Wait for RTX 3080 or get an RTX 3070 or 6800 (non XT) now?

DarkosCY · January 23, 2021

Like seemingly pretty much every person on the planet, I've had my heart set on an RTX 3080 for my new 1440/144Hz build. I have every other part except the GPU because they're nowhere to be found.

I have now been given the chance to buy an RTX 3070 or a Radeon 6800 (non XT) for ~700GBP (960 USD). Specifically, this is the Aorus Master 3070 and the Nitro+ OC 6800. This is not from a scalper, as I would never give them money or encourage them.

I'm really tempted by the fact that they're actually available, and was thinking I could buy one of them, use them for now until the market settles a bit, and then sell them and upgrade to a 3080? Given it would be only a couple of months, and the current state of the market, I probably wouldn't lose too much of their value, right?

Between the two, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted by the 6800's double VRAM size, but I'm just as tempted by the DLSS and Reflex the 3070 would provide. Benchmarks show them within 10 fps of each other.

Any advice?

Bobbysixjp · January 23, 2021

If you value DLSS and ray tracing, get a 3070 (or 3080). If not, get a 6800.

Personally, I was underwhelmed by the ray tracing performance of the 3070, so I sold it and bought a 6800. I also thought that DLSS made games look blurry (but that it just my personal opinion).

jaslion · January 23, 2021

That is still a 150-200gbp price extra for the 3070. I'd get the 3070 off the 2 but really either just sucks for the price you are paying.

DarkosCY · January 23, 2021

8 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

If you value DLSS and ray tracing, get a 3070 (or 3080). If not, get a 6800.

Personally, I was underwhelmed by the ray tracing performance of the 3070, so I sold it and bought a 6800. I also thought that DLSS made games look blurry (but that it just my personal opinion).

I'm not dying about either, but I thought overall they made a better value proposition? As in, I'd at least like to try them, and considering that my 'end goal' is an RTX 3080, the 3070 seemed like a better stepping stone.

7 minutes ago, jaslion said:

That is still a 150-200gbp price extra for the 3070. I'd get the 3070 off the 2 but really either just sucks for the price you are paying.

You are correct in that those SKUs are 150 pounds higher than the cheapest 3070 on paper, but unfortunately the cheap 3070s aren't available, and (even more unfortunately) those are the actual prices for those SKUs everywhere I've checked in the UK

Considering I do intended to sell these down the line, should I be thinking about which one will hold its value better? Having had a quick look on ebay/gumtree/etc (not that it's any indication now since all prices are scalper-level), the RX6800 seems to hold a significantly higher (>150 GBP!!!) price tag??