Asus TUF RTX 3080 initial impressions

I am truly grateful to be able to get my hands on a brand new RTX 3080 GPU. Ever since its official launch more than two months ago, these things are still very rare as demand is still outstripping supply. It is so rare, that people are scalping these things and selling them at way above recommended retail prices. It is such a rare unicorn to spot out in the wild.

But I am lucky to be able to purchase one for myself without paying at exorbitant pricing and I am now confident to say that my gaming rig is ready for Cyberpunk 2077, the most anticipated game of 2020. I can now look forward to enjoying the game as the developers intended to be played, with all the bells and whistles cranked up to level 11, not to mention the RTX effects which without doubt, this GPU is able to readily handle it without any problems.

So after using the GPU for gaming and number crunching during the last couple of days, what are my initial first impressions?

First of all, upon unboxing I was floored by the sheer size and weight of the GPU. This thing is built like a tank. It is very heavy, to the point where I swear, I can see a slight GPU sag after installing it in my gaming rig. The Asus TUF RTX 3080 is about the same length of my former GPU, the EVGA GTX108ti FTW3, so I am used to seeing long GPUs. However, I wasn’t ready to accept and hold a 2.7 slot graphics card. This thing is thicc! In the most literal sense, this GPU is dense and full of nothing much else but heatsinks. Like the EVGA model, the Asus TUF sports a 3-fan configuration.

The Asus TUF was able to fit in my Meshify C case without the need to remove the front case fans, which is a nice bonus. Anything longer, I might be forced to remove one of them, which will not be ideal due to airflow and thermal issues. The Zotac’s RTX 3080 line of GPUs are notorious for being super long.

The Asus TUF has minimal RGB, which is fine by me, now that I look at it. It seems that for the design that Asus TUF has adopted, less RGB is actually better. The overall design of the graphics card is pretty boxy, which I really like. I prefer designs that are not loud, or filled with unnecessary shapes or curves. A simple design (coupled with premium materials like, aluminium shroud) is always preferred over cheap plastic and gaudy RGB lighting with an incoherent design language.

The Asus TUF uses premium materials for their latest GPU. Metal shroud, quiet fans and a tasteful backplate, makes for a cohesive design language that is easily distinguishable from the other GPU brands without being too loud (design wise).

I can’t say much about performance relative to other similar RTX 3080s out there on the market. I would assume that it will perform just as well as all the other RTX 3080s in the wild. What I do know is that the overall performance over the GTX 1080ti is miles apart. I am particularly impressed at how this GPU performs when playing Control at ultra settings with all the RTX effects enabled. Playing at 1440p, this thing is able to churn out 60FPS at ultra settings and RTX on to the maximum. My 1080ti could barely eek out 60 FPS at ultra without RTX on. Without RTX effects turned on, the RTX 3080 is able to spit out more than 110 FPS. That is just truly insane. I have ever seen a graphics card churn out more than 100FPS on such a demanding triple A title at 1440p resolution. Like I said, this thing is a beast.

Playing AC:Valhalla is a joy. I am able to reach close to a 100fps on ultra settings and at 1440p resolution. It’s simply buttery smooth.

What I like about the Asus TUF RTX 3080 is how quiet and cooler it runs compared to my previous GPU, the 1080ti. I am impressed at how capable the fans are in keeping the entire graphics card cool. In most cases, I am seeing temperatures at just shy of 70 degrees at full load, which is pretty darn impressive.

Playing the latest games on the latest graphics card has been a joyful experience. Christmas for me has officially arrived. My only hope that I will find more time to play all the games I want to play with the most prettiest visuals. No doubt, the Asus RTX 3080 GPU will be with me for a long time to come.