Nvidia’s RTX 3080 is more exciting than PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X

Even in 2013, everyone knew that the new PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles weren’t really a match for PC gaming. Those consoles came with an underpowered and outdated AMD CPU that would go on to limit what was possible throughout the entire generation. But in 2020, it’s more difficult to tell how the consoles will stack up against modern PCs. Nvidia, however, made it clear today that it’s not gonna let Sony and Microsoft leave it behind thanks to the new RTX 3000-series GPUs it officially revealed this morning. And as of today, I’m more excited for the Nvidia RTX 3080 than either the Xbox Series X or the PlayStation 5.

The biggest factor here is Nvidia’s determination to compete with its own legacy in addition to AMD and the consoles. In 2018, Nvidia launched the GeForce RTX 2000-series GPUs, and gamers were hesitant to adopt those cards. The biggest reason for that wasn’t any failing of the RTX 2070 or 2080 — it’s that the previous GTX 1000-series generation is so damn good. The Pascale architecture is a shining moment for Nvidia, and consumers picked up millions of GTX 1060 and 1070 cards. And then, facing pressure from AMD, it released the all-time great GTX 1080 Ti for $700.