NVIDIA Announces RTX 30 Series: RTX 2080 Ti Performance Now Starts at $499

Source: NVIDIA NVIDIA Announces RTX 30 Series: RTX 2080 Ti Performance Now Starts at $499

GeForce RTX 3070, 3080, and 3090 Announced

Today, NVIDIA finally revealed what they had planned to cap off the 21 day GeForce countdown. And while there was more on offer than new graphics cards, that’s the focus of this particular news post.

The short version? There are three new cards in the RTX 30 series, with the massive RTX 3090 at $1499, RTX 3080 at $699, and RTX 3070 at $499. Oh, and the $499 card has the same (or higher) performance level of an RTX 2080 Ti.

I’ll let that sink in for a moment. This isn’t just a generational leap, and it’s not just about ray tracing – though of course these cards bring with them 2nd Gen RTX. That performance level effectively brings us back to the beginning of the Pascal era with regard to pricing.

NVIDIA Announces RTX 30 Series: RTX 2080 Ti Performance Now Starts at $499 - Graphics Cards 7

“Powered by Ampere, NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX architecture, GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards feature faster 2nd gen Ray Tracing Cores, faster 3rd gen Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors that together bring stunning visuals, faster frame rates, and AI acceleration for gamers and creators.

GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs also feature several world firsts: they’re the first gaming-class graphics cards with up to 24GB of new, blazing-fast GDDR6X VRAM; they’re the first GPUs with HDMI 2.1, for 4K high refresh rate and 8K gaming; they’re the first discrete GPUs with support for the AV1 codec, enabling you to watch high-resolution streams using significantly less bandwidth; and our Founders Edition cards are the first with innovative dual axial flow through cooling solutions.

And of course, GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs come packed with new technologies for esports competitors, livestreamers, creators, and gamers alike – NVIDIA Reflex reduces system latency, providing split-second PC gaming responsiveness; NVIDIA Broadcast turns any room into a home broadcast studio with AI-enhanced video and voice comms; updates to NVIDIA DLSS make 8K HDR gaming a reality on the GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card; and new NVIDIA Studio enhancements make creative applications run faster than ever before.”

The intro video via NVIDIA’s YouTube channel is embedded below:

RTX 3070

At $499 the RTX 3070 might seem like a drop-in replacement for the RTX 2070, which launched at same price. But when NVIDIA mentioned that this new GPU matched the performance of their current flagship RTX 2080 Ti, it was a jaw-dropping moment. Or, at least a “staring at my monitor, blankly” moment.

NVIDIA Announces RTX 30 Series: RTX 2080 Ti Performance Now Starts at $499 - Graphics Cards 8

The GeForce RTX 3070 specs include 5888 CUDA cores, a Boost Clock of 1.73 GHz, and 8GB of GDDR6 memory. Graphics card power is listed at 220W, and a single 8-pin PCIe connector required for the Founders Edition version (though this will need to be adapted to the new compact 12-pin connector).

RTX 3080

Before the stunning RTX 3070 announcement we had our first look at the RTX 3080, which is also launching at the same price level – $699 – of the previous RTX 2080. Naturally, performance with this card easily eclipses the RTX 2080 Ti, and will be the fastest card NVIDIA has ever offered to gamers. Right? Not quite (because RTX 3090). But it’s still a flagship level GPU.

NVIDIA Announces RTX 30 Series: RTX 2080 Ti Performance Now Starts at $499 - Graphics Cards 9

RTX 3080 specs include 8704 CUDA cores, Boost Clock of up to 1.71 GHz, and 10GB of 320-bit GDDR6X memory. Graphics card power is listed as 320W, with dual 8-pin connectors required (again with the new 12-pin connector).

RTX 3090: The BFGPU

This…is big.

NVIDIA Announces RTX 30 Series: RTX 2080 Ti Performance Now Starts at $499 - Graphics Cards 10

The BFGPU has landed. RTX 3090 is a monster, and appears to be made with a tremendous amount of metal. It’s big. A big f—— GPU, if you will. Insane specs include 10496 CUDA cores (!), Boost clock up to 1.70 GHz (I’m seeing a 1.7 GHz trend here), and a massive 24GB of 384-bit GDDR6X. Graphics card power is 350W, and it is powered via two 8-pin PCIe/new 12-pin connector.

The relative size of the RTX 3090, while significantly thicker than the other RTX 30 series designs shown, does appear to be smaller than a house. In fact, it may just fit within standard enclosures!

NVIDIA Announces RTX 30 Series: RTX 2080 Ti Performance Now Starts at $499 - Graphics Cards 11

But in all seriousness, there is a new airflow design associated with these new GPUs, at least with the NVIDIA-designed Founders Edition.

NVIDIA Announces RTX 30 Series: RTX 2080 Ti Performance Now Starts at $499 - Graphics Cards 12

The path of warm air appears to pass over system memory and the CPU, meaning proper airflow and plenty of positive air pressure will be essential to effectively implement one of these GPUs in a standard enclosure.

RTX 30 Series: TL;DR

In summary, the announced RTX 30 Series GPUs – along with pricing and availability – are as follows:

  • GeForce RTX 3070
    • The least expensive RTX 3070 GPU is positioned as the “sweet spot” in the new Ampere-powered RTX GPU lineup, and it is actually faster than the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at less than half the price. Yes, that is what NVIDIA is saying. This seems like the go-to GPU going forward at $499.
    • Availability for the RTX 3070 is set for October.
  • GeForce RTX 3080
    • Positioned as the new flagship consumer card, the RTX 3080 starts at $699. Performance is advertised as 2x faster than the RTX 2080.
    • Available September 17.
  • GeForce RTX 3090
    • The big “ferocious” GPU, called “the fastest GPU ever built for gaming and creative types and is designed to power 60 fps at 8K resolution”. Performance is up to 50% faster than TITAN RTX. It has 24GB of GDDR6X memory, and draws up to 350W. In other words, massive gaming overkill for $1499.
    • Available September 24

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About The Author

Sebastian Peak

Editor-in-Chief at PC Perspective. Writer of computer stuff, vintage PC nerd, and full-time dad. Still in search of the perfect smartphone. In his nonexistent spare time Sebastian's hobbies include hi-fi audio, guitars, and road bikes. Currently investigating time travel.

14 Comments

  1. Brother Michigan

    RTX 3090: Bigger or smaller than a breadbox?

    Reply
    • Jeremy Hellstrom

      more of a toaster than a breadbox methinks

      Reply
  2. collie man

    AMD: “After several years of locust management, and due to the dedication and excellence of or engineering team, we are finally closing the performance gap with our competitors”

    Nvidia :”Awwww, that’s cute. Can you hold my beer for a second……”

    Reply
    • collie man

      That should be “focussed management” but I’m happy with the typo…….

      Reply
  3. Jensen's coat

    The real story here is how peaceful it was watching/listening to RTX Marbles..

    Reply
  4. BigTed

    Finally an worthwhile upgrade from the 1080ti. Power consumption is a bit disappointing though. Must be that Samsung 8nm process node.

    Also, agree with Jensen’s coat. I’m well up for a Marble Madness reboot.

    Reply
  5. Daniel Babins

    I think one of those 3070’s is in my future.

    Reply
  6. Brett Hood

    Yikes that thing is a monster the 3070 seems the sweetspot in terms of price & performance.

    Reply
  7. collie man

    No word on the 3060 yet right? If it’s on par with the 2070, or even just a re-brand at a lower price that could be the new go-to beast for 1440*3440-60fps, if the price is right.

    Oh, N-Dawg, you just made things interesting again.

    Reply
    • Hiya

      Competition from team red made things interesting again.

      Prices still too high. Have more than doubled from just four generations ago. Kudos to stock holders.

      Reply
  8. paul hawkins

    well, unfortunately, you won’t have to worry…..you see, crypto miners are somehow ALREADY buying out stocks of new cards. Literally, by the case load…There won’t be any for launch. And when there is, the cards will be $2000 for a 3080… So, you guys probably should just get used to it…..lololol….hooray for bitcoin!

    Reply
  9. yaddle42

    There is tons of talk about refresh rates and response times with new graphics cards and adaptive sync. (I think only the response times really matter because most servers update the game clients at max. 128hz / tick).

    Could you test the total response time from mouse / keyboard to the screen output? I couldn’t find anyone testing this online.
    (should be input lag + frametime).

    Reply
    • BigTed

      Can it improve my input lag? I’m guessing from a photon hitting my middle aged retina to a left click is a good 300ms.

      Reply
  10. Harry P. Ness

    GOOD LUCK getting one of the Nvidia reference cards, it is VERY likely Nvidia is doing these two things at the same time:

    1. All silicon in the FE cards will be the binned, but I wouldn’t be surprised that even then teh FE cards get the best of the binned, a little “bin-ception” if you will and in addition the AIB’s will get none of these binned cpu’s. What this will do is allow FE cards to have a little bit better performance than AIB cards(the can clock a few % higher), but also have better perf/watt.
    2. Nvidia will artificially limit availability for the first month or two. Plenty of time for reviews and first wave of FE cards to hit market and drive up hype. Then AIB cards will hit the market and most likely 95% of them will be well above MSRP.
    3. AIB partners, from what I hear, are beign forced to have at least a %50 or greater margin on RTX 30* cards.

    combine all 3, Reviews published at launch will be there for a solid month or two about the “incredible” “amazing” perf/dollar compared to the RTX 20* series. Then in late October, early November the AIB cards will finally be allowed to hit the market and will ride the way above the great perf/dollar, but actually ahve much higher prices. Nvidia will get to have its cake and eat it too

    Reply

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