Nvidia announced at Gamescom 2018 its revolutionary new GPUs, the 20xx series, under the new RTX label, which pretty much replaces the previous GTX series. After taking a look at the performance of GPUs at Gamescom, I was excited to test it out for myself. Nvidia provided us with a review unit for the RTX 2080, the GPU that sits comfortably between the affordable RTX 2070 and the flagship RTX 2080 Ti. But with a price tag $799 (Rs. 68,500 in India), is the GPU really that good, or should you just keep that kidney for a while? Well, let’s find out as we review the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition:
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founder’s Edition Features
Before we get into the actual review of the graphics card, let’s get the specs out of the way, shall we? Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition has monstrous specs and on paper the GPU is unrivaled
Architectural | Turing |
CUDA Cores | 2944 |
Core Clock | 1515MHz |
Upgrade Clock | 1800MHz |
TFLOPs (FMA) | 60 TFLOPs (8 Giga Rays) |
memory clock | 14Gbps GDDR6 |
Memory Bus Width | 256-bit |
VRAM | 8GB |
TDP | 225W |
what’s in the box
The package content is pretty minimal and not much to talk about. There’s the RTX 2080 Founders Edition itself, a Display Port to DVI Converter, and a couple of booklets that nobody cares about.
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition
- DisplayPort to DVI Converter
- Quick start Guide
- Support Guide
Design and Build Quality
Nvidia’s Founders Edition cards have had the same design language for several years, and frankly, I’m pretty impressed. Crafted with premium materials and components, the RTX 2080 is a work of art. The symmetry of the dual-fan setup is great, and the RTX brand is thin yet powerful.
The biggest change has to be the dual fan setup, which replaces the single fan fan system found in previous generations. While it certainly looks much better, we’ll discuss its impact on thermal performance later in this review.
The bottom half of the GPU consists of PCI Express x16 pins, while the top half new generation 8 phase power supply With GeForce GTX SLI HB bridge port.
As for the ports, 3x Display Port, one HDMI port and one Type-C port which can be used for VirtualLink. This is followed by the exhaust for the blower fans.
Last but not least, Above the GPU is the GeForce RTX logoIt looks incredible, especially when lit up in Nvidia’s signature green color.
All in all, the RTX 2080’s build quality is top-notch as always.. Design is where Nvidia brings a new change and it also looks pretty amazing.
Yield
Based on Nvidia’s all-new Turing Architecture, the company claims a 6x performance boost over previous generation GPUs. However, this only applies to Ray Tracing, a technology that as of this writing is not yet available for players to experiment with in games. I was quite interested in checking the raw performance of RTX GPUs and here are my findings.
To test the RTX 2080, I installed it on my test system consisting of an Intel i7-8700K processor and 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM. All tests were run with the OS loaded on the 120GB SSD while the games were loaded onto the 2TB 7200RPM HDD.
In all my tests I ran games at 1920×1080 resolution and maxed out the graphics quality, Extra High, Ultra, Extreme etc. I ran the settings labeled as .
As you can see, the RTX 2080 handles benchmarks pretty well. Beats 3DMark FireStrike Benchmark, almost the industry standard for DirectX12 Gaming. Even in all other benchmarks, the RTX 2080 manages to beat other GPUs pretty easily. As for the game, The GPU is leaking from previous flagships like The Witcher 3 and still manages the industry standard i.e. 109 points in Metro Redux. In all other games the GPU scores well above 100FPS, while in Hunt Showdown it falls below that mark.
Just for reference, in my previous review of the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti the GPU managed to shoot 122 FPS in the 3DMark FireStrike Benchmark, something the RTX 2080 easily managed to beat. However, it is worth noting that both tests were performed on different test benches. If you’re wondering how much difference the RTX 2080 makes over the 1080 Ti, we’ll have a detailed article about it, stay tuned.
There’s no doubt that the GPU will also perform very well at 4K resolutions, but since that resolution is limited to only 60FPS, I decided to run my reviews on a 1080p display only to see the maximum performance the RTX 2080 could get. Pay. You can check out a detailed benchmark review of the RTX 2080 here.
Ray Tracing and DLSS
The biggest advantage of the new RTX GPUs is the addition of Ray Tracing. Unfortunately, This feature will not be available in games until Microsoft launches the RS5 update, which is said to bring support for DirectX for Ray Tracing (DTR).. As for DLSS, the feature is said to only work on 4K systems, which requires the aforementioned update from Microsoft. But Nvidia provided us with Epic Games’ demo of Infiltrator, and here’s the key difference that DLSS provides:
As you can see, the difference is there, but DLSS doesn’t really bring a big change to the overall experience, especially if you’re not gaming at 4K resolution. Now, I know the flagship series is designed for 4K, but still, there are many people, including myself, who value higher frames at 1080p more than 4K, and for them DLSS won’t make much of a difference. honest.
thermals
Ah, thermals. Truth be told, Nvidia’s GPUs have always been the best, but their thermal management on the Founders Edition cards was disappointing compared to the AIB ports. However, with the new RTX series, Nvidia abandoned its single-fan system and adopted a dual-fan system. As a critic, my favorite part of a review has to be the one where I can highlight all the negatives in a product. And I hate the RTX 2080 in that respect, because leaves nothing to complain about.
According to Nvidia, the RTX 2080 is a “Biaxial 13-blade fans combined with a new steam chamber for ultra-cool and quiet performance.” If you don’t fully understand what that means, understand that it has a dual fan system and performance is pretty good. When we talk about gaming, benchmarking, or even stress testing, the 60-80 degrees Celsius region is said to be standard. in my test, The RTX 2080 fell below 62 degrees after 30 minutes of grueling stress testing with synthetic benchmarks.
I wanted to test this GPU even further, so I played Shadow of the Tomb Raider for over 4 hours nonstop on the most graphically demanding games. And surprisingly, The maximum temperature I managed was only 77 degrees which is unbelievable. To be honest, the RTX 2080 handles heavy loads very well while keeping temperatures pretty low. The best part is that the GPU supports overclocking up to 1.8GHz right out of the box, and considering how good thermal management is at the base frequencies, I expect the GPU to keep things cool even at higher frequencies.
Pricing and Availability
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 is priced at $799 in the US. When converting this to Rs. roughly 58,000, Nvidia’s official price for the RTX 2080 in India is Rs. 68,500. Therefore, you will have to pay a premium of Rs. 10,500 for the same GPU. I mean, it’s not nearly as bad as Apple’s pricing of its devices, but a premium of 10.5K is pretty steep. The GeForce RTX is available for pre-order with estimated shipping on September 27. However, given the huge price tag, one has to wonder if the Nvidia RTX 2080 is worth it.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080: Is It Worth It?
At this point, many of you must be wondering if the RTX 2080 is worth the money. There’s no denying the fact that the GTX 1080 and GTX 1080 Ti are only a few weeks away before prices drop and make them a little more affordable. Therefore, which GPU should you choose? If you’re planning to use the GPU for gaming and want it to be a long-term purchase, the RTX 2080 is for you. However, if you’re looking for value for your money, the GTX 1080 Ti will practically make more sense, as it offers nearly the same performance, at least at 1080p.
The truth is, putting the Ray Tracing factor aside, the RTX 2080 doesn’t bring much more to the table when compared to the GTX 1080 Ti. Despite being a revolutionary change in the gaming world, Ray Tracing is still in its infancy and it will take at least a year for the technology to be adopted by developers and gamers alike. So, if you’re planning to buy a GPU right now, I’d personally pick the GTX 1080 Ti when prices drop.
To make things clear, the RTX 2080 is by no means a bad option, but when you subtract the Ray Tracing factor from it, it looks more expensive compared to the GTX 1080 Ti.
Pros:
- Great Design and Build Quality
- breathtaking performance
- Ready-to-Use Overclocking
- Excellent Thermal Management
Cons:
- Until Ray Tracing is properly adopted and implemented, it will be considered high priced.
Buy Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition: ($799available in india Rs. 68,500)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founder’s Edition Review: The Ray Tracing Revolution!
Ray Tracing is great. I know because I experienced it at Gamescom 2018. Unfortunately, I don’t have much to show other than the same old footage that Nvidia has already posted. This pretty much defines my opinion. As a GPU, the RTX 2080 is a great GPU that offers better performance than the GTX 1080 Ti and an even better thermal management system that keeps the card cool under the heaviest loads. However, that’s not the highlight of the GPU. The highlight of this is Ray Tracing, the revolutionary technology that should make the lighting conditions in the game super easy. Unfortunately, it’s still in its infancy, while the developers are still trying to figure out exactly how to get the most out of it. As such, it’s best for consumers to wait to buy the RTX 2080 unless and until the developers offer full support for games, with Microsoft backing the technology.
VIEW OVERVIEW | |
Design and Build Quality
9.5
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Yield
10
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thermals
9.5
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Value for Your Money
8
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SUMMARY
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 is a GPU that offers pretty much the best performance, whether at 1080p, 1440p or 4K. However, when you remove the Ray Tracing factor from the GPU, it’s just an incremental update on the GTX 1080 Ti, and it’s somewhat worth the money considering that Ray Tracing isn’t quite ready yet.
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9.3
OVERALL SCORE |