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RTX 3070 vs 3080 – Which One Should You Pick

I’ll be honest, I have been using my RTX 3080 ever since it came out and honestly, I consider it to be one of the best GPUs in the market. However, my initial plans were to get the RTX 3070 because I felt that it was better suited for my requirements. Well, I still managed to get my hands on the RTX 3070 later down the road and after comparing both GPUs closely, the results I got were not as surprising as I thought.

Still, that would make a great topic for this article so I decided that I should look into it and help everyone make the decision they want to make. So, let’s get started, shall we?

RTX 3070 vs 3080 – Comparing the Specs

Now, it is rather obvious that specs are a lot more important than some people might think. They are going to deliver the best possible understanding of what one should expect, and therefore, we simply cannot overlook this part, to begin with.

With that said, we are going to compare the specs for both GPUs. However, to avoid any confusion, we are only going to take a look at the 10GB variant of the RTX 3080 rather than the 12GB variant as we believe that it would only end up confusing the users more.

 RTX 3070RTX 3080 10GB
GPUGA104GA102
CUDA Cores5,8888,704
Tensor Cores184272
RT Cores4668
Stream Multiprocessors4668
Memory8GB GDDR610GB GDDR6X
Memory speed14GT/s19GT/s
Memory bandwidth448GB/s760GB/s
Clock speed (base/boost)1,500 MHz /1,730 MHz1,440 MHz/1,710 MHz
Power connector1x 12-pin1x 12-pin
TDP220W320W

Now, one of the most important aspects that one must understand that the specs that I have mentioned here pertain to the Founders Edition variants and not the aftermarket variants. Therefore, if you have an aftermarket variant or you are planning to go for one, there might be some discrepancies, but do note that an aftermarket variant will perform better, as long as it is better overclocked.

Another noteworthy mention here is that the specs make both of these GPUs look a lot more similar to each other but to be honest, you will soon figure out why I prefer the RTX 3080 over the 3070. It is all in the details.

RTX 3070 vs 3080 – Performance

Now, you should be able to tell that the difference between both GPUs, despite them being not far apart in terms of the naming scheme, should not be as big as one would expect but I can assure you, that is far from the case.

The RTX 3080 definitely wins and wins in a lot of different ways. You can look into the numbers below to decide for yourself. To make sure that the assessment is being done in a just way, we are looking at 1440p benchmarks for both GPUs since the RTX 3070 cannot be fully called a 4K GPU. With that said, let’s head into it, shall we?

The games I tested are some of the most demanding games available at the time of writing and if a GPU can pass through these, it can pass through any other game you throw at it. Additionally, DLSS and Raytracing were both turned off in all games where applicable to ensure a proper and fair score.

  • Assassin’s Cred Valhalla: Average 77 FPS on RTX 3070 and average 93 FPS on RTX 3080.
  • Hitman 3: Average 126 FPS on RTX 3070 and average 165 FPS on RTX 3080.
  • Red Dead Redemption 2: Average 69 FPS on RTX 3070 and average 89 FPS on RTX 3080.
  • Cyberpunk 2077: Average 61 FPS on RTX 3070 and average 85 FPS on RTX 3080.
  • Control: Average 79 FPS on RTX 3070 and average 100 FPS on RTX 3080.

It is safe to say that the RTX 3080 is significantly faster than its younger brother thanks to the extra CUDA cores, bandwidth, and stream multiprocessors. However, if you want to know the percentage differences, you can check them out below.

  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: RTX 3080 is 20.77% faster than RTX 3070.
  • Hitman 3: RTX 3080 is 30.95% faster than RTX 3070.
  • Red Dead Redemption 2: RTX 3080 is 28.9% faster than RTX 3070.
  • Cyberpunk 2077: RTX 3080 is 39.3% faster than RTX 3070.
  • Control: RTX 3080 is 26.58% faster than RTX 3070.

Taking an average of all these numbers show us that the RTX 3080 is on average, 29.3% faster than the RTX 3070 on this 5-game average. Which is an impressive feat and primarily because of a lot more TDP as compared to its younger sibling, along with other notable things that we have mentioned before.

One important thing that I have to tell you is that RTX 3080 can even maintain itself with grace when you are

RTX 3070 vs 3080 – Extra Features

Now, moving onto the extra features. Considering how both GPUs are from the RTX 3000 family; the feature-set is more or less similar. However, if you are going for AIB variants, then you might find differences in both GPUS, which honestly, is not really a problem.

With said, I would still crown the RTX 3080 a winner because of all the advantages it has over its younger siblings including more features overall, greater performance, higher clock speeds, higher Tensor, CUDA cores and RT cores.

At this point, it is a no brainer that you should be getting your hands on the RTX 3080 and simply put, the performance alone speaks for it.

RTX 3070 vs 3080 – Which One Should You Pick Up

Now that we are done comparing both GPUs in the market, the next step is to clarify the one that you should pick up and all of this comes down to another important factor other than performance and that is the price.

The RTX 3070 retails for $499, which is a respectable price, and this is actually for the reference variant. On the other hand, you are looking to spend $699. So, there is a $200 increase, making the RTX 3070 30% cheaper.

Simply put, if you can, I would highly advise that you dish out the extra $200 and pick up the RTX 3080 instead as the performance is excellent across the board and you are getting a lot of GPU for that price.

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Conclusion

Simply put, if you are looking to get your hands on a GPU and stuck between the RTX 3070 or the RTX 3080, our conclusion highly suggests that you are going for the RTX 3080 because it is faster in every way possible and aside from delivering solid frame rates on 1440p, it also does play games properly at 4K, so you really do not have to worry about it.

Sure, it is a bit more expensive but you actually are getting a better experience for the higher price, something that proves just how good the GPU is.

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