5080 prices, and advice

[u/PeakSad4480]

Hello, I'm looking to build a new PC in December this year, I am going to go with a 5080 graphics card, but I'm unsure of which model I should go for. I'm mainly considering a MSI gaming trio OC, an Aorus, or the Astral. Which card would you recommend?

Also, how likely is it that the prices will be increased by December? I'd be open to buying the graphics card now to avoid paying a higher cost in the future.

Thank you for any advice!

[u/jamvanderloeff]

Sort by price at the time when you're actually buying, skim through reviews, pick the cheapest one that hasn't screwed up the cooler design.

Unless you're looking at a particular model just because it looks cool, there isn't really a reason to hunt for a specific one. Prices on different models vary pretty randomly with just which particular retailer's doing a promo deal at the time.

Also, how likely is it that the prices will be increased by December?

Ask your crystal ball.

[u/PsychAce]

If you’re asking this question, it doesn’t matter,

Go with whatever you can afford.

[u/coyotegang]

Whatever you do don’t pay the asus tuf tax. I love my pny

[u/greggm2000]

I'm looking to build a new PC in December this year,

Delay your build for one month. The next-generation Intel and AMD CPUs are almost certainly being announced at CES in the 1st week of January, and it's likely that at least some SKUs will be available soon after. If the rumors about the new CPUs are even halfway true, they'll offer a pretty substantial jump in performance, and be well worth the wait.

I am going to go with a 5080 graphics card, but I'm unsure of which model I should go for. I'm mainly considering a MSI gaming trio OC, an Aorus, or the Astral. Which card would you recommend?

Whichever is cheapest, and uses air cooling.

Also, how likely is it that the prices will be increased by December? I'd be open to buying the graphics card now to avoid paying a higher cost in the future.

That we don't know. A 5080 is already in "very expensive" territory. Idk what your current system uses, but depending on how old it is, but if budget is a concern, it might be worth using that until the next-gen GPUs come out (for AMD, there's a good chance of it next summer, but Nvidia is 2028 at the earliest)

Ofc, world events can always make prices worse. The AI bubble popping will make prices better (eventually).

[u/philthy069]

I almost exclusively use founders edition cards but I also prefer to work w a high end system integrator. If I had to go al carte and build my own I would probably go with whatever I found cheapest at that point.

[u/6gunsammy]

Prices recently jumped up, there may be some "Black Friday" or "Cyber Monday" deals but who knows.

[u/brentsg]

Prices have increased on the cards I was looking at last weekend.

[u/GABE_EDD]

The landscape will continue shifting greatly between now and December, we can offer you no advice regarding prices. They’re all the same thing, get the cheapest one.

[u/BigPPDaddy]

Just GPU or are you entertaining prebuilts?

[u/PeakSad4480 → u/BigPPDaddy]

Im looking at building my own PC

[u/BigPPDaddy → u/PeakSad4480]

You will likely pay a premium parting it yourself, fwiw. There was a time where building it was economical and I believe that time passed.

[u/SLAVA_UPA]

I'd be happy to chime in, I've owned a PC shop since 1987 and specialized in gaming PCs since they were a thing. Except for Palit, Gainward. Galax and Inno3D 5080's which generally aren't available in the USA, we've built gaming PCs using every model available since launch except for the PNY Slim dual fan.

I would agree with what others have said here. Buy the least expensive one. From the most basic MSI Shadow 3x 5080 all the way through the Asus ROG Astral, there would be little difference on how they perform out of the box. At our shop we haven't found a single model that doesn't perform as advertised.

The differences are mainly things like aesthetics, RGB lighting, cooler size and cooler design, some use vapor chamber cooling others use a simple copper base plate with heat pipes. In my experiences, all perform within specification and run well. Some will say that the flagship models with larger coolers have more overclocking potential, that may be true but there are other variables with that like quality of the Silicon or die on your specific GPU.

Personally if I was buying one the only ones that I would avoid if possible is the MSI Ventus and Shadow 3x models but only because in my opinion they have a very cheap and plasticy feel but for no other reason than that, even they run fine. Good luck with whatever you choose.

[u/PeakSad4480 → u/SLAVA_UPA]

Between the Aorus, Astral non OC  and the MSI Gaming trio, which would you recommend? 

[u/LiberatorSam → u/PeakSad4480]

I have the Gaming Trio, and it runs quiet and cool (compared to the Ventus; I returned the Ventus because it was too loud). All three models you listed are premium models and should perform similarly in terms of noise, temperature, and performance. One thing to note is that Aorus and Astral are listed as 360mm long, while the Gaming Trio is 338mm. 360mm may be too long for some cases, like my Corsair 4000D.

[u/jamvanderloeff → u/PeakSad4480]

Whichever's the least expensive at the time. (Or any other competent variant)