If you are looking for a high-end graphics card for 1440p and 4K high refresh rate gaming that also offers excellent value, then RTX 3080 is the best card in the segment right now. GeForce RTX 3080 is the second-fastest graphics card in the RTX 30 series and also in the world. The only card that suppresses it is the RTX 3090, which is the ultimate graphics card for 8K gaming. GeForce RTX 3080 is up to 70% faster than the RTX 2080, which it replaces. It is also up to 30% faster than the RTX 2080 Ti, which was the fastest graphics card until the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 came out. RTX 3080 is insanely fast and is best suited mainly for 4K Ultra gaming or 1440p high refresh rate gaming. The card comes with all-new GPU architecture, which is unarguably a quantum leap in graphics card technology.
GeForce RTX 3080 is built on the Ampere GPU architecture on the 8nm (8N) Samsung’s fabrication process. It comes with 8704 CUDA Cores and 10 GDDR6X memory having a 320-bit interface, running at 19 Gbps. GDDR6X is the fastest graphics card memory to date and is cheaper than the HBM2 memory. The card uses 2nd generation RT Cores and 3rd generation Tensor Cores that offer 2x throughput. It has got 68 RT Cores for Real-Time Ray Tracing and 272 Tensor for DLSS 2.0 (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and processing AI (Artificial Intelligence) related tasks. RTX 3080 supports PCIe Gen 4 standard or interface that has double bandwidth over the PCI-E 3.0. The card also comes with HDMI 2.1 port and supports AV1 Decode. Some other new features that come with the RTX 30 series include Nvidia Reflex and RTX IO. The major APIs supported by the card include DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2. Besides the Nvidia’s Founders Edition, there are other RTX 3080 models available too from different AIB manufacturers. So, here I will list down the best RTX 3080 cards based on various parameters and offerings.
Most Overclocked RTX 3080
ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 GAMING OC
[13% Higher GPU Clock, Great Design, Quiet, Five Display Outputs, Fastest RTX 3080, Dual BIOS]
If you are looking for a highly overclocked RTX 3080 card then it is ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 GAMING OC. It is also one of the best RTX 3080 cards and features an attractive design. The card comes with a default GPU Boost Clock of 1905 MHz, which is 11% (+195 MHz) more than the reference (1710 MHz), and in the OC Mode, which can be enabled using the Asus GPU Tweak II software, it has GPU Boost Clock of 1935 MHz which is a 13% increase (+225 MHz) over the reference. The memory clock on this card is the same as the reference card, which is 19 Gbps.
ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 GAMING OC is a massive card having a 2.9 slot design and comes with a huge heatsink with a polished copper base and seven heatpipes. Over the heatsink, it has three Axial Tech fans for cooling. The middle fan spins in the opposite direction from the two to reduce the air turbulence and allows smoother and better airflow for efficient cooling. The card is decently quiet in operation, and the fan start-stop technology (semi-passive cooling) completely turn off the fans during lighter GPU loads when the GPU temperature is under 55 degree Celsius. When this temperature threshold limit is crossed, fans start automatically to keep the temperature in check. Moreover, the dual BIOS allows you to switch to performance or quiet mode based on your preference.
It is a beautiful and stylish-looking card and has RGB lighting on and at the side of the shroud. The card is supported by a metal backplate, which is vented to enhance the airflow. Also, the stainless-steel bracket and GPU bracket make the card more durable and robust. There are two PWM fan connectors (Asus Fanconnect II) present at the rear of the card that allows you to connect chassis fans that can be controlled using the GPU Tweak II software. The power consumption of the card is on the higher side, and it requires three 8-pin PCIe connectors and a 750W PSU. Display connectivity options include three DisplayPort 1.4a and two HDMI 2.1 ports. So, if you are looking for the fastest RTX 3080 card that is stylish and offers extra features, then it is the one to get.
| ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 GAMING OC Specifications | |
| CUDA Cores | 8704 |
| GPU Clock | 1935 MHz Boost (OC Mode) |
| Memory Clock | 19 Gbps |
| Memory Size | 10GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 320-bit |
| Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| PCI-E Power Connector | 8-pin x 3 |
| Output Ports | DisplayPort 1.4a x 3, HDMI 2.1 x 2 |
Buy ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 GAMING OC
Best Silent RTX 3080
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING X TRIO 10G
[High Factory Overclocking, Super Silent, Looks Good]
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING X TRIO 10G may not be the coolest running RTX 3080 but is possibly the quietest RTX 3080 card. The card runs super silent and is factory overclocked to a pretty decent level. It comes with a GPU Boost Clock speed of 1815 MHz, which is +105 MHz or 6% more than the reference. The TRI FROZR 2 Thermal Design of the card employs a large heatsink with thick copper heatpipes (seven) with direct contact with the GPU. The Wave-curved 2.0 fin edges of the heatsink disrupt unwanted airflow harmonics and result in reduced noise. Over the heatsink, three newly designed TORX 4.0 Fans have a pair of fan blades bound together with a linked outer ring design that focuses airflow into the updated TRI FROZR 2 cooling system. The Zero Frozr fan start-stop technology on this card stops the fan from spinning when the temperature and GPU load is less resulting in total silent operation. Moreover, even when the fans are spinning at a higher speed during high GPU loads, they are very quiet and are virtually inaudible.
It is a massive card that is 320mm in length and has a 2.7 slot design. The graphene backplate on this card is lightweight, and it also helps in dissipating the heat a bit better. An anti-bending plate also comes installed on the card that prevents sagging and protects both the motherboard’s PCIe x16 slot and the card itself. The RGB lighting can be on the shroud & backplate, and you can sync the RGB lighting with other MSI RGB supported devices as it supports MSI Mystic Light Sync. Using the MSI Dragon Center software, you can monitor, tweak, and optimize in real-time the various parameters of the card. The card’s rated power consumption is 340W, which is slightly higher than reference and other AIB cards with reference clock speed. For power, it requires three 8-pin PCIe connectors and a 750W PSU for its working. Display Connectivity options include three DisplayPort 1.4a and one HDMI 2.1 port. Overall an okay RTX 3080 that is priced a little higher than reference and most of the other custom RTX 3080 cards.
| MSI GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING X TRIO 10G Specifications | |
| CUDA Cores | 8704 |
| GPU Clock | 1815 MHz (Boost) |
| Memory Clock | 19 Gbps |
| Memory Size | 10GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 320-bit |
| Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| PCI-E Power Connector | 8-pin x 3 |
| Output Ports | DisplayPort 1.4a x 3, HDMI 2.1 x 1 |
Buy MSI GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING X TRIO 10G
Other Super Silent RTX 3080 Cards
Best Overall & Coolest Running RTX 3080
ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 TUF Gaming OC
[Runs very Cool, Dual BIOS, Factory Overclocked, Robust Build, Great Performance, Metal Shroud]
ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 TUF Gaming OC is probably the coolest running RTX 3080 card, which means it has the lowest temperature at heavy load compared to other RTX 3080 cards. It is also an OC edition card that has a GPU Boost Clock of 1815 MHz, which is 105 MHz more than the reference and the same as in the above-mentioned MSI GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING X TRIO 10G. The card also runs very quiet, and in the Quiet BIOS mode, it is possibly the quietest of all cards. However, in Quiet BIOS mode, you will see a rise in GPU temperature at the cost of quietness. It is an elegant and classy-looking card and comes with a large heatsink with six copper heatpipes and a shiny smooth base plate that makes great contact with the GPU. It also has a separate or dedicated VRAM heatsink for more efficient cooling of the individual components. The heatsink is cooled down by three axial-tech fans where the middle fan spins in the reverse direction to reduce the air turbulence for more efficient cooling. The fan-stop mode provides semi-passive cooling and stops the fans from spinning when the temperature of the GPU is under 55 degrees Celsius and provides a totally silent operation. The graphics card comes with Dual BIOS that allows you to choose between performance and quiet mode according to your requirement.
The card has a sturdy aluminum metal shroud that makes it more robust and tough. The metal backplate also makes contact with the VRAM chips and some MOSFETs using thermal pads and helps in dissipating as much heat as possible for better cooling performance. Moreover, to add to the reliability, durability, and robustness further, it comes with a metal GPU bracket and stainless steel I/O bracket. The RGB lighting is tastefully done and can be seen on the top of the shroud of the card. It is a 2.7 slot card and is 300mm in length. For power, the card requires two 8-pin PCIe connectors and a 750W PSU for its working. Using the ASUS GPU Tweak II utility, you tweak the various parameters of the card including GPU core clocks, memory frequency, and voltage settings, with the option to monitor everything in real-time through a customizable on-screen display. Display connectivity options include three DisplayPort 1.4a and two HDMI 2.1 ports. Overall, I think it is probably the best RTX 3080 card and costs slightly more than the MSRP of the Founders Edition version.
| ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 TUF Gaming OC Specifications | |
| CUDA Cores | 8704 |
| GPU Clock | 1815 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 19 Gbps |
| Memory Size | 10GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 320-bit |
| Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| PCI-E Power Connector | 8-pin x 2 |
| Output Ports | DisplayPort 1.4a x 3, HDMI 2.1 x 2 |
Buy ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 TUF Gaming OC
Best Budget RTX 3080 Cards
GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3080 EAGLE OC 10G
[Quiet, Runs pretty Cool, Very Stable at Stock Speed, RGB Lighting]
The best affordable or budget RTX 3080 card that is priced the same as the Founders Edition card is the GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3080 EAGLE OC 10G. It is an OC edition card that comes with a very good cooler and offers performance slightly better than the Founders Edition RTX 3080. The card comes with a GPU Boost clock of 1755 MHz which is 45 MHz more than the reference. The WINDFORCE 3X cooling system that uses a large aluminum heatsink with seven copper heatpipes and a large copper base that is in direct contact with the GPU and VRAM. The heatsink is cooled down by two 90mm and one 80mm unique blade fan, where the middle fan spins in opposite direction to reduce the air turbulence for enhancing airflow. The 3D active fan feature on this card provides semi-passive cooling where the fans turn off during low GPU load and temperature and they become active again when the GPU load and the temperature increase.
The metal backplate provides protection and rigidity to the card. The backplate is vented at the end for air to pass through to enhance the cooling performance further. The card sports RGB LED lighting at the front and top and supports RGB Fusion 2.0. You can tweak, customize, and optimize various settings and also monitor important parameters of the card using the Gigabyte AORUS ENGINE software that be downloaded for free from Gigabyte’s official website. The card is on the longer side at 320mm and has a 2.5 slot design. The only slight bit of negative thing about this card is that it has very limited overclocking potential and does not play well with manual overclocking. For power, it requires two 8-pin PCIe power connectors and a 750W power supply for its operation. Display connectivity options include three DisplayPort 1.4a and one HDMI 2.1 port. Overall, great value for money and a stable RTX 3080 card that offers good performance and does very well in all departments too.
| GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3080 EAGLE OC 10G Specifications | |
| CUDA Cores | 8704 |
| GPU Clock | 1755 MHz Boost |
| Memory Clock | 19 Gbps |
| Memory Size | 10GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 320-bit |
| Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| PCI-E Power Connector | 8-pin x 2 |
| Output Ports | DisplayPort 1.4a x 3, HDMI 2.1 x 2 |
Buy GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3080 EAGLE OC 10G
ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity
[Budget RTX 3080 AIB Card, RGB Lighting, Clean & Elegant Design]
Another good card that is priced at the base MSRP is the ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity. It is more of a traditional-looking triple-fan card, but it does not compromise on build quality, performance, and features. The card comes with a pretty big aluminum fin array heatsink with seven copper heatpipes. There are three 90mm fans on the heatsink for cooling, and these fans feature a new 11-blade design that increases the airflow to 10% compared to the previous generation design. The Freeze Fan Stop feature of this card provides semi-passive cooling functionality that stops the fans from spinning when the GPU is idle or under low load. Moreover, the Active Fan Control feature allows you to control the fan speed of each fan individually independent of each other. The card runs pretty quiet, and it also runs slightly cooler than the RTX 3080 Founders Edition card.
It is a 2.5 slot card and has a length of 318mm. The card is supported and protected by a metal backplate that also helps in cooling the VRM circuitry. The RBG lighting on the card can be seen on the backplate and at the top of the card. You can customize the RGB lighting and tweak various other important parameters of the card like clock speed, fan speed, etc. using the Zotac Firestorm Software, which you can download for free from Zotac’s official website. When it comes to power, then it requires two 8-pin PCIe connectors and a 750W PSU. Display Connectivity options include three DisplayPort 1.4a and one HDMI 2.1 port. Overall, one of the cheapest custom RTX 3080 cards that look good and perform almost the same as the Founders Edition version.
| ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity Specifications | |
| CUDA Cores | 8704 |
| GPU Clock | 1710 MHz Boost |
| Memory Clock | 19 Gbps |
| Memory Size | 10GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 320-bit |
| Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| PCI-E Power Connector | 8-pin x 2 |
| Output Ports | DisplayPort 1.4a x 3, HDMI 2.1 x 1 |
Buy ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity
Other Affordable RTX 3080 cards
Relatively Compact RTX 3080
EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 ULTRA GAMING
Well, there are no compact RTX 3080 cards available as such because most of them have a 2.5 slot design and are around 300mm long. However, there are a couple of RTX 3080 cards that are relatively compact compared to other RTX 3080 cards, and one such card is the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 ULTRA GAMING. It is a 2.2 slot card and is 285mm in length, which is the same as the Founders Edition RTX 3080 card. The relatively smaller dimensions of this card allow it to fit in most of the mid-tower cases without any clearance issues. It is a factory overclocked card that comes with a GPU Boost Clock of 1755 MHz, which is only 55 MHz more than the reference clock speed of RTX 3080.
The card comes with an iCX3 cooling solution that consists of a large heatsink with a big copper base, six copper heatpipes, and three 2nd generation HDB fans. The card has a 0dB semi-passive cooling mode in which the fans stay off whenever the GPU temperature is below 55°C for completely silent operation. The fans start automatically when the threshold temperature limit is crossed to keep the temperature in check.
The card has a metal backplate that gives it rigidity, and it also helps in cooling as the backplate has small cuts to pass the air through and thus improving the airflow. There is a small amount of RGB lighting that can be seen on the top side of the card in the logo. The card requires two 8-pin PCIe power connectors and a 750W PSU for its working. Display connectivity options on the card include three DisplayPort and one HDMI port.
| EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 ULTRA GAMING Specifications | |
| CUDA Cores | 8704 |
| GPU Clock | 1755 MHz Boost |
| Memory Clock | 19 Gbps |
| Memory Size | 10GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 320-bit |
| Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 |
| PCI-E Power Connector | 8-pin x 2 |
| Output Ports | DisplayPort 1.4a x 3, HDMI 2.1 x 1 |
Buy EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 ULTRA GAMING
Other Good RTX 3080 Models
Here are some other good custom RTX 3080 models from various AIB manufacturers that are worth checking out.
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING OC 10G
- PNY GeForce RTX 3080 EPIC-X RGB Triple Fan XLR8 Gaming Edition
Note: An Ultra High-Speed HDMI Cable is required to support 8K/60FPS or 4K/120FPS. Also, because of the huge demand for these cards, they can be out of stock and may even be priced higher than their original pricing.
See also:
- Best RTX 4080 Cards for Ultra 4K Gaming [Custom AIB Models]
- Best RTX 3080 Ti Cards for 1440p and 4K Gaming [Custom AIB models]
- RTX 3080 vs RTX 2080 vs RTX 2080 Ti Comparison & Benchmarks
Final Words
Well, if you are a hardcore gamer who likes to play at 1440p and 4K, then there is no other card better than RTX 3080 because of its power-packed performance and very competitive pricing. The Founders Edition RTX 3080 is a piece of art and a beautiful-looking card but is quite limited in number, and there are other AIB custom RTX 3080 cards available with higher clocks and better coolers. Also, some of them do come with extra RGB lighting and features. If you have any doubts regarding which custom RTX 3080 card to pick or have some other questions regarding the graphics card, then you can ask me your queries in the comment section below.
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