What is cooling feature in MSI gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti? The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti delivers the ultra performance that gamers crave, powered by Ampere—NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX architecture. It’s built with enhanced RT Cores and Tensor Cores, new streaming multiprocessors, and superfast G6X memory for an amazing gaming experience. Now you too can enjoy all your favorite games with a powerful graphics card that stays cool and silent. Get details in MSI gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12GB GDDR6X 320-bit review.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Beautiful graphics card
- Breezy 4K performance
- Good thermal performance
- More or less an RTX 3090 in games
- Minimises ray tracing impact
Cons
- Slimmer VRAM than RTX 3090
- Power-hungry
- Significantly pricier than an RTX 3080
Price
Given that the RTX 3080 launched in September 2020 for just $699 (£649, about AU$950), you’re paying at least twice as much for the RTX 3080 Ti. Given that this GPU has just 2GB more VRAM and 17% more CUDA cores, that 100% price mark-up might be hard to swallow right now.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is available June 3, starting at $1,199 / £1,049 / AU$1,949. Prices for the RTX 3080 Ti will probably vary wildly from that minimum price, and third-party versions of the GPU will probably sell for much higher.
Compare MSI gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12GB GDDR6X 320-bit
| RTX 3080 Ti | RTX 3090 | |
|---|---|---|
| SM | 80 | 82 |
| CUDA Cores | 10,240 | 10,496 |
| GPU boost clock (MHz) | 1,665 | 1,695 |
| Tensor Cores | 320 | 328 |
| RT Cores | 80 | 82 |
| ROPs | 112 | 112 |
| Texture Units | 320 | 328 |
| VRAM | 12GB GDDR6X | 24GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 384-bit | 384-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth (GB/s) | 912 | 936 |
| Price | $1,200 / £1,050 / €1,200 | $1,500 / £1,400 / €1,500 |
MSI gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12GB GDDR6X 320-bit review
Design
At three slots wide, it measures 13.2 inches long, and weighs in just over four pounds. MSI deploys its impressive TRI FROZR 2S cooling technology, packing in a metal alloy shroud, dense aluminum fin-stack heat sink, 3 x TorX fans, and power delivery
Ports
MSI rounds out the package with a dual BIOS offering preset silent and gaming (default) modes, plus a vertical support stand that helps alleviate any concerns of a nearly 2kg monster leaning off a PCIe slot. Elsewhere, display outputs, as expected, comprise three DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.1.
Frame rates
The card averaged 4% faster than the Founders Edition at 4K, 3% faster at 1440p and was less than 1% off at 1080p. Compared against the RTX 3090, it was within 1% in average FPS at 4K but 2% slower at 1440p and 1080p. When put against AMD’s RX 6800 XT which has an MSRP of roughly half that of this model, the Suprim X was 36% faster at 4K, 19% faster at 1440p and 10% faster at 1080p. With Metro Exodus and the inflation of DLSS removed, those averages drop to 17%, 9%, and 1% respectively.
Memory
GDDR6X provides a huge injection of performance, key to 4K gaming dominance — with the 12GB of GDDR6X placed on a 384-bit memory bus providing a huge 912GB/sec of memory bandwidth. NVIDIA used 11GB of GDDR6 (non-X) on the RTX 2080 Ti on a slightly smaller 352-bit memory bus, which spits out 616GB/sec of memory bandwidth.
Temperature
Gaming Mode allows the fans to ramp a little higher to keep the card cool. In this mode, the card peaked at 68C after repeat runs of Unigine Heaven and hovered closer to 65C when playing actual games. This was also in a hot 26C office, so I would expect the card to run cooler in an air conditioned setting. In Silent Mode, this ramped to 72C but I honestly didn’t find it necessary.
Cooling
There are two fans on the RTX 3080 Ti and just like the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090, there’s one on the front and one on the back. This fan configuration pulls air through the front of the card, it’ll go through the card, and go out through a fan on the back of the card, probably shooting the hot air through the top of your case.
Power consumption
The power draws under intensive gaming for GeForce RTX 3080 Ti remains to be significant. We measured it to be close to 410 Watts for the Suprim X. We advise a 750 Watt model as the rest of the system needs some juice, and you will want some reserve. You can increase the graphics card power consumption by another ~40 Watts when you open up that power slider. Yes, that’s 460 Watts of power consumption just for this graphics card when you flick open all registers manually.
Overclocking
The original RTX 3080 Ti features a rated Boost Clock of 1665 MHz. The Suprim X turns the dial all the way up to 1845 MHz in Extreme Mode (enabled in the Dragon Center software). Nvidia’s GPU Boost technology automatically pushes cards beyond this under load, assuming it’s not burning up or starved for power, but even here the Suprim X outperformed the original. The Founders Edition peaked at 1935 MHz and hovered closer to 1880 MHz in games.
MSI gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12GB GDDR6X 320-bit Performance review
As with the battle at 4K, it’s a close run contest between the RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3090 at 1440p. In a couple of games you can see the RTX 3090 slip ahead—Total War, Horizon Zero Dawn—but more often than not it maintains a steady pace within a frame or two of the pricier card.
In the rest of the games though, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is between 7-26% slower than the RTX 3080 Ti, so Assassins Creed Valhalla is definitely not the norm. This would usually be enough to make us flatly recommend the RTX 3080 Ti over the Radeon RX 6900 XT, but if we’re just going off of MSRP, Nvidia’s Graphics card is an extra $200. So, you’re going to want to make sure that the RTX 3080 Ti is worth that extra cost.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti also beats the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT in all but two tests: Fire Strike Ultra and Assassins Creed Valhalla. But even then, at 4K the RTX 3080 Ti delivers the same performance as the RTX 3090, so you’re getting extremely good performance either way.
MSI gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12GB GDDR6X 320-bit customer review
Amazing Graphics Card
I had the card shipped to store (Everett Mall), and the card was extremely delayed. Purchased on June 24th and didn’t get to pick up the card until July 6th. I would like to subtract 2 stars for this experience, but this review is about the card, not the delivery. Amazing graphics card but definitely a steeper price tag. You will definitely feel a performance difference upgrading from any of the previous model. The quality of the card is definitely on a different level.
The construction is top tier and feels extremely durable. No wiggly parts and everything is fixed in place. The design is elegant and fits any build (white or black build). For the price tag, it could use a little more RGB on the front face plate where the fans are. 3 small strips for a $1,800 price tag seems a bit skimpy. The value of this card is a bit on the expensive side. With that being said, it is a premium card with high end construction.
I’ve had friends won the lotto for other cards and the construction of this card is definitely a league above the other. The software is decent. The RGB control could use a ton more work but the control for the fan and performance is a great tool. This card is very user friendly. Easy to install, easy to download the software and easy to control with single clicks.
By RobertL at Best Buy
Alternate of MSI gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12GB GDDR6X 320-bit
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Pros
- Ampere card with best price to performance
- Beats the RTX 2080 SUPER
- Capable of high-end 1440p gaming
- DLSS and ray tracing
Cons
- Almost impossible to find
- Not as future proof as more expensive options
Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory bandwidth: 448Gbps | Memory bus: 256-bit | Base clock: 1,410MHz | Boost clock: 1,670MHz | CUDA cores: 4,864 | Process: 8nm | Power: 200W
The RTX 3060 Ti includes all the benefits of RTX cards, and it costs the least money out of all the Ampere cards. It bests the RTX 2080 SUPER, making it capable of crushing 1440p and handling some 4K gaming. This is the best value in gaming today, if you can find one.
If you can find an RTX 3060 Ti, buy it. Availability is poor and we’re not really recommending one card.
Budget PC builders are going to want to pay close attention to the RTX 3060 Ti, a GPU priced at about $400 under normal circumstances. Despite the bargain price, it bests the RTX 2080 SUPER in terms of raw performance for 1080p and 1440p gaming. That’s mighty impressive, and it’s likely going to be extremely popular for anyone who’s not too interested in 4K gaming. It also compares well to the more expensive RX 6700 XT. Our comparison of the NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti vs. AMD RX 6700 XT has more information.
Despite it coming later than the other RTX 30-series cards, you’re still getting capable ray tracing and DLSS technology. All this at a 200W TDP that should be ideal for those who don’t want to upgrade the PSU in an older PC.
This card isn’t going to be as future proof as the heavy hitters in this list, but if you can find one and want to keep your wallet from catching fire, it should make a great choice. It’s also our top pick for best mining GPU thanks to a strong hashrate and bargain price.
Editor’s recommendations
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- EVGA GeForce GTX 1650 SC Ultra Gaming 04G-P4-1057-KR 4GB GDDR5 review & benchmark
- EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti XC Gaming 08G-P5-3663-KL 8GB GDDR6 review
- ZOTAC 3070 Ti AMP Holo vs Trinity differences – which is better for mining?
