Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti vs Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
After years of anticipation, we finally got our hands on the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, along with its mainstream cousin, the RTX 2080.
But, how does the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti compare to its processor, the GTX 1080 Ti? We’ve now updated this versus piece as we’ve had time with the brand new graphics card, and have put the two cards through their paces to find out how well they really compare to each other.
The GTX 1080 Ti is certainly a tough act to follow, being one of the best gaming graphics cards ever made. It certainly feels like we’ve got the RTX 2080 Ti earlier than expected, but does this mean it’s less of a leap when it comes to performance? Let’s find out.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti vs Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti price
The GTX 1080 Ti launched on March 10, 2017, for $699 (£699, around AU$1,000). Even by Nvidia’s flagship GPU standards, this was a very high price tag, but for many, the pure gaming performance of the GTX 1080 Ti was well worth it.
Because of that, we weren’t expecting the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti to be cheap, which is just as well when Nvidia unveiled its $999 (AU$1,899, about £753) price tag – though, you’ll have a hard time finding at that price. Instead, you’ll likely find most 2080 Ti cards sitting at or above the price of the Founders Edition card at $1,199 (£1,099, AU$1,899)
That’s a hefty amount of cash it’s asking for, so the performance better be worth it. Our full review of the RTX 2080 Ti goes into plenty of detail about whether or not it’s worth the steep price increase. In short, it’s a lot more powerful, but not when compared to the price.
If that price is too much, then bear in mind that the price of the GTX 1080 Ti may well drop now that its successor is out. It’s well worth keeping an eye out for any bargains on that front.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti vs Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti specifications
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti packs 3584 CUDA cores, 224 texture units and 88 ROPs.
It comes with 11GB of GDDR5X VRAM, which has a speed of 11Gbps – making this Nvidia’s quickest Pascal card. It also has a base clock of 1,480MHz, and a boost clock of 1,582MHz.
Meanwhile the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti features 4352 Cuda cores, 272 texture cores and 88 ROPs. Memory-wise it has 11GB of GDDR6 VRAM with a speed of 14Gbps. Its base clock is 1,350MHz, and it has a boost clock of 1,545MHz.
That’s for the reference spec of the RTX 2080 Ti. There is also a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition which features an overclocked boost of 1,635MHz.
It’s certainly a decent spec bump over the 1080 Ti, and in our full review of the RTX 2080 Ti we’ll give the new GPU a thorough test to see just how much faster it really is.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti vs Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti performance
As we mentioned earlier, we’ve now had a chance to run a variety of benchmark tests using the RTX 2080 Ti, so we can better compare it to the performance of the GTX 1080 Ti.
Image 1 of 8
Higher is better Higher is better Higher is better Higher is better Lower is better Lower is better Lower is better Lower is better
As you can see from the results above, the RTX 2080 Ti offers a decent performance boost over the GTX 1080 Ti in a range of graphical benchmarks. While the performance difference isn’t that huge in these benchmarks, it does mean that the RTX 2080 Ti is the most powerful consumer graphics card in the world.
Impressively, the RTX 2080 Ti also has a lower maximum temperature and maximum power draw than the GTX 1080 Ti, which means it doesn’t just offer more performance, but also does it more efficiently.
Image 1 of 4
Higher is better Higher is better Higher is better Higher is better
Of course, we also wanted to see how the RTX 2080 Ti compares to the GTX 1080 Ti when it comes to playing games. In the results above you can see that you are getting around 10 frames per second more when playing Total War: Warhammer II.
Playing Middle Earth: Shadow of War at 1080p the difference is even more stark, with a 30 fps increase.
The RTX 2080 Ti is also a much better performer at 4K resolution. Shadow of War hits 74 fps, much higher than the holy grail of 60 fps at 4K. Meanwhile, the GTX 1080 Ti falls just short, hitting 52 fps.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti vs Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti architecture
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti vs Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti architecture
As with other series 10 graphics cards, like the GTX 1080, the GTX 1080 Ti is built on Nvidia’s Pascal architecture, which Nvidia promised would deliver three times the performance of previous-generation graphics cards, while excelling at virtual reality and other advanced gaming technology.
With Pascal, Nvidia introduced its 16nm FinFET process, which brought improved efficiencies, higher densities of transistors, and increased performance.
The RTX 2080 Ti, however, is based on Nvidia’s new Turing GPU architecture.
This features the debut of RT Cores, which are specialized cores used to compute how light and sound travel in a 3D environment at a rate of up to 10 GigaRays. They should allow Turing GPUs like the RTX 2080 Ti to process real-time ray tracing 25-times faster than Pascal architecture.
Turing architecture also carries over Tensor Cores from its Volta architecture, which can deliver up to 500 trillion tensor operations a second that benefits AI-driven rendering methods, such as deep learning anti-aliasing.
As with Volta, Nvidia Turing has adopted GDDR6 memory that clocks in as fast as 14Gbps, and features 18.6 billion transistors compared to Pascal’s 11.8 billion transistors.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti vs Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti conclusion: should you upgrade?
Now that we’ve had time with the RTX 2080 Ti to properly compare it to the GTX 1080 Ti, we can conclude that there’s no doubt that the RTX 2080 Ti is the world’s most powerful gaming graphics card, and easily surpasses the GTX 1080 Ti.
If you want the very best of the best, then the RTX 2080 Ti is the one to go for.
However, the GTX 1080 Ti is still an absolutely brilliant graphics card, so if you want to save a bit of money and don’t need to hit 4K resolution at full graphical settings, then the GTX 1080 Ti is well worth considering.
But what about if you already own a GTX 1080 Ti? Should you make the upgrade? We’d say probably not. The performance difference isn’t that immense to warrant an upgrade. For most people, the GTX 1080 Ti will be more than good enough for the next year or more.
Otherwise, you may be able to sell your GTX 1080 Ti for a still decent price, then put that money towards an RTX 2080 Ti if you really must have the very best GPU.
- Here’s our pick of the best graphics cards you can buy right now
Sign up to receive daily breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis, deals and more from the world of tech.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
Matt is TechRadar’s Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology.
Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there’s no aspect of technology that Matt isn’t passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. Ever since he got an Amiga A500+ for Christmas in 1991, he’s loved using (and playing on) computers, and will talk endlessly about how The Secret of Monkey Island is the best game ever made.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti vs. RTX 2080 Ti: Should you upgrade?
News Analysis
Definitely maybe. We’ll help you decide.
By Brad Chacos
PCWorld Sep 21, 2018 3:00 am PDT
Image: Brad Chacos/IDG
Two and a half long years after the launch of the GeForce GTX 10-series, Nvidia’s next generation of graphics cards is finally here, and the GeForce RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti top our performance charts. But should you upgrade to the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti ($1,200 at Best BuyRemove non-product link or GeForce.com) if you already own a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti? As always, the answer is, “it depends.
”
It’s easier to explain than the decision to buy a GeForce RTX 2080 or GTX 1080 Ti, though, since those graphics cards offer virtually identical performance. Let’s dig in.
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti vs. GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
In our performance tests across a suite of various games, the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition outpunched an overclocked PNY GTX 1080 Ti XLR8 by an average of 33 percent, and a whopping 45 percent in Middle-earth: Shadow of War and Rainbow Six Siege. Nvidia’s new flagship cleared 60 frames per second at 4K resolution with graphics options cranked to Ultra settings in every game but Ghost Recon Wildlands, whose top-end settings were designed to utterly melt GPUs. If you ditch anti-aliasing and drop the graphics settings in games down to High—a common visual configuration for pixel-packed 4K monitors—the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti clears 80 fps in all the games in our test suite.
Brad Chacos/IDG
4K performance with High graphics settings and anti-aliasing disabled.
But here’s the thing: Most of the 4K monitors available today top out at 60Hz, a speed that the GTX 1080 Ti still meets across the board if you drop some visual settings down to High in games. Heck, the GTX 1080 achieves or almost achieves 4K/60 with everything cranked to Ultra in many of the games in our testing suite. If you already own a 4K, 60Hz monitor, you won’t see any of the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti’s performance gains, because your display simply won’t be able to keep up with it. The GTX 1080 Ti already pushes it hard enough.
There are some cases where upgrading from a GTX 1080 Ti to the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti can give you a tangibly better experience, however (though I leave it up to you to decide whether investing $1,200 or more in a graphics card for 33 percent more performance is truly worthwhile).
Mentioned in this article
Predator X27
This summer, the first 4K, 144Hz G-Sync HDR displays, such as the Acer Predator X27, made their debut.
They are utterly glorious—fast, pixel-packed, and blazing at a robust 1,000 nits. The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is the first graphics card capable of pushing well past 4K/60 and feeding these wonderful displays at ultra-fast frame rates. If you’ve already invested in a G-Sync HDR monitor and want the best gaming experience possible, no matter the price, the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is calling your name. Cheaper—well, “cheaper”—4K, 144Hz G-Sync monitors are coming from Acer later this year for $1,300.
Likewise, if you have a nice 1440p, 144Hz gaming monitor and aren’t happy with how the GTX 1080 Ti is feeding it, the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti could give you better performance. Note, however, that the RTX 2080 Ti’s performance advantage dips slightly at 1440p resolution, where it’s 27.9 percent faster than the GTX 1080 Ti. That’s still a very noticeable boost, though again, I leave it to you to decide whether it’s big enough to invest another $1,200 in your gaming rig. (The GTX 1080 Ti cost $700 at launch.
)
Brad Chacos/IDG
The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, catching some rays and casting some shadows.
The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti could pull ahead even further if Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), an AI-enhanced anti-aliasing technique that delivers visual fidelity similar to temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) but 39 percent faster, takes off with developers. Twenty-five games already pledged support for real-time ray tracing or DLSS, though you won’t find either technology active in any games just yet. The GeForce RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti include dedicated RT and tensor core hardware that enable these cutting-edge features. The GTX 1080 Ti doesn’t.
That said, new gaming technologies have a spotty track record for actually gaining support from developers, especially near-term. The ones we’ve talked to are pumped about ray tracing and DLSS, but we wouldn’t recommend taking the promise of ray tracing and AI-enhanced graphics into account if you’re deciding whether to buy a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti today.
If you want to read more about how ray tracing and DLSS work on a technical level, check out our deep-dive into the Turing GPU inside the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti.
Should you upgrade from a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti to a RTX 2080 Ti?
Bottom line: Only consider upgrading from the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti to the RTX 2080 Ti if you have a high refresh-rate 1440p or 4K monitor. And, uh, a lot of disposable income. If you have a 4K/60 monitor already, sit tight with the GTX 1080 Ti.
The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti launches on September 27. You can preorder Nvidia’s own GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition for $1,200 at Best BuyRemove non-product link and GeForce.com, and several custom, overclocked versions can be found on Newegg.comRemove non-product link for prices ranging from $1,169Remove non-product link to $1,299Remove non-product link—though they’re all currently sold out. If you want more information while you’re waiting for them to get back in stock, be sure to read PCWorld’s comprehensive GeForce RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti review.