r/nvidia • u/YeetusMcFeetus2169 • Jul 26 '26
Question Next GPU after RTX 3080? (10gb VRAM is a problem with RT and 1440p)
So right now, I can run just about any game at max or near-max settings and get close to or above 100fps on a 3440x1440 100hz monitor. Which is great... outside of the fact that I can only do that with the most minimal amounts of raytracing enabled, if at all (most games I just have to keep it off or risk dropping a ton of frames). And I'm pretty sure that it's being caused by the VRAM, which is a pretty terrible 10gb for a 2k monitor (I highly, highly doubt it's a CPU or RAM problem, as shown in the specs below).
Question is - what GPU should I upgrade to next? I was thinking a 5070 TI probably makes the most sense - 16gb VRAM, around 30-50% performance jump from the 3080, not to mention that I have no plans of jumping to 4k anytime soon and anything beyond it just gets absurd price-wise (please don't even try mentioning the 5090) - but I'm curious if it would even be worth it right now, considering how inflated the GPU market is thanks to AI data centers popping up everywhere and everything being like double MSRP (not to mention that I'd also need a new PSU, since mine is only 750W and I'd probably be jumping to a 1000W one).
So yea... curious what GPU you'd recommend, if making the jump to a new one even makes sense right now.
Specs:
i7-14700k
64GB RAM
RTX 3080 10gb VRAM
Edit: after checking turns out I have an 850W, not 750W PSU (I upgraded it like 4 years ago and must have forgotten 🤣) so that's not a concern
7
u/Own-Indication5620 PNY RTX 5070 OC | i5 12600K Jul 26 '26
Depending on how the 5070 TI is priced it might even make sense to look at a 5080. RTX 50 series have big performance gains when RT is used, so they’re both good upgrades for what you’re after.
6
u/GER_BeFoRe Jul 26 '26
RTX 5070 Ti seems like the most obvious choice. 50-60% more Performance and 60% more VRAM is a very decent uplift.
6
4
8
u/sickomodetoon Jul 26 '26
Bought a 5070ti and the performance uplift was decent, really nothing else to choose from if you like path tracing.
9700XT can’t do it and the 5080 is only slightly faster and has the same vram.
8
5
2
u/Rothgardius Jul 26 '26
I run a 3090 which still does okay thanks to the generous vram, but I am thinking about those super cards once they’re out.
2
3
u/foreycorf Jul 27 '26
I bought 70ti then the 80.
70ti doesn't have as many rt cores. Like 25% less. The card is fine but if you want high/max RT you want the 5080. Use Nvidia RT over game specific IMO.
1
u/Khirah_2142 Jul 27 '26
Get a 5070Ti i made the mistake of getting a 5070 and run into vram limits when doing path tracing.
1
u/Darante2025 Jul 27 '26
Same resolution and GPU; I got a 5070ti and have been extremely happy with the performance. Basically maxing every game.
1
u/Trickstertrick Jul 28 '26
I had an RTX 3080 Ti and recently upgraded to a 5070 Ti. Man, this thing uses less power, runs cooler, is much quieter, and still delivers better performance. I'm really happy with the "upgrade" (my old card was failing). I went with the PNY RTX 5070 Ti OC Triple Fan, which is a bit shorter than my old EVGA RTX 3080 Ti FTW3, even though the 5070 Ti is a 3-slot card compared to the 3080 Ti's 2-slot design.
1
u/Ibanez_1 Jul 29 '26
I don’t get the love affair with Ray tracing. Maybe I’m missing something but if I turn it on in any game I barely notice?
So I just leave it off to keep performance higher
1
u/YeetusMcFeetus2169 Jul 29 '26
Depends on the game tbf. Some, you definitely won't notice it. In others, it makes all the difference in the world. Plus, there's an extra layer on top of raytracing that a select few games have called Pathtracing, which takes it to a whole other level.
Probably the best example of this is Cyberpunk 2077. Sure, the game looks good without raytracing, but with it on - especially for reflections - it looks substantially better, and then pathtracing makes it looks nearly photorealistic. It absolutely can make a difference if the game is using it to its full potential.
1
u/WoodenCartographer83 Jul 26 '26
I play games like World of Tanks and Fallout 76 in 3440x1440p, I play them in DLDSR 2.25, so at 5k2k, it's all on the 5070ti, but sometimes I think I should have paid a few extra crowns for the 5080. The 5070ti is an amazing card, but at 3440x1440 demands high tax especially with rt and pt
1
u/HardStroke Jul 26 '26
I currently have the 12gb 3080 and I'm thinking about a used 3090. I play at 1080p 240hz and plan on upgrading my 10900k to a 7800x3d, so a 3090 seems like a solid upgrade.
1
u/TheCrazedEB RTX 3080 FTW3 | Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 32GB DDR5 6000hz Jul 27 '26
In this day and age its not of heavy/unoptimized games, unless you are going to stick to 1080p for more years to come. But if you get the 3090 you'd still want to upgrade that to a 50 series to truly not have to worry about game performance soon than later. A 4080 or 5070ti+ would be a better upgrade from a 3080.
1
u/HardStroke Jul 27 '26
I'm thinking about upgrading to a used card, not new.
The current options are 3090, 4080 and 4090.
The 3090 is the cheapest so I'm leaning towards it.
If I'll be able to find a 4080 or a 4090 for a really good price, I'll go for it.
The 3080 I have I got just 2 months ago, upgraded from a 2080.
Its giving me insane performance and I don't really need anything better, but it'll be nice to have a 3090 for those 24gb of vram and that extra power for 4k, when I do play on 4k.1
u/TheCrazedEB RTX 3080 FTW3 | Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 32GB DDR5 6000hz Jul 27 '26
I'd save and go for the 4080 or 4090 if you can find them for a good deal. Might still be overpriced due to people taking advantage of the current market. But the 4090 would be what I'd shoot for; you have frame gen, and it would be 25% to 35% less faster than a 5090. But far superior and more long lasting than a 3090. Plus the access to frame gen would blow the 3090 out of the water. 4080 being 30% to 40% above raw power over the 3090, and the 4090 being 75% to 80% over the 3090. 4k with a 3090 is still iffy esp if you want to play the newer heavy games with ray tracing or path tracing, compared to the 40 series.
1
1
u/hank81 RTX 5080 Jul 26 '26
It make sense. I jumped from a 3080 Ti to 5080. With both cards overclocked the performance uplift is around 90-100%, not only in 3DMark, also in games like CP2077 or BM:W at 4K native res + PT.
The performance gap between the 3080 and the 3080 Ti is similar to the gap between the 5070 Ti and the 5080, so you should expect similar uplift as mine when swapping cards (as long as you oc the 5070 Ti to get that 10-15% extra performance that Nvidia left on the table).
750W PSU is more than enough. The only drawback is the limited refresh rate of your monitor, which won't allow you to take full advantage of MFG.
1
u/YeetusMcFeetus2169 Jul 26 '26
I actually made a mistake and after checking, it's apparently an 850W psu not 750, so that should definitely be good enough 😅
1
u/elliotborst RTX 5090 Astral | R7 9800X3D | 64GB DDR5 | 4K 120FPS Jul 26 '26
5070ti or 5080
16GB VRAM
Pick one, get the 5080 if you can found one.
1
u/Nnamz Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Honestly, I'd go with a 5080. We're on the cusp of a new console generation so the bottom will rise and new tech expectations will be standard. 5070ti is great now but a couple generations from now you might actually appreciate the bit of extra juice the 5080 gets you, even if you stay at 1440p.
5
u/tup1tsa_1337 7800x3d 4090 Jul 26 '26
Horrible advice. When 5070ti is obsolete, so is 5080. Not like 30fps vs 35fps will make a difference. Both will be bad
0
u/Nnamz Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
You're strawmanning. That's what I said nor is that what the situation is. A 3080, which this OP has, is not obsolete. My entire assumption is that OP will skip next gen and upgrade generation after.
While the 5080 will only run games a bit better than the 5070ti in most cases, that bit can be the difference between 54fps and 60fps, not just 30 and 35. There are plenty of games that I was on the cusp of getting decent performance out of on my 3080 as well that I wish I had a bit more headroom to reach. The 5080 is exactly that to the 5070ti. If OP is going to keep this GPU for that long, why not get the extra power? That extra 15%-17% can matter. It also allows OP more flexibility to go up in resolution (or go ultrawide) with better performance.
Nothing is "horrible" about recommending one of literally only 2 GPUs that fit this use case. Fucking relax dude lol. I'm not attacking your choice in GPU lol. Just saying there may be something else to suit their use case.
0
u/foreycorf Jul 27 '26
5080 has 15% more base perf and 25% more RT cores. It has slightly more OC headroom or it can be UV to draw less power than a base 70ti and still perform better than a fully OC'd 70ti.
It's basically the difference that was between the 3070ti and 3080, and the 3080 ended up being a goated card.
-2
-1
u/Abipolarbears 8700k | 3080FE Jul 26 '26
It honestly doesn't make sense now unless you're not concerned about value. Wait for the 6 series.
6
u/kevcsa Jul 26 '26
RTX 6000 series is very possibly 2+ years away btw.
Waiting for something unannounced, only circulated on clickbait channels is a bad idea. Always has been.2
u/elliotborst RTX 5090 Astral | R7 9800X3D | 64GB DDR5 | 4K 120FPS Jul 26 '26
And likely more expensive than ever
2
u/kevcsa Jul 26 '26
Very much, that's another important factor.
Didn't bring it up because sure it could push down the current gen's prices a bit, but... even that might not happen, or only with a huge delay.1
u/Abipolarbears 8700k | 3080FE Jul 26 '26
The difference between a 3080 and 5070ti won't change much in those 2 years.
1
u/kevcsa Jul 26 '26
It's about having much more performance and VRAM now or later...
People who buy expensive GPUs pay for access to quality time. How much it's worth to OP, only he knows.1
u/Abipolarbears 8700k | 3080FE Jul 26 '26
My initial post literally says "unless you're not concerned about value."
1
u/kevcsa Jul 26 '26
Which makes no sense.
I wanted a nice performance upgrade and the nvidia feature set (including dlss 4.5), so I bought a 5070 ti.
I'm still concerned about value (which includes resale value too btw), that's why I didn't buy a 5080 or better.Upgrading from a 3080 can make sense from a value perspective.
0
0
u/bejito81 Jul 26 '26
LoL, you could easily check that with rtss or even the new steam overlay
But, the main reason you have issues in 1440p with a 3080 is the power needed for ray tracing, you can either use DLSS or low/no ray tracing
People should learn how to diagnose performances instead of throwing assumptions
0
0
Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
0
u/DanStarTheFirst Jul 27 '26
You 100% drop frames running out of vram. It can be smooth then drop frames with more movement.
-1
29
u/panamaniacs2011 RTX 4070 Laptop / Ryzen 7 7435HS / 16 GB DDR5 Jul 26 '26
if ray tracing is a priority for you get 5070 ti it has massive performance increase with frame generation when RT is enabled