Key Specifications
- Review Price: £1099
- New Turing architecture
- 11 GB GDDR6
- 4352 CUDA cores
- 1350MHz base clock speed
- 10 Giga Rays
What is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti?
New generations of graphics cards usually only offer improved clock speeds, allowing gamers to crank up the resolution and see a smoother performance with higher frame rates. The Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti and the rest of the new Turing graphics cards, however, have greater ambitions. They feature all-new technology that could revolutionise video game visuals.
Ray tracing and Deep Learning Super-Sampling (DLSS) take the headlines here, with the former offering more realistic lighting effects and the latter using artificial intelligence to render high-quality images more efficiently. While all three of Nvidia’s new graphics cards are capable of running such tech, the RTX 2080 Ti boasts the best specs of them all. If you want the ultimate performance for ray tracing and DLSS, the RTX 2080 Ti is undoubtedly the best consumer card to buy.
Unsurprisingly, the RTX 2080 Ti is also the best consumer graphics cards for all-round performance. While the Pascal cards – the previous Nvidia generation – were capable of running games at 4K, the new Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti is capable of playing some of the most notoriously demanding games at 60fps in Ultra HD. This will mean that not only will you be able to play the likes of Shadow of the Tomb Raider with jaw-dropping detail, but it will also ensure it runs smoothly with next to no judder or stuttering.
Since initially publishing my review last October, subsequent Nvidia Game Ready driver updates have been rolled out, to the point where first person shooters Battlefield 5 and Metro Exodus now support ray tracing and DLSS. More titles will support these features in the future, but right now, it’s these two games that are flying the ray tracing flag.
But even when you don’t consider that, there’s no question that the RTX 2080 Ti is the most powerful consumer graphics card that you can buy right now. If you’re using an old rig and looking to make the jump to 4K and above AAA gaming the RTX 2080 Ti is the best option available. But, until more games that take advantage of its next generation features start hitting the market, it’s a bit of a tougher sell for people already on Nvidia’s 10-series cards.
Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti – Specs and technology
With 18.9 billion transistors crammed inside, the Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti is the second largest GeForce GPU ever created.
Embracing the new Turing architecture, Nvidia’s new cards are not only built to be more efficient, but are also sporting fresh features that have never featured in previous iterations of Nvidia’s graphics cards. All of the new Turing cards have a Turing SM, Tensor Core and RT Core, with each component’s specs differing between the three Turing GPUs.
Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti
The RTX 2080 Ti’s new dual-fan design not only looks great, but also helps to prevent heating issues
The RTX 2080 Ti boasts the best specs of these cards, with the Tensor Core engine flaunting a 114 TFLOPS AI engine and the RT Core capable of producing 10 Giga Rays/sec of ray tracing acceleration. That’s a lot of migraine-inducing numbers, but all you really need to know is that these specs mean that the RTX 2080 Ti card is the best option for the new ray tracing and DLSS graphics technologies.
The Turing cards have also had a couple of architectural tweaks that have resulted in improved bandwidth compared to the Pascal predecessors. While the GTX 1080 Ti has a memory bandwidth of 484GB/s, the RTX 2080 Ti has made a huge leap to 616GB/s. You also get 11GB of 14Gbps GDDR6 RAM here, which is a big reason why the 2080 Ti is capable of reaching the required speeds for 4K gaming.
There’s also been a noticeable increase of CUDA Cores, which are your main allies for improving performance. While the GTX 1080 Ti has 3584 CUDA Cores, the RTX 2080 Ti has a staggering tally of 4352. Predictably, there’s also been an increase for Boost Clock speeds from 1582MHz to 1635MHz.
All of these beefier specs of course mean a greater power draw, although there’s only a 10W increase from the GTX 1080 Ti, with the RTX 2080 Ti’s power draw coming in at 260W.
Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti
Thanks to its DisplayPort, the RTX 2080 Ti is an ideal graphics card for virtual reality with HTC Vive Pro compatibility
Meanwhile, SLI is once again supported by Nvidia’s latest range of graphics card if you have the Nvidia NVLink, but game support is limited at the time of writing.
In terms of ports, the RTX 2080 Ti has everything you need to be fully future-proofed, including HDMI, a DisplayPort and USB Type C. These are especially important for virtual reality, with the DisplayPort required for the HTC Vive Pro and USB Type-C touted as the future go-to connectivity option for upcoming VR headsets.
Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti – Ray tracing
Perhaps the most exciting feature the Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti has to offer, ray tracing is a rendering technology that realistically simulates the lighting of a scene and its objects.
Ray tracing isn’t actually a new technology – it’s been used for years in film. Nvidia is, however, the first company that has managed to use ray tracing in real time, and it’s that ‘real time’ part which is obviously a necessity for video games.
The Star Wars demo showcased the potential of real-time ray tracing, with reflective armour demonstrating the new light physics
Not only does this game-changing lighting effect make environments look more realistic, but it also creates more authentic shadows and reflections. This was shown off in Nvidia’s Star Wars demo, as shiny Stormtrooper armour was made to look more convincing with dazzling reflections and glossy finishes.
Meanwhile, DLSS enables gamers to enjoy ray tracing without having to suffer a big frame rate dip. With the recent patches allowing support for both Battlefield 5 and Metro Exodus, I’ve been able to test out both features and see what impact they have on performance. Here’s how I’ve got on:
With DirectX Raytracing (DXR) activated on Battlefield 5, I noticed subtle yet remarkable improvements to the visuals, particularly in the snow-drenched landscapes in the story mission Nordlys. Reflections of mountains, buildings and trees can be seen on the surface of a frozen lake for example, making the scene feel more immersive, dynamic and realistic.
0 Comments