ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 ROG Strix 10GB GDDR6X Black

The best RTX 3080 you can buy, if you can find one at a sane price. Great cooling, quiet operation, and massive performance, but the size and software quirks will test your patience.

The Ampere architecture does the heavy lifting here, and the Strix cooler lets it stretch its legs. With 6144 CUDA cores and a 1545MHz boost clock, this card chews through 2K and 4K gaming. Users upgrading from a 1080 Ti report massive FPS gains, and ray tracing with DLSS finally feels usable instead of experimental. The 10GB of GDDR6X at 912 GB/s is solid, though it's middle of the pack for VRAM these days. What surprised us? The 450W power limit and stable undervolting headroom. You can actually tune this thing to run cooler and quieter without losing much performance.

Against the Gigabyte AERO GV-N5080AERO OC-16GD and MSI Ventus RTX 5070 Ti 16G VENTUS 3X PZ OC, the Strix 3080 is showing its age. The newer cards offer more VRAM and better efficiency, but the Strix still holds its own in raw raster performance. The ZOTAC APOCALYPSE ZT-B50800C-10P is a closer match on paper, but the Strix's cooling and build quality put it ahead. If you're buying new, the 5070 Ti is the smarter choice. If you're buying used and find a good deal, the Strix 3080 is still a beast.

At USD 1,099 in the US, this card is expensive for what it is. The EUR spread is even wilder, ranging from EUR 1,521 to EUR 2,197 across DE, ES, FR, and IT listings. If you're in Europe, shop around because that EUR 676 difference is the difference between a bad deal and a terrible one. The card itself is great, but the value proposition is rough when you can find newer cards for similar money.

The ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3080 is the card you buy when you want the best version of a great GPU and you're willing to pay for it. This thing is huge, quiet, and cool, with a 2.9-slot cooler that keeps temps in the 65-75°C range under load. The one thing to know? It's a top-tier 3080 that's held back by stock shortages and scalper pricing, not by its own performance.

If you're building a new system in 2024 or later, skip this and get a RTX 5070 Ti or similar. The 10GB VRAM and older architecture will hold you back sooner than you think. If you're on a budget, the used market has better value options. This card is for enthusiasts who specifically want the Strix cooler and are willing to hunt for a deal.

The ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3080 is a fantastic card that's hard to recommend at current prices. If you can find one at a reasonable price, especially used, it's a great buy for 2K gaming and even 4K with DLSS. But at USD 1,099 or the inflated EUR prices, you're better off looking at newer options. The card itself is a 9/10, but the value proposition drags it down to a 7/10 overall.