Why the RTX 3090 Ti is not worth buying this holiday season

The RTX 3090 Ti is the flagship offering in Nvidia's Ampere series. The card is a slightly bumped-up version of the original RTX 3090 and is about five to 10 percent faster than the big ferocious GPU (BFGPU) from 2020.

The 3090 Ti was launched in January 2022 for a hefty premium of $1,999. However, these days, users can pick it up for around $1,299 to $1,599. This still makes for a very expensive gaming video card.

Thus, many gamers are left wondering whether they should opt for a bargain on the last-gen best or get the latest and greatest from the green camp. Let's try to answer this question.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

---

Pricing is killing the RTX 3090 Ti

On paper, the RTX 3090 Ti is a solid video card. It is based on the same AD102 graphics processor as the RTX 3090 and the 3080 Ti.

Under the hood, the card has 10,752 CUDA cores, 336 Texture Mapping Units (TMUs), 112 Render Output Units (ROPs), 336 Tensor cores, and 84 RT cores.

The 3090 Ti packs 24 GB of 21 Gbps GDDR6X video memory that is based on a wide 384-bit bus. The base clock of the card is 1,560 MHz, and it can boost up to 1,860 MHz. The memory is clocked at 1,313 MHz.

Thus, the card looks like a solid competitor for high-end gaming, and it delivers on the promise. Almost every video game is playable at 4K without any form of upscaling. However, the card struggles in some demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Microsoft Flight Simulator.

This is where the current-gen options come into play. If gamers are looking for a card that performs as well as the RTX 3090 Ti, there is no reason to spend over $1,300 on a GPU.

---

The competition and next-gen options are more lucrative than the RTX 3090 Ti

AMD has launched multiple options that rival the value proposition of the 3090 Ti. These include the RX 6900 XT, the 6950 XT, and the current-gen RX 7900 series. Besides these cards, RTX 40 series options also make the 3090 Ti look like a bad investment.

The 7900 XT is as fast as the last-gen flagship. According to TechPowerUp's GPU computing prowess aggregates, the latest AMD card is about 1% faster than the 3090 Ti. At $899, it is a much better option. It is smaller and more power-efficient. Thus, gamers should opt for the card without thinking twice.

However, if gamers are willing to spend over $1,000 on a GPU, they could look at the RTX 4080 instead of the RTX 3090 Ti. Nvidia has recently slashed the price of this card in multiple markets, thereby improving its value proposition. The 4080 is about 15 to 16% faster than the last-gen flagship.

Looking at the current prices of some third-party AIB options, it is evident that most gamers have to spend close to $1,600 or more for a high-end variant of the RTX 3090 Ti. At this point, the RTX 4090 makes more sense.

However, it is worth noting that the 4090 is selling nowhere near its MSRP, and many gamers might have to spend northwards of $2,200 for the latest and the greatest.