ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 ROG Strix OC 12GB GDDR6X

The ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3080 O12G is still a 1440p monster with 12GB of GDDR6X and 8960 CUDA cores. It's power-hungry at 390W and takes up nearly three slots, so you need a serious PSU and a roomy case. US prices range from USD 470 to USD 1,099, and the low end makes this a genuine bargain. If you can find it cheap and don't mind the power draw, it's a great upgrade from older GPUs.

The raw numbers here are still impressive. PassMark G3D comes in at 25040, which puts it well above average for GPUs in our database. The 30.64 FP32 TFLOPS figure tells you this card can chew through rasterization workloads without breaking a sweat. In practice, that means 1440p gaming at high refresh rates is the sweet spot. You can crank settings in most modern titles and stay well above 100 fps. 4K is doable too, though you'll lean on DLSS more often than not in the heaviest games.

Ray tracing is where the 3080 O12G shows its age a bit. It scores 77.9 out of 100 for ray tracing in our rankings, which is strong but not best-in-class anymore. The 48 RT cores handle most ray-traced titles fine at 1440p with DLSS enabled, but path tracing in newer games will humble it. The 12GB of VRAM helps here, giving you more headroom than the 10GB 3080 for high-resolution textures. Just don't expect it to keep up with a 4080 or 5080 in pure RT workloads.

The obvious comparison is the MSI Gaming X Trio 3080. Owners in our sentiment data actually debate the value between these two cards. The MSI card tends to run a bit quieter, while the Strix has a slight edge in cooling headroom and boost clocks. Both are big, power-hungry Ampere cards. If noise matters more than a few extra MHz, the MSI might be the better pick. If you want the highest factory overclock and don't mind some fan noise, the Strix earns its premium.

Against newer cards, the story gets more complicated. The MSI Ventus RTX 5070 Ti and PNY OC RTX 5070 Ti both offer better efficiency and newer features like DLSS 4. The Gigabyte AORUS RTX 5080 is in a completely different performance class. But those cards cost significantly more in most markets. The Strix 3080 O12G makes sense if you find it at the low end of its price range and you're okay with the power draw. If you're paying close to retail for a new card, skip this and put the money toward a 40-series or 50-series GPU.

Pricing on this card is all over the place. In the US, we're seeing listings from USD 470 to USD 1,099 across two vendors. That's a massive spread, and it means the deal you get depends entirely on where you look. The lower end of that range makes this a genuinely interesting buy for a used or refurbished card. At USD 470, you're getting near-RTX 4070 raster performance for a lot less money. At USD 1,099, you're paying too much for a card that's two generations old.

In Europe, the picture is rougher. EUR 1,905 to EUR 2,082 across three listings is hard to justify when newer cards offer better efficiency and more features. The GBP 1,299 listing in the UK is similarly steep. If you're shopping outside the US, patience is your friend here. Wait for a price drop or look at the used market. The card itself is good, but the value proposition shifts dramatically depending on what you pay.

The ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3080 O12G is one of those cards that still turns heads a couple generations later. It's the 12GB version of the 3080, which means it got a memory bump over the original 10GB model, and ASUS wrapped it in their usual Strix treatment: a chunky triple-fan cooler, a metal shroud, and enough RGB to make your case look like a small concert. This is a card for people who want high-refresh 1440p gaming and solid 4K performance without jumping to the newest generation prices.

Who's this for? If you're still on a GTX 1080 or RTX 2080 Super and you've been waiting for a meaningful jump, this is a big one. The Ampere architecture, 8960 CUDA cores, and 12GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus give it real muscle. It's also a card that makes sense for streamers who want to game and encode on the same box without dropping frames. The AV1 encode support is a nice bonus for anyone pushing content to YouTube.

But here's the thing: this card is a power-hungry beast with a 390W TDP and a recommended 850W PSU. It's also 319mm long and takes up nearly three slots. You need a case with actual room and a power supply that isn't already wheezing. If you've got both, the Strix 3080 O12G is still a genuinely fun card to own.

If you're gaming at 1080p, this card is overkill. You'll be CPU-bound in most titles and paying for performance you'll never see. A 3060 Ti or 4060 would serve you better and draw a fraction of the power. The same goes for anyone with a small case or a PSU under 750W. This card demands space and electricity, and it won't apologize for either.

If you care about efficiency or you're building a new system from scratch, look elsewhere. The 22nd percentile efficiency ranking tells the story: this card burns a lot of watts for the frames it produces. A used RTX 4070 or a new 4070 Super will give you similar or better performance at much lower power draw. And if ray tracing is your thing, the 3080's 48 RT cores are fine but not great by today's standards. Save your money for something with newer RT hardware.

For 1440p gamers on a budget, this card is still a fantastic buy if you can find it under USD 600. The 12GB of VRAM gives it legs that the 10GB 3080 doesn't have, and the Strix cooler is one of the better air coolers ASUS has made. You'll get high frame rates in competitive shooters and smooth performance in AAA titles with DLSS. Just make sure your power supply is up to the task and your case has room for a 319mm card.

For 4K gamers or anyone who cares about efficiency, this isn't the card to buy in 2025. The power draw is real, the ray tracing performance is mid-pack by today's standards, and newer cards do more with less. If you're building a new system from scratch, you're better off saving for a 4070 Super or waiting for 50-series stock to stabilize. The Strix 3080 O12G is a great upgrade for an existing system, not a foundation for a new one.