Design

The Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo should be familiar to anyone who has had their hands on any of the brand’s video card lines before. That means there’s the company’s outstanding build quality, aggressive styling, and efficient cooling here. The key difference with this model that separates it from others, though, is the size and weight of the thing itself, being considerably larger, and much heavier, than that of the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Amp Holo. The same angular tried-and-true triple fan setup is very much in full force here, with the added exception of a frankly ridiculously-sized heatsink. You won’t be shocked to hear that the BFGPU refresh suitably lives up to its name-sake in this respect. 

The Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo utilizes a 12-pin power connector as opposed to the Founders Edition’s new 16-pin, with an adapter included in the box. Unlike the RTX 3090 or other high-end Ampere GPUs, this new model needs 3x 8-pin connectors to get powered up, whereas most graphics cards only require one or two. In my testing, this meant having to unscrew my power supply from the back of our build, route an additional PCIe cable through the back of the case, and then hook up the RTX 3090 Ti. After all, this video card is the first to be PCIe 5.0 ready and it shows. Nvidia recommends an 850W minimum PSU, but I would personally say that you want at least a 1000W to give yourself the overhead (as is in our test machine).

GamesRadar Test System

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 GAMING X ATX
RAM: Kingston FURY Beast DDR5 16GB @ 5200MHz  
CPU cooler: Corsair iCue H150i Elite RGB 360mm
PSU: Corsair RM1000x
Case: Corsair iCue 5000T

As expected for a graphics card that’s this heavy, the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo comes with an RGB GPU support bracket in the box to help the GPU from sagging under its own weight. Depending on which PC case you have this behemoth inside of, you may need to use it, too. Our GamesRadar test PC is built inside of the Corsair 5000T, so thankfully we had more than enough room in the larger-than-average Mid Tower to accommodate the card with its three-slot requirement. If you’ve got a smaller chassis to work with then you may need to look elsewhere for your next video card as I would personally recommend a larger Mid Tower or a Full Tower for a GPU like this.

Speaking of its weight, the metal RGB LED Backplate fused to the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo is suitably heavy-duty. As with the rest of the Amp Holo line, lighting is a big feature of what makes these Zotac video cards so popular in the first place, and the RTX 3090 Ti doesn’t disappoint. There’s a large light strip on the side and the backplate illuminates brightly when powered up.

Features

The Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo features a slightly higher boost clock than that of the Founders Edition model, able to reach up to 1890 MHz as opposed to the original’s 1860 MHz. It may not sound like much, but could squeeze out an extra frame or two when overclocking. There’s also support for the FireStorm Utility program for this very purpose of fine-tuning, as well as being Nvidia NVLink compatible should SLI be a priority for you.

You’ll find your standard fare of connectivity options with 3x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x HDMI 2.1 here, so you’ve got all the necessary connections that your gaming monitor needs. This means support of up to 4K120 with HDR or 8K60, at least theoretically. 

As for the RTX 3090 Ti itself, it’s very much a minor and iterative upgrade over the original BFGPU that launched nearly a year ago. This model features the same 24GB GDDR6X memory and 384-bit bus width, but does benefit from 256 extra CUDA cores (10,752 total), two extra RT cores (84 altogether), and eight more Tensor cores (336 total). This very minor increase means that the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo is capable of 1,008 GB/s Bandwidth (just shy of 1TB/s) and 21 Gbps effective memory clock, being the fastest consumer video card for gaming you can get. 

Performance

Those are certainly some impressive figures, but they wouldn’t mean much if the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo didn’t deliver, and it certainly does for the most part. The BFGPU refresh is billed for its ability to deliver the highest-end 4K gaming, and this model didn’t have any trouble with anything I threw at it in my testing, with the notable example of Cyberpunk 2077. It should be said, however, that said title is rather woefully unoptimized, but more on the specifics a little later. 

RTX 3090 Ti benchmarks

Time Spy: 20,176
Time Spy Extreme (4K): 10,531
Fire Strike Extreme (1440p): 24,842
Fire Strike Ultra (2160p): 14,189
Port Royal: 14,809

Our test system is geared out with the latest PCIe 5.0 compatible hardware to give the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo access to as much bandwidth as possible, and the figures don’t lie. Both native 1440p and 2160p performance was critically evaluated in my testing as well as utilizing Nvidia DLSS in Performance mode in the interest of parity where available.

I’ll cut to the chase and tell you that, yes, the RTX 3090 Ti is slightly faster than the original model, with roughly a 9% maximum increase over the first BFGPU when we had our hands on it inside several of the best gaming PCs in the past. With its extra 100w power requirement over the stock RTX 3090, though, requiring 450W (29% more than the original’s 350W), I’m not entirely convinced that the slight boost in performance is actually worth it, leaving the price hike aside.

Zotac GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Amp Extreme Holo game benchmarks

Here’s how the Zotac GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Amp Extreme Holo got on when pushed to its limit in demanding ray tracing titles

Cyberpunk 2077: 

2160p Ultra (Psycho ray tracing) DLSS on: 60 FPS
2160p Ultra (Psycho ray tracing) DLSS off: 21 FPS
1440p Ultra (Psycho ray tracing) DLSS on: 91 FPS
1440p Ultra (Psycho ray tracing) DLSS off: 43 FPS

Control:

2160p Ultra (ray tracing) DLSS on: 80 FPS
2160p Ultra (ray tracing) DLSS off: 48 FPS
1440p Ultra (ray tracing) DLSS on: 122 FPS
1440p Ultra (ray tracing) DLSS off: 85 FPS

Metro Exodus (PC Enhanced Edition): 

2160p Ultra (Extreme ray tracing) DLSS on: 114 FPS
2160p Ultra (Extreme ray tracing) DLSS off: 70 FPS
1440p Ultra (Extreme ray tracing) DLSS on: 155 FPS
1440p Ultra (Extreme ray tracing) DLSS off: 90 FPS

Guardians of the Galaxy: 

2160p Ultra (ray tracing) DLSS on: 120 FPS
2160p Ultra (ray tracing) DLSS off: 107 FPS
1440p Ultra (ray tracing) DLSS on: 120 FPS
1440p Ultra (ray tracing) DLSS off: 120 FPS

All games tested at their highest possible settings; DLSS set to ‘Performance’ mode unless otherwise stated. 

Native 4K performance (no A.I. upscaling) provided more-than-playable frame rates averaging around 70 FPS if you take all the games tested on the whole. Keep in mind, though, that’s with ray tracing maxed out, too, which really is best served when used in tandem with Nvidia DLSS. Switch that tech on, and the numbers noticeably skyrocket to well above the 100 FPS mark, as is evidenced in the likes of Control and Guardians of the Galaxy. However iterative, that’s very impressive, with the latter title maintaining a solid 4K120, which is likely to become a very popular resolution/framerate pairing in the future of PC gaming sooner rather than later.

Revisiting Night City again in 2160p reveals just how small of a jump we’re talking between the RTX 3090 (which gave us just shy of 60 FPS consistently when inside the Acer Predator Orion 7000) and the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo’s rock-solid 60 FPS with DLSS enabled. Native performance in this title still isn’t good, as I recorded frame rates of around 21 FPS through the game’s benchmark feature that was added in Patch 1.5; not exactly setting the world on fire for a $2,099.99 GPU. Regardless, 4K120 is absolutely within reach, and even far exceeded in demanding games, like Metro Exodus‘ average of 114 FPS shows.

You’re paying one hell of a premium for that performance advantage though, but it goes give a good indication of what the bandwidth afforded by PCIe 5.0 can do on the platform. This means that you no longer have to drop the resolution in order to keep the frame rates higher than 60 – which isn’t really possible from any other video cards right now in 2022. 

Should you buy the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo? 

The RTX 3090 Ti is the fastest and most powerful graphics card aimed at gamers, however, it’s also incredibly difficult to recommend due to how little of an improvement it is, and just how late in the day this GPU was released. It’s no secret that the RTX 3090 Ti was supposed to be released earlier than it was, having been teased at CES 2022 back in January, and yet even that feels too little too late. 

With its $2,100 price tag, $600 more than the first BFGPU was at launch, the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo just doesn’t provide enough of a performance boost to actually justify the high cost. The GPU is clearly pushing the limits of Ampere on its GA102 board, however, with the RTX 40 series likely releasing this year, it’s a very bitter pill to swallow. The RTX 3090 Ti feels like it’s just testing the waters of what the next generation of graphics cards is going to be with its PCIe 5 compatibility, and in my opinion, this almost makes those who adopt this video card beta-testers.

Just like how entry-level Ampere was able to keep up with previously flagship Turing models, the RTX 30-series’ successor line will likely boast significant performance improvements across the board. If you want the best of the best for right now, then there’s no harm in investing in the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo for those who can afford it, as its prowess is undeniable, it just feels as though its too much and too late for most people. 

There is a silver lining, though, for those gamers who want to find RTX 3090 Ti stock as the newest Ampere GPU is available at MSRP in both the US and UK, so availability certainly isn’t a problem here. Considering it’s still challenging to find RTX 3090 stock nearer to actual retail value, the option is there. 

Buy if… 

• You want to achieve 4K120 
• You’re after the most powerful GPU that money can buy 
• You’ve been meaning to upgrade for a long time

Don’t buy if…

• You want good value for money 
• You can find the RTX 3090 nearer MSRP 
• You have a smaller gaming PC case / PSU

How we tested the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo

I used the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Extreme Amp Holo inside of our GamesRadar test system over the span of a week, benching the video card in demanding games as well as through 3D Mark, too. Evaluations were made based upon the card’s 1440p and 4K prowess, and our rig was connected up to monitors of both resolutions. 

You can find out more about how we test graphics cards in our full GamesRadar Hardware Policy. 

The Verdict

3

3 out of 5

Zotac GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Amp Extreme Holo

The RTX 3090 Ti is the most powerful and fastest graphics card for gaming on the market, but it boasts such a minimal increase over the original at such a high price and power draw that it’s really hard to recommend. With the new line of Nvidia graphics cards likely to be released this year, the Zotac GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Amp Extreme Holo is a case of too little, too late for the vast majority of PC gamers.

The post Zotac GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Amp Extreme Holo review: “Too big, too much, too late” appeared first on Game News.

The new cards are proving worthy contenders for anyone who has been waiting to upgrade their machines with a next-generation leap. AMD 6800XT and 6800 stock will be hard to find for the rest of the year, but don’t give in to scalpers on eBay just yet.

With that in mind, you’ll find AMD RX 6000 series links below that will take you straight to the retailers so you can get your hands on one. It’s also worth checking out the pre-built market, with the likes of iBUYPOWER (opens in new tab) already offering builds centered around the 6800 cards – and with decent lead times too.

While you’re waiting for stock, perhaps you might be interested in the latest Black Friday gaming PC deals or Black Friday gaming laptop deals. After more storage? We’ve got you covered with the latest Black Friday SSD deals.

Where to buy AMD RX 6000 cards: 6800 and 6800 XT

AMD RX 6000 retailer links

• US AMD RX 6000 GPU retailers: Best Buy (opens in new tab) | Newegg (opens in new tab) | Amazon (opens in new tab) | Micro Center | Walmart (opens in new tab) | Adorama (opens in new tab) | iBUYPOWER prebuilt PCs (opens in new tab) | B&H Photo (opens in new tab)
• UK AMD RX 6000 GPU retailers: Amazon UK (opens in new tab) | Overclockers UK (opens in new tab) | Ebuyer (opens in new tab) | Box (opens in new tab) | Novatech (opens in new tab)
• Canada AMD RX 6000 GPU retailers: Best Buy (opens in new tab) | Amazon CA (opens in new tab)

US – RX 6800 and RX 6800XT card links

• Sapphire AMD RX 6800 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
• XFX AMD RX 6800 at Best Buy (opens in new tab)
• XFX AMD RX 6800XT at Best Buy (opens in new tab)
• GIGABYTE AMD RX 6800XT at Newegg (opens in new tab)
• MSI AMD RX 6800XT at Newegg (opens in new tab)

Please note: As with all the hardware launches this year, the above links will get you in the right direction but traffic might cause them to stutter or fall over. Keep persevering, as there have been plenty of examples of people being successful when they don’t expect it.

November saw the release of the first two cards: the RX 6800 and RX 6800 XT. However, the card that really epitomizes Big Navi, the 6900XT, will release later, on December 8, 2020. Anyone who’s been holding out to upgrade will find that this is the time to strike. For reference, the two cards out now will be the cheaper of the series with the 6800 cards starting around $579, and the 6800 XT going for around $649. In essence, these two are the direct competitors to the RTX 3070 and RTX 3090. 

However, what the previous launches have taught us is that, despite stock flying off virtual shelves as soon as it appears, links to retailers and products still occasionally work after the initial rush. As such, perseverance is vital and might see you pull off a coup when you least expect it. So, a page like this is always worth keeping in your armory. Or your bookmarks, at the least.

All the cards have 16GB of GDDR6 RAM, but the scale of compute units is where you can quickly tell the difference; the 6800 has 60 CUs, the 6800 XT has 72, and the 6900 XT has 80. What this all translates to is performance that’ll go toe-to-toe with Nvidia’s cards and offer excellently priced competitors that’ll nicely round out the year’s new graphics cards line up. 

No matter which one you intend to buy, we’ve rounded up AMD RX 6000 retailers below who are likely to be your best bets for stock. Just move fast. Much like the launch of the RTX 3080 prices, the RTX 3090 stock, and the RTX 3070 prices, stock will appear and disappear quickly. Be prepared to be ultra-fast in your F5-ing and equally so at checkout.

An update as we hit launch time: B & H Photo (opens in new tab) has confirmed they will not be accepting orders as they cannot guarantee any stock, nor do they know when it will be coming in. It really is 2020 hardware launches all over.

Away from direct links to retailers here, our price-finding tech is constantly scouring the internet for the latest prices, so here are some latest prices on graphics cards to whet the appetite.

If you’re in the mood for re-evaluating your PC in line with the arrival of the AMD RX 6000 GPUs, then check out our takes on the best CPU for gaming you can get, not to mention the best RAM for gaming.

The post Where to buy AMD RX 6800 graphics cards – stock updates for the new RX 6000 series appeared first on Game News.

If you’re really itching to spend a little more for maximum performance, the TI iterations of the cards might be more up your street, with increased memory and superior performance compared to their vanilla versions. We’ll break down the differences in the cards as well as taking a look at their price tags to help you decide which is the best option for you. If you’re in the market for more than just a graphics card, be sure to check out our guide on the best gaming PC deals (opens in new tab) available right now. 

 Specs – what’s the real difference?

The specs for the GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 GPUs are taken directly from Nvidia’s website (opens in new tab), for the Founders Edition of their GPUs. These are the cards Nvidia manufactures itself; the new nomenclature for its reference cards. Both have 8GB of GDDR5 memory, with the GTX 1080 Ti ramping things up with 11 GB of GDDR5 memory. Its TDP is 250W compares to the GTX 1080’s 180W, which is another consideration to take into account when deciding on which card will best work with your rig, and as a result, it needs both a 6-pin and 8-pin connector. The 1080 utilises vapor chamber cooling technology, while the 1070’s cooling solution isn’t as refined, using a heatsink instead. 

The GTX 1070 and 1070 Ti have less bandwidth, at 256 bit-bus compared to the 1080’s 320 bit-bus and 1080 Ti’s 484 bit-bus, but the GTX 1070 Ti sits closer to the GTX 1080, with 2,432 Cuda cores to the GTX 1080’s 2,560, compared to the GTX 1070’s 1,920.  

GTX 1070
Architecture: Pascal
Cores: 1920
Memory: 8GB GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 256
Boost Clock (MHz): 1683  
Thermal Power Design (TDP): 150 W

GTX 1070 Ti
Architecture: Pascal
Cores: 2432
Memory: 8GB GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 256
Boost Clock (MHz): 1683
Thermal Power Design (TDP): 180W

GTX 1080
Architecture: Pascal
Cores: 2560
Memory: 8GB GDDR5X
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 320
Boost Clock (MHz): 1733
Thermal Power Design (TDP): 180W

GTX 1080 Ti
Architecture: Pascal
Cores: 3584
Memory: 11 GB GDDR5X
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 484
Boost Clock (MHz): 1582
Thermal Power Design (TDP): 250W

Performance – is there a big difference?

The GTX 1070 can just about manage 4K gaming for less-demanding titles, but be prepared to compromise on the rest of your settings. The good news is that it’s more than adequate up to 1440p and it’ll also do the job if you’re looking to dabble in VR. 

The GTX 1080 on the other hand – and even the GTX 1070 Ti – are where you’ll want to invest if you don’t want to compromise on framerate while enjoying high resolution gaming. The GTX 1070 Ti is the middle ground between the GTX 1070 and GTX 1080, while the GTX 1080 Ti offers even higher framerates at maxed-out settings, but depending on your set up, the extra benefits of Nvidia’s mighty GPU might be negligible.

• Looking to build your own PC? Here is the best DDR4 RAM for PC gaming (opens in new tab)
• Got that CPU yet? Here are the best CPUs for PC gaming (opens in new tab)
• And be sure to check out the best gaming monitors (opens in new tab) in 2018

Price – how do they compare?

The price of the graphics card is going to be a deciding factor for most buyers. If you have deep pockets, the GTX 1080 Ti (opens in new tab)’s $700/ £670 price tae/g is neither here nor there for the performance that you’re getting, but for $150/ £200 less, you can grab the GTX 1080 (opens in new tab) at $550/ £470, which is going to be more than enough for 4K gaming and video-editing, and isn’t going to break the bank by comparison. 

Dropping down a notch to the GTX 1070 Ti (opens in new tab), you can save yourself $100/ £50 at the GPU’s $450/ £420 price point, but for such a minimal difference in price, you should splash out the extra cash for to enjoy the increase in performance, unless it’s really straining your budget. 

Lastly, there’s the GTX 1070 (opens in new tab), and while you won’t find the Founder’s Edition on Nvidia’s website, you can find it for a significantly lower price that starts at around $400/ £380, depending on which of Nvidia’s partners you decide to buy it from.    

Verdict – which should you get?

For GPU-intensive tasks, opting for the GTX 1080 is a no-brainer over the GTX 1070 and GTX 1070 Ti. The price difference between the GTX 1070 Ti and GTX 1080 is so narrow that it makes little sense to go for the cheaper option when dropping a bit more cash will get you a lot more performance. That being said, if 4K gaming isn’t a priority, the GTX 1070 will be just fine and will ease the burden on your wallet. 

The GTX 1080 Ti is for those of you who don’t mind splurging. It’s a beefy GPU and will easily handle most of what you care to throw at it. If you’ve got your heart set on a top-of-line set up, and have the funds to make it happen, the GTX 1080 Ti is worth the investment.

The 10 series is used in our round-up of the best gaming laptops (opens in new tab). 

The post Whats the difference between GTX 1080 and GTX 1070? appeared first on Game News.