I currently have an AMD 6800 XT which handles even the newest games fine, but I want to try out NVIDIA’s ray tracing features. Prices where I live are crazy high, and the only NVIDIA GPUs I can afford are either the RTX 3080 or the RTX 4060 Ti, both costing about the same. I’m wondering which GPU would be the better pick for 1440p gaming, especially with ray tracing in mind?
4 Answers
Honestly, if you’re focusing on ray tracing at 1440p, neither the 3080 nor the 4060 Ti will deliver a great experience. The 3080 is still powerful but feels a bit limited with only 10GB or 12GB of VRAM, which can cause stutters, especially when ray tracing is enabled. The 4060 Ti is actually weaker overall but might have slightly better ray tracing efficiency, though still not great for serious RTX gaming.
Honestly, I’d recommend just holding on to your 6800 XT for now. The 6800 XT is still a beast at 1440p and can handle most games without trouble. With the current prices, jumping to the 3080 or 4060 Ti doesn’t seem worth it — especially since they’re either equal or worse than what you already have, and RTX performance won’t be great on those cards. Waiting for a better deal on a 4070 Ti Super or higher would be your best bet if you want real ray tracing improvements.
The big problem is that for smooth 1440p ray tracing, you’re really looking at GPUs like the 4070 Ti Super or newer AMD offerings like the 9070 XT. These options have better VRAM and ray tracing hardware to handle the load without huge compromises. Both the 3080 and 4060 Ti just fall short of that mark, unfortunately.
Got it, a shame those are way out of my budget though. I guess waiting is the better play.
If you already have a 6800 XT, upgrading to a 4060 Ti would basically be a downgrade in raw performance, although you’d get a bit better ray tracing support. The 3080 is closer to the 6800 XT in performance and has better ray tracing, but you lose some VRAM, which isn’t great for future-proofing or heavier ray tracing.
PLATFORM INFORMATION
Thanks for clarifying! So stuttering and performance drops would be a real issue even on the 3080 when ray tracing is on?