NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3000 SERIES MBX SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND TRANSITION RECOMMENDATIONS T mb ech x . n c ol o m vidia has released its next line of GeForce GPUs with the GeForce o g +

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RTX™ 3000 series. Unlike the 2000 series, which provided incremental a 4 y 7 , . L 4 8 i

improvements over its predecessor, the 3000 series provides b 7 e . 2 r t 7 y 0

significant performance increases, particularly for ray-traced v 0 i l | l S e , A applications. The RTX 3000 series is intended to push the boundaries I l L l i E n S o : i of real-time rendering, and, as a result, MBX Systems expects to see 8 s , 0 6 0 0 . 5 much heavier adoption of these cards than the RTX 2000 (Turing 0 6 4 0 8 . | 1 M series). 1 9 B 5 X | S S

y U s P t e P m But with these significant performance improvements, we’re also O R s © T : 8 seeing significant changes to the form factor and other aspects of the 2 8 0 8 2 . 0 4 1 cards, which means engineers will need to plan accordingly if they 4 0 1 . 1 6

intend to include the RTX 3000 series cards in their designs. 1 7 | 1 2 0 0

01. SPECIFICATIONS The following charts provide a detailed breakdown of all aspects of the Founders Edition RTX 3000 Series.

Card FE RTX 3090 FE RTX 3080 FE RTX 3070 FE RTX 3060 Ti

NVIDIA CUDA® Cores 10496 8704 5888 4864

Boost Clock (GHz) 1.7 1.71 1.73 1.67 T mb Standard Memory Config 24 GB GDDR6X 10 GB GDDR6X 8 GB GDDR6 8 GB GDDR6 ech x . n c ol o m o g + y 1 W

Memory Interface Width 384-bit 320-bit 256-bit 256-bit 8 a 4 y 7 , . L 4 8 i b 7 e . 2 Ray-Tracing Cores 2nd Generation 2nd Generation 2nd Generation 2nd Generation r t 7 y 0 v 0 i l | l S e , A I l L l

Tensor Cores 3rd Generation 3rd Generation 3rd Generation 3rd Generation i E n S o : i 8 s , 0 6 0 0 . 5 0

NVIDIA Architecture Ampere Ampere Ampere Ampere 6 4 0 8 . | 1 M 1 9 B 5

Microso DirectX® 12 X | S Yes Yes Yes Yes S y U

Ultimate s P t e P m O R s © T

PCI Express Gen 4 Yes Yes Yes Yes : 8 2 8 0 8 2 . 0 4 1 4 0 1 .

NVIDIA Studio Drivers Yes Yes Yes Yes 1 6 1 7 | 1 2

NVIDIA NVLink™ (SLI-Ready) No No No No 0 0

02. SPECIFICATIONS

The RTX 3000 Series is built on the new Ampere architecture, which more than doubles the number of cores across the board for a significant performance improvement. Additionally, these cards use a new generation of both Tensor and ray-trace RT cores. The Tensor cores are primarily used with Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) to scale up lower-res images to a higher resolution for high-res monitors, while ray-trace RT cores are only used in ray-trace enabled applications. When not in use, these cores are dormant.

Two of the cards in the news series also feature expanded memory over their predecessors. The 3090 now has 24 GB of RAM, which is equivalent to that of a Quadro RTS 6000 and more than double that of the 2090. The 3080 now has 10GB of T mb

RAM, a 25% increase over the 2080. These two cards also use the newer GDDR6X memory, which provides higher ech x . n c ol memory bandwidth. The amount of memory in the 3070 remains the same as in the 2070. o m o g + y 1 W

8 a 4 y 7 , . L Nvidia NVLink, which was formerly known as Scalable Link Interface (SLI), has been removed from the 3080 and 3090, as 4 8 i b 7 e . 2 r t 7

it’s been declining in customer use cases for some time now. y 0 v 0 i l | l S e , A I l L l i E n S o : i 8 s , 0 6 0 0 . 5 0 6 4 0 8 . | 1 M 1 9 B 5 X | S S y U s P t e P m O R s © T : 8 2 8 0 8 2 . 0 4 1 4 0 1 . 1 6 1 7 | 1 2 0 0

03. DISPLAY SUPPORT AND CARD DIMENSIONS

Display Support FE RTX 3090 FE RTX 3080 FE RTX 3070 FE RTX 3060 Ti

HDMI 2.1 connectors 1 1 1 1

DisplayPort 1.4a connectors 3 3 3 3 T mb

Maximum Digital ech 7680x4320 7680x4320 7680x4320 7680x4320 x . n

Resolution (1) c ol o m o g + y 1 W

Multi Monitor 4 4 4 4 8 a 4 y 7 , . L 4 8 i b 7 e . 2 HDCP 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 r t 7 y 0 v 0 i l | l S e , A I l L l i E n S o : i 8 s , 0 6 0 0 .

All four cards support a maximum digital resolution of 7680x4320. In fact, Nvidia has shown demos of the 3090 handling 5 0 6 4 0 8 . | 1 M

games at 8K resolution with good performance with ray tracing enabled. Additional third-party testing has proven that 1 9 B 5 X | S the RTX 3090 cannot handle true 8K without the assistance of DLSS. Nvidia has added support for High-bandwidth S y U s P t e P

Digital Content Protection (HDCP) 2.3, High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4a. They’ve m O R s © T : 8 dropped the USB C connectors, which was previously known as the VR port. 2 8 0 8 2 . 0 4 1 4 0 1 . 1 6 1 7 | 1 2 0 0

04. DISPLAY SUPPORT AND CARD DIMENSIONS

Card Dimensions FE RTX 3090 FE RTX 3080 FE RTX 3070 FE RTX 3060 Ti

Length 12.3” (313 mm) 11.2” (285 mm) 9.5” (242 mm) 9.5” (242 mm)

Width 5.4” (138 mm) 4.4” (112 mm) 4.4” (112 mm) 4.4” (112 mm) T mb Slot 3-Slot 2-Slot 2-Slot 2-Slot ech x . n c ol o m o g + y 1 W 8 a 4 y 7 , . L 4 8 i b 7

The 3000 Founders Edition series cards are a bit longer than their predecessors in the 2000 series, and the 3090, in e . 2 r t 7 y 0 v 0 particular, is significantly wider. The new longer length is necessary to accommodate the new cooling solution. Initial i l | l S e , A I l L third-party card vendors (Asus, Gigabyte, PNY, and others) have designed some of their cards to be larger than the l i E n S o : i 8 s , Founders Edition. Width has increased to 138mm (5.4 inches) on some cards, which, as noted above, will make that card 0 6 0 0 . 5 0 6 4

incompatible with certain rackmount chassis configurations currently on the market. Slot size has also changed to a 2.7 0 8 . | 1 M 1 9 B

slot design, which will limit its usage for rackmount chassis under 3U. Contact MBX for information on systems that 5 X | S S y U

will support the larger GPUs. s P t e P m O R s © T : 8 2 8 0 8 2 . 0 4 1 4 0 1 . 1 6 1 7 | 1 2 0 0

05. POWER AND THERMAL

Power and Thermal FE RTX 3090 FE RTX 3080 FE RTX 3070 FE RTX 3060 Ti

Maximum GPU 93 93 93 93 Temperature (in C)

Graphics Card Power (W) 350 320 220 200

Required System T mb 750 750 650 600 ech x . Power (W) (2) n c ol o m o g +

Supplementary y 1 W

2x PCIe 8-pin 2x PCIe 8-pin 1x PCIe 8-pin 1x PCIe 8-pin 8 a Power Connectors 4 y 7 , . L 4 8 i b 7 e . 2 r t 7 y 0 v 0 i l | l S e , A I l L l i E Nvidia has increased the 3000 series’ maximum GPU temperature by 5 degrees to 93 C over the 2000 series, and graphics n S o : i 8 s , 0 6

power has grown by 40% to 350 watts. This is a “firm” wattage. In previous generations, wattage factored in the use of 0 0 . 5 0 6 4 0 8

the USB C connection for a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) or other devices. . | 1 M 1 9 B 5 X

| S S y U s P This higher power consumption in the 3000 series comes with a 100-watt increase in the recommended power supply t e P m O R s © unit (PSU) wattage, so designers may need to upgrade to a larger PSU. The cards will ship with power adapters, and T : 8 2 8 0 8 2

using third-party adaptors will void the warranty. . 0 4 1 4 0 1 . 1 6 1 7 | 1 2 0 0

06. TRANSITIONS

All of these changes have resulted in significant performance Given these performance gains in the 3000 series, we increases in benchmarking tests conducted by industry recommend transitioning to the new cards, though be aware enthusiasts on the GeForce RTX 3080 Founders editions. that there is supply constraint on certain 3000 series cards. Specifically, when compared to the 2080, the 3080 saw the Here are our engineers’ general recommendations based on following performance increases: the cards currently being used:

GeForce GTX 1080 Ti: We recommend moving to the GeForce RTX 3080, but if its MSRP of $700 - $800 is too high, then the In standard rasterization-based applications, tests GeForce RTX 3070 or Geforce RTX 3060Ti would be a good choice

have shown a performance increase of up to 25%, T mb with price ranges between $400 to $500. ech x . with the average in the 15% to 20% range n c ol o m o g

GeForce RTX 2070: Here, the GeForce RTX 3070 is in the same + y 1 W 8 a

price range with performance meeting around the Geforce 2080Ti 4

On applications using a combination of ray tracing y 7 , . L 4 8 area albeit at a lower amount of VRAM. The Geforce RTX 3060 Ti i and rasterization, performance increases have b 7 e . 2 r t also works as a replacement for this card if you are only looking 7 y

been as high as 30% 0 v 0 i l | l S for a minor performance increase or a lower-cost card. e , A I l L l i E n S With applications using only ray tracing, o : i GeForce RTX 2080: If you wish to stay in the same price bracket but 8 s , 0 6 performance improvements climb to 45% 0 0 .

gain a significant performance jump, we recommend the GeForce 5 0 6 4 0 8 . | RTX 3080. If you do not need additional performance but need a 1 M 1 9 B 5

drop-in replacement, the Geforce RTX 3060 Ti will meet the same X

The DLSS technology can also significantly | S S y U

performance at a far lower cost. s

improve performance, but the amount of P t e P m O R improvement will differ depending on the s © T

GeForce RTX 2080 Ti: If you require a high amount of VRAM for your : 8 application it supports 2 8 0 8 2

application, then you will need the GeForce RTX 3090. Otherwise, we . 0 4 1 4 0 1

recommend transitioning to the GeForce RTX 3080 for its performance . 1 6 1

increase. However, if you do not need a performance increase and 7 | 1

your application does not require the amount of VRAM the 2080 Ti 2 0 0 provided, we would recommend transitioning to the Geforce RTX 3070.

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