Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 12GB

For Nvidia, the 12GB version of the RTX 3080 allows them to significantly boost profit margins on silicon that would have otherwise sold as the original 10 GB model, and therefore allows board partners and/or distributors to cash in on the current market’s demand. Of course, we’d prefer if they looked after loyal customers who ordered an RTX 3080 at a reasonable price 16 months ago, but clearly there’s no business incentive in doing that.
– As reviewed by TechSpot on Jan 2022
Ampere
Architecture
High-end
Product Tier
8960
Shader Cores
112
ROPs
280
TMUs
70
RT Cores
12 GB
Memory
GDDR6X
Memory Type
912 GB/s
Bandwidth
350 W
TDP
$997
Price
GPU Snapshot
Release date:Jan 11, 2022Price at Launch:$799
Type:DesktopArchitecture:Ampere
Generation:RTX 30 seriesProduct Tier:High-end
VRAM Capacity:12 GBTotal Board Power:350 W
Core Configuration
Shader Cores:8960TMUs:280
ROPs:112L2 Cache:5 MB
Memory
VRAM Capacity:12 GBMemory Type:GDDR6X
Memory Speed:19 GbpsMemory Bus:384-bit
Bandwidth:912 GB/s
Graphics Processing
Base Clock:1.26 GHzBoost Clock:1.71 GHz
FP32 Throughput:30.6 TFLOPsRay Tracing:Yes
Ray Tracing Cores:70Process Size:8nm
Process Name:Samsung 8NDie Size:628 mm²
Power & Connectivity
Total Board Power:350 WPower Connectors:2x 8-pin (or 12-pin FE)
Bus Interface:PCIe 4.0 x16HDMI Support:HDMI 2.1
DisplayPort Support:DP 1.4aDSC:1.2a
Max Displays:4
Media & Software Support
DirectX Support:12 UltimateShader Model:6.6
Vulkan Version:1.2OpenGL Version:4.6

Price History

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 12GB pricing

Price Date
Current $997 Jul 13, 2026
Highest* $1,340 Aug 5, 2025
Lowest* $749 Oct 29, 2025
Average $1,016
* Prices are based on listings from Newegg and other major retailers over the past 12+ months.
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Reviews and Ratings

8.6

User Score

Based on 162 reviews

Reviewers Liked

  • Still a solid 4K graphics card
  • Excellent design on the MSI Suprim X version

Reviewers Didn't Like

  • Much more expensive than the 10GB model
  • Little performance improvement over 10GB model

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For Nvidia, the 12GB version of the RTX 3080 allows them to significantly boost profit margins on silicon that would have otherwise sold as the original 10 GB model, and therefore allows board partners and/or distributors to cash in on the current market’s demand. Of course, we’d prefer if they looked after loyal customers who ordered an RTX 3080 at a reasonable price 16 months ago, but clearly there’s no business incentive in doing that.

By TechSpot on
90

With a deceivingly valuable price tag and smooth streaming, cloud gaming has never looked so good, even if it's not quite ready for gaming...

By pcgamesn.com on
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MSI's offering of the GeForce RTX 3080 12GB works admirably on all fronts, including performance, cooling, and acoustics, as a complete package. Ultimately, the choice comes down to availability and... cost at the end-user level. If etailers keep their pricing in check, this card will be a hit—and what a card it is. But yeah, a little puzzling it is to see as to why NVIDIA has released this series in a very saturated product stack. Only if you can locate it at a reasonable price, it is recommended.

By The Guru of 3D on

As you saw from our results the extra 2GB of GDDR6X makes a bit of a difference, but not as much as the extra CUDA Cores, and even then a few of our benchmark games have had patches since we first tested the cards. What it all boils down to is how fair you think it is for Nvidia to treat consumers this way, and whether you feel that the near doubling of the price tag is a price worth paying to have on in your sweaty mitts.

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