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The Geforce RTX 3060 Ti was launched in 2020 as a premium 1080p gaming video card, and was poised to be the RTX 2080 Super killer. At a competitive price of $399, this video card is one of the most popular RTX 30 series GPUs according to the Steam Hardware Survey. Currently, it has a market share of 2%.
When the GTX 1080 Ti launched in 2017, Nvidia was highly optimistic about its performance, and dubbed it the "Ultimate Geforce." Over time, this graphics card has gone out of fashion; however, gamers will be surprised to learn that the 1080 Ti is still a viable option for 1080p gaming.
The GTX 1080 Ti 11 GB video card was originally launched for $600. It currently sells for around $320 on eBay. Some models can be found even lower. This makes the card much cheaper than originally-$399 RTX 3060 Ti, which now sells for $499.
Can the 5-year-old flagship beat the modern 1080p gaming king, the RTX 3060 Ti?
The RTX 3060 Ti is a more powerful GPU on paper. Compared to the GTX 1080 Ti, the 3060 Ti has 1,280 more CUDA cores. The RTX 30 series GPUs are also faster and more power-efficient as compared to the Pascal GPUs.
The RTX 30 series also packs improved 3rd generation Tensor cores and RT cores. Tensor cores allow the 3060 Ti to run the highly sophisticated Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) software. This allows the 3060 Ti to run games at higher resolution and pack more visually complex geometry without a huge performance difference.
The GTX 1080 Ti is not capable of DLSS. However, it supports AMD's FSR temporary upscaling technology. Although not as efficient as DLSS, it can produce some stunning results.
Other than this, the 1080 Ti is a better card on paper in every other aspect. It packs 11 GB of VRAM based on a larger 384-bit bus. However, the memory is based on the slower GDDR5X standard. The 3060 Ti comes with 8 GB of VRAM based on a 256-bit bus, which suffices in most modern AAA games but is based on the newer GDDR6 standard.
Overall, these spec differences roughly translate to a 17% performance difference. RTX 3060 Ti takes the lead over the aging Pascal beast.
The performance difference between the two video cards increases in ray-tracing-heavy video games like Cyberpunk 2077, Control, and Hitman III, where the difference is 15% or more. In games that rely on pure rasterization performance, the gap closes to about 10% on average.
The performance difference is higher in modern games as they have been built to utilize the newer and more capable technology implemented in the RTX 30 series. However, the GTX 1080 Ti still keeps up impressively well and manages to deliver a very playable experience. The performance, although not up to par with a modern video card, is still acceptable.
Conclusion
Users who are divided between a GTX 1080 Ti and an RTX 3060 Ti should opt for the latter. The 3060 Ti, being a newer card, is more power efficient and will be supported for a longer time. It is also capable of ray tracing and is much faster than the Pascal beast. It makes no sense to buy a 1080 Ti in 2022.
However, if users already own a GTX 1080 Ti and are looking forward to the upgrade, they can wait until the RTX 40 series lineup drops later this year. The 1080 Ti is still quite capable and can run modern games with ease.
