A Redditor, ComplexSupermarket89, modified their old MSI RTX 3080 Ventus, which used to rank among the best graphics cards, after its maximum memory and hotspot temperatures started hitting 102 and 105 degrees Celsius, respectively. The DIYer repurposed a car amplifier as a heatsink for the RTX 3080.

According to the user, they initially repadded their graphics card to solve the overheating issue, but it happened again within a year. So, they decided to mod the GPU this time by adding Arctic MX-7 thermal paste between the memory chips, using better thermal pads, and replacing the MSI Ventus backplate with a heatsink.

When they rummaged through their stack of aluminum scrap, they found a 100-watt car amplifier with its massive heatsink. They cut this down to size to fit the GPU, covered potential short points with polyimide tape, and then mounted the aluminum block where the backplate used to go. They initially sanded the original black powder-coated heatsink to achieve a silver finish. Unfortunately, they can’t clean it up thoroughly, so they decided to paint it with white high-temperature engine enamel, giving the graphics card a white finish.

Aside from the massive new heatsink, they also built a custom fascia and a lower fan shroud from scrap aluminum, and replaced the stock fans with three 92mm Thermalright RGB fans. The front part of the fan shroud is mounted on the original mounts on the GPU’s stock heatsink, but they also added a couple of zip ties for support. As for the rear of the shroud, it’s held by two steel brackets mounted to the custom heatsink, practically sandwiching the GPU with aluminum.

My new "custom" RTX 3080, made entirely from scraps, with only hand tools from r/pcmasterrace

All this resulted in lower GPU temperatures, with the hotspots dropping by at least 20 degrees Celsius. The memory chips still reach 96 to 98 degrees Celsius, but the large chunk of aluminum means it takes much longer to get those temperatures. Still, ComplexSupermarket89 isn’t satisfied with this, and they’re considering carving out a circular section on the custom heatsink to mount a recessed fan for additional cooling.

The added aluminum is estimated to weigh over 3 pounds, so they also added a 90-degree steel bracket to support the GPU and prevent damage to the PCIe card slot or the motherboard. Thankfully, it seems to be effective, with the graphics card not sagging even after three days post-install.

ComplexSupermarket89 said the mod is a bit silly, especially since the RTX 30-series is pretty old by now. They even said they probably won’t keep the GPU much longer and will upgrade to the next AMD flagship when it becomes available. Still, they say it's a “passion project, a labor of love,” and we can see it in the results. If you're on the market for a new graphics card, our GPU 2026 pricing tracker can be useful.

An engineering sample of an RTX 3080 Ti has surfaced in the second-hand market, according to a post on the Nvidia subreddit. The Reddit user says that he unknowingly bought two GeForce RTX 3080 Ti cards that turned out to be unreleased engineering samples, showing that preproduction hardware from the Ampere era is still circulating years later.

The buyer, posting on Reddit under the handle Tommyjones91, said the cards were sold to him as standard RTX 3080 Ti units. After installing them, GPU-Z identified both boards as 20GB variants that was never officially released.

The cards would output video, but they would not work with standard GeForce drivers. To make them usable, the original poster relied on a third-party Nvidia driver patcher that bypasses device ID checks, which eventually allowed the GeForce driver 581.94 to work. Even then, functionality would be uncertain across driver updates, since Nvidia has never supported this configuration in public releases — but "Build quality is amazing..." remarked the OP.

The appearance of these boards follows earlier sightings of the Founders Edition model in June, when another engineering sample appeared on eBay with a green sticker explicitly stating it was not for sale and intended for development use only. That card reportedly sold for nearly $2,000 and required similar unofficial driver modifications to function in Windows.

Unlike the production 3080 Ti, which uses a 384-bit memory bus paired with 12GB of GDDR6X, the 20GB version is believed to use a narrower 320-bit interface. While doubling memory capacity would have benefited certain professional and compute-heavy workloads — indeed, one respondent to the Reddit post alludes to rumors that a 20GB model was going to be released to cater to crypto miners — the reduced bus width would have lowered memory bandwidth relative to the retail card. That trade-off placed the part awkwardly between existing products such as the RTX 3080, RTX 3090, and Nvidia’s workstation GPUs.

Normal industry practices typically require engineering samples to either be returned or destroyed once validation is complete, making their presence in resale channels unusual but not unprecedented. The fact that we’ve seen two cases in six months suggests that multiple samples are loose in the market and could easily be mistaken for ordinary used cards, particularly when sold without clear labeling.

An elated eBay shopper has taken to Reddit to celebrate after buying two RTX 3080 GPUs for the paltry sum of $650, only to receive two 3090 cards probably worth double the price instead.

u/EmuAreExtiinct shared how they had paid $650 for two RTX 3080 cards earlier in June. The haul is actually two separate eBay lots, each listed as 'Dell GeForce RTX 3080 10GB GDDR6X Graphics Card.' Per the price and the image in the Reddit post, you can see that the cards were sold for $325 each sometime before June 26.

When they arrived, however, the user quickly realized they'd got a lot more than they'd bargained for, and had actually bought vastly more valuable RTX 3090 GPUs instead, as evidenced by the presence of Nvidia's fabled but now obsolete SLI tech. "You can tell it's a 3090 and not a 3080 because only the 3090 had SLI, and you can clearly see the gold pins for SLI," the user notes."

Bought 2 RTX 3080s on ebay, received 2 3090s instead from r/pcmasterrace

A recent investigation by a Quasarsone forum member revealed significant defects in the vapor chamber heatsinks of Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition and RTX A6000 graphics cards (via @harukaze5719). Some heatsinks oxidize and leak. It is unclear how widespread the issue is and whether this only happens in specific conditions. 

The study identified unusual chemical reactions and physical deformities within the heatsinks, raising concerns about the cooling solution's efficiency and longevity. As it turns out, heatsinks develop copper oxide formations and holes in the vapor chambers over time, leading to failure and overheating of graphics cards. 

The exploration began with disassembling an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition, still among the best graphics cards after three years. During this process, peculiar red copper exposures surfaced in the vapor chamber heat sinks. Further examination revealed signs of a chemical reaction and copper appearing as if it had melted. 

The forum member then observed an Nvidia RTX A6000 graphics card for ProViz and engineering applications that cost about $4,000 despite being a product released in 2020. The board presented similar issues. This repetition of the unusual copper exposure and signs of chemical reaction suggested a more widespread problem, possibly inherent in the vapor chamber cooling solution employed in these graphics cards.

Detailed analysis, including cleaning and magnifying the affected areas, exposed blue substances on the surfaces, presumably copper oxides. This discovery pointed to the possibility of chemical reactions within the chambers, likely involving the copper components. The nature and extent of these reactions seem to suggest a susceptibility to damage and functional impairment due to internal pressures or similar adversities within the vapor chamber heat sinks.

Vapor chambers are functioning through a continuous cycle of evaporation and condensation. A liquid inside the chamber evaporates by absorbing heat from a hot component, like a CPU or GPU, turning into vapor. This vapor then moves to a cooler area, condenses back into a liquid, and releases the absorbed heat and dissipates. Vapor chambers effectively manage high heat loads, ensuring uniform heat distribution and maintaining optimal operating temperatures of chips. Meanwhile, coolants inside vapor chambers are rather tricky substances that can quickly evaporate and condense.

Coolants inside vapor chambers can potentially react with copper, but this is relatively uncommon and typically occurs under specific unfavorable conditions. If there is contamination or impurity in the coolant, or if the integrity of the vapor chamber is compromised (e.g., leaks, cracks, or manufacturing defects), it might facilitate reactions between the coolant and the copper. For instance, copper may oxidize in the presence of oxygen or other reactive substances, forming copper oxides or other compounds on the surface.

It is unclear whether this is a source of the issue and if it is widespread. After all, we have seen only one report on the matter and have no idea about the conditions leading to the development of copper oxide and holes. Yet, we can only recommend checking the cooling system when purchasing used graphics cards.

Packing a beefy Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti GPU and 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H 14-Core processor, the HP Omen 17 has plenty of CPU and graphical power to easily run the latest AAA games. And with a large 17-inch QHD screen, this laptop is perfect for taking your gaming setup wherever you go. Thanks to a discount at B&H Photo, you can pick up this model of the HP Omen 17 for only $1,749.

If you are looking for a good deal on a gaming monitor, here is one you should consider. The Dell G2723H is a 27-inch monitor with an FHD resolution, IPS panel and blisteringly fast 280Hz refresh rate. This gaming monitor is built for fast-paced games like FPS shooters such as Apex, Valorant, Overwatch, and CS:GO. You can pick up the Dell G2723H for just $229.

If you're worried about thermal throttling from your SSD heating up, then grab one with an incorporated heatsink.  Brilliant for use in the confined space of the expansion enclosure of a PlayStation 5, the 1TB WD Black SN850X on sale for $84 is a great deal. Use code SSCSA927 to save $5.

More Real Deals below.

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• HP Omen 17 Gaming Laptop: now $1,749 at B&H Photo (was $2,249)
• Dell G2723H Gaming Monitor: now $229 at Dell (was $369)
• WD Black SN850X (1TB) NVMe SSD: now $84 at Newegg (was $99)
• G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB RAM: now $64 at Newegg (was $69)
• MSI Spatium M371 1TB SSD: now $32 at Newegg (was $42)

Today’s best deals in detail

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Building your own PC isn't for everyone and if you're after a hassle-free prebuilt experience, this gaming PC could be a great option for you. From PC-builders iBuyPower comes the Gaming RDY Y60BG25 which comes in the attractive Hyte Y60 case with a panoramic view of all the internals of the computer.  

The best news is that you can pick up the iBuyPower Gaming RDY Y60BG25 for $1,849, saving a whopping $750 off of the usual retail price. Now, there's always the argument that prebuilds are expensive and that is valid, but not everyone knows how to install hardware into a case, or wants to experience the anxiety of buying all your parts and hoping everything works when you put the bits together. This is the area where pre-built gaming PCs live. 

Inside the Hyte Y60 case of the iBuyPower Gaming RDY Y60BG25 are some of the latest and greatest hardware components that will help you smash out high framerates and enable you to play your favorite games how they're meant to be played, or if you're into online multiplayer - give you every available advantage to grind your enemies to dust. 

For graphics, the Gaming RDY Y60BG25 comes with Nvidia's RTX 3080 GPU with 10GB of available GDDR6 VRAM, and with the uptick in games requiring more and more VRAM, this should help you to play on the high settings without compromising on textures or fidelity. 

CPU power is provided by the latest 13th Generation Intel Core i9-13900KF processor, one of the best CPUs on the market, and in turn one of the best CPUs for gaming. With 24 cores (8 P-cores + 16 E-cores) the 13900KF also sports 32 threads for more horsepower in multithreaded applications. 

Other hardware specifications of this gaming computer include a massive 32GBs of 3600MHz DDR4 RAM, a large 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD for storing your operating system and games library, a Z690 motherboard, 750 Watt power supply, and 360mm addressable RGB AIO CPU cooler.

MORE: Best Gaming PCs

MORE: Best PC Builds

MORE: Best Gaming Laptops

Enjoy silky smooth laptop gaming for less with the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (RTX 3080) Gaming Laptop for $1,499 at Amazon. It features an esports spec screen with an FHD resolution and blisteringly fast 300Hz refresh rate powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU. The 3080 in this laptop comes with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM with a 130W TGP when enabled with ROG Boost.

You can upgrade to a 31.5-inch monitor for the budget price of $229 at Best Buy when you pick up the HP X32 QHD gaming monitor. This screen features a QHD resolution, a rapid 165Hz refresh rate, and a 1ms response time on its large IPS panel. This display is ideal for both a gaming or office setup.

If you're looking for a new case to replace your existing one, or on the hunt for the foundations of a new budget PC build then this offer on the Corsair Carbide Series Spec-Delta RGB case for just $64 might be of interest. With a mesh front panel, four included 120mm RGB fans, and room for the latest large coolers this case ticks a lot of boxes, especially at this price. 

Keep scrolling for more of today's Real Deals.

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (RTX 3080) Gaming Laptop: now $1,499 at Amazon (was $1,999)
• HP X32 QHD Gaming Monitor: now $229 at Best Buy (was $389)
• Corsair Carbide Series Spec-Delta RGB PC Case: now $64 at Best Buy (was $104)
• TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB 32GB DDR5 6000 RAM: now $120 at Newegg (was $149)
• 1TB Samsung 980 Pro PCIe Gen 4 SSD: now $75 at Amazon (was $129)

Today’s best deals in detail

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Blizzard recently released a playable beta of Diablo IV. However, it appears that not everything is sunshine and rainbows in the Sanctuary, though. An alarming amount of user reports have emerged on Reddit and the Blizzard forums, claiming that the beta is bricking the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, one of the best graphics cards.

One Reddit user reported that his Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Vision OC 12G had perished after playing the game for only 20 minutes. According to the Redditor's recount, the cutscene in the chapel was the exact moment his GeForce RTX 3080 Ti went haywire. It didn't take long before other affected users started to pitch in. Another user claims the cutscene also bricked his Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Vision OC 12G. However, users have also experienced crashes during normal gameplay too.

The reported symptoms are identical among the different cases. The system immediately throws a black screen at the user, and the cooling fans on the graphics cards go crazy. Subsequently, no image comes from the graphics card even after a system or several system restarts. However, it's important to note that the issue doesn't affect everyone, though. Some Diablo IV players have reported that while they have suffered crashes from the beta, the graphics cards miraculously survived.

The user feedback on the original Reddit thread shows that most of the bricked GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards are from Gigabyte. There was also a good number of cases from unspecified vendors. However, one GeForce RTX 3080 Ti from EVGA reportedly bit the dust too. Sadly, the issue isn't limited to the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, either. One GeForce RTX 3080 owner and one Radeon RX 6900 XT also came forward, reporting their bricked graphics cards.

It's too soon to tell whether Gigabyte's GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or Diablo IV is the culprit behind the bricked graphics cards. However, another GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Vision OC 12G owner reported that Valheim bricked their graphics card. Gigabyte sent the user a replacement but didn't provide any details on what was wrong with the graphics card. So there is seemingly a precedent that something may be wrong with Gigabyte's GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards.

Neither Blizzard nor Gigabyte has spoken about the issue. As a stopgap solution, users are recommending their peers cap the frame rate for safe measures. Nvidia GeForce owners can limit the frame rates on their graphics cards through the Nvidia control panel. The "Max Frame Rate" option resides in the "Global Setting" tab right under the "Manage 3D settings" section.

This Diablo IV bricking graphics card issue certainly has that New World-killing GeForce RTX 3090 vibe. Initially, users blamed New World because the open beta didn't have a frame rate limiter, making the GeForce RTX 3090 render the game menu at unnecessary high frame rates until the graphics card ultimately died. However, EVGA later discovered that bad soldering around the graphics card's MOSFET circuits killed the GeForce RTX 3090s, not New World. So it's not impossible to think that a bad batch of GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards may have escaped the factory. 

There's always a certain amount of risk when playing a beta version of an upcoming game. However, it shouldn't kill your graphics card - unless a defect exists that we don't know about, and Diablo IV exposes it.

It won't be long until all the available gaming laptops have the latest RTX 40-series GPUs inside of them, but currently, some of the best and most powerful gaming laptops contain the  RTX 3080 or 3080 Ti. Today we have a look at some of the best deals to be had on these gaming powerhouses that often make up the lists of the best gaming laptops.

Powered by an Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti the 17-inch Gigabyte Aorus 17 is reduced to $2,129 at Newegg. This gaming laptop has a super fast refresh rate of 360 Hz on its large screen, which is especially useful for fast-paced FPS games where every frame counts. 

The Asus ROG Zephyrus 15 is $1,899 at Best Buy. This 15.6-inch laptop sports a QHD resolution and an RTX 3080. The processor used in this particular model is AMD's Ryzen 9 5900HS. 

This MSI Vector GP66 has been reduced to $2,019, making this RTX 3080 Ti-powered laptop a great deal. With a 15.6-inch 165Hz QHD screen and Intel 12th Gen Core i9-12900H CPU, this powerful laptop also contains a massive 32GB of fast DDR5 RAM.

Keep scrolling for more great deals on RTX 3080-powered gaming laptops. 

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Gigabyte Aorus 17: now $2,129 at Newegg (was $2,499)
• Asus ROG Zephyrus 15: now $1,899 at Best Buy (was $2,199)
• MSI Vector GP66: now $2,019 at Newegg (was $2,599)
• Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 Ultra Slim: now $1,670 at Amazon (was $2,099)
• Alienware X17 R2: now $2,999 at Dell (was $3,799)

Today’s best deals in detail

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The GeForce RTX 4080 doesn't currently occupy a spot on our best graphics cards page, largely due to its price. But it has apparently become the best-selling graphics card on Newegg. Meanwhile, the flagship GeForce RTX 4090 currently sits in fourth place.

Despite reports claiming poor GeForce RTX 4080 sales, according to the U.S. retailer, the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4080 Gaming OC, which usually sells for $1,269.99, has sold the most. However, a graphics card that costs over a grand isn't what everyone needs. The more budget-friendly GeForce SKUs, such as the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and GeForce RTX 3060, remain popular among consumers. Thoaw last-generation Ampere graphics cards sit comfortably in second and third place.

The GeForce RTX 4090 is perhaps the biggest surprise, though. Notwithstanding the eye-watering $1,599 MSRP, the Ada Lovelace graphics card finds itself in the top five, beating more affordable options like the $479 Radeon RX 6700 XT or $329 Radeon RX 6600. 

On the other hand, Amazon's top-selling graphics card list shows a different reality. According to Amazon, the GeForce RTX 3060 is the highest-selling graphics card. And the GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4090 are miles away from the GeForce RTX 3060 in terms of sales. The GeForce RTX 4090 sits in the 15th position, whereas the GeForce RTX 4080 is all the way at the bottom in 28th place.

The problem with best-selling lists is that retailers never share the number of units sold. Therefore, we should treat the lists with caution. For example, the GeForce RTX 4080 is reportedly selling well for Newegg. In contrast, Amazon's enjoying great sales from the GeForce RTX 3060. While some may argue that Amazon's data looks more credible, we'll leave that to you to decide. It could also be just down to Amazon being a place for more casual consumers, while Newegg has traditionally courted a more enthusiast PC component audience.

AMD recently launched the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT, starting at $999 and $899, respectively. But while the RDNA 3 graphics cards are in stock at Newegg, they're almost at the bottom of the barrel in terms of sales. The Radeon RX 7900 XT is 88th on Newegg's list, while the Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 16th on Amazon's list, with the Radeon RX 7900 XT trailing right behind.

AMD had reportedly prepared over 200,000 units of Radeon RX 7900-series graphics cards for sale, so stock shouldn't be a problem and many sold out on launch day. So, having just launched earlier this week, it will likely take some time before AMD's RDNA 3 offerings penetrate the list of most-sold graphics cards. The fact is that those cards are out there, and Nvidia has some stiff competition, which is good for consumers.

Schenker has introduced its new Vision 16 and Vision 16 Pro ultrabooks that bring together performance, portability, low weight, and upgradeability. The 16-inch machines are based on Intel's Core i7-12700H processor with 14 cores and can be equipped with up to Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop graphics subsystem, but their weight is still lower when compared to Apple's MacBook Pro 14. 

Schenker's Vision 16 and Vision 16 Pro machines are based on Intel's Core i7-12700H (six performance cores at up to 4.70 GHz, eight efficiency cores at up to 3.50 GHz, Intel Xe Graphics, 45W PBP, 115W MTP) that is paired with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 4GB (vanilla Vision 16), GeForce RTX 3060 6GB, RTX 3070 Ti 8GB, or RTX 3080 with 16GB GDDR6 memory (Vision Pro 16). To ensure consistent performance of CPU and GPU, Schenker's 16-inch mobile PCs are equipped with a cooling system featuring three heat pipes and two blowers, according to an image published by VideoCardz. 

The laptops can be equipped with up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 (Vision 16) or DDR5-4800 (Vision Pro 16) memory as well as two M2-2280 SSDs with a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface. Both devices are user upgradeable.

When it comes to displays, the Vision 16 is equipped with a non-glare 2560 x 1600 LCD, a 350 nits luminance, and a 90 Hz refresh rate, whereas the Vision 16 Pro comes with a non-glare 2560 x 1600 LCD, a 350 nits brightness, with a 240 Hz refresh rate. 

As for connectivity, the machines offer two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-C connector, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 display output, an SD card reader and an audio jack for headsets. The laptops come with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 on board to connect to the internet and peripherals.

The Vision 16 and Vision 16 Pro notebooks use the same magnesium alloy chassis that measure 354 x 245 x17.1 mm and weight starting at 1.45 kilograms for the version with Intel integrated graphics, 1.5 kilograms for model with GeForce RTX 3050 Ti discrete GPU, or 1.6 kilograms for SKUs with higher-performance graphics processors. To put the numbers into context, the laptops are slightly thicker than Apple's MacBook Pro 16 with M1 Pro or M1 Max SoCs (17.1 mm vs 16.8 mm) and yet their weight does not exceed that of Apple's MacBook Pro 14 (1.6 kilograms). 

The cheapest Schenker Vision 16 starts at €1,549 without shipping ($1,298 without VAT), whereas the most affordable Schenker Vision Pro 16 starts at €1,899 without shipping ($1,592 without VAT). Both machines will be available in November. 

Like many other suppliers of gaming notebooks, Schenker uses barebones built by Clevo. That said, expect other brands to offer their high-performance ultrabooks using the same barebones featuring similar configurations and offering a 17.1 mm thickness as well as an up to 1.6 kilograms weight.

There has been a lot of turmoil in the GPU sector recently, which has meant good things for gamers looking to upgrade their rigs. The Ethereum Merge has made GPU mining unprofitable, which has led to a steady decline in GPU pricing. In addition, the imminent Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 Series launch has manufacturers looking to clear inventory of existing cards. That brings us to Yeston, which is offering an RTX 3080 10GB card for $779 via Newegg. 

Taken at face value, that price isn’t anything to get too excited about. After all, you can get a PNY RTX 3080 10GB XLR8 for $717.99 at Best Buy. However, the Yeston card comes bundled with a $200 Newegg promotional gift card (effectively making the card $579).

We’ve previously talked about the perils of mail-in rebates here at Tom’s Hardware. But that isn’t the case with this particular promotion. According to Newegg, the $200 promotional gift card is automatically emailed to you four days after your order is invoiced. On the downside, you can only redeem the gift card at Newegg.com, and it must be used within 90 days. But if you already have another immediate purchase in mind at Newegg, perhaps those restrictions aren’t a real deterrent. And hopefully this card is an indication of further price cuts to come. 

As for the Yeston card itself, its aesthetic obviously won’t be for everyone with its mix of white, purple, and pastel blue. You’ll find a triple-fan design and the standard port layout for an RTX 3080 graphics card: one HDMI 2.0 and three DisplayPort connections. Also, remember that this is the Lite Hash Rate (LHR) version of the card -- although given the current Ethereum situation, we doubt this matters too much, especially to gamers. Expect performance to mirror that of Nvidia’s RTX 3080 10GB Founders Edition, as you’ll find a base clock of 1.44GHz and a boost clock of 1.71GHz. 

While this is a great deal on a current-generation RTX 30 Series card, which is among the best graphics cards for gaming, keep in mind that the next-generation RTX 40 Series is right around the corner. The lineup will initially consist of the $899 RTX 4080 12GB, $1,199 RTX 4080 16GB and $1,599 RTX 4090. The RTX 4090 launches on October 12, while the RTX 4080 12GB and RTX 4080 16GB will arrive in November, according to Nvidia.

A Twitter user named @hongxing2020 recently shared photos of a mysterious MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ventus 3X 20G OC, packing an impressive but unusual memory capacity of 20GB. The user claims that up to 100 units are available for between $432 to $576, insinuating that these could be leftover cards from mining operations. Core specifications are unknown, but the graphics card is likely the long-rumored 20GB variant of the vanilla RTX 3080, modified to support Micron memory chips with double the capacity.

It wouldn't be the first time Nvidia has reportedly messed around doubling VRAM capacities on its high-end GPUs. Almost every generation of Nvidia graphics cards has featured some rumor or suspicion pointing to a 2x higher capacity variant well after the GPU's initial release.

In the past, Nvidia has sold different memory capacity variants of the same GPU model, with one variant featuring 2x the memory capacity over the other. This strategy was prevalent during the Kepler generation and older models, where cards like the GTX 780 3GB and GTX 770 2GB had additional 6GB and 4GB models, respectively.

Making a new GPU with 2x the memory capacity isn't hard; it's one of the easiest ways to add additional VRAM capacity to a GPU. All Nvidia has to do is swap out memory ICs with ones featuring two times the capacity of the previous variant. Adding other levels of VRAM lower or higher than 2x on the other hand gets much more complicated. That would involve modifying the memory bus width and memory configuration, as memory manufacturers almost always make memory ICs based on 512MB, 1GB, or 2GB memory configs with no in between capacities.

More often than not, higher memory configurations come on higher tier products, like the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti with 24GB of VRAM. However, the RTX 3060 comes with 12GB of memory, even though the faster RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, and RTX 3070 Ti have 8GB. That's perhaps because Nvidia deemed 6GB too little for a modern RTX 3060, unlike the previous generation RTX 2060. But the 3060 has a narrower 192-bit bus, where the 3060 Ti, 3070, and 3070 Ti have a 256-bit bus.

If Nvidia was thinking about an RTX 3080 20GB, it likely didn't make sense. The RTX 3080 Ti has 12GB, and later we got the RTX 3080 12GB. Nvidia seems to have gone with more memory bandwidth rather than more memory capacity for the current RTX 3080 series.

The RTX 3080 12GB wasn't a straight upgrade in memory, either. Nvidia had to upgrade the RTX 3080 12GB with additional memory controllers, and it enabled a few more more CUDA cores (two SMs) to go along with the extra 2GB. While the core configuration is on paper only 3% faster than the RTX 3080 10GB, the additional 20% memory bandwidth proved very beneficial, potentially matching the RTX 3080 Ti (depending on core clocks).

An RTX 3080 20GB likely would have been a downgrade for gamers, as it would have remained with a 320-bit bus. Another issue with a 20GB model is memory utilization in games. Only a select few titles running at very high resolutions and maxed-out texture packs can break 12GB of VRAM. As a result, the RTX 3080 20GB's additional 8GB of VRAM would rarely be helpful for most gamers.

A 20GB SKU might be a good upgrade over a 10GB model, but with a 12GB variant already existing, a 20GB model for gamers makes no sense. The only place an RTX 3080 20GB would make sense is in the prosumer side of the market, where gobs of memory capacity are beneficial for non-gaming tasks such as 3D rendering and high-resolution video timelines with tons of different visual effects. But Nvidia already has the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti to bridge this gap, making the RTX 3080 20GB even more pointless.

XMG has announced its latest high-end gaming laptops, the Neo 17 and 15, with two high-performance models built around Ryzen 9 CPUs, a choice of Nvidia GeForce GPUs, and an attractive external liquid cooling system.

Looking good to trouble our roundup of the best gaming laptops, both 17-inch and 15-inch models come with AMD’s Ryzen 9 6900HX (eight cores, 16 threads, boost up to 4.9 GHz with a default TDP of 45W, peaking at 85W), and the 17-inch model packs a 330W PSU to make the most of both that CPU and an Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080 Ti GPU. Keeping a lid on all that heat is a cooling system comprising a pair of 11mm fans, five heat pipes, and heat sinks on all air outlets.

An optional external liquid cooling system known as Oasis is also available, capable of dropping GPU temps in a stress test by 15 degrees Celsius, according to XMG’s figures. The Oasis looks somewhat like a PC itself, though how it connects to the laptop without spilling coolant all over your pants has yet to be seen.

Consumers can configure the RAM up to 64GB of DDR5, while two M.2 sockets can accommodate the best SSDs. GPUs on the 17-inch model are strictly the top end of Nvidia’s range, RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3080, and RTX 3080 Ti, while the 240 Hz display has a resolution of 2560x1600 for a 16:10 aspect ratio. Even the keyboard is designed with gamers in mind, featuring Cherry MX switches and RGB. The laptop is also fully compatible with VR headsets, thanks to a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port with an integrated DisplayPort 1.4 stream from the GPU. 

A slightly smaller 15-inch model comes with an RTX 3060 GPU for an entry-level choice. Its screen is a 16:9 WQXGA IPS display, but it retains the Ryzen 9 CPU and the potential for liquid cooling of its bigger brother. In addition, it can be specced with a GPU up to the RTX 3080 Ti if desired.

The 15-inch laptop with RTX 3060 costs 2,099 Euros ($2,156) and rises as you add optional extras. The 17-inch model starts at 2,949 Euros ($3029) with an RTX 3070 Ti and 16GB of RAM, while the Oasis cooler costs 199 Euros ($205). Both models are available for pre-order now, shipping in September.

The 12GB MSI Ventus RTX 3080 is back to $729 (after discount) at Newegg. This powerful GPU is more than adequate to run all the latest games and applications at high settings on high-resolution monitors. 

Speaking of high-resolution monitors, we also have the LG UltraGear 48GQ900-B Gaming Monitor on sale for $1,298. This massive 48-inch OLED display features a 120Hz refresh rate on its crystal-clear 4K resolution. 

Logitech's premium gaming headset, the G Pro X (wired), is down to $89. With big comfortable earcup cushions and large 50mm drivers - this headset hopes to immerse you in your games. 

More deals on mice and keyboards are below.  

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• MSI Ventus RTX 3080 12GB GPU: was $999, now $729 with code SSBU2634 at Newegg
• LG 48-Inch UltraGear UHD 4K OLED Gaming Monitor: was $1,499, now $1,298 at Amazon
• Logitech G Pro X Gaming Headset: was $129, now $89 at Amazon
• Redragon M908 Impact RGB MMO Mouse: was $46, now $32 at Amazon
• Redragon K552 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard: was $54, now $32 at Amazon

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Remember the time, just a few months ago, when you couldn't find an RTX 3080 card for less than $1,000? Today, there are are plenty of graphics card deals with RTX 3080s going for well under $800. However, the best graphics card deal of any kind we've seen during Prime Day is this Gigabyte RTX 3080 (12GB) card that's a mere $729 at Newegg when you use code VGAEXCRWF22 at checkout. 

On release this graphics card wasn't really issued with an official MSRP but had a going rate of around $1,200 at the time; mainly due to the great GPU shortage of 2021. With the next series of Nvidia cards - the 40-series - somewhere on the horizon these cards need to come down in price to become an attractive proposition. Sales events like Amazon Prime Day can be a great opportunity to snag a deal on a GPU if you're not willing to wait for the new lineup. 

According to Gigabyte, the GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming OC 12G GPU can reach speeds up to 1,755 MHz. It leverages Nvidia Ampere microarchitecture and has 2nd Gen RT cores and 3rd Gen Tensor cores. As the name suggests, the graphics card has 12GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit memory interface.

This card features Windforce 3X cooling—a system comprised of three fans, two 90mm and one 80mm, with alternate spinning fans that increase airflow for improved heat dissipation over its seven composite copper heat pipes. There is RGB LED support for those that like a bit of unicorn in their builds and the RGB works with the RGB Fusion 2.0 application. 

On our GPU benchmarks hierarchy, the RTX 3080 (12GB) GPU out ranks even the RTX 3080 Ti and comes in just below the RTX 3090. So if you want to do high-end 2K or even solid 4K gaming with raytracing, this is the card for you.

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Although GPU prices have fallen considerably since the highs of the great graphics card shortage, there has been a slight plateau reached in the last couple of weeks with regard to the retail price drops being offered. In fact, some cards have been going back up in price, but, this could be due to Amazon Prime Day being on the horizon and a need to artificially inflate prices before offering what looks to be bigger discounts. 

The MSI Ventus RTX 3080 (12GB Version) has dropped back down to its previous lowest price of $769 at Newegg. If you need a new GPU and can't wait until the 40-series launches then this is the best deal available at the moment for the 12GB version of the RTX 3080.

Today also sees price drops on several CPUs — all to the lowest prices we've seen. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X has dropped to a low $174. That's a very attractive-looking AM4 upgrade for those on a budget. The 5600X is also a fantastic gaming and productivity-focused CPU.

With 29% knocked off the price of the NZXT H710 ATX Mid-Tower PC Case - making it $119, this is an awesome deal for a pretty PC enclosure. The NZXT H710 has nice aesthetics and build functionality and would be a nice addition to any new build project. 

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• MSI Ventus RTX 3080 12GB GPU: was $999, now $769 at Newegg
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU: was $309, now $174 at Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU: was $449, now $274 at Amazon
• Intel Core i5-12600K CPU: was $294, now $249 with code FTPBU8559 at Newegg
• NZXT H710 ATX Mid Tower PC Case: was $169, now $119 at Amazon

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Bitmain launched its long-awaited Antminer E9 system today. The firm claims that one Antminer E9 system has the crypto-computing power to match 25 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards. That is quite an achievement, which Bitmain measures in Ethereum mining performance terms. In brief, the Antminer E9 is capable of 2,400 MH/s of ETH mining performance, white eating up to 1,920W, and its efficiency is at 0.8 J/M.

Since it first teased the Antminer E9, the specs appear to have changed somewhat, with no real explanation from Bitmain. Last April, Bitmain teased that it was about to launch a specialized Ethereum miner capable of 3,000 MH/s, using 2,556W, with an efficiency of 0.85 J/M. At the time, it boasted that it could out-mine 32 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards. Today, the finished shipping product is said to offer a mining performance equivalent to 25 GeForce RTX 3080. However, it seems to be a little more efficient. So Bitmain might have changed the Antminer E9 specs for pricing, efficiency, or another reason - but the company didn't provide any explanations.

Bitmain's Twitter account says that the Antminer E9 should be available today. We checked the site just a couple of hours after the touted hardware sales started, but it wasn't available. It may appear on the Bitmain retail site later; however, it isn't showing when the check box shows sold-out products.

The Antminer E9 has been through a prolonged gestation period since its teaser regarding the Ethereum targeting system in April 2021. At the time, Bitmain said it would launch "very soon," but the company seemingly encountered problems releasing the ASIC miner. Bitmain didn't share the pricing for the Antminer E9, either. Cryptocurrencies aren't such an attractive investment as they were in the pre-war, pre-double-digit inflation, pre-recession spring of 2021.

As well as the crypto crash, which has paused chiefly since mid-June, there is another significant negative to the prospect of investing in a specialized ETH miner today. The oft-delayed 'Merge' where ETH mining ends, due to the transition to a Proof of Stake (PoS) model, is firmly penciled in for August this year. Sadly, there have been multiple setbacks, so that it could suffer another delay again.

It seems like just yesterday that RTX 3080-powered desktops were going for well over $2000, but with GPU prices dropping, you can now get a fully decked-out gaming PC for a lot less. Today, as part of its July 4th sales, Dell is offering a Aurora R10 with RTX 3080 graphics, a powerful AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for just $1,699.

According to the results in our GPU benchmarks hierarchy,  you can play 4K games at Ultra settings and get more than 60 fps or get close to 100 fps in 1440p resolution.  If you prefer to run at 1080p resolution, you can easily eclipse 110 fps with special effects turned up.

This configuration of the Alienware Aurora R10 should be as good for productivity as it is for gaming. It comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU that has 8 cores and 16 threads, along with a 4.7-GHz boost clock. 

This Aurora R10 has has 16GB of DDR-3200 RAM, which should be more than adequate for opening a ton of browser tabs while performing a slew of other tasks. There are also two extra DIMM slots you can use to upgrade in the future. A 1TB NVMe SSD gives you plenty of room for installing games and other apps.

If your desktop isn't going to be anywhere near your router, you'll appreciate the Aurora R10's built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi. If you can used a wired connection, the Killer E2600 Ethernet NIC promises great connectivity.

Since this is an Alienware Aurora, it has an attractive, Alien-themed chassis that's in the dark gray "Dark Side of the Moon" colorway. The chassis has two, customizable RGB light zones you can use to light up your room. A 1,000-watt power supply provides plenty of juice for the RTX 3080 or any future GPU you choose to replace it with. 

If you're looking for a prebuilt gaming PC with plenty of oomph to play the latest games, then the Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 for just $1,799 might pique your interest. With a powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU inside, this PC will power high frame rates in the most demanding titles. 

On the hunt for a new motherboard for your next build? If you're thinking of going with an Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake CPU, then this MSI Pro Z690-A WiFi (DDR5) for $160 is a great starting point. With support for PCIe 5.0 and DDR5, this board is future-proof for the next upgrade in storage and PCIe speeds.

Get creative with the Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D Printer for $199— this is a great printer for jumping into the 3D printing space and with a sub $200 price point, this printer becomes a whole lot more attractive.

Check below for more great deals. 

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 (RTX 3080) Gaming PC: was $2,519, now $1,799 at Dell
• MSI Pro Z690-A WiFi (DDR5) Motherboard: was $229, now $160 at GameStop
• Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D Printer: was $229, now $199 at Micro Center
• LG 34WP60C-B 34-Inch Curved Ultrawide Monitor: was $449, now $396 at Amazon
• Teamgroup T-Force Vulcan Z DDR4 32GB RAM Kit: was $109, now $89 at Amazon

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Today we have a huge price drop on the MSI Ventus Nvidia GeForce 3080 12GB GPU at only $769 from Newegg. You do have to mail in a rebate to get this price, but that takes this powerful graphics card within $100 of the MSRP of an original RTX 3080 10GB Founder Edition. 

Intel's Core i7-12700KF is also down to its lowest price of $323 on Amazon. Check out our review of the 12700KF for more information and see why it received our Editors Choice award.

Grab the Razer Blade 14 with an RTX 3070 GPU for just $1,699 at Amazon. This is a great price for the normally expensive premium Razer branded laptop. Built with a focus on gaming with the ability to be portable, this powerful laptop can play the latest games on high settings. 

Check out more deals below. 

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• MSI Ventus RTX 3080 12GB GPU: was $999, now $769 with rebate at Newegg
• Intel Core i7-12700KF CPU: was $465, now $323 at Amazon
• Razer Blade 14 (RTX 3070) Gaming Laptop: was $2,200, now $1,699 at Amazon
• Razer DeathAdder v2 Pro Gaming Mouse: was $129, now $69 at Amazon
• Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile Keys: was $149, now $99 at Best Buy

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It's Monday and we kick off the start of the week with some fantastic deals on a pre-built Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 (RTX 3080) for $1,799 at Dell. If you're in the market for a powerful gaming rig, then this offer could be for you. 

Intel's unlocked Core i5-12600KF is now only $249 with code HTSBS3A55 at Newegg right now. This is a great all-purpose CPU that shines at either gaming or productivity tasks. See our review of the Core i5-12600K for more detail. 

Looking for a good mid-range laptop for an affordable price? This Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 with an RTX 3050 Ti is currently just $899 at Walmart. Featuring 16GB of RAM and a Ryzen 9 4800H CPU, this gaming laptop is ideal for playing the latest games at medium to high settings. 

More great deals down below.

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 (RTX 3080) Gaming PC: was $2,519, now $1,799 at Dell
• Intel Core i5-12600KF CPU: was $260, now $249 with code HTSBS3A55 at Newegg
• Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (RTX 3050 Ti) Gaming Laptop: was $1,199, now $899 at Walmart
• Asus ROG Gladius III Wireless Gaming Mouse: was $119, now $79 at Amazon
• SK Hynix Gold P31 2TB NVMe SSD: was $210, now $178 with coupon at Amazon

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Steam has published its latest monthly survey data, gathered from peeking at gamer PCs around the globe. This month we are seeing some of the most substantial increases in figures for the mid-to-high-end GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards. Recent pricing action and improved availability appear to work some magic and inspire some upgrades. Elsewhere in the survey data, hexa-core processors have made a comeback in the CPU rankings, stealing the crown and knocking quad-core chips back into second place.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and 3070 were the fastest climbers in May, holding first and second place in this chart. In the third and fourth pace, jointly, are the RTX 3060 and the old GTX 1070. Before you choke over the GTX 1070's gains here, remember that such cards may be coming back into circulation as people sell their old GPUs to upgrade their PCs.

In previous months we lamented the sluggish growth of the RTX 30 series in the Steam Hardware Survey user data. It is straightforward to understand gamers holding off upgrading, though. Over H1 2022, we have seen some very encouraging new GPU pricing trends. PC gamers are buying again after holding their purses tight for many months.

With a potential glut of current gen GPUs forming, the Tom's Hardware GPU editor Jarred Walton has guessed that we might see AMD and Nvidia delay their RDNA 3 and Ada Lovelace consumer GPU releases until a more opportune time.

The CPU cores war took a new turn in May, as hexacore chips, which first grasped a taste of the top spot this March, were back in pole position. Plucky quad cores managed to regain the top spot in April, but we feel that hexa-core CPUs will be convincing leaders for many months, if not multiple years, before octa-core chips or better start to go mainstream in PCs.

Steam also plots CPU usage by the manufacturer. For Windows gamers, AMD adoption was good last month, up 1.24%, while Intel users fell by roughly the same amount (it's a two-horse race, with the barely noticeable presence of a Microsoft ARM CPU). While checking these charts, you can also see how fast Apple M1 adoption is climbing in macOS. In the latest survey, Apple Silicon has over 40% market share.

Last but not least, Linux gamers on Steam have been lapping up AMD CPUs. We may see Intel and AMD reach parity in popularity among Steam users gaming with this open-source OS installed.

Today at Amazon, the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming OC 12G GPU is available at one of its best prices yet. It has a going rate of around $1,349 but is currently selling for just $884. It’s also worth noting that this price has changed rapidly throughout the day and is subject to change again, but it has been lingering around a considerable discount.

This discount is one of many we’re covering throughout the Memorial Day holiday sales and is one of the best graphics card deals we’ve seen in a while. We always double-check the price history of our deals using third-party tools like Google Shopping, PCPartPicker, and CamelCamelCamel for Amazon items and recommend our readers do the same as prices are subject to change. If you don’t have the time to investigate for yourself, check out our list of Memorial Day deals for a compilation of the best offers we can find.

According to Gigabyte, the GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming OC 12G GPU can reach speeds up to 1,755 MHz. It leverages Nvidia Ampere microarchitecture and has 2nd Gen RT cores and 3rd Gen Tensor cores. As the name suggests, the graphics card has 12GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit memory interface.

This card features what Gigabyte calls Windforce 3X cooling—a system comprised of three fans, two 90mm and one 80mm, with alternate spinning functions. It has seven composite copper heat pipes and a large copper plate directly touching the GPU. It features RGB LEDs support and works with the RGB Fusion 2.0 application. The purchase includes a 4-year manufacturer’s warranty from Gigabyte that users must register for online to redeem.

Visit the GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming OC 12G GPU product page on Amazon for purchase options. Also, don’t forget to look through our list of Memorial Day deals and other tech deals for more hardware discounts that will easily complement a new graphics card.

Corsair is currently offering a set of "Builders Bundle" deals on their website where you can save on almost all the parts needed to build a monster of a gaming or content creation machine. Included in the bundle are the case, power supply, CPU cooler, RGB fans and controller, and a powerful RTX 30-series GPU, but you still need to get a RAM, CPU, SSD, and motherboard if you don't already have one.

The two bundle deals are the RTX 3080 Ti FE Builders Bundle for $1,899, and the RTX 3090 Builders Bundle for $2,399.

Also on sale this holiday weekend is the PNY Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 12GB XLR8 GPU for $429 and the EVGA Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 XC Gaming 12GB GPU for $429, both from Best Buy.

More offers are below, and have a great weekend!

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• RTX 3080 Ti FE Builders Bundle: was $2,304, now $1,899 at Corsair
• RTX 3090 Builders Bundle: was $2,779, now $2,399 at Corsair
• PNY Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 12GB XLR8 GPU: was $649, now $429 at Best Buy
• EVGA Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 XC Gaming 12GB GPU: was $549, now $429 at Best Buy
• Arducam 5MP Camera for Raspberry Pi: was $14, now $9 at Amazon

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Back on sale and down to a reduced price, the MSI GP66 Leopard is only $1,799 at Newegg right now. This laptop features a 240Hz refresh rate and a powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU powering its graphics. 

Amazon has the HyperX Alloy Origins Coreon on sale for just $59. This smaller footprint keyboard features a TKL (TenKeyLess) design and HyperX's own linear red switches. 

Looking for a budget headset for video calls or casual gaming? The Astro A10 gaming headset is currently reduced to $29 on Amazon. 

Check below for some more great offers in today's Real Deals. 

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• MSI GP66 Leopard (RTX 3080) Gaming Laptop: was $2,299, now $1,799 at Newegg after rebate
• HyperX Alloy Origins Core (HyperX Red Switch) Gaming Keyboard: was $89, now $59 at Amazon
• Astro A10 Gaming Headset: was $59, now $29 at Amazon
• HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Gaming Headset: was $99, now $66 at Amazon
• Fractal Design Define 7 PC Case: was $200, now $169 at Walmart

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Asus and Noctua are extending their partnership to Asustek's GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition graphics card. This new offering combines the advantages of Asus' engineering, Nvidia's GA102 GPU coupled with 10GB of memory, and Noctua's expertise in cooling. 

When Asus and Noctua teamed up for a graphics card last year, it provoked a lot of enthusiasm in the community, given Asustek's expertise in high-end graphics boards and Noctua's knowledge of quiet fans. Yet the first collaborative product by the two companies was a rather conservative GeForce RTX 3070 card. While still being among the best graphics cards you can find these days, that board had its boundaries, such as 8GB of GDDR6 memory onboard. The new product addresses those limitations with a more powerful GPU and 10GB of GDDR6X memory.  

While the usage of a GA102 graphics processor with a different configuration (8704 CUDA cores vs. 5888 CUDA codes, 20.3 FP32 TFLOPS vs 29.8 FP32 TFLOPS) is a tangible upgrade by itself, power-hungry GDDR6X memory adds to total consumed and dissipated power (290W for RTX 3070 vs 340W for RTX 3080). This is why Noctua tailored its cooler for a new challenge. 

The new GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition model continues to use a quad-slot cooling system equipped with NF-A12x25 120-mm fans. The Noctua Edition runs 4.5 dB(A) quieter at typical auto-speed fan settings while achieving 3°C lower GPU temperatures and 14°C lower VRAM temperatures than Asus's TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080, according to the mutual press release issued by the companies.   

Based on information from the PR, the fans of the GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition at their maximum speed (something that happens in poorly ventilated cases) reduced noise levels by 8.6 dBA and the memory was still 12°C cooler than in case of the TUF card, according to official information. Given how meticulously Noctua develops its heatsinks and fans, the comparison should be even more impressive when the fans are not running at lower speeds. In addition, Noctua mentions a 2-5 dBA lower noise levels when compared to their TUF reference card, though we would like to test these things ourselves. 

"We have been thrilled to continue our cooperation with Asus," says Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "The GeForce RTX 3080 with its heat emission of up to 340W is an entirely different beast to tame than the GeForce RTX 3070, but leveraging our fan technology and a customised heatsink, we have once again managed to create a card that combines serious GPU power with excellent quietness of operation." 

One of the things that Asus and Noctua don't mention is the recommended price of the GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua Edition graphics card. One of the drawbacks of the GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition was its price, but that was amid shortages of graphics boards in general, so it was not surprising. Now that prices of video cards are getting to their MSRP levels, perhaps even a Noctua Edition product will be priced at levels accessible to average buyers. 

Do you want a powerful laptop that can play the latest games or race through productivity tasks? Acer's Nitro 5 17-inch gaming laptop is down to $1,749 today at Newegg. This laptop features a Ryzen 7 5800H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 with a nicely reduced price tag. 

Snag an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is only $329 on Amazon right now. The 5800X is a fantastic CPU and one of the best CPUs for gaming and productivity tasks.  

If you're looking to upgrade your RAM, you can get your hands on 16GBs of fast 4400MHz with the Patriot Viper Steel DDR4 RAM for just $72at Amazon. 

More deals are below so don't forget to scroll down and have a look.

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Acer Nitro 5 (Ryzen 7, 16GB, 1TB SSD) Gaming Laptop: was $2,100, now $1,749 at Newegg
• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU: was $449, now $329 at Amazon
• Patriot Viper Steel 16GB DDR4 (4400MHz) RAM Kit: was $114, now $72 with coupon at Amazon
• Corsair iCUE 220T RGB Airflow PC Case: was $124, now $89 at Newegg after rebate
• ASRock Z590 Extreme Motherboard: was $247, now $175 at Newegg

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Noctua have collaborated with Asus to produce a custom cooled Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card. VideoCardz has shared the first images of this second Asus x Noctua cooperative product, and from many angles it is practically indistinguishable from its predecessor. Thankfully the box art makes clear this is an RTX 3080 and the backplate features some significant changes. As ever with these unofficial leaks, please take this information with a pinch of salt.

The purported box art suggests that the partners have got together to launch a 10GB RTX 3080, and there is no evidence there will be a version built around the newer 12GB configuration. Immediately evident is that from the fan side the new model looks identical to the RTX 3070 version. The source reckons they are identical in this respect, both with an overall thickness of 4-slots. By our estimations the new RTX 3080 could be a little fatter.

Ports available include triple DisplayPort 1.4 and dual HDMI 2.1. This is the same configuration as provided with the previous Asus x Noctua card, but with a slightly different arrangement of ports on the backplate. The new model features twin 8-pin power connectors, just like its predecessor, too.

The biggest evidence of change under the cooling shroud comes from the backplate. The new backplate shows a modified and sturdier looking GPU mounting brace on the underside of the PCB. All the vents on the backplate look more substantial too.

VideoCardz found the new Asus x Noctua GeForce RTX 3080 listed in Europe at €1,150 ($1,215) – a €250 ($264) premium over the RTX 3070 version.

For further reading about Asus x Noctua graphics cards and some insight into what to expect, please have a read through our extensive Asus GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Review. At the time of the review we lamented that the first collaborative product hadn't been an RTX 3080, 3080 Ti, or 3090 GPU, as the cooling solution seemed like overkill for the RTX 3070. We can't wait to see how the new Asus x Noctua GeForce RTX 3080 fares in the labs. After all, the GeForce RTX 3080 is currently the leading graphics card in our Best Graphics Cards for Gaming in 2022 buying guide.

If you've been looking into getting a portable gaming computer to play the latest games, then you may be interested in the 15-inch Asus RoG Zephyrus on sale for $1,899 at Best Buy. This powerful gaming laptop contains an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU and a Ryzen 9 5900HS CPU.

The Gigabyte M32U 32-inch 4K monitor has been reduced to the lowest ever price we have seen it at $699 from Newegg. With a 144Hz refresh rate and a KVM switch, this is a large monitor with quality specifications. 

Get an extra 20% off when you purchase a Samsung 980 Pro (1TB) with Heatsink from Newegg by using code SSBS429. For a final cost of $135, that's a great price for one of our best SSD picks. 

Check below for more great deals.

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 (AMD Ryzen 9, RTX 3080) Gaming Laptop: was $2,199, now $1,899 at Best Buy
• Gigabyte M32U 32-Inch 4K Display: was $799, now $699 at Newegg
• Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD with Heatsink: was $229, now $135 with code SSBS429 at Newegg
• Razer Viper Ultimate Gaming Mouse: was $149, now $79 at Amazon
• Metallic Gear Neo Air (White) ATX Mid-tower PC Case: was $89, now $79 at Newegg after rebate

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Is there light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to outrageous GPU prices? If the downward-trending prices during Q1 2022 are any indication, things are slowly getting back to normal regarding the best graphics cards for gaming. While we've seen board makers like EVGA sell their branded graphics cards at MSRP for a few months now, retailers have been a bit slower to retain sufficient stock at MSRP. However, that no longer appears to be the case regarding the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti over at Newegg. 

Newegg is currently selling the Gigabyte RTX 3080 Ti Gaming OC at $1,199. Unlike the Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition, which uses a blower-style cooling setup, Gigabyte has opted for a more traditional triple-fan arrangement. As a result, the Gigabyte RTX 3080 Ti Gaming OC boasts a slightly higher maximum GPU clock, coming in at 1,710 MHz versus 1,665 MHz. 

The card is still in stock at Newegg and is offered with free shipping (which is notable because EVGA typically hits customers with around $20 in shipping charges for its in-stock RTX 30 Series graphics cards). If you want a slightly loftier maximum GPU clock, 1,725 MHz boost to be exact, the RTX 3080 Ti XC3 Ultra Gaming is $80 higher at $1,279.

If $1,199 or more is too rich for your blood, the EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra Gaming is currently on backorder at Newegg (estimated arrival shipping date of today) with a price of $869. The RTX 3080 Founders Edition costs $699, but the chances of finding one of those at MSRP is near impossible these days. The $170 premium for the EVGA is somewhat expected given its higher GPU clock, iCX3 cooling technology, metal backplate and abundance of RGB lighting.

Moving further down the performance ladder, the Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Eagle OC sells for $699. Again, this is a custom card with a higher GPU clock than its $599 Founders Edition counterpart, so the $100 premium is expected. Newegg says that the card is currently on backorder, but you can still place an order at $699 and lock in your pricing when they come back in stock.

Unfortunately, markups on RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3060 graphics cards, as a percentage of their actual MSRP, are unfavorable for Newegg customers. For example, the RTX 3060 Ti has an MSRP of $399 (Founders Edition), but the cheapest counterpart at Newegg is the MSI RTX 3060 Ti Ventus, priced at $579.

Jarrod from Jarrod's Tech (not to be confused with our own Jarred Walton) recently reviewed AMD's new RX 6850M XT mobile flagship GPU against Nvidia's RTX 3080 mobile graphics using Asus' external XG mobile enclosures. Unfortunately for AMD, performance was rather disappointing for the RX 6850M XT in most of the games tested. Nvidia's RTX 3080 mobile was 10 to 20% faster overall while drawing a whopping 37% less power. These results are unusual for AMD's RDNA2 architecture, which we'll get to in a moment.

Testing was done on an Asus Flow Z13 2-in-1 gaming device powered by Intel's latest Core i9-12900H processor and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. The two discrete GPUs tested come in the form of Asus' external GPU enclosures known as ROG XG Mobiles. These enclosures house either the RTX 3080 or the RX 6850M XT and are powered by their own power supplies. These devices are connected to the Flow Z13 via a custom PCIe interface running at up to Gen3 speeds with eight lanes available.

The RTX 3080 version of the XG mobile is known as the 2021 ROG XG Mobile and comes with a maximum power rating of up to 150W. The RX 6850M XT model is the newer 2022 model and comes with a greater power rating of up to 165W.

Benchmarks

Overall, performance was clearly in favor of the RTX 3080 XG mobile unit. It came out ahead in nearly all the games tested. The full set of games consisted of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Fortnite, Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, Forza Horizon 5, Control, Watch Dogs Legion, God of War, Dying Light 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, The Witcher 3, Call of Duty Warzone, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

Out of those, Nvidia's GPU was faster in the first eleven (though it was close in three of those), while AMD's RX 6850M XT only took the lead in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, COD Warzone, and The Witcher 3. That was at 1080p, where Nvidia averaged 9% higher performance. It also came out 11% ahead at 1440p, with the same selection of games favoring AMD and Nvidia's solutions.

Moving up to testing at 4K, the average FPS difference between the RX 6850M XT and the RTX 3080 increased to 18%, and only two games (The Witcher 3 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider) were faster on AMD's GPU.

These results are reminiscent of our testing with AMD and Nvidia's desktop equivalents, where AMD performs better at lower resolutions, thanks to RDNA2's higher core frequencies and large Infinity Cache. Still, overall performance was in favor of the 3080 at all three resolutions. 

Strange Behavior

Jarrod notes the RX 6850M XT's behavior is very strange. In previous testing with the RX 6800M and RTX 3080 — in different laptops, not with Asus' XG mobile devices — he found performance to be nearly equivalent between the two GPUs in gaming workloads, with both discrete GPU options having 150W power limits.

This situation is compounded by system power draw for the Asus' Flow X13 and XG mobile, which was significantly higher when using the RX 6850M XT. Total System power peaked at 171W with the RTX 3080 XG mobile connected but jumped to 235W when the RX 6850M XT enclosure was used, a 37% increase in power consumption.

We've seen AMD's older RX 6800M go toe-to-toe with Nvidia's RTX 3080 mobile graphics while consuming roughly the same amount of power. It now remains a mystery as to why the RX 6850M XT is so inefficient.

Spec for spec, the RX 6850M XT only features minor upgrades from the 6800M (hence the reason it's not called a 6900M). Memory capacity and core count remain identical between the two SKUs, with the only difference being a 163MHz increase to GPU frequency for the RX 6850M XT, and a 2 Gbps uptick in memory speed for the GDDR6 modules which now run at 18Gbps. That could account for some of the power increase, but probably not all of it.

For now, it's best to take these results with a dose of salt, as the RX 6850M XT's poor performance could be the result of Asus' unusual configuration involving its external GPU enclosures. Hopefully, more laptops can be tested soon with the RX 6850M XT built into them to see how the GPU performs in a typical laptop form factor.

Not to be confused with the original RTX 3080 10GB launch edition, this is the newer version of the RTX 3080 with extra VRAM which helps it to perform nearly as fast as an RTX 3080 Ti.  The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 12GB Gaming OC has been reduced to $1,099 at Newegg after having $249 shaved off its previous price. 

Also on today's deals menu is Samsung's 2TB 980 Pro SSD for just $252 at Newegg, and a selection of wireless gaming mice — one of which is the Razer Naga Trinity, reduced to $74 on Amazon. This multi-purpose mouse features three interchangeable side panels all with different button configurations for use in different gaming genres. 

Check below to see more details on these deals and others. 

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 12GB GPU: was $1,349 now $1,099 at Newegg
• Samsung 980 Pro PCIe Gen 4 2TB SSD: was $312, now $252 at Newegg
• Razer Naga Trinity MMO Gaming Mouse: was $99, now $74 at Amazon
• Razer Basilisk Ultimate Wireless Gaming Mouse: was $149, now $89 at Razer
• SteelSeries Aerox 3 Ghost Wireless Gaming Mouse: was $99, now $69 at Best Buy

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It's no secret that GDDR6X memory can run very hot on graphics cards equipped with it, most notably the GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3080 Ti, and RTX 3090, some of the best graphics cards on the market. If modding copper shims to your GPU isn't your cup of tea, there's an easier way to reduce memory temperatures. YouTuber DandyWorks released a video demonstrating the use of a copper plate for memory, made specifically for an Nvidia RTX 3080. The copper plate was able to reduce GDDR6X temperatures by up to 25C.

The copper plate used in the video was made by CoolMyGPU.com and is specifically designed for select RTX 3080 AIB partner cards. The company has an assortment of other copper memory cooling pates as well that are designed for a range of RTX 30-series GPU models, including the RTX 3080/Ti, RTX 3090, RTX 3060/Ti, and RTX 3070/Ti. It has plates for Nvidia's Founders Edition SKUs as well as some third party designs.

For RTX 3090 owners, CoolMyGPU.com also sells a rear memory copper plate to help cool the rear GDDR6X modules on the card. This plate could be even more useful than the front plate, since the RTX 3090's rear G6X modules are notorious for running extremely hot, with the backplate being the only source of heat dissipation for the rear modules.

In the video, DandyWorks showcases how to install the copper memory cooling plate onto an MSI Ventus RTX 3080 graphics card. First, the graphics card's original cooler needs to be removed. Next, all the thermal pads and thermal paste cooling the GDDR6X and main GPU core need to be removed, along with any additional residue left from the thermal pads.

After a test fit, the copper cooling plate can now be installed, sandwiched between a layer of thermal paste on the top and bottom, along with the installation of the GPU heatsink. No additional screws are required since the plate is held down by the GPU's cooling solution.

For Dandy's RTX 3080 Ventus graphics card, the copper plate dropped memory temperatures 20%, going from 94C to just 75C in mining applications, with even lower temperatures reported while gaming.

When Should This Mod Be Used?

In our experience testing Nvidia's flagship RTX 30-series cards — including AIB partner models — the ideal GDDR6X temperatures should peak at 100C or lower to ensure thermal throttling doesn't occur. You might be okay with 105C peak temps, but if your GPU's memory is operating at 110C or higher, the graphics card will throttle clock speeds and better cooling is required.

Gaming-specific workloads tend to be a bit less demanding than mining, but we've tested cards (like the RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition) where memory temperatures hit 104C on a regular basis. Fire up a mining utility and 110C happens on a lot of GDDR6X-equipped cards, including nearly all of Nvidia's Founders Edition models (with the exception of the RTX 3070 Ti, which only has 8GB VRAM). Only the 'good' AIB partner cards with improved memory cooling capabilities stay below that mark.

So if you find your GPU is running at 110C — while mining or gaming — this copper cooling plate mod would be a way to reduce GPU temperatures. It should allow the GDDR6X to run at its maximum clock rate, and thereby improve performance and card longevity. It might be an even better option if all you do with your GDDR6X card is mining, though with mining profits dropping, that might not be as necessary these days.

It's great to see more Nvidia graphics cards coming back in stock more regularly. Today Newegg has an EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming for $1,419 — $10 cheaper than on the EVGA website itself. Prices are still a long way off what we would like them to be, but fortunately, the current trend shows prices are continually coming down, albeit not fast enough. 

Looking for a giant 32-inch monitor with an equally impressive 240Hz refresh rate? Then you're in luck — the Samsung Odyssey G7 32-inch is only $620 at the moment. We also found a great deal on an all-in-one CPU cooler, the NZXT Kraken X53 reduced to $99. This 240mm AIO unit not only keeps the processor of your computer cool but looks good doing it with its rotating infinity mirror design on the pump block.

Scroll below for more detail on today's deals. 

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming: now $1,419 at Newegg
• Samsung Odyssey G7 32-inch WQHD: was $799, now $620 at Newegg
• NZXT Kraken X53 240mm AIO CPU Cooler: was $140, now $98 at Newegg
• Razer Basilisk V2 Wired Gaming Mouse: was $79, now $29 at Amazon
• Logitech G915 TKL Wireless: was $229, now $170 at Amazon

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We're kicking the week off with some great discounts on powerful RTX 3080 powered laptops. First, we have the Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED YD for $1,699 at Newegg. Featuring a 4K screen and the beasty Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, this laptop can either power your gaming or be a productivity powerhouse.

Second, we have the Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop for $1,799 from Newegg — also featuring an RTX 3080 GPU and a Ryzen 7 5800H CPU. These are some great prices for top-tier computing hardware. 

And if you are looking for some good storage deals, the Samsung 980 Pro 500GB SSD is down to $89 at Amazon — its lowest price ever.

There are even more deals below, so be sure to check them out. 

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED YD (Core i7, 4K OLED): was $2,999, now $1,699 at Newegg with rebate
• Acer Nitro 5 (Ryzen 7, 16GB, 1TB SSD): was $2,100, now $1,799 at Newegg
• Samsung 980 Pro PCIe Gen 4 500GB: was $149, now $89 at Amazon
• XPG 32GB Lancer DDR5 (5200): was $349, now $293 at B&H with $80 coupon applied
• Samsung SSD T7 Portable External SSD: was $169, now $99 at Amazon

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On sale today from Laptops Direct is the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 (RTX3080) gaming laptop for only £1,689. This 15-inch portable powerhouse is ideal for playing the latest games on high settings for smooth frame rates and crisp graphics. 

This particular model of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 contains the powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU,  a Ryzen 9 5900HS CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The 15-inch screen has an FHD 1080p resolution and refresh rates of up to 144Hz.

This is an awful lot of power in such a small form factor, and so is ideal for either gaming or some serious content creation work that can make use of the powerful hardware inside the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15. 

With stunning looks to match its gaming pedigree, the Asus ROG Zephyrus looks the part — and with its 144Hz display, this laptop will be able to supply stunning fluidity to games, making it great for playing FPS titles like Counter-Strike, Valorant, or Doom.

Want to take your gaming to a friend's house? Then having a powerful computer in a laptop form is the best way of transporting your gaming station. 

More Asus ROG Zephyrus Deals

It's like spotting a rare bird that nobody has seen for 10 years, but this time the bird is an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU that's on sale on Amazon for $1,320. Yes, it's not the cheapest price for a graphics card, but it is actually in stock and available to buy instead of filling the pockets of eBay scalpers. 

We also have a Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (RTX 3070) for $1,399 at Walmart, and a Gigabyte G27Q 27-inch QHD 144Hz display for $250 — it's the cheapest price we've seen for such a high spec gaming monitor. 

More fantastic deals are below so scroll down and have a look!

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB: was $1,436 now $1,320 at Amazon
• Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16 (RTX 3070): was $1,699, now $1,399 at Walmart
• Gigabyte G27Q 27-Inch QHD 144Hz: was $330, now $250 at Newegg with rebate
• Gigabyte G27FC 27-Inch 165Hz: was $250, now $188 at Newegg
• HyperX Alloy Origins Core (HyperX Blue Switch): was $89, now $69 at Amazon

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Updated 3/17/2022 @ 10:04am EST. Unfortunately, all RTX 30 cards are now out of stock. The original story is presented below:

We reported yesterday that GPU prices continue to fall, dropping another 9 percent during the first half of March. That’s good news for gamers who have been forced to buy graphics cards at inflated prices due to chip shortages and Ethereum mining demand. However, even with the lower prices, the best graphics cards for gaming are still selling at well over MSRP.

That isn’t the case at EVGA, which sells its range of graphics cards directly to customers via its online store. While most of its GeForce RTX 30 line-up is out of stock, surprisingly, it has two RTX 3080 Ti SKUs available to purchase at MSRP. First up is the RTX 3080 Ti XC3 Ultra Gaming, priced at $1,329.99. You’ll find a triple-fan setup, iCX3 cooling tech with a copper base for the heatsink, a metal backplate, and of course, RGB lighting.

If you want even more performance, the RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming cranks even higher with a max GPU boost clock of 1,800 MHz but will set you back $1,429.99.

While the Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition has an MSRP of $1,199.99, EVGA’s cards are custom designs with added features and higher clocks, which explains their loftier MSRPs. But even at MSRP, EVGA’s cards are roughly $150 to $250 cheaper than the current going rate on third-party marketplaces like eBay. 

EVGA also has the RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 Ultra Gaming and the RTX 3080 12GB XC3 Ultra Gaming in stock for $1299.99 and $1,249.99, respectively. Of course, the availability of all these cards is subject to change, but they’ve been in stock since at least Tuesday evening, so perhaps EVGA has plenty of inventory to go around.

Unfortunately, none of the more mainstream offerings, like EVGA’s RTX 3060, RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070 or RTX 3070 Ti cards, are in stock at the moment. That’s the real “sweet spot” in the market, offering respectable performance to gamers at affordable prices – if you can grab them at MSRP.

The latest version of FinalWire's AIDA64 benchmarking and diagnostic software brings in support for Nvidia's unannounced GA102F graphics processor. The chip is cloaked in mystery as Nvidia seems to be rolling it out very late in Ampere's lifecycle, and it has never previously added letters to designations of its GPUs.

FinalWire's AIDA64 version 6.60.5933 beta can read GPU information for Nvidia's GA102F processor, according to release notes (discovered by @momomo_us). The release notes do not disclose what product will be powered by the GA102F or how the chip will be used, but it was important enough for Nvidia share its ID and specifications with FinalWire to include in AIDA64.

Being the world's largest supplier of graphics processing units with about 85% market share, Nvidia can afford the luxury of developing GPU silicon aimed at very specific market segments. Just recently Nvidia introduced its GA103 chip (featuring a 496 mm^2 die size) that was specifically for the laptop-bound GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, but which is also being used in the desktop GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. The design costs for such a chip are in the hundreds of millions of dollars range, but as it can be used in a wide range of products from enthusiast-grade gaming laptops to performance graphics cards, its design is well justified.

But Nvidia's GA102 is a massive 628 mm^2 graphics processor containing 28.3 billion of transistors, so its design costs are in the hundreds of millions and its re-spin costs are extremely high as well. Making a new revision of this chip a couple of quarters ahead of the rumored Ada / RTX 40-series launch is an extremely odd move, given GA102 is only used for a relatively limited range of products. Nonetheless, just a couple of weeks before the company is expected to launch its flagship GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GPU, AIDA64 has added GA102F support.

Perhaps GA102F is indeed a version of GA102 with some changes designed to improve yields of full-fat silicon and make the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti somewhat more practical from manufacturing point of view. Or maybe GA102F is a version of GA102 designed specifically for cloud datacenters and therefore prone to high temperatures and constant load. Another possibility is that this is a chip aimed at cryptocurrency mining that's been adjusted in some fashion — or potentially the opposite, a chip designed specifically not to do well at mining.

Assuming the GA102F ends up in cards for the PC gaming market, it will certainly compete with the best graphics cards. We expect more details will come to light in the coming weeks.

Alienware is back on the menu as the RTX 3080 Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 returns to a low sale price of $2,155. Although some graphics cards are beginning to come down in price and the availability of some models increase - the RTX 3080 is still one of the hardest GPUs to get your hands on for anywhere near a reasonable price. 

However, if you're looking to get a start on putting together a new build of your own the Asus TUF Gaming Z690-Plus at $249 is a great base for a new Alder Lake CPU, and if you want a deal on some Gen 4.0 SSD storage to go with it - Corsair's MP600 Core M.2 NVMe 1TB is down to just $123 on Amazon.

Scroll down below for more Real Deals!

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 (RTX 3080): was $2,899, now $2,155 at Dell
• Corsair MP600 Core M.2 NVMe 1TB SSD: was $155, now $123 at Amazon
• Asus TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi Motherboard: was $289, now $249 at Newegg with code EMCBQAA48
• Corsair iCUE SP120 RGB Pro Fans: was $79, now $49 at Newegg
• Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler: was $99, now $86 at Newegg

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The MSI GP66 Leopard has been reduced to $1,749, the cheapest it's ever been on Amazon - this is a great price for an RTX 3080 powered gaming machine and probably won't last for long.

Another gaming laptop, the Lenovo Legion 5 17-inch powered by an RTX 3070 is now only $1,428 at Lenovo. It's a great day for gamers who want a portable gaming solution.

If you're looking to do a CPU upgrade, but not wanting to splash out on a new expensive 12th Gen rig, you may want to consider going for Intel's last 11th Gen flagship CPU the Core i9-11900K that's currently reduced to just $385.

Scroll down below for more Real Deals!

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• MSI GP66 Leopard (RTX 3080) Gaming Laptop: was $2,050, now $1,749 at Amazon
• Lenovo Legion 5 17-inch (RTX 3070): was $1,830, now $1,428 at Lenovo using coupon code CLEAR22
• Intel Core i9-11900K: was $525, now $385 at Newegg with code EMCBQAZ25
• Gigabyte G5 MD: was $1,199, now $599 at Newegg after rebate
• NZXT H510 Flow ATX Mid-Tower Case: was $100, now $80 at Best Buy

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It's been a year and a half since the launch of the Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU, and they are still hard to get hold of, and even harder to find anywhere near close to an MSRP of some kind.  Well, today we are in luck as AO.com have knocked £250 off the asking price of the Omen GT13-1047na - bringing this RTX 3080 powered beast down to £1,750.

This Omen GT13-1047na Gaming Tower not only comes with an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU but also an eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, with an additional 2TB HDD, this makes for a pretty high-performance gaming PC with plenty of power for other productive tasks. 

HP is a very well-known brand, and one thing they do very well includes using name-brand parts in their pre-built gaming PCs. You can expect the RAM to be Hyper X Fury and the SSD to be Western Digital Black.

The Omen GT13-1047na Gaming Tower comes in an attractive case with all the rainbow RGB you could wish for. There may be a little bit of bloat software pre-installed, but nothing that you can't remove or disable later.

Don't underestimate the rest of the components either - besides the RTX 3080 GPU, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is a fantastic CPU for gaming, and you can check out our review of the 5800X and how it fares in our CPU hierarchy.  

More HP Omen Deals

For a limited time, you can get your hands on an Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition (RTX 3080) with $700 knocked off the listed retail price. It's not the cheapest we've ever seen it, but it's only $50 off that all-time low. Besides that all-important RTX 3080, the Aurora R10 also comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900 CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD.

Keeping the RTX 3080 flavor today, we've found a great deal on this Asus ROG Strix Scar 15-inch gaming laptop and an awesome price on an Intel Core i7-12700KF CPU. 

Check below for more great offers in today's Real Deals!

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 (RTX 3080): was $2,900, now $2,200 at Dell
• Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 Gaming Laptop: was $2,400, now $2,000 at Newegg
• Intel Core i7-12700KF: was $390, now $351 at Amazon
• Gigabyte G27Q 27-Inch QHD 144Hz: was $329, now $260 at Newegg with rebate
• Gigabyte G27FC 27-Inch FHD 165Hz: was $250, now $195 at Newegg with code GMBBQA399

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Today we have an amazing deal on an RTX 3080 GPU-laden Gigabyte Aorus 17G YD 17-inch gaming laptop with $850 off its retail price at Newegg. This is one of the lowest prices I've seen for a gaming laptop with these specs, so you should take a look before this deal ends. 

Also on the menu today is a selection of gaming laptop deals, all complete with RTX 30-series graphics. That includes another RTX 3080 laptop - the MSI GE66 Raider with a 15-inch UHD screen, and also the Asus ROG Zephyrus with an RTX 3070. 

Check below for even more gaming laptop deals. 

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Gigabyte Aorus 17G YD 17-inch (RTX 3080): was $2,549, now $1,699 at Newegg with rebate
• MSI GE66 Raider 15-inch (RTX 3080): was $3,499, now $2,899 at Amazon
• Asus ROG Zephyrus 15-inch (RTX 3070): was $1,850, now $1,600 at Best Buy
• Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XD 17-inch (RTX 3070): was $2,499, now $1,799 at Newegg with rebate
• Asus TUF Gaming F15 15-inch (RTX 3060): was $1,349, now $1,249 at B&H

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The Presidents' Day sales have started, and thankfully this means you can get $700 off of an RTX 3080 powered Alienware Aurora R10 right now. The availability of GPUs combined with some insane pricing means getting hold of a new graphics card is hard - making this Alienware Aurora R10 a very attractive offering. 

Tighten up your FPS game with an amazing deal on a Razer DeathAdder V2 gaming mouse for only $37. Go big on screen size with a superb 27% saving off of this 43-Inch Asus ROG Strix XG438Q 4K monitor.   

Check below for even more great deals today.

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 Gaming Desktop: was $2,900, now $2,200 at Dell
• Razer DeathAdder V2 Gaming Mouse: was $70, now $37 at Amazon
• Asus ROG Strix XG438Q 43-Inch 4K Monitor: was $1,100, now $800 at Newegg
• Lian Li Lancool II Mesh: was $130, now $125 at Newegg
• Adata XPG S7 Series 2TB: was $250, now $180

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The GeForce RTX 3080 12GB sits in a curious position. We heard various rumors about an updated RTX 3080 floating about before the official 'stealth' reveal, when Nvidia quietly updated its RTX 30-series specs page. Will the RTX 3080 12GB manage to land a spot among the best graphics cards? Where does it fit into the GPU benchmarks hierarchy? What will supply look like, and how much will the cards cost? These are all important questions, and we received the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 12GB Suprim X that will provide at least some answers.

There were earlier suggestions that Nvidia would double down on the memory but keep the same RTX 3080 GPU configuration. Others promised a 12GB 3080 with regular GDDR6 memory, and the third and apparently correct variant was a slightly higher GPU core count with 12GB of GDDR6X memory. That description basically matches the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, however, which makes us wonder why this particular GPU was even needed.

Nvidia told us that the RTX 3080 12GB was a SKU requested by its add-in board (AIB) partners, so there won't be any Founders Edition of the card. That also means there's no reference price from Nvidia and the AIB partners can decide for themselves how much to charge. Given the similarity in specs to the RTX 3080 Ti, most AIBs appear to be charging $1,200 or more. Let's take a look at the specs for some competing graphics cards.

While the RTX 3080 Ti has quite a few more GPU cores, SMs, etc., the MSI 3080 12GB sports much higher boost clocks, negating most of the difference. Of course a factory overclocked 3080 Ti would widen the gap again, but either way we're looking at the same memory configuration and bandwidth, which should be a major factor in determining overall performance. Compared to the original 3080, the 12GB card adds just one more SM cluster (Nvidia can only disable SMs in groups of 2), but the 20% increase in memory and memory bandwidth should prove more useful.

Based on the specs, we suspect the real reason for the RTX 3080 12GB goes back to the GA102 chip yields. If Nvidia is getting a decent number of chips with all 12 memory controllers working, but with more than 4 SM clusters than are non-functional, it can't sell those chips for 3080 Ti cards. By dropping down to just 70 SMs, the GPUs can still be used in more expensive cards than the baseline RTX 3080 10GB.

We've included both the MSRPs as well as the typical GPU prices from eBay for the past month. The former is of course completely meaningless right now, but we're happy to see that the 12GB 3080 only costs a bit more than the regular 3080. Part of that comes from the fact that there are still non-LHR 3080 10GB cards in the wild, which tend to go for a premium, but all the 3080 Ti cards are LHR models, as are the 3080 12GB cards, so it looks like you can expect to save perhaps $200 right now by purchasing a 3080 12GB instead of the 3080 Ti.

Note also that the Radeon RX 6900 XT tends to go for a similar price to the RTX 3080, so that will be a good point of comparison. Nvidia theoretically delivers much higher compute performance and memory bandwidth, but AMD provides more memory, and the large 128MB Infinity Cache helps to keep things much closer than the above specs would suggest.

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MSI provided its RTX 3080 12GB Suprim X for this review, which uses the same core design as other Suprim X GPUs. It's a large triple-fan, triple-slot card that measures 336x140x61mm and weighs 1901g. It includes a fair amount of RGB lighting, with two "wide V" accents between the fans, a large RGB strip along the top, and an RGB MSI Dragon logo on the metal backplate. MSI uses three custom 95mm Torx 4.0 fans in its Tri Frozr 2S cooling configuration, which feature partially integrated rims to increase static pressure and airflow. Combined with the chunky heatsink, there's plenty of cooling potential on tap.

Video outputs consist of the usual triple DisplayPort 1.4 and single HDMI 2.1. That's a bit surprising, considering the high-end nature of the design, and some of the competing GPUs add a second HDMI 2.1 connection as a fifth output. Note also that the card runs with a boost clock of 1830MHz, unless you install the MSI Dragon software and select the OC profile, which bumps the clocks to 1845MHz. It also requires three 8-pin PEG power connectors, and MSI lists the power consumption at 400W. That's higher than the reference 3080 Ti and 3090, and is largely due to the boosted GPU clocks.

MSI includes a few other extras with the card as well. For people who worry about the weight of the graphics card, an adjustable-height support can help out — just don't move or ship the PC anywhere with the stand installed, as it will end up banging around inside your case. There's also a decent 38x24cm mouse pad, should you need one of those. In short, the MSI Suprim X brand is the "kitchen sink" approach to graphics cards, with plenty of enthusiast-oriented features and extras.

Test Setup for GeForce RTX 3050

We've updated our GPU test PC and gaming suite for 2022. We're now using a Core i9-12900K processor, MSI Pro Z690-A DDR4 WiFi motherboard, and DDR4-3600 memory (with XMP enabled). We also upgraded to Windows 11 Pro, since it's basically required to get the most out of Alder Lake. You can see the rest of the hardware in the boxout.

Our new gaming tests consist of a "standard" suite of seven games without ray tracing enabled (even if the game supports it), and a separate "ray tracing" suite of six games that all use multiple RT effects. For this review we'll be testing at 4K, 1440p, and 1080p at "ultra" settings — which generally means maxed out settings, except without SSAA if that's an option. We also enable DLSS Quality mode in the games that support it, which includes all of the ray tracing suite and three of the games in the standard suite.

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1080p Ultra

1080p DXR Ultra

While the MSI RTX 3080 12GB certainly isn't designed primarily for 1080p gaming, we'll start there. Overall, in our standard test suite, the MSI lands in the fourth spot, just behind the RTX 3090 and ahead of the RTX 3080 Ti. AMD's RX 6900 XT and 6800 XT claim the top two spots at this resolution, helped along by their large Infinity Cache.

Looking at the individual game results, there are a few cases where the RTX 3080 Ti comes out just ahead of the MSI card, and also a few instances where the MSI card beats even the 3090. The latter is likely thanks to the higher boost clocks, which affect not just the shader cores but also the render outputs and other elements of the GPU. Far Cry 6 is a good example of this, where the typical boost clock on the MSI card was 10–15% higher than on the other RTX cards. You can also see what DLSS can do for performance at 1080p, which isn't much. The three games that support DLSS only showed a 4–6% increase in framerates with Quality mode enabled.

Our standard suite is pretty heavy on AMD-promoted games, and only Red Dead Redemption 2 and Watch Dogs Legion gave the MSI card more than a tiny lead over AMD's RX 6800 XT, but that changes with our DXR (DirectX Raytracing) test suite. Overall, the MSI 3080 12GB was 42% faster than the RX 6900 XT and 54% faster than the 6800 XT, and that's without turning on DLSS. With DLSS Quality mode enabled, the MSI card was over twice as fast as the closest AMD GPU.

Somewhat surprisingly, Metro Exodus Enhanced seems to be the least demanding game in terms of using the ray tracing hardware on the various GPUs. The MSI card was only 17% faster than the RX 6900 XT in that game, while being 38–71% faster in the other five games. Minecraft meanwhile hit the RT cores the hardest, thanks to using full path tracing (that's what Nvidia calls it, anyway). If you want the overall average of all 13 games, MSI ended up beating the RX 6900 XT by 5%.

1440p Ultra

1440p DXR Ultra

Bumping up the resolution to something more appropriate to the hardware, the MSI RTX 3080 12GB still managed to squeak past the 3080 Ti, and it was 9% faster than the 3080 10GB. AMD's RX 6900 XT still came out 6% ahead of MSI in the standard test suite, while the RX 6800 XT just edged past it by less than 1%. Basically, there was a 4-way tie for second place and most people wouldn't really notice the difference between the RTX 3090, RX 6800 XT, RTX 3080 Ti, and MSI RTX 3080 12GB in our non-RT gaming suite. There was more separation in the individual games, but it was the usual case of win some, lose some. DLSS Quality mode did help a bit more at 1440p at least, boosting performance by 7–20% in the three games that support it.

The DXR suite meanwhile favored Nvidia GPUs heavily. The original RTX 3080 10GB was 34% faster than the RX 6900 XT, and even the RTX 3070 Ti beat AMD's best by 5%. The MSI 3080 12GB meanwhile was 9% faster than the 3080 10GB, but this time the higher compute and RT power of the 3080 Ti and 3090 put those into the top two slots. DLSS with DXR was, as expected, far more beneficial than in non-DXR games, improving performance by 67% overall, with a range of 37–87%.

Combining all 13 games into a single average score, the MSI card was again 5% faster than the RX 6900 XT.

4K Ultra

4K DXR Ultra

4K remains a difficult resolution for even the fastest GPUs, but six of the eight GPUs we tested averaged more than 60 fps across our standard test suite, and the MSI card tied the 3080 Ti and 6900 XT. The only game where none of the GPUs could break 60 fps at 4K was Flight Simulator, where the top GPUs averaged 50–55 frames per second.

Ray tracing is another matter entirely. Nvidia likes to promote DLSS in Performance mode, which upscales 1080p to 4K — and that's what Minecraft uses, since you can't specify which mode to use. That's not surprising, as not even the RTX 3090 could break 30 fps on average at native 4K ultra with DXR enabled. Turning on even DLSS Quality mode (in the five games where we can specify the mode) did nearly double the MSI card's performance this time, and you can get away with Balanced or even Performance modes at 4K since there's more data to work with for enhancing the pixels.

AMD's GPUs meanwhile can't come anywhere close to handling 4K at native resolution. Metro Exodus Enhanced was the best-case result (though we didn't enable HairWorks or Enhanced PhysX), and still only managed framerates in the mid to high 20s. Overall, looking at the performance of all 13 games, the MSI card beat the 6900 XT by 8% at 4K. If we give equal weight to every test, incidentally (using the geometric mean), the MSI RTX 3080 12GB was 16% faster than the RX 6900 XT.

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Overall, performance from the MSI RTX 3080 12GB was basically equal to the reference RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition, but MSI does list a higher power consumption of 400W and includes three 8-pin power connectors. Our Powenetics testing looks at in-line GPU power consumption, so we'll be able to see just how much juice the card requires, and we'll also look at other aspects of the cards. We collect data while running Metro Exodus at 1440p ultra and run the FurMark stress test at 1600x900. Our test PC remains the same old Core i9-9900K as we've used previously, to keep results consistent.

It's not the most power-hungry graphics card we've ever tested, but the MSI 3080 12GB Suprim X can draw quite a bit of power. It averaged 384W in both FurMark and Metro Exodus, about 25W more than the 3080 Ti and 3090 Founders Edition cards, and over 50W more than the 3080 10GB. Let's look at the other aspects of the card to see where the extra power goes.

Running more GPU cores at higher clock speeds is a great way to consume power, which is why the 3090 and 3080 Ti both have lower average clocks than the other Nvidia GPUs. The MSI card meanwhile goes the other direction and averaged about 100MHz higher clocks than the reference 3080 10GB in Metro and nearly breached the 2GHz mark. Clock speeds in FurMark were much lower, falling just under the 3080 FE and sitting at around 1.55GHz.

Despite the high power use and high clocks, the MSI card still keeps thermals and fan speeds at reasonable levels. FurMark averaged 69C, largely due to the throttled GPU clocks, while Metro hit 71C. That was just a hair above the RTX 3080, but much lower than the RTX 3080 Ti's 76C while gaming. Fan speeds were also lower than the 3080 Ti FE, which was expected as that card tended to get quite loud.

We measured noise levels at 10cm using an SPL (sound pressure level) meter, aimed right at the GPU fans in order to minimize the impact of other fans like those on the CPU cooler. The noise floor of our test environment and equipment measures 33 dB(A). The MSI RTX 3080 12GB Suprim X isn't a silent card, but noise levels maxed out at 48.8 dB(A), which isn't bad considering the performance and power use. That equated to a 60% fan speed, and we also tested with a static 75% fan speed that bumped the card up to 54.6 dB of noise.

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The GeForce RTX 3080 12GB ends up as a bit of an odd product. Nvidia says the RTX 3080 12GB was requested by its AIB partners, and while it didn't say exactly how that conversation went down, we can imagine some of the brainstorming behind the scenes. "You know, we have a lot of GA102 chips where all 12 memory controllers are perfectly fine but where we can't hit the necessary 80 SMs for the 3080 Ti. Rather than selling these as an RTX 3080 10GB, what if we just make a 3080 12GB? Then we don't have to directly deal with the supposed $699 MSRP."

That may not be exactly what happened, but it certainly feels that way. MSI has produced a graphics card that effectively ties the RTX 3080 Ti in performance, even though it has 10 fewer SMs and needs more power to get there. If a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, an RTX 3080 Ti by any other name will cost as much. And on paper at least, it does.

We're not certain how many 3080 12GB cards are being produced, but in some ways it doesn't even matter. Nvidia and AMD can sell nearly every GPU they can manufacture at prices that are typically 50–100% higher than normal, and the faster the card, the higher the price. Creating a second 3080 SKU — or maybe even a third 3080, if the 20GB variants eventually get the green light — won't result in anyone making less money. Conversely, it also likely won't result in lower prices for anyone looking for a GPU upgrade.

MSI's RTX 3080 12GB Suprim X delivers a lot of performance plus some extras, all for a price that may or may not end up being just as high as the RTX 3080 Ti. Fundamentally, if we had a choice between a 3080 Ti and the 3080 12GB for roughly the same price, we'd go for the 3080 Ti. After a bit of tweaking, it should ultimately deliver higher performance, but that's contingent on being able to acquire either of these GPUs.

MSI does deliver substantially better cooling than the 3080 Ti Founders Edition, or even the non-Ti FE card, and that's also something to consider. Nvidia talked a lot about upgrading the cooling and creating a better reference design with Ampere back at launch, but after 18 months of using and testing various Ampere GPUs, we're confident that there's little to no benefit to be had by getting a Founders Edition when it comes to cooling. And now, it seems there's little chance we'll even see the reference designs for sale at Best Buy, unless we're willing to fork out $199 extra for the Totaltech plan — which so far only scalpers seem excited about.

Maybe later this year GPU prices will return to some semblance of normal. If that were to happen, we'd expect the RTX 3080 12GB to cost more like $899–$999, based on the 3080 10GB's starting point of $699. Except, we're far more likely to see the next generation Ada Lovelace RTX 4080 and similar cards before we see any RTX 3080s going for under $1,000. This naturally means RTX 40-series GPUs are likely to be priced much higher than their 30-series counterparts, similar to what happened with the RTX 20-series launch in 2018. We can hope that won't be the case, but hoping never managed to get anyone a new GPU as far as we're aware.

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When you're plunking down more than $4,000 on a portable gaming rig, two of your top priorities are likely to be cutting-edge top-end components and stunning aesthetics. The former will make sure your frame rates stay butter-smooth for years to come, while the latter will make you want to use your machine more often, whether you're streaming at home or out and about in the world.

On both of those counts, Alienware's updated x17 R2 excels. Externally, it's the same sleek, 0.84-inch thick extraterrestrial beast that we looked at last fall. The design's still a stunner, and the optional mechanical Cherry MX keyboard feels as satisfying to type on as some of the best gaming keyboards we've used. The only real downside of the design, as far as I'm concerned, is that all the ports are at the back. But hey, some people like that. 

On the inside, though, is where the x17 R2 gets exciting. The company has updated its configuration options, adding both Intel's new top-of-the-line 12th Gen Core i9-12900HK, as well as Nvidia's new flagship mobile RTX 3080 Ti. The company sent our review unit with those parts, plus 64GB of DDR5 RAM and a pair of 2TB Samsung 980 Pro PCIe 4.0 SSDs in RAID, delivering possibly the fastest boot drive we've seen to date among the best gaming laptops. Note that Dell doesn't guarantee you'll get these drives; the company says it uses multiple drive companies, but that any buyer who chooses a 512GB or higher SSD will get a PCIe 4.0 drive or drives. 

Of course, all that cutting-edge high-end hardware adds up. Alienware says our configuration will sell for $4,799. You can save some money by opting for half the RAM (32GB is plenty for gaming) and nixing the mechanical keyboard option. That drops the price down to $4,499. And if you can live with a single 1TB SSD, the price drops to $3,849. Personally, while we aren't sure we'd pay extra for all that RAM and storage, the $50 upgrade for the mechanical keyboard is worth it. The Cherry MX switches on our review unit feel excellent, although there is a fair amount of metallic ping noise on some of the keys.

With brand-new top-end components and a stunningly designed and built chassis, is the Alienware x17 the best gaming laptop you can buy? That depends in part on how you use your rig and how much you value style and battery life over the highest frame rates possible. 

Design of the Alienware x17 R2

The shell of the Alienware x17 R2 is the same as the R1 model we looked at last fall. But that's far from a bad thing given that it's still arguably the sleekest, most premium-feeling gaming portable on the market. At 0.84 inches thick and wrapped in magnesium and aluminum, the laptop feels as good as it looks. And in the "lunar light" (white) finish of our review unit, the laptop looks both futuristic and understated (for a gaming laptop). There's RGB lighting on the keyboard, the alien head logo on the lid, and an oval that runs around the vents and the ports at the back adds a tasteful amount of customizable glow.

All that said, while the Alienware x17 R2 is slim for a high-end gaming laptop, it's not exactly small or light. At 15.72 x 11.79 x 0.84 inches (399 x 300 x 21.4 mm), it's a bit bigger than MSI's similarly powerful GE76 Raider (15.63 x 11.18 x 1.01 inches) and Asus Strix Scar G733 (15.55 x 11.11 x 1.08 inches). And at 6.82 pounds fully kitted out, the Alienware is also the heaviest of the competition, as the MSI is 6.39 pounds and the Asus just is 5.95 pounds. Also note that despite its extra heft, the Alienware has an 87 WHr battery, while the Asus has a 90 WHr, and the MSI has a 99 WHr battery.

Nearly all of the Alienware x17 R2's ports are found at the rear, save for the headphone jack on the right side, near the back, and the barrel connector for the charger on the left edge.

Surrounded by the RGB light ring and flanked by vents on the back edge, you'll find a Thunderbolt 4 port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (which also works for charging, though you'll need to use the brick for the fastest charging), a microSD card reader, HDMI and a mini DisplayPort. 

The connectivity here is ample, though lots of people would find it more convenient to have some of these ports on the sides as well as the rear of the laptop. If that's important to you, most competing big-screen portables (like the MSI and Asus models mentioned above) feature more traditional port layouts.

Alienware x17 R2 Specifications

Gaming and Graphics Performance on the Alienware X17 R2

We don't expect massive gains between the RTX 3080 performance (as we saw it in the Asus and last-gen Alienware laptops) and the RTX 3080 Ti performance from the x17 R2 we're looking at here as well as in the MSI GE76 Raider. The new GPU should deliver some advantage at high resolutions, and the new CPU should help at 1080p. But since the panel that Alienware shipped with this laptop is 1080p, we'll only get a chance to see its advantages at the lower resolution.

Still, when I played through the Meridian Outskirts area in Borderlands 3 on the badass preset, the x17 R2 delivered smooth frame rates between the mid-90s and 130 fps. Thanks to the display's insanely high 360 Hz refresh, everything looked extremely smooth, and the responsive, tactile feel of the keyboard made every moment more enjoyable.

On the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark on its highest settings at 1080p resolution, the new Alienware x17 R2 turned in a score of 107 frames per second (fps). That's five frames behind the MSI, but 13 fps ahead of the previous-gen Alienware (94 fps) and 20 fps ahead of the Asus (87 fps) at the same resolution and settings. 

Grand Theft Auto V saw the new x17 R2 deliver 129 fps. That's the poorest showing so far for Alienware, as the MSI delivered 10 fps better (139 fps) at the same resolution and settings. Even the last-gen x17 R1 tied the new model, with the same 129 fps.

On Far Cry New Dawn (ultra settings, 1080p), the Alienware x17 R2 and its 3080 Ti made up some ground, delivering a 117 fps that bested both the MSI (113 fps), and everything else here. The Asus with its AMD CPU brought up the rear with a still-smooth 90 fps on the same test and resolution.

Switching to Borderlands 3 on "badass" settings at 1080p, the x17's score of 97 fps was again 10 fps behind the MSI (106 fps), but ahead of the last-gen systems. Again the Asus brought up last place with 87 fps.

The Alienware x17 R2 again took a loss to the MSI in our Red Dead Redemption 2 test (1080p, medium), where its 78.3 fps was eclipsed by the MSI's 82 fps. Interestingly, even the previous-generation Alienware x17 did better here, with an 81 fps result.

On gaming notebooks, we stress test the system by running the Metro Exodus benchmark on RTX settings 15 times, simulating about half an hour of gameplay. The game ran at an average of 75.98 frames per second across the runs, starting off at 80.41 fps, before dropping into the 75 range after the first three runs. 

The performance cores on the Alder Lake processor ran at an average of 2.9 GHz on the stress test, while the efficiency cores hit an average of 2.25 GHz. The CPU package temperature measured an average of 81.4 degrees Celsius (178.5 degrees Fahrenheit). Interestingly, while the Alienware x17 R2's CPU temperature was lower than the similarly equipped MSI on the same test (81 vs 85 degrees), the MSI laptop's Performance cores ran a full GHz higher (2.9 GHz for the Alienware vs 3.94 GHz for the MSI). And the MSI ran the game faster as well, delivering an average of nearly 84 fps, versus the Alienware's 76 fps. Perhaps Alienware is implementing some power limits to avoid the thermal throttling we saw on the MSI.

Oddly, HWinfo, which we use to measure the above data, also failed to show any GPU info in our Alienware review unit. So we can't at this point post the GPU clock speed or temperatures. 

Productivity Performance of the Alienware x17 R2

 To get a sense of how Alienware's latest 17-incher performs compared to other laptops, we put it up against MSI's GE76 Raider, which shares the same Core i9-12900HK CPU and RTX 3080 Ti as our Alienware review unit. And to get a sense of how it stacks up against previous systems, we also tossed performance numbers from the Alienware x17 R1 we tested in 2021 (Core i7-11800H, RTX 3080) and the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G733 (AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX, RTX 3080).

On Geekbench 5, a synthetic test that aims to track general performance, the 12900HK-packing Alienware x17 delivered a single-core score of 1,842 and a multi-core result of 13,710. That's slightly ahead of the MSI's showing of 1,833 (single) and 13,456 (multi), but much further ahead of the previous-gen x17, with its single-core score of 1,539 and all-core showing of just 9,024. That's a whopping 52% increase from last year's model, though we also jumped from an 11th Gen i7 to a 12th Gen i9. The Ryzen-based Asus G733 had the worst showing here, managing just 1,487 (single-core) and 8,231 (multi-core).

The pair of Samsung 980 Pro PCIe 4.0 SSDs in the new Alienware trounced the competition in our 25GB file transfer test, taking just 11.8 seconds to move the mixed collection of files, for a speed of 2,268 MBps. The 1,774.47 MBps showing of the MSI machine was the next closest. And last year's x17 was over 1 GBps slower, delivering a speed of 1,227.

On our Handbrake test, in which computers transcode a 4K video to 1080p, the Alienware again impressed. As we'd expect, its 4 minutes, 45 second showing was basically even with the MSI (4:44), which has the same CPU and GPU. But the next-closest competitor was last year's x17, which was more than a minute slower (5:51).

Display on the Alienware x17

The Alienware's 1080p display delivered 107% of the sRGB color gamut and 76% of DCI-P3. That puts it just slightly ahead of the MSI and Asus displays in terms of color. But with an average brightness of 325 nits, the new Alienware is a fair bit brighter. 

While the panel's colors weren't as vivid as on the OLED TV I use as my main gaming monitor, when I played Borderlands 3, the stylized dystopian scenery and characters looked far from dull. And thanks to the high refresh and powerful components, every title I played always looked smooth. 

Note, though, that the previous Alienware x17 R1 we tested with a 4K 120 Hz panel delivered better color and even more brightness (438 nits). If you aren't after maximum refresh rate over everything else, we'd opt for the 4K panel when configuring the system from Alienware.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Alienware x17 R2

If there's an upgrade I'd recommend for everyone opting for the Alienware x17 R2, it's the $50 Cherry MX mechanical keyboard. This came with our review unit, and in terms of just switch feel and snapiness, it's better than some of the best gaming keyboards I use in my day-to-day work and gaming life.

I can't think of the last time I used a laptop keyboard that felt this satisfying. That said, if you're a true keyboard enthusiast who is annoyed by metallic case ping sounds, the mechanical keyboard here has that aplenty, and it varies quite a bit from key to key. Personally I think the feel of the keyboard (and its roomly layout) far outweigh any pinging sound issues, but that may not be the case for everyone. 

The only odd thing about the keyboard's layout is the extra column all the way to the right, which houses dedicated volume, mute, and mic mute keys. Their non-standard positions will take some getting used to, but in my case I didn't find myself hitting them accidentally. I would also have liked to see dedicated media control buttons, but you can at least program the F2-F6 keys with macros. 

The touchpad isn't exactly spacious at about 2.4 x 4.8 inches, but it's big enough for Windows gestures, at least with my mid-sized hands. Some may prefer something larger, but the vast majority of gamers are going to want to use one of the best gaming mice, anyway.

Upgradeability of the Alienware x17

Some engineer at Alienware deserves an award for just how easy the x17's internals are to access. There are eight standard Philips head screws on the bottom of the laptop. After removing all but the two that are captive (one on each side), the bottom pops off so easily that I didn't even have to think about finding a spudger or an old credit card for prying purposes. 

Inside, both the two SO-DIMM slots and two M.2 SSDs are accessible. All four upgradable slots were occupied in our review unit. The SSDs are housed under heat spreaders with thermal pads, but they are easy to get to and remove – you just need to remove yet another small screw for each drive.

Also, note the Alienware x17's 87 WHr battery in the image above: It isn't quite as beefy as the 99 WHr power box that the MSI Raider sports. As you might expect, that leads to differences in unplugged run time between the two systems that sport very similar components, which will see in the next section.

Also visible here is the x17's four-fan cooling system, which often kicked on even when the machine was idling at the desktop. Expect fan noise to be a constant companion when gaming (and most of the rest of the time too). That said, the fan noise on the x17 R2, while prominent when gaming, isn't close to the loudest or highest-pitched I've heard from a high-end gaming laptop under load.

Battery Life on the Alienware x17

You'll want to keep the x17 R2's power brick handy whenever you're using the system. No high-end gaming laptop sports stellar battery life, but the x17 R2 with its top-end components is only likely to last a few hours under the best of circumstances.  

On our battery test, in which laptops continuously browse the web, stream video and run OpenGL graphics tests in the browser, all while connected to Wi-Fi with the screen at 150 nits, the x17 R2 conked out at the 3 hour and 7 minute mark. That's not awful as far as powerful gaming laptops go, but the MSI lasted nearly an hour longer (4:05), last year's x17 R1 lasted almost 90 mins longer (4:31), and the AMD-powered Asus held on for 3:44.

Webcam on the Alienware x17 R2

The good news about the Alienware x17 R2's webcam is that it includes Windows Hello support. But its 720p sensor produces fuzzy images under the best conditions. And in anything much below mid-day level sunlight, its colors were subdued and dull. Sure, the camera here will get you through the occasional work meeting or virtual event just fine. But if you expect more than that you'll want to invest in one of the best webcams.

Audio on the Alienware x17 R2

I listened to the 20th Anniversary remastered edition of Assemblage 23's album "Failure," and the pair of 4-watt speakers did an OK job when I was sitting in front of the laptop. But stepping a few feet away, the low-end of the audio dropped off dramatically, leading to a thin, muddy sound. I tried to see if software could help here. But the pre-installed Realtek Audio console only let me adjust the balance from left to right and the volume. And I did not spot an equalizer in Alienware's Command Center Software. 

Still, this is going to be less of an issue for gaming. During my rounds of Borderlands 3, I had no major complaints. But if you often use your laptop for music while you aren't sitting right in front of it, you'll want to invest in some kind of speakers, whether they be of the desktop or Bluetooth variety. 

Software and Warranty on Alienware x17 R2

As with all new consumer-focused Windows laptops going forward, the x17 R2 ships with Windows 11 (Pro in our model, though most configurations ship with Home). Our review unit came pleasingly free of much of any extra OS cruft, save for the usual Office and Xbox links. 

Alienware's Command Center is the primary piece of pre-installed software. With it you can tweak fan speeds, adjust audio, switch between power profiles, change lighting and check component usage. You can overclock the CPU here as well, if that's an option with your configuration. There are also the usual programs for basic support and audio tweaking, as well as Killer Intelligence Center for managing and monitoring network traffic. But overall, the software bloat here is pleasingly slim to none.

Alienware sells the x17 R2 with a 1-year warranty as standard, although you can bump that up as high as four years at purchase for an extra $440 (2 years is an extra $160).

Configurations of the Alienware x17 R2

As of this writing, Alienware sells the x17 R2 in four configurations, starting at $2,449 with a Core i7-12700H, an RTX 3060, a 512GB PCIe SSD and 32GB of DDR5. For $3549, you get the same CPU but twice the storage and an the same RTX 3080 Ti as our review unit. A $3,849 config takes that SKU and bumps the CPU up to our Core i9 12900K. And the top-end offering at $3,949 is the model we tested, only ours included the $50 mechanical keyboard upgrade and an extra 2TB SSD, plush Windows 11 Pro.

Oddly, the Alienware x17 R2 was only available with 1080p high refresh panels when we wrote this, which seems like a somewhat odd pairing with the highest-end GPU and CPU you can buy. But an Alienware representative told us that 4K panel options should be available as an option by early February. If esports is your passion, the 360 Hz 1080p panel will likely be what you want. But for AAA gamers and those who like to watch movies on their laptops, the 4K panel will offer both more detail as well as better color, if the screen in last year's x17 R1 is any indication.

Bottom Line

While it's certainly expensive in our $4,799 review configuration, the Alienware x17 is a powerful system, especially considering its sub-1-inch thickness–and shockingly it's not overly loud under load. It bested the similarly equipped MSI GE76 Raider in our CPU tests, though it was often behind that competing machine (though ahead of the older competition) in our gaming benchmarks. Both those systems sport the same CPU and GPU, and both are rated to a maximum of 175W graphics power. Perhaps the slightly thicker chassis of the MSI helped it here, although the Alienware's gaming prowess is still better than any other gaming laptop we've tested, save for MSI's latest monster.

Combine the overall excellent (although not always the best) performance with a mechanical keyboard that feels great, all packed inside a stunning-looking thin chassis and there's a lot to like with the Alienware x17 R2. 

Some won't like the fact that all its ports (save for the power plug and headphone jack) are in the back. But if that's an issue for you, and/or you want simply the best frame rates possible from a laptop today, MSI's GE76 Raider is an excellent alternative, with more ports spread across three sides. 

The MSI also weighs about a half pound less and has a bigger battery. To our eyes, the Alienware looks nicer, but the MSI has a flashy RGB light strip and turned in some higher frame rates in our tests. It's also a bit thicker, so which one is best for you depends on how you use your laptop and how much you prioritize absolute gaming performance over sleek, svelte looks.

Right now, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 with RTX 3080 GPU has fallen to its lowest ever price — under $2,000 after a huge 16% discount.

Not only that, but the Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition with RTX 3060 is still at an amazingly low price, you can get $120 off the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU and much more.

TL;DR — Today’s best deals

• Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 Gaming Laptop: was $2,399, now $1,999 at Newegg
• Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition: was $1,799, now $1,322 at Dell with code 50OFF699
• Ryzen 9 5950X: was $799, now $679 at Newegg with code SSBP223
• Rosewill PMG550 80 Plus Gold Certified 550W Fully Modular Power Supply: was $139, now $69 at Newegg
• Razer Huntsman Gaming Bundle – Keyboard + Mouse + Pad + Headset: was $249, now $149 at CostCo

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It turns out that Nvidia's recently introduced GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics processor for laptops (which we tested in MSI's GE76 Raider earlier this week) doesn't use severely cut-down GA102 silicon. Instead, it relies on a rather mysterious GA103 die. A Chinese video blogger snapped a pic of the new GPU this week, revealing that this is a brand-new piece of silicon with a 496 mm^2 die size designed with high-end gaming laptops in mind. But it could also make a lot of sense for desktops.

Following the launch of the mobile GeForce RTX 3080 Ti this week, Chinese video blogger Geekerwan (via VideoCardz) opened up a laptop featuring the GPU and revealed the GA103 graphics processor, labeled as GN20-E8-A1.

Geekerwan's measurements indicate that GA103's die size is 496 mm^2, putting it right between the lower-end GA104 (392 mm^2) and the higher-end GA102 (628 mm^2). Earlier rumors indicated that the GA103 GPU features as many as 7680 CUDA cores and a 320-bit memory interface. But in the case of the laptop GPU, Nvidia cut the GPU down to 7424 CUDA cores, 96 texture units, 58 render backends, and a 256-bit memory interface.  

Given the ongoing GPU supply and pricing issues, a natural question is whether the company intends to use GA103 for desktop PCs. If Nvidia decides to fill the gap between the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (6144 CUDA cores, 256-bit memory interface) and the GeForce RTX 3080 (8704 CUDA cores, 320-bit memory interface), the GA103 may be just what the doctor ordered, with its up to 7680 CUDA cores and a 320-bit memory bus. In fact, even cut-down variants of the GA103 make sense for desktops and could compete with the best graphics cards around. 

Nvidia GPU Comparisons

We have no idea which configurations of GA103 GPUs will be available and where they will land (desktop or laptop). But since Nvidia frequently disables about 20% of its GPU's functional units (and up to 40% semi-officially) when it needs to sell partially faulty processors, there is a very fertile field for speculation here.

When Nvidia introduced the high-end RTX 30-series 'Ampere' lineup in mid-2020, one thing that stuck out was the huge gap between the GA102 processor (up to 84 SMs and 384-bit interface) and the GA104 GPU (up to 48 SMs and a 256-bit interface). Given the supply shortages for GPUs, filling that gap with a smaller GPU that still meets the needs of cards like the desktop 3080 could mean more cards to go around.

While Nvidia has a lot of freedom with configurations of its GPUs, the GA102 was still too complex and seemingly too hot for a laptop, even when severely cut down. There were rumors about the GA103 GPU at the time, but since Nvidia never confirmed the chip, it was forgotten—until this week.

That gives Nvidia a lot of flexibility with Ampere GPUs. The 3090, 3080 Ti, 3080 12GB, and the upcoming 3090 Ti all need the largest GA102 chip, due to using its 384-bit interface. Currently, the mobile 3080 Ti is the only model using GA103, but it would make sense to also use that chip for the 3080 10GB and potentially the 3070 Ti as well. GA104 is the most ubiquitous of the chips right now, finding use in the 3070 Ti, 3070, 3060 Ti, and 3060 on the desktop size, as well as the 3080, 3070, and 3060 laptop models. Then there's the GA106 for the 3060 and 3050 desktop cards and mobile 3060, and finally the GA107 is currently only used in the mobile 3050 Ti and 3050.

That's five different GPUs spread out over fourteen GeForce products, never mind the various professional Nvidia cards and the GA100 data center chips. Of course, balancing wafer production across all those designs is something else Nvidia has to consider, but it's basically the only company using Samsung Foundry's 8N node. We can only hope that supply will catch up to demand, sooner than later.