1080 Ti vs 2080

If you’re on the hunt to purchase a brand spanking new graphics card, but you’re not sure whether to purchase the GTX 1080 Ti or upgrade to the RTX 2080, you’re in the right place! 

Maybe you’ve decided to upgrade your current graphics card, or maybe you’re beginning to build a gaming PC. Whatever the reason, choosing the right graphics card is one of the most vital steps to get right.

If you’re currently stuck between these two offerings from Nvidia, then rest assured, we’re here to help. Below, you’ll find an in-depth review of each GPU card. We’ve covered VRAM, resolution, and architecture, plus much more. Read on! 

Architecture

First up, we’re going to be taking a look at the architecture of the two cards. Just like with other Nvidia 10-series graphics cards, the GTX 1080 Ti features the award-winning (yet dated) Pascal architecture.

At the time of release, Nvidia guaranteed that this architecture would deliver up to three times faster performance over older-generation graphics cards. The Pascal architecture also ensures better overall densities of transistors and a more efficient operation for a more ‘smooth’ gaming experience, however, in current times, this architecture leans more towards being ‘outdated’. Nevertheless, it is still pretty powerful, especially for lower-res games.

On the other hand, Nvidia’s newer RTX 2080 features Nvidia’s all-new Turing architecture. This revolutionary architecture utilizes a mix of cores (including RT cores) which are cores intended to allow for real-time ray tracing, which we’ll get into later.

The Turing architecture is able to deliver a performance that is up to 6 times faster than older-generation graphics cards, all the while harnessing the power of Tensor cores, which is able to power up to 500 trillion tensor operations per second, which means that AI-specialized rendering is compatible with this card.

Cooling

The Nvidia the RTX 2080 has a maximum GPU temperature of 88C, which is lower than previous generations in order to ensure a longer service life and to reduce the chance of heat damage. It also features concurrent processing which will allow this card to efficiently process heavy workloads from 4K games without becoming overburdened or overheated.

In addition, the RTX 2080 features a next-generation 8-phase power supply that will allow for maximum overclocking, all thanks to the dual-axial 13 blade fans and vapor chamber that will ensure a cool and ultra-quiet performance.

In contrast, the slightly older GTX 1080 has been made with a die-cast aluminum body that will be able to aid in the prevention of overheating, while its radial fan features a vapor chamber that will be able to withstand the demands of most games.

Resolution

This brings us to our next topic: the resolution. The RTX 2080 and the GTX 1080 Ti are both very fast, though we feel that there are some points to note here. For instance, the RTX 2080 harnesses the power of a much faster GDDR6 memory and a clock boost that will be able to handle higher resolutions. This means that the RTX 2080 will outperform the GTX 1080 Ti in terms of 4K games.

Ray tracing?

Next, we’re going to be exploring the ray-tracing capabilities of each card. Generally speaking, this is where the main differences lie between the GTX 1080 Ti and the RTX 2080. Nvidia only began to roll out the revolutionary ray tracing feature as soon as the RTX-series began being developed, and it allows for more immersive gameplay than ever before.

To break that explanation down, ray tracing essentially is able to mimic the way light and shadow work together in real life, which allows for a much more realistic and visually impressive gaming experience.

It should come as no surprise then, that the RTX 2080 utilizes a mix of both RT and Tensor cores (like we touched upon above), which is able to give the card the ability to render real-time ray tracing to games of today and the next generation.

This is a distinctive difference in comparison to the GTX 1080 Ti. Wondering why? Well, since the 1080 Ti features an older architecture, it, therefore, lacks the necessary dedicated hardware that is needed to make 4K ray tracing possible.

Technically speaking, Nvidia’s older GTX GPUs can perform real-time ray tracing, though you’re likely going to notice that this card won’t be able to do so for games of today, as they tend to operate at 4K. Rather, the 1080 Ti will be able to offer ray-tracing to around 1440p.

VRAM

Moving on to VRAM, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti packs an impressive 3584 CUDA cores, 88 ROPs, as well as 224 texture units. Not only that, but it also has a base clock of 1,480MHz, and a boost clock of 1,582Mhz, which is pretty impressive for an older-generation card. In addition, it also comes with 11GB of GDDR5X VRAM, which in turn will be able to offer a lightning-quick speed of 11Gbps, which makes the GTX 1080 the quickest of all Nvidia Pascal cards.

On the other hand, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 features 4352 Cuda cores, 272 texture cores, and 88 ROPs. As far as memory goes, it has a GDDR6 VRAM with an upgraded speed of 14Gbps. Plus, in addition to the VRAM, it has a base clock of 1,350MHz, and a boost clock of 1,545MHz.

So, which one is the best? It’s clear to see that Nvidia’s newer RTX 2080 is the overall better card. Not only has it been built with new industry-standard technology, but it also delivers faster and more powerful performance than the GTX 1080 Ti.

Though there may be some games that work better with the GTX 1080 Ti, we don’t feel that this benefit is worth the price.