Is the RTX 2080 Super worth buying this Holiday Sale?

The RTX 2080 Super was the highest-end video card launched in 2019 as part of the Super refresh to the Turing lineup of GPUs. The card was a tad slower than the highest-end and ridiculously priced RTX 2080 Ti.

Upon launch, the 2080 Super was marketed as a 4K gaming graphics card. However, a lot has changed in the video gaming industry in the three years since the card was launched.

These days, the 2080S sweeps floors with the RTX 3060 Ti, which is a bit faster than this last-gen card. Nvidia launched the 3060 Ti as a 1080p gaming card. Thus, it is expected that the 2080S is a safe bet for today's most popular resolution.

However, gamers will be surprised to find out how well the card holds up in 1440p and 2160p. Let’s skim through some detailed benchmarks of this card and determine whether it is a good deal these days.

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The RTX 2080 Super is aging like fine wine

The 2080S is over three years old now. It was introduced back in 2019. Thus, it is no surprise that the card cannot hold up as well in the UHD resolution as it did upon launch.

However, this does not mean the card can no longer pull off 4K gaming. With a few compromises in visual fidelity, it can perform very well in both 2160p and 1400p resolutions.

This is evident from our testing with a high-end RTX 2070 Super card. The 2080 Super is around 12% faster than the 2070S. Thus, it is expected to hit playable framerates in almost every game without turning on any form of temporal upscaling.

Turning on DLSS pushes the framerate even higher. Thus, gamers can enjoy competitive gaming with RTX 2080S.

Coming to competitive gaming, the RTX 2080S is shaping to be the new GTX 1080 Ti in several aspects. At 1080p, the card can deliver over 90 frames in even some of the most demanding games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

It can deliver even more frames in competitive games like Warzone 2.0, Fortnite, and PUBG while running them at 1080p. Thus, gamers can pick this card for competitive gaming.

The RTX 2080 Super was discontinued in 2020 when the RTX 30 series cards hit the market. Nvidia no longer manufactures these video cards.

The only way to secure a new 2080 Super is to pick it up from the second-hand market. Currently, gamers can get their hands on some of the highest models for around $300.

Lower-end variants like the MSI Ventus and the ASUS TUF Gaming can sell for even lower.

This is around the same as the RTX 3060 Ti's price in the second-hand market. These cards offer almost similar performances. Thus, it boils down to what gamers prefer: slightly longer driver support and a power-efficient design or a flagship-level card with the best-in-class components from a generation ago.

Most gamers should go for the latter, as no 3060 Ti can deliver a flagship experience. Most high-end 2080 Super cards come with a robust thermal design and high-quality VRMs that allows the card to maintain better temperatures.

Users can also overclock the cards and push the silicon to the maximum to achieve higher framerates in video games.

Overall, the Super refreshes of the RTX 20 series offer a unique value proposition. Gamers can opt for these cards if they cannot afford the RTX 30 series models, provided they are still selling slightly over their MSRP.

However, with the RTX 40 series cards currently launching, the Ampere cards might be discounted at any time. That will change the story altogether.