It’s me. I’m one of the people who bought one of Nvidia’s worst value graphics cards, the RTX 4080, and now I regret it. However, it has nothing to do with GPU performance but rather the fact that there are better options available now.

However, this not all. Despite meticulous planning, I didn’t take into account another aspect of owning a high-end graphics card that only became clear once I used this GPU for a few months. Grab a snack and let me take you on a journey through my GPU regrets.

I knew what I signed up for.

While it may seem like I didn’t do my research and am now paying the price, I didn’t buy my RTX 4080 on a whim.

I spent months planning my new I built the PC last year and the GPU was the only option I paid the most attention to. Choosing a processor for a gaming build was easy, as the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is an obvious choice, but the graphics card? Choosing one turned out to be quite a headache.

I always knew the RTX 4080 was a terrible value. There is nothing wrong with its performance, although it is significantly slower than the RTX 4090, but the value for money is quite poor; In that sense, it is one of the worst GPUs we have seen in recent years. Priced at $1,200 out of the box, the GPU was only about 25% cheaper than the RTX 4090 at launch, but more than 30% slower. The market corrected those prices slightly over time, and at the time of my purchase, the RTX 4080 was priced at around $1,050 for the cheapest models, with overclocked cards still reaching $1,200 and up.

Buying the RTX 4090 might have made more sense at those price ranges. Better yet, I could have bought the RX 7900

The RX 7900 XTX turned out to be slightly faster than the RTX 4080, but the latter did better in ray tracing. It also offered Nvidia’s DLSS 3, which still beats AMD’s FSR 3. When I was shopping for parts for my new PC, the two GPUs were only about $100 apart, while the RTX 4090 was around $1,650 (which is no longer the case). as 4090 prices have skyrocketed).

If AMD had priced the RX 7900 XTX lower, I would have been happy to buy it. It didn’t, that’s why I chose the Nvidia card. I was totally willing to pay $100 more for a GPU with more robust capabilities. I never seriously considered the RTX 4090; I didn’t need that kind of power and I certainly wasn’t willing to spend $500 more to get it.

All in all, the RTX 4080 was a conscious decision; He knew he was overpaying, but he was willing to do it to achieve smooth gameplay at all resolutions and at maximum settings. Shortly after building my PC, I have no regrets.

But if I were buying a new GPU right now, I would never have made the same decision.

If only I had waited…

Right now, just a few days away from the launch of RTX 4080 Super, it’s hard not to regret it, and that’s despite the fact that the new GPU will probably be very similar to the one already doing its job inside my PC.

Before Nvidia announced the RTX 40 series refresh, there had been a lot of speculation about the possible specifications of the RTX 4080. However, I was hesitant to believe the rumors that made the RTX 4080 a scaled-down version of the RTX 4090. And even more so, those who said it would offer much better performance at a lower price. Sure, it’s nice to believe that Nvidia learned its lesson when it had to “release” the expensive 12GB RTX 4080, but historically, Nvidia tends to prioritize performance over value.

Ahead of Nvidia’s keynote at CES 2024, specs for all three Super GPUs were leaked so many times that all Nvidia had to do was repeat the rumors. The RTX 4080 Super ships with the same AD103 GPU, a slight increase in CUDA cores (9728 vs 10240), and the same memory configuration. Nvidia predicts it will be about 3% faster than its predecessor, and something like that was never going to bother me.

That’s the price I got.

I have to admit that Nvidia’s price cut took me by surprise, in a good way. I’ve almost given up on Nvidia ever adjusting prices in our favor, but alas, it happened. The RTX 4080 Super will launch with an MSRP of $1,000, meaning it will be a little faster for $200 less.

The RTX 4080 Super is not the only reason I question my decision from a few months ago. In fact, it’s the RTX 4070 Ti Super that makes me think. One of the reasons I didn’t settle for an RTX 4070 Ti in the first place was its 12GB of VRAM, but the Super version solves that problem, increasing the memory up to 16GB. Sure, it has fewer cores than the RTX 4080, with just 8,448 CUDA, but it’s still an improvement over its predecessor at the same $800 price point.

Simply put, if I had waited, I could have gotten the RTX 4080 Super for $200 less or even settled for the RTX 4070 Ti Super for $800. Both options would have saved me some money, although the 4080S makes less of a difference because I was able to buy my RTX 4080 for $1,100.

Of course, I couldn’t have predicted this, but it still hurts. My previous GPU was the GTX 1060, so since I already waited so long, I could have held out a little longer.

I didn’t follow my own advice

I’ve always been a gamer, so every PC I built was built with that in mind. The ultimate goal was to play all my favorite games at high settings and then be able to play newer titles as they came out for a few years before having to think about upgrades. It’s safe to say I achieved it with my current PC.

Unfortunately, I fell victim to the classic. The PC building mistake of not knowing where to stop. It’s very easy to do, but it’s especially annoying because I always tend to tell people to think twice and not spend too much; it’s just not necessary.

My initial budget for my new build was much more reasonable. But then when I chose the components after a lot of research and with the support of my personal experience, I started to fail. After all, why not spend $50 more on a better liquid cooler if I know the one I choose is much more efficient? Likewise, why not get a better motherboard for a few extra slots and improved connectivity? The case was another thing I compromised on, spending more than necessary just to get a little more cooling and, honestly, better aesthetics.

The graphics card was obviously where I really blew my budget. Starting with the RTX 4070, the needle moved inch by inch until I told myself that I wanted the 4K gaming option at maximum settings and that I might as well invest in some future-proofing with the RTX 4080.

However, having used this PC for gaming for a few months now, I can say with complete confidence that I didn’t need it to be as good as it is.

Over the past few years, I’ve gotten into the habit of avoiding titles that looked like they would cause my old GTX 1060 to break down. I still successfully played many AAA games. on high settings, and the games I chose to pass up, like Cyberpunk 2077It didn’t make me feel like I was missing out.

Some titles were off-limits to me because I hate playing on low settings and/or low frames per second (fps), but I guess I’m not the type of person who jumps into every blockbuster game and has to try them out. outside. In fact, many of the games I’ve spent hundreds of hours on aren’t very demanding, like world of warcraft, Elden Ringeither Espelenium 2. I was excited to try out some newer games and take full advantage of ray tracing and max settings with my new GPU, but the truth is I don’t have time to play every game that looks remotely great. That is the burden of adulthood. As a teenager, I would have loved this PC.

I haven’t gotten the most out of my high-end gaming PC. I could have gotten away with something much cheaper and probably wouldn’t have felt it too much, so it’s hard not to feel some buyer’s remorse.

Was this always meant to happen?

PC building is a lifelong hobby of mine, so although I kept my old computer for several years, I’ve built many desktop computers in the meantime, for friends, family or colleagues. Whether it’s putting together a list of components or assembling them, I love doing it. It’s no wonder that when I finished my own build, I put all that passion into it and enjoyed it every step of the way.

Given how much I cared, I think there would always be some disappointment. The RTX 4080 was a controversial choice, and in retrospect I now know I didn’t need it. Not to mention, if I delayed my build a little longer, I could have stuck to my budget and gotten something of a similar caliber. On the other hand, I’m still somewhat happy with my choice and the hours of enjoyment I’ve already had with it.

This is a common problem in PC building and even tech in general. Even if you buy the best product today, something even better will come out in a year or two. It’s easy to get stuck in a loop of “Well, there will be a new generation coming out in X months; Maybe just wait.”

In the end, I got out of that loop at a time that worked for me, and while there are better options now, I’m trying not to think about those regrets and enjoy the PC I was able to build, the terrible value RTX 4080. including.

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