When it comes to high-end graphics cards, which is better between the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 and the GTX 1080 Ti?

Perhaps you’re constructing your first gaming PC, or perhaps it’s simply time to upgrade your graphics card. In any case, it’s a major issue. When it comes to designing a decent gaming setup, every component is crucial, but the GPU is unique.

Special—but also pricey. Unless you’re on a limited budget, your graphics card update might cost somewhere between $500 and $1000. Choosing which card to play is difficult, especially with so much money at stake.

Nvidia’s RTX 2080 and GTX 1080 Ti are two of the best high-end GPU alternatives under $1,000 right now. Both of these cards are beasts, and they both cost a lot of money. But who will come out on top?

First and foremost, let’s look at the specifications for each card. It’s worth mentioning that specs can vary depending on whatever card you ultimately buy, as manufacturers frequently overclock and make other adjustments.

GeForce GTX 1080 Ti from Nvidia

• Pascal GPU Architecture
• 11 GB Frame Buffer
•  GDDR5X Memory Speed:
• 11 Gbps Boost Clock: 1582 MHz

Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080

• Turing is the GPU architecture.
• 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is used.
• 14-gigabit per second (Gbps) memory interface
• 1710 MHz Boost Clock

Performance

The RTX 2080 and GTX 1080 Ti are both exceedingly fast, but there are significant distinctions to be made. For one thing, the RTX 2080 uses quicker GDDR6 memory. While both cards offer comparable performance scores, the RTX 2080 outperforms the GTX 1080 Ti at higher resolutions, easily topping it in 4K gaming.

While HDR isn’t a big deal for most gamers, if you want to game in 4K with HDR, the RTX 2080 trumps the GTX 1080 Ti on all fronts. However, with 4K HDR monitors still being prohibitively costly, this is unlikely to be a significant effect.

Don’t Miss: RTX 3070 Ti vs RTX 3080 Nvidia

Ray Tracing

Ray tracing is when the difference between the GTX 1080 Ti and the RTX 2080 becomes clear. Since the RTX series launched, Nvidia has been emphasising the benefits of ray tracing in games, and it is amazing. Ray tracing simulates the behaviour of genuine light rays, making it significantly more realistic and visually appealing. Here’s a Metro ray tracing demo: Exodus, which will explain how it works and what it means for gaming:

The dedicated RT and tensor cores on the RTX 2080 allow the GPU to render real-time ray tracing in games. The RTX cards use both classic rasterization and real-time ray tracing to generate lighting effects in games that the GTX 1080 Ti just cannot do since it lacks the specialised hardware required for ray tracing. The GTX series of GPUs can theoretically execute real-time ray tracing—they just can’t do it while maintaining anything approximating an acceptable framerate.

Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) is another benefit the RTX 2080 has over the GTX 1080 Ti, thanks to the GPU’s tensor cores, which bring machine learning to consumer graphics cards. DLSS is a technique that employs Using artificial intelligence, games can be made to have fewer jagged edges. In terms of quality and performance, this is just as good as the original anti-aliasing. In other words, you can have smoothed out edges without anti-aliasing and a considerably higher framerate—up to 20 or more frames per second, depending on the game.

This is a significant advantage for the RTX 2080. Even if you don’t believe ray tracing is all that it’s made up to be, the sheer performance increases from DLSS make it the superior card, as well as the one with the longest lifespan. In the future, it’s safe to assume that ray tracing and/or DLSS will be supported by more and more games. This technology is supported by games such as Battlefield V, As evidenced by Control, Metro Exodus, and other games such as Shadow of the Tomb Raider Ray tracing is also supported in upcoming titles such as Cyberpunk 2077

The following titles now support DLSS:

• Ark: Survival Evolved is a video game
• Atomic
• Dauntless
• XV: The Final Fantasy
• In a land of rifts
• The sequel to Hitman is called Hitman 2
• Nine is a group of islands
• Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries, Justice JX3
• Battlegrounds of PlayerUnknown’s
• From the ashes: a remnant
• Planet Badass in Serious Sam 4
• The Tomb Raider’s Shadow
• An arena called “The Forge”
• We’re a Happy Few
• Final Fantasy VII: A New Frontier
• It’s time for Fortuna to shine:
• Wolves are dangerous.
• Senua’s Sacrifice in Hellblade
• KINETIK
• In the Outpost 0
• The Walking Dead from Overkill
• SCUM

That’s a decent collection of games, but it’s evident that many of them don’t support DLSS—at least not yet.

As a result, the RTX 2080 offers two distinct benefits over the GTX 1080 Ti. While both cards perform equally in traditional gaming, particularly at 1080p, the RTX 2080 has a significant enough performance advantage to tilt the scales in its favour. It’s now time to answer the most crucial question of all: how much are the cards?

Price

Once again, the price of each card is determined by the version you choose, as different manufacturers provide different versions of each GPU. In a nutshell, the RTX 2080 is currently less expensive than the GTX 1080 Ti. A respectable RTX 2080 may be found for less than $700, such as this MSI RTX 2080 for $669 at Newegg. You can also spend more than that. This ASUS RTX 2080 costs $799, but it’s overclocked and includes premium fans and RGB lighting.

Even a refurbished GTX 1080 Ti was over $1,000 on Newegg.There are some in the $900 range on Amazon, such as this EVGA GTX 1080 Ti for $980. Again, this is an excellent card with excellent cooling technology and attractive RGB lighting, but it costs $300 more than many RTX 2080 GPUs and lacks ray tracing and DLSS compatibility. This M 1080 Ti is slightly less pricey at $930, but it is still significantly more expensive than the RTX 2080.

Verdict

Nvidia’s RTX 2080 is a better card that uses newer technologies and provides better, quicker performance than the GTX 1080 Ti at a cheaper cost. Some games will perform better with the GTX 1080 Ti, but that advantage will not be worth hundreds of dollars. Even more costly RTX 2080s, such as this Gigabyte Windforce model ($790 at Amazon), are much less expensive than the lowest 1080 Tis on the market.