The new RTX 3000 lineup has been one of the most looked forward to events in the PC hardware world for a year now. Ever since the RTX 2000 line, GPU aficionados have been waiting on tenterhooks, eager to find out when they can grab the latest and greatest innovations by NVidia.
Thankfully, to help keep us from guessing too much, a recent leak has revealed a few details. A now sadly deleted tweet by Chiakokhua, a retired engineer that managed to accurately predict the AMD chipsets two years ago, has come through for us again.
Offering up a huge amount of valuable info about the new 3000 line means that we can now anticipate and plan for what we are going to do and which we are going to buy.
To help make it easier, though, we need to be able to compare the new GPUs with the older 2000 line. For those looking to pick up the new RTX 3080, here are all the benchmark performance, spec, and price comparisons you need up against the older RTX 2080 Super.
- Related: RTX 3080 Ti vs 2080 Ti: What are the key differences?
- Related: RTX 3070 vs 2070 Super: What are the key differences?
RTX 3080 vs RTX 2080 Super: Specification Comparison
Before you can get started with comparing the RTX 2080 and the RTX 3080, remember that all the info we have at the moment is entirely based on speculative rumor. So, remember that the exact details might change just a little bit when they finally release.
| GeForce RTX 3080 | GeForce RTX 2080 Super | |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Cores | 4608 | 2944 |
| RT Cores | 144 | 46 |
| Tensor Cores | 576 | 368 |
| Boost Clock | 2000 MHz | 1710 MHz |
| VRAM Speed | 16 Gbps | 14 Gbps |
| Transistor size | 7nm | 7nm |
RTX 3080 vs RTX 2080 Super: Anticipated Benchmark Performance
Attempting to properly benchmark a future GPU that hasn’t even released yet is pretty difficult. However, utilizing what we know of the (hopefully) trustworthy leak, we can thus estimate what kind of performance we can expect from the new RTX 3000 line.
The RTX 3080 is meant to be a complete vertical upgrade from the RTX 2080, meant to effectively just hugely be better than the previous GPU. It has a lot more GPU cores, RT cores, and even Tensor cores, making it pretty much better in every way.
The biggest difference is probably the number of RT cores, which govern the GPU’s ability to execute effective ray tracing. Ray tracing is the rendering method that creates those beautiful speckles and motes of light when you are playing exceptionally graphically rich games.
So, if you are a fan of those really gratuitously well lit shots in cinematic games, you will definitely love this new GPU line.
Strangely enough, the boost clock of the RTX 3080 is a pretty massive upgrade, offering up 2000 MHz. The weirdest part is that this is actually a higher boost clock speed than the supposedly more powerful RTX 3080 Ti!
Tensor cores have also had a big upgrade, from 368 Tensor Cores with the RTX 2080 to 576 Tensor cores with the new RTX 3080. This means more deep learning, and more neural graphical functions and overall a better, higher tech GPU experience.
The RTX 3080 is also operating on the same transistor size as the previous RTX 2000 line, which some might be a bit baffled by. However, transistor size has yet to be reduced with basically any other line of GPUs, so don’t be too disheartened.
Ultimately, the primary quality of the RTX 3080 that sets it apart from the RTX 2080 is that it is just more powerful in basically every way. Games are going to be brighter, prettier and overall more visually appealing, with your newfound GPU having to do a lot less work than it would have to previously.
RTX 3080 vs RTX 2080 Super: Price Comparison
Unfortunately, despite the helpful leaks that we already know about, we still don’t really know anything about the final price. While it won’t be as expensive as the RTX 3080 Ti, definitely prepare for it to be pretty expensive.
The RTX 2080 Super is, at the moment, roughly $700, so you can expect the new RTX 3080 to be at least double that.
One thing to keep in mind is that, with the new RTX 3000 series becoming available now, the price of the RTX 2000 series is likely going to go down. Expect to find that you can pick up an RTX 2080 for a bit less than you would now. Though, of course, why you’d want to with the new RTX 3000 series being available is anyone’s guess.
When Is The RTX 3080 Going To Become Available?
The most important question, however, is when is the RTX 3080 actually going to be available for you to order? While the precise date is never really made available, we do have a pretty decent rough timeframe for the general release date.
You can expect to find the RTX 3080 starting to become available online in the third quarter of 2020, which means it is coming really, really soon. The other models in the new 3000 lineups are being released at different times, though the RTX 3080 is actually supposedly releasing at roughly the same time as the RTX 3070.
As it is the first of the new RTX 3000 cards that will become available, you can expect a lot of people to grab it as soon as they appear online. So, if you do want to get one rather than any of the other RTX 3000 cards, make sure you are online ordering it the very second it becomes available.
If you don’t, you might just find that they all disappear before you ever get a chance.
If you are looking to do a PC build now, and can’t wait for the RTX 3080 to be released, here are some of our graphics card guides you might find useful in narrowing your search.