Zotac’s tricked-out RTX 3080 Ti Amp Holo has a capable cooler and lots of RGB. But its price puts it above a 3090, while its performance barely edges above a 3080 TI Founders Edition. And of course, it’s sold out everywhere anyway.
Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 Ti launch isn’t exactly a high point for the RTX 30-series Ampere architecture cards, but the Zotac RTX 3080 Ti Amp Holo almost makes the Founders Edition look reasonable. Yes, the 3080 Ti is nearly as fast as the RTX 3090 and theoretically costs $300 less, only with half the memory. That’s almost good enough to put it on our list of the best graphics cards. And it outperforms most of the competition, ranking second overall in our GPU benchmarks hierarchy. The problem is that it’s only about 10% faster than the RTX 3080, but with a base price that’s over 70% higher.
It’s a classic case of diminishing returns, coupled with a money grab on the part of Nvidia—because no one is actually able to buy an RTX 3080 for $700, but Nvidia would be under contract to sell the GPUs to its partners at lower prices. The significantly higher MSRP on the 3080 Ti means more money goes into Nvidia’s pot, instead of into the hands of the AIB (add-in board) partners and retailers. Zotac comes in with the RTX 3080 Ti Amp Holo, looks at Nvidia’s raise to $1,200 and laughs as it bumps the asking price up to $1,800—or at least, that’s the list price at Newegg. It’s simply too much, surpassing even the RTX 3090 in pricing—and it’s still sold out.
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