GeForce RTX 3090 vs RTX 2080 Ti

Place in the ranking	44	24
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	22.32	14.90
Power efficiency	15.71	13.80
Architecture	Turing (2018−2022)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	TU102	GA102
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	20 September 2018 (6 years ago)	1 September 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$999	$1,499

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RTX 2080 Ti has 50% better value for money than RTX 3090.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	4352	10496
Core clock speed	1350 MHz	1395 MHz
Boost clock speed	1545 MHz	1695 MHz
Number of transistors	18,600 million	28,300 million
Manufacturing process technology	12 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	350 Watt
Texture fill rate	420.2	556.0
Floating-point processing power	13.45 TFLOPS	35.58 TFLOPS
ROPs	88	112
TMUs	272	328
Tensor Cores	544	328
Ray Tracing Cores	68	82

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	267 mm	336 mm
Width	2-slot	3-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 8-pin	1x 12-pin

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR6	GDDR6X
Maximum RAM amount	11 GB	24 GB
Memory bus width	352 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	1750 MHz	1219 MHz
Memory bandwidth	616.0 GB/s	936.2 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	+	+
G-SYNC support	+	-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

VR Ready

no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 Ultimate (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.5	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2
CUDA	7.5	8.5

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

RTX 2080 Ti 56.34

RTX 3090 69.29
+23%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

RTX 2080 Ti 21736

RTX 3090 26731
+23%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

RTX 2080 Ti 47166

RTX 3090 61518
+30.4%

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

RTX 2080 Ti 83556

RTX 3090 124350
+48.8%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

RTX 2080 Ti 20210

RTX 3090 47241
+134%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

RTX 2080 Ti 165122

RTX 3090 231612
+40.3%

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

RTX 2080 Ti 136942

RTX 3090 191377
+39.8%

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

RTX 2080 Ti 521458

RTX 3090 779348
+49.5%

GeekBench 5 Vulkan

RTX 2080 Ti 132930

RTX 3090 178421
+34.2%

GeekBench 5 CUDA

RTX 2080 Ti 165093

RTX 3090 238123
+44.2%

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04

RTX 2080 Ti 181

RTX 3090 300
+65.9%

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03

RTX 2080 Ti 79

RTX 3090 105
+31.8%

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02

RTX 2080 Ti 12

RTX 3090 16
+32.3%

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04

RTX 2080 Ti 121

RTX 3090 170
+40.5%

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01

RTX 2080 Ti 63

RTX 3090 93
+47.4%

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 mediacal-01

RTX 2080 Ti 51

RTX 3090 86
+68.5%

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01

RTX 2080 Ti 179

RTX 3090 262
+46.2%

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01

RTX 2080 Ti 17

RTX 3090 26
+53.3%

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 3dsmax-05

RTX 2080 Ti 272

RTX 3090 368
+35.4%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	165 −23%	203 +23%
1440p	119 −10.1%	131 +10.1%
4K	89 −1.1%	90 +1.1%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	6.05	7.38
1440p	8.39	11.44
4K	11.22	16.66

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

100−110

−95.3%

207
+95.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	125 −27.2%	159 +27.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	107 −6.5%	114 +6.5%
Battlefield 5	244 +9.9%	220−230 −9.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	100−110 −11.2%	110−120 +11.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	100−110 −66%	176 +66%
Far Cry 5	163 +39.3%	110−120 −39.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	197 +16.6%	160−170 −16.6%
Forza Horizon 4	346 +45.4%	230−240 −45.4%
Hitman 3	161 +37.6%	117 −37.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn	285 +12.6%	250−260 −12.6%
Metro Exodus	144 +0%	144 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	106 −22.6%	130 +22.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	216 −35.2%	290−300 +35.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion	266 +33%	200 −33%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	181 −36.5%	247 +36.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	91 −15.4%	105 +15.4%
Battlefield 5	224 +0.9%	220−230 −0.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	100−110 −11.2%	110−120 +11.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	100−110 −42.5%	151 +42.5%
Far Cry 5	132 +12.8%	110−120 −12.8%
Far Cry New Dawn	152 −11.2%	160−170 +11.2%
Forza Horizon 4	321 +34.9%	230−240 −34.9%
Hitman 3	156 +33.3%	117 −33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	267 +5.5%	250−260 −5.5%
Metro Exodus	144 +0%	144 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	110−120 −8%	120−130 +8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	220−230 −78.7%	402 +78.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	110−120 −27.4%	140−150 +27.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion	255 +28.1%	199 −28.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	82 −31.7%	108 +31.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	80 −13.8%	91 +13.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	103 −15.5%	110−120 +15.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	100−110 −26.4%	134 +26.4%
Far Cry 5	91 −28.6%	110−120 +28.6%
Forza Horizon 4	168 −29.2%	217 +29.2%
Hitman 3	139 +19.8%	116 −19.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn	202 −46%	295 +46%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	220−230 −56%	351 +56%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	135 −34.1%	181 +34.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90 −18.9%	107 +18.9%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

104

−24%

129
+24%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	166 +0.6%	160−170 −0.6%
Far Cry New Dawn	112 +1.8%	110−120 −1.8%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	72 −29.2%	93 +29.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	67 −17.9%	79 +17.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	82 +1.2%	80−85 −1.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 −72.2%	93 +72.2%
Far Cry 5	84 +3.7%	80−85 −3.7%
Forza Horizon 4	313 +15.5%	270−280 −15.5%
Hitman 3	100 −15%	115 +15%
Horizon Zero Dawn	162 −43.8%	233 +43.8%
Metro Exodus	98 −41.8%	139 +41.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	140−150 −78.5%	266 +78.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	90−95 −61.7%	152 +61.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	251 +23.6%	203 −23.6%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

105

−21%

127
+21%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	87 +0%	85−90 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	66 −4.5%	65−70 +4.5%
Hitman 3	59 −40.7%	83 +40.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	130 −73.8%	220−230 +73.8%
Metro Exodus	111 −27%	141 +27%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	98 −56.1%	153 +56.1%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	50 −40%	70 +40%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	46 −23.9%	57 +23.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	52 +2%	50−55 −2%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −84%	46 +84%
Far Cry 5	50 +0%	50−55 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	107 −43%	153 +43%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	80−85 −89.3%	159 +89.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	44 −36.4%	60 +36.4%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−52.1%

111
+52.1%

This is how RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 3090 compete in popular games:

RTX 3090 is 23% faster in 1080p
RTX 3090 is 10% faster in 1440p
RTX 3090 is 1% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RTX 2080 Ti is 45% faster.
in Cyberpunk 2077, with 1080p resolution and the Low Preset, the RTX 3090 is 95% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RTX 2080 Ti is ahead in 21 test (29%)
RTX 3090 is ahead in 47 tests (65%)
there's a draw in 4 tests (6%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	56.34	69.29
Recency	20 September 2018	1 September 2020
Maximum RAM amount	11 GB	24 GB
Chip lithography	12 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	350 Watt

RTX 2080 Ti has 40% lower power consumption.

RTX 3090, on the other hand, has a 23% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 118.2% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 50% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce RTX 3090 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.