6900 XT vs 3080

[WhoBang3r]

At 6900 XT launch you saw most of the big reviewers saying "don't buy this or a 3090. too expensive and not enough performance increase to justify".

 

Now that we're 1 tariff and multiple price increases into this thing has that advice changed? If you could get a $999 6900 XT or a $1000+ 3080 what do you go with?

[BetteBalterZen]

2 minutes ago, WhoBang3r said:

At 6900 XT launch you saw most of the big reviewers saying "don't buy this or a 3090. too expensive and not enough performance increase to justify".

 

Now that we're 1 tariff and multiple price increases into this thing has that advice changed? If you could get a $999 6900 XT or a $1000+ 3080 what do you go with?

3080 because of DLSS and very good Ray Tracing performance. 

[Analog]

5 hours ago, WhoBang3r said:

At 6900 XT launch you saw most of the big reviewers saying "don't buy this or a 3090. too expensive and not enough performance increase to justify".

 

Now that we're 1 tariff and multiple price increases into this thing has that advice changed? If you could get a $999 6900 XT or a $1000+ 3080 what do you go with?

 

Depends if you care for DLSS and RT.

 

Just for perspective. I personally don't care for either. I had a RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra for about 4 moths and had the opportunity to try both. DLSS makes surfaces look dull and washed out, you are much better of rendering everything in native resolution. RT is practically unusable unless with DLSS and you already have my opinion on DLSS so yeah... Tested in Cyberpunk and some other games, for me it's just not worth it.

 

There is the other big compromise - 10GB VRAM buffer. For some it may be just fine, I found that it is quite constraining. Just for perspective I don't have a high refresh rate screen so 60Hz (60FPS) is all I care about. Therefore, am gaming on 4K max settings (or as close to as possible). Now imagine this, COD Warzone maxed out runs at about 120+ FPS, which gives me a lot of FPS that I don't need. Subsequently I want to use the in-game option to render the image at a higher resolution in order to get everything looking even better. The problem is that with anything above 130%, the game stutters or crashes, as the 10GB buffer of the RTX 3080 is not enough. basically, the card has enough raw power to drive more than 130%, but the memory buffer just isn't there. 

 

Just some other experiences with the RTX 3080: 

- I also used to have horrible screen tearing when v-sync is not enabled. When I say horrible, I mean really game breaking. Everything looks terrible. Enabling v-sync works and everything looks fine, but introduces latency, which is not optimal if you like FPS games. I do play a lot of CS-GO and COD Warzone and enabling v-sync makes a noticeable difference the added latency for me at least.

- I also had other game specific issues. CS-GO maxed out would cause random stutters even though it's running at 350+ FPS making the game unplayable. For some reason, I needed to turn down a lot of the settings to eliminate this.

 

I began to think that my card might be faulty or something, but then other friends who have RTX 3080s from different brands complained about very similar issues.

 

When the prices of the RTX 3080 went up I decided to sell it. Made a very healthy profit and got the 6900XT Red Devil. Couldn't be happier. I have had the card for about a month now and I have never had an issue with it. The most surprising thing to me is that with it I have absolutely no screen tearing even without v-sync. 

[Moonzy]

1 hour ago, WhoBang3r said:

If you could get a $999 6900 XT or a $1000+ 3080 what do you go with?

i'd say 3080

1) more features as covered above

2) better mining perf so you can choose to mine to offset the cost if you don't mind doing it

[SavageNeo]

id go for 6900XT strictly if only gaming. if streaming, mining etc then mayby 3080. 

 

[WhoBang3r]

6 hours ago, SavageNeo said:

id go for 6900XT strictly if only gaming. if streaming, mining etc then mayby 3080. 

 

No streaming or editing and I've never mined before but now that question might be my only hold up.

 

Not too worried about RT or DLSS but might be interested in a little "free money" on the side...

 

On the other hand the 3080 is MSI who I kind of feel are dbags also...damn decisions

[xg32]

3080 if u mine, 6900xt u don't mine at all and just game, it's faster than the 3080

[DobertRownySr]

11 minutes ago, xg32 said:

3080 if u mine, 6900xt u don't mine at all and just game, it's faster than the 3080

Not in any games with DLSS or Raytracing it isn't. it's also 4 times the price.

[WhoBang3r]

28 minutes ago, DobertRownySr said:

Not in any games with DLSS or Raytracing it isn't. it's also 4 times the price.

3080 in this example is more expensive by $60. My choice is between a reference 6900 XT from AMD directly or a $1060 MSI 3080 at current retail pricing.

[danfraser2424]

For the same price? 6900XT no question whatsoever. The 6900XT is a 3090 competitor. I would only get a 3080 if it was cheaper. 6900XT is faster than the 3080 in nearly every game except some very weird scenarios and is faster than the 3090 in 40-50% of games. 

 

DLSS is a neat feature if you have a card that just can't run the game at native res at a high framerate but it has a very noticeable visual quality hit. Upsampling a lower resolution is upsampling a lower resolution regardless of what Nvidia tells you. It only works on games where the developer has added support(which is not many)- it isn't just check a box in your drivers. Why you would run things internally at 1920x1080(or less) on a card the class of a 3080 is beyond me.

 

Nvidia does definitely win on raytracing today but that feature is a long way from going mainstream the way Nvidia would like to pretend it is. Both consoles use big Navi and until we get the next gen of consoles they're going to set the bar for what game devs design around.

 

 

[mactipiak]

If I could get it at MSRP, I'd go for the 6900XT (I'm actually trying to convince myself a 6800XT/3070 is more reasonnable for me.. We'll see what happens the day I see "in stock" on AMD's website.)

 

The fact the current gen of consoles is on a similar architecture convinces me that more and more game engines will make leaps in perf on AMD as the generation matures (my plan is to keep the PC I'm speccing for 4-5 years).

 

I'm also impatient to see the DLSS equivalent's impact on RT performance.

 

3080 is a great card too, though. So it's all about availability first and price.

[AnUnQuietMind]

personally i always build my own computers and watercooling loops. however due to how hard it is to get a RTX 3080 and 3rd gen Ryzen, i opted to go with iBuyPower and customized a computer with the following. now by checking the box for a RTX 3080 you add 6 weeks to build time, but it is now 9 weeks after my order and at around 3,200$ US i now have the following computer. considering in the US on ebay the rtx 3080 is going for around the 3k $ area from scalpers, i basically got everything but the GPU for free but was just patient. it does guarantee that you will get a card. yes there are a few things i will switch out, a better airflow case "i didnt look at reviews of the airflow before picking the case" and possibly adding 2 more sticks of ram. remember this is just a suggestion if you have disposable income you could build the computer just to get the video card then part out the rest of the build to resell.

 

Case                      be quiet! Pure Base 500 Tempered Glass Gaming Case - White
Case Fans              Default Case Fan
Processor              AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Processor (6x 3.7GHz/32MB L3 Cache)
Processor Cooling         ENERMAX 240mm AQUAFUSION ARGB Liquid Cooler [White]
Memory                      16 GB [8 GB x2] DDR4-3200 Memory Module - Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO (RGB LED)
Video Card              NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 - 10GB GDDR6X - GIGABYTE VISION OC (VR-Ready)
Game Bundle              [Receive Game] - Get Call of Duty: Cold War - w/ Purchase of NVIDIA RTX 3080 or 3090 Series Graphic Cards
Motherboard              ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS - ARGB Header (1), USB 3.2 Ports (1 Type-C, 5 Type-A), M.2 Slot (3)
Power Supply              1000 Watt - Thermaltake Toughpower TPD-1000MPCGUS-1 - 80 PLUS Gold, Modular
Advanced Cabling Options  Professional Wiring - for all standard default cables inside the system
Primary Hard Drive      1TB Samsung 970 EVO PLUS M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD -- Read: 3500MB/s; Write: 3300MB/s
Secondary Hard Drive      2TB Samsung 870 QVO SSD -- Read: 560MB/s, Write: 530MB/s - Single Drive
Sound Card              3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
Network Card              Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System      Windows 10 Pro - (64-bit)
Keyboard              Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Aluminum Frame Mechanical Gaming Keyboard [Red Switches] - RGB LED, Cherry MX Red Switches
Mouse                      Corsair M65 RGB Elite Tunable FPS Gaming Mouse
Speaker System              Creative Pebble Plus 2.1 Speakers

iBUYPOWER SafeGuard Packaging    iBUYPOWER Specialized Advanced Packaging System - Protect your investment during transportation!
Warranty    3 Year Standard Warranty Service

 

 

[AnUnQuietMind]

i basically paid around 832$ for the version of the RTX 3080 i got

 

[AnUnQuietMind]

you also have the same option to wait 6 weeks when picking 6800XT/6900XT

[WhoBang3r]

14 minutes ago, AnUnQuietMind said:

personally i always build my own computers and watercooling loops. however due to how hard it is to get a RTX 3080 and 3rd gen Ryzen, i opted to go with iBuyPower and customized a computer with the following. now by checking the box for a RTX 3080 you add 6 weeks to build time, but it is now 9 weeks after my order and at around 3,200$ US i now have the following computer. considering in the US on ebay the rtx 3080 is going for around the 3k $ area from scalpers, i basically got everything but the GPU for free but was just patient. it does guarantee that you will get a card. yes there are a few things i will switch out, a better airflow case "i didnt look at reviews of the airflow before picking the case" and possibly adding 2 more sticks of ram. remember this is just a suggestion if you have disposable income you could build the computer just to get the video card then part out the rest of the build to resell.

 

Case                      be quiet! Pure Base 500 Tempered Glass Gaming Case - White
Case Fans              Default Case Fan
Processor              AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Processor (6x 3.7GHz/32MB L3 Cache)
Processor Cooling         ENERMAX 240mm AQUAFUSION ARGB Liquid Cooler [White]
Memory                      16 GB [8 GB x2] DDR4-3200 Memory Module - Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO (RGB LED)
Video Card              NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 - 10GB GDDR6X - GIGABYTE VISION OC (VR-Ready)
Game Bundle              [Receive Game] - Get Call of Duty: Cold War - w/ Purchase of NVIDIA RTX 3080 or 3090 Series Graphic Cards
Motherboard              ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS - ARGB Header (1), USB 3.2 Ports (1 Type-C, 5 Type-A), M.2 Slot (3)
Power Supply              1000 Watt - Thermaltake Toughpower TPD-1000MPCGUS-1 - 80 PLUS Gold, Modular
Advanced Cabling Options  Professional Wiring - for all standard default cables inside the system
Primary Hard Drive      1TB Samsung 970 EVO PLUS M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD -- Read: 3500MB/s; Write: 3300MB/s
Secondary Hard Drive      2TB Samsung 870 QVO SSD -- Read: 560MB/s, Write: 530MB/s - Single Drive
Sound Card              3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
Network Card              Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System      Windows 10 Pro - (64-bit)
Keyboard              Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Aluminum Frame Mechanical Gaming Keyboard [Red Switches] - RGB LED, Cherry MX Red Switches
Mouse                      Corsair M65 RGB Elite Tunable FPS Gaming Mouse
Speaker System              Creative Pebble Plus 2.1 Speakers

iBUYPOWER SafeGuard Packaging    iBUYPOWER Specialized Advanced Packaging System - Protect your investment during transportation!
Warranty    3 Year Standard Warranty Service

 

 

Love that Gigabyte Vision 3080. That is the card I originally wanted but I decided to go a different direction when I was able to get a 6900 XT and sold my entire white build lol.

 

Rebuilding now and just trying to decide which of these gpus to keep.

 

Think I'm leaning twords the 6900 XT from the feedback I've been getting plus my own inclinations. 

[Pixel5]

i bought a 6900XT exactly for the reason that i could get it cheaper then a 3080 and its also faster then a 3080 in almost every scenario.

 

Unless you need raytracing or DLSS get the 6900XT

[WihGlah]

I paid £1799 for my EVGA 3090 FTW3 Ultra. And Even it it hadn't mined half an Ethereum while I have slept, It would still be one of the best things I have ever bought.

 

There comes a time in your life when you stop wanting to settle for 2nd best. My current philosophy is, if I can't afford the best one, then I don't bother at all.

 

TLDR, get the one that has the features you need and the best frame rate in the games you play. Price is irrelevant.

[AnUnQuietMind]

1 hour ago, WihGlah said:

I paid £1799 for my EVGA 3090 FTW3 Ultra. And Even it it hadn't mined half an Ethereum while I have slept, It would still be one of the best things I have ever bought.

 

There comes a time in your life when you stop wanting to settle for 2nd best. My current philosophy is, if I can't afford the best one, then I don't bother at all.

 

TLDR, get the one that has the features you need and the best frame rate in the games you play. Price is irrelevant.

i agree,it all depends on what your playing. The primary reason i went with the 3080 was for ray tracing and dlss, cyberpunk and other modable games as well as COD are my main focus. my old first gen titan x even custom water cooled couldn't handle night city even when i turned the res down to 1080p. With dlss i can have it run it at my 1440p ROG monitor res at high settings and medium ray tracing with dlss on quality. looking at different streamers or people uploading vods using either 6800xt or 3080 it just looked better for that one title to go with team green. depending on the generation i change back and forth. not including the 11th gen intel cpus i think ive swapped back and forth from intel to amd probably 7 times. and the same applies to graphics, before the first gen titan x i ran two 7970's water cooled in crossfire on a 3770k., cyberpunk really shines with 2nd gen nvidia ray tracing. i know it now supports team red ray tracing but team reds ray tracing is a bit behind, there are defiantly trade offs between each game and each card. resizable bar being unlocked on the 3080 and 3090 is a nice plus too.

[MadPistol]

The 6900 XT is great for most games, but if you plan on playing anything with Ray Tracing or DLSS, the 3080 will be worth its weight in gold.

[GamerDude]

8 hours ago, DobertRownySr said:

Not in any games with DLSS or Raytracing it isn't. it's also 4 times the price.

Wait, what? Is the RX 6900 XT four times the price of the RTX 3080?! Where? Please provide a link as I've never seen the price of the RX 6900 XT being 4x that of the RTX 3080. In my neck of the woods, the RTX 3080 is close to the price of the RX 6900 XT, with the price of some more premiere RTX 3080 models exceeding that of the RX 6900 XT.

 

Of course, but there're not many games with DLSS support, perhaps major releases or AAA games. For sheer rasterized gaming, the 6900 XT beats the RTX 3080, unless OP is willing to splurge and get the RTX 3090 which trades blows with the RX 6900 XT in rasterized games.

 

Speaking as an RX 6900 XT owner, I've had no driver related issue, other than Metro Exodus crashing with RT enabled, but that was resolved with a driver update a while back. That's what has me scratching my head, oft times, I hear peeps say "AMD drivers sux" yada yada, and I often wondered if many are just parroting what they had seen or read online.

 

True, sometimes a driver may break a game, or yield little to no improvement in the latest games, but it doesn't 'break' the card/performance. The same can be said of nVidia drivers, though admittedly nV drivers are more 'polished' so to say. Still, I'm anxiously awaiting AMD's own version of res scaling in FidelityFX Super Resolution, let's see what it brings to the table.

 

I've been using an RX 6000 series card since the launch of the cards back in November with an RX 6800, which I'd then upgraded to an RX 6900 XT on 2nd January. The drivers are just fine, contrary to most naysayers' often vocal outcries, in fact, there's a thread in TPU with many saying how good the drivers are.

 

I chose the RX 6900 XT as:

1. Good native high res performance with RT enable is still hardware limited as hardware isn't powerful enough yet, hence the need for DLSS. That's why, having RT is a 'nice to have' but NOT a 'must have'.

2. Although nVidia memory usage is more efficient than AMD's, the VRAM on the RX 6900 XT trumps the RTX 3080 by an insurmountable 6GB (which I believe would prove to be more useful with more games at high res + high texture packs in the future).

 

For pure gaming without RT, the RX 6900 XT is the obvious choice. But, if there're other concerns like productivity usage and RT, then the RTX 3080 would be the one to get (or perhaps wait for the RTX 3080 Ti with 12GB of VRAM instead, certainly isn't gonna be cheap though!)

 

 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

8 hours ago, danfraser2424 said:

The 6900XT is a 3090 competitor

Thats what AMDwants you to think. its a 3080 competitor with a superiority complex

[dean_5234]

8 hours ago, WhoBang3r said:

3080 in this example is more expensive by $60. My choice is between a reference 6900 XT from AMD directly or a $1060 MSI 3080 at current retail pricing.

Just wondering, where are you getting the 6900xt for msrp?

[GamerDude]

2 hours ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

Thats what AMDwants you to think. its a 3080 competitor with a superiority complex

So, this is true just because you said so?  Yeah, right, I'd buy that for a dollar! 

 

The RX 6900 XT does not compete against the RTX 3090 in price, but in rasterized only games, it trades wins so it does compete in that respect. But if you are talking about pricing only, then yes, no arguments from me about pricing, the RTX 3090 is in a league of its own.

 

[WhoBang3r]

19 minutes ago, davemc said:

Just wondering, where are you getting the 6900xt for msrp?

Reference card from AMD.com direct buy

[mactipiak]

2 hours ago, WhoBang3r said:

Reference card from AMD.com direct buy

Is there ever any stock though? I’ve been checking for the last week or so (not to the point of having alerts for it…yet!) but I never saw any GPU in stock (a couple of cpus occasionally)

 

im heading towards the 6800xt but if I connect one day and see a 6900xt in stock, I’m clicking that “buy” button.