3080 Founders Edtion

[67Elco]

Is this card worth buying today for $450 ?

 

[rainless]

That's a good question... I've been eyeing 3070 ti cards for 350 or less (used).

I'm sure one of the bright lads here has the answer!

 

[unsafesteagle]

Thats still pricey id say... Its a strong card tho , and looks right around 5/8 of retail.

 

[67Elco]

Should have bought one when they first came on market. How does it scale against say a 6800 XT ?

Edit: Appear to be nearly identical in performance overall. Just trying to decide whether the Founders "want" is worth the expense. Money might be better wasted/spent on a 7900 lol...

 

[unsafesteagle]

Money might be better wasted/spent on a 7900 lol...

If it was me id try for the 7900

 

[67Elco]

If it was me id try for the 7900

That would be the smarter option of course. The thing that nags me is the Founders Edition cards are the only gpu's that ever really caught my eye. All the rest of the cards just look like trash to me regardless of their performance... my two Powercolor Red Devil cards included.

 

[Janus67]

To each their own. I had a 3080 founders and was glad to move to my EVGA cards. The founders was just a bit louder and I felt required to do the thermal paste and pad replacements to make it more reasonable.

 

[rainless]

Should have bought one when they first came on market. How does it scale against say a 6800 XT ?

Edit: Appear to be nearly identical in performance overall. Just trying to decide whether the Founders "want" is worth the expense. Money might be better wasted/spent on a 7900 lol...

Oh no you shouldn't! Hahahahaha

They were a ripoff at the prices they were charging... Especially once the Pandemic hit.

I guess I could've gotten one just BEFORE the Pandemic for about 800 bucks... and then sold it during COVID for enough money to buy a car!

Plus the first run of anything NVIDIA related is very rarely the best. If I were you... I'd save about 200 bucks and get the 3070TI (or the 7900XT as others have suggested...)

Unless you do video editing... In which case it's best to stick with NVIDIA.

Also... the regular 4070 Super (non Ti) is a good deal on a newer generation card with less power consumption.

I've been looking at ALL of those recently... But I have no interest at all in a 3080. (Didn't it only have 10GB of RAM? That's just WEIRD... How do you even get that configuration? "4... 8... 10?!?)

 

[mackerel]

What else is around that pricing, new or used?

Early 3080 was 10GB, later ones 12GB. Just change the number of channels accordingly. 4070 is basically same performance. New would cost more, more so for the Super, but they're new, gets you a bit more VRAM and newer NV features.

 

[67Elco]

Oh no you shouldn't! Hahahahaha

They were a ripoff at the prices they were charging... Especially once the Pandemic hit.

I guess I could've gotten one just BEFORE the Pandemic for about 800 bucks... and then sold it during COVID for enough money to buy a car!

Plus the first run of anything NVIDIA related is very rarely the best. If I were you... I'd save about 200 bucks and get the 3070TI (or the 7900XT as others have suggested...)

Unless you do video editing... In which case it's best to stick with NVIDIA.

Also... the regular 4070 Super (non Ti) is a good deal on a newer generation card with less power consumption.

I've been looking at ALL of those recently... But I have no interest at all in a 3080. (Didn't it only have 10GB of RAM? That's just WEIRD... How do you even get that configuration? "4... 8... 10?!?)

A 3080 Founders Edition when first introduced had a MSRP of $699 and at the time you could actually buy them at that price. Video cards are the only component I have never invested determined time and effort in. Even when I was actively involved in overclocking I had little interest in that side of the game. My only goal from a video card has always been simply gaming and I have always chosen a card that is generally behind the curve of current offerings simply because it usually resulted in less money going out and I could not see a significant difference in most games.

We are still feeling the effects of crypto mining and I'm suspicious that something new is on the horizon that may make crypto mining look minor in comparison as it relates to gpu pricing and availability.

Case in point is the RX 6800 XT which I purchased just this year. It replaced the RX 5700 XT which had served me well the previous three years. The issue of the 3080's 10GB of ram is actually a non-issue when one considers it's closest competitor, the RX 6800 XT has 16GB of ram, but both cards are nearly identical in performance. Yes, as always there are better gpu's available at any given point in time...for a price.

I make no effort to conceal my distain for video cards in general. I've always felt they are nothing more than a ugly and expensive brick no matter how they are oriented inside a case. I feel that way even more so since I adopted the glass enclosure looking cases of late. This is my primary reason for the early adoption of back connector motherboards and the elimination of cables inside the case. Nobody is going to convince me that cables look sexy inside a case, even with pretty sleeving...just lipstick on a pig to me. Probably won't happen soon enough for me, but I dream of a day when no dedicated gpu will be needed even for demanding games.

Maybe this long winded explanation shows my mindset...or perhaps I'm just blabbering lol. I did indeed purchase the 3080 last night and it will be my first ever used gpu...wish me luck. I'll take it apart (after initial testing) to clean and replace all thermal pads. Hopefully it will serve my needs for some time to come. At the very least I will finally have the only video card I have ever felt that actually looked good enough to display.

 

[Flamethrower1972]

Oh no you shouldn't! Hahahahaha

They were a ripoff at the prices they were charging... Especially once the Pandemic hit.

I guess I could've gotten one just BEFORE the Pandemic for about 800 bucks... and then sold it during COVID for enough money to buy a car!

Plus the first run of anything NVIDIA related is very rarely the best. If I were you... I'd save about 200 bucks and get the 3070TI (or the 7900XT as others have suggested...)

Unless you do video editing... In which case it's best to stick with NVIDIA.

Also... the regular 4070 Super (non Ti) is a good deal on a newer generation card with less power consumption.

I've been looking at ALL of those recently... But I have no interest at all in a 3080. (Didn't it only have 10GB of RAM? That's just WEIRD... How do you even get that configuration? "4... 8... 10?!?)

I agree get the 3070TI.

Post magically merged: Mar 2, 2024

A 3080 Founders Edition when first introduced had a MSRP of $699 and at the time you could actually buy them at that price. Video cards are the only component I have never invested determined time and effort in. Even when I was actively involved in overclocking I had little interest in that side of the game. My only goal from a video card has always been simply gaming and I have always chosen a card that is generally behind the curve of current offerings simply because it usually resulted in less money going out and I could not see a significant difference in most games.

We are still feeling the effects of crypto mining and I'm suspicious that something new is on the horizon that may make crypto mining look minor in comparison as it relates to gpu pricing and availability.

Case in point is the RX 6800 XT which I purchased just this year. It replaced the RX 5700 XT which had served me well the previous three years. The issue of the 3080's 10GB of ram is actually a non-issue when one considers it's closest competitor, the RX 6800 XT has 16GB of ram, but both cards are nearly identical in performance. Yes, as always there are better gpu's available at any given point in time...for a price.

I make no effort to conceal my distain for video cards in general. I've always felt they are nothing more than a ugly and expensive brick no matter how they are oriented inside a case. I feel that way even more so since I adopted the glass enclosure looking cases of late. This is my primary reason for the early adoption of back connector motherboards and the elimination of cables inside the case. Nobody is going to convince me that cables look sexy inside a case, even with pretty sleeving...just lipstick on a pig to me. Probably won't happen soon enough for me, but I dream of a day when no dedicated gpu will be needed even for demanding games.

Maybe this long winded explanation shows my mindset...or perhaps I'm just blabbering lol. I did indeed purchase the 3080 last night and it will be my first ever used gpu...wish me luck. I'll take it apart (after initial testing) to clean and replace all thermal pads. Hopefully it will serve my needs for some time to come. At the very least I will finally have the only video card I have ever felt that actually looked good enough to display.

Are you going to use it for gamming or join the folding team.

 

[rainless]

A 3080 Founders Edition when first introduced had a MSRP of $699 and at the time you could actually buy them at that price.

I dunno... I remember everyone here was LOOKING for one at that price... I don't know that anyone around here actually ever bought one for that.

I remember being in a store around the time they came out... they had one and they wanted 800 bucks for it. (I would've bought it if anyone here paypaled me the money and wanted it...)

That was just before The Great Drought of 2020/2021.

Video cards are the only component I have never invested determined time and effort in. Even when I was actively involved in overclocking I had little interest in that side of the game. My only goal from a video card has always been simply gaming and I have always chosen a card that is generally behind the curve of current offerings simply because it usually resulted in less money going out and I could not see a significant difference in most games.

I've always felt the same way TBH... I *might've* gotten the 3080 if it had really been that price... I had a little extra cash at the time as I'd been unable to secure a PS5 before the holidays...

But... generally speaking... I've always tried not to spend too much on a graphics card. I'm not all that serious about PC gaming. Back when I was a kid making big money in downtown Chicago... I splurged on a (then) top of the line Pentium II and a 3Dfx card. They were great!

...but they became outdated SO fast... I mean you'd get WHIPLASH from how fast the 3Dfx became obsolete...

Anyway.... as for the OP... THIS late in the 4000 series... with the 5000 series almost surely around the corner... I wouldn't be spending 500+ on a graphics card from four years ago. 300 or 350 for a 3070ti is a much better deal. And I'm sure you could still get 300 for it six months from now if you wanted to sell it on.

 

[Janus67]

I dunno... I remember everyone here was LOOKING for one at that price... I don't know that anyone around here actually ever bought one for that.

I remember being in a store around the time they came out... they had one and they wanted 800 bucks for it. (I would've bought it if anyone here paypaled me the money and wanted it...)

That was just before The Great Drought of 2020/2021.




I've always felt the same way TBH... I *might've* gotten the 3080 if it had really been that price... I had a little extra cash at the time as I'd been unable to secure a PS5 before the holidays...

But... generally speaking... I've always tried not to spend too much on a graphics card. I'm not all that serious about PC gaming. Back when I was a kid making big money in downtown Chicago... I splurged on a (then) top of the line Pentium II and a 3Dfx card. They were great!

...but they became outdated SO fast... I mean you'd get WHIPLASH from how fast the 3Dfx became obsolete...

Anyway.... as for the OP... THIS late in the 4000 series... with the 5000 series almost surely around the corner... I wouldn't be spending 500+ on a graphics card from four years ago. 300 or 350 for a 3070ti is a much better deal. And I'm sure you could still get 300 for it six months from now if you wanted to sell it on.

Fwiw I got my 3080 FE for 699 in October 2020 from Best buy. Just looked up my receipt.

That said, this was multiple browsers refreshing and stock checkers set for alerts.

 

[rainless]

Fwiw I got my 3080 FE for 699 in October 2020 from Best buy. Just looked up my receipt.

That said, this was multiple browsers refreshing and stock checkers set for alerts.

Yeah I think you got that around the same time I got my 2060 Super (also October 2020... Paid 250 bucks for it after discounts... including a 0% tax break from the German government...)

 

[67Elco]

Question - Has anyone here ever used a thermal sheet on a gpu die instead of thermal paste? I'm considering it when I take the 3080 apart. I assume that just like the use on cpu's there will be a slight degradation of performance, but will negate having to open it up in the future.

 

[EarthDog]

but will negate having to open it up in the future.

Why do you have to open it up in the future? Typically stock pastes last years... many you won't need to change.

If you're willing to take it apart in the first place, I'd replace the stock tim with something better, not worse and not worry about a possible repaste.

 

[67Elco]

From what I gather these cards are prone to run extremely hot which is what I want to remedy from the start. The majority of pictures I have seen of these cards apart showed absolute garbage materials used by the manufacturers which is what I will replace...if someone has not already done so. Will probably undervolt it a bit as I'm more concerned about longevity than utmost performance.

I'm considering some type of phase change pad...testing suggests it rivals top thermal pastes after some heat cycles. All of this hinges on whether I can determine the proper clearances...in short, I will have to disassemble/assemble twice to determine this.

 

[67Elco]

All went well...ended up doing the copper mod and using PTM-7950 along with Gelid Extreme pads. Turned out this card had never been apart and was in fine shape...at least I now know what is inside. Thermals so far are down about 10c thus far. I understand it takes many heat cycles for that PTM-7950 to fully settle. My biggest takeaway from this is if you are half blind like me don't take one of these cards apart lol.