"It's a poorly timed release that frankly makes no sense" "Waste of money" "It's not a new hope for gamers." These were some of the phrases we read in the analysis of the latest NVIDIA GPU. In case you haven't extensively read any reviews, but still wonder: is it really that bad, and why did it disappoint so many? Here I answer in a more summarized way, with raw data (and also a bit of my own opinion) what aspects make this GPU an absurd release from the graphics card giant.
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Table of Contents
The two big problems of the already failure of the NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti
The 3080 ti is a nearly identical GPU to the 3090, and this is noticeable in gaming tests. For example in Techspot the 3080 ti is 4% lower in the worst case (in 4K), but in other places the difference is only 1-2%. In other words, both GPUs give you the same experience, the difference being that the 3080 ti loses half the VRAM of the 3090, (12 GB vs. 24 GB), in favor of a lower MSRP (1 dollars vs. $199).
At first all this might sound wonderful; While 12GB isn't what you'd expect from an enthusiast GPU in 2021 (the Titan X already had 12GB in 2015 for $999 MSRP), benchmarks show it's not something to worry about for most users. the people, and you pay $300 less for virtually the same performance. So why all the hate against the 3080 ti? The way I see it, the poor reception of this GPU is due to two things:
problem 1
The RTX 3080 already exists; that yes, now it is 10 GB of VRAM instead of 12 GB, and that it has an FPS deficit of 8% compared to the 3080 ti; although this is justified by having a recommended price of almost half: 699 instead of 1199. The power deficit is still not significant, but we get much more graphics for each dollar / euro invested. In fact, many people expected this 3080 ti to launch at a more reasonable price of $999.
However, this does not at all seem to be a sufficient reason for the serious criticism that the successor to the 2080 ti has received. This happens with all CPUs and GPUs, all the time! The performance/benefits you get are not proportional to the price you pay. If you want the best cost-benefit ratio, you are doomed to buy low to mid-range products like the 3060 ti, 3050 ti and 3050.
High-end GPUs are much more expensive because they are for a public that is willing to pay huge amounts to be able to push the graphics and FPS of their favorite video games to the maximum. Call it consumerism or what you want, but it is a market that has always existed, but has been so demonized in the past; check out the reviews for GPUs like the 2080 ti, 1080 ti, 980 ti, 780 ti, etc. if you don't believe me. So if MSRP isn't the big deal, what is? Perhaps many already imagine it, but I will explain it to you below.
problem 2
NO STOCK. And I put it in capital letters because it is key. NVIDIA can't keep up with current demand for graphics cards, what makes you think that producing another model based on the same few chips will alleviate the situation?
Obviously NVIDIA didn't release the 3080 ti thinking that this would alleviate the situation. Rather I (and many other people) see it as a way to ignore the problem that the graphics are very scarce and the few that exist have prices that are two or three times the base price. It could even be interpreted as deceiving the consumer since in their conferences they boast that, for example, their new RTX 3080 ti is priced at $1 despite the fact that in the best of cases you will find it 199% or 50% higher. of that price.
Knowing NVIDIA, it's safest to assume that They are trying to release as many models as possible, so that when thinking about buying a video card, users only see NVIDIA, NVIDIA and more NVIDIA. Let's be honest, we don't need a new graphics card whose power sits between two existing graphics cards that are only 12% apart from each other. In the same way we do not need a 3070 ti that does not bring anything to the market.
Conclusion
Without an attractive price, without more VRAM and above all; without good availability; my expectations are that the 3070 ti will be the same or even more attacked by the specialized hardware press. Even without the current problem, having an excess of SKUs is a bad thing for users who buy PC components; in my opinion, If a brand wants to be competitive without changing its architecture, it should cut the price of its current products instead of launching new ones..
For example, the Nvidia SUPER series was not required, but of course the brands in general prefer launch new models to receive attention in the form of news (and later analysis), at the cost of causing a lot of confusion among the most beginners, and even some more experienced users. So concluding: today the priority should be to solve the shortage of graphics chips, not attack the market with unnecessary products.
