Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 will crush the PS5 and Xbox Series X in 4K gaming

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Forget PS5 and Xbox Series X, the RTX 3000 could be the ultimate 4K gaming platform

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000
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The PS5 and Xbox Series X might be targeting 4K gaming, but Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3000 graphics cards could really bring ultra-high resolution graphics into the mainstream. 

Nvidia’s next-generation GPU architecture, dubbed Ampere, is set to bring a lot more power to the graphics cards table. According to YouTube channel Moore’s Law is Dead, sources familiar with Nvidia’s next-generation graphics architecture note the upcoming cards could target gaming at 4K resolution as a standard. 

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The sources divulged details about the GA102 GPU, likely a top-of-the-line next-generation GeForce graphics card, claiming it will deliver a massive 21 teraflops of power and come with 18Gbps GDDR6 video memory. 

Memory bandwidth of 864GB/s and a boost clock of 2.2GHz is set to be featured in the GPU. We’ll call it the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti to follow the naming convention of previous GeForces -- a monstrously fast graphics card. 

Given the Xbox Series X has 12 teraflops of power and the PS5 has 10.2 teraflops, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is likely to have the next-generation consoles hopelessly beaten when it comes to graphics performance. However, this leak is based on engineering samples Moore’s Law is Dead’s sources have seen, not a final product, so it’s worth taking such information with a grain of salt.

The insider sources also noted that less powerful cards in the GeForce 30-series Ampere lineup will still boast a lot of power with boost clock speeds that hit 2.5GHz. And this hike in performance will close courtesy of Nvidia moving to the 7nm process node for its Ampere architecture, putting it on par with AMD’s RDNA architecture. 

Current graphics cards in the GeForce RTX 20-series can run games at 4K, but unless a top-of-the-line GeForce RTX 2080 Ti or RTX 2080 Super is being used, speedy framerates with maximum settings and ray-tracing are a little difficult to reach. But the extra power of the Ampere-based GeForce graphics card should make this an easily achievable target. 

In fact, the power of the next-generation GeForce GPUs could make running games at the lower 1440p and 1080p resolution a little pointless, as the graphics cards' power would be overkill for such resolutions. As such, 4K gaming may become the standard for GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards. 

All this means that if you are really into seeing upcoming games like Cyberpunk 2077 in all their glory, then a PC with an Ampere-based GeForce GPU might be the way to go rather than a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Just don’t expect this power to come cheap, as the current GeForce RTX cards already cost as much as a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X. 

Roland Moore-Colyer
Roland Moore-Colyer

Roland Moore-Colyer a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he’s also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face.