An extremely uncommon Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with 20GB of VRAM has offered on eBay for $1,999, and is seemingly in full working order with one important exception: Nvidia drivers don’t assist this card. The GPU itself is definitely much less highly effective than most fashionable playing cards, however is without doubt one of the few to ever floor on the secondhand market.
In comparison with the very best graphics card of the second, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, the 20GB VRAM variant of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti does not measure as much as it. The 20GB 3080 Ti mannequin does not even have native driver assist, with the cardboard’s vendor stating a third-party driver like Nvidia-patcher is required to get the cardboard working. Regardless of this, the RTX 3080 Ti 20GB VRAM offered for as a lot as an RTX 5090, and the explanation why would require a really, very transient historical past lesson.
Again in 2020, rumors had been circulating of a 20GB variant of the RTX 3080 Ti, however Nvidia by no means confirmed its existence. Solely the 12GB mannequin ever made it to market, however the existence of a prototype 3080 Ti card confirms that Nvidia was at one level exploring the concept. The explanation as to why the 20GB 3080 Ti was reportedly canceled stays a thriller, sadly, and it is probably that the prototypes had been by no means meant to see the sunshine of day, not to mention pop up on an eBay itemizing.
It’s, nonetheless, fascinating that Nvidia was seemingly at one level contemplating including a lot VRAM to one among its playing cards. It appears all too widespread that Nvidia merchandise arguably haven’t got as a lot VRAM as you’d anticipate for the value tag, as we discovered throughout testing in our RTX 5070 assessment. Even the 12GB mannequin of the RTX 3080 Ti appeared miserly contemplating that its direct competitors, AMD’s Radeon RX 6900 XT, had an extra 4GB of VRAM over the 3080 Ti.
Regardless, getting your palms on a 20GB VRAM model of the 3080 Ti is a distant dream for a lot of collectors. That mentioned, the June 2025 eBay itemizing wasn’t the primary time that an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with 20GB of VRAM was sighted within the wilds. Again in 2023, one reportedly surfaced on Fb market in Australia for $1,100. It appears unlikely that the 2 playing cards are the identical, however it’s fascinating that the asking value has elevated a lot in a comparatively small timeframe. It additional cements that this prototype 3080 Ti mannequin is an extremely unusual collector’s merchandise, and also you in all probability will not ever see it for your self.
Whilst you cannot get your palms on the discontinued RTX 3080 Ti mannequin, you possibly can attempt to get your palms on an RTX 5090. Sadly, the RTX 5090 is often out of inventory, at the very least on the time of writing. Fortuitously, there may be the decently highly effective Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, which is less expensive than the 5090, if you will discover it in inventory.
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