded fan noise, and Eagle has issues with that. The RTX 30 series from NVIDIA delivers serious performance gains over the RTX 20 series, making the RTX 3080 a worthy recommendation for anyone with a 10- or 20-series GPU. The RTX 3080 offers up to 70% gains compared to the older RTX 2080 at the same price, and that's just for the NVIDIA reference cards.