Are there any alternatives?

The closest alternatives are also made by Nvidia: The RTX 3090 and RTX 3070. The 3090 is the most expensive (and most powerful) graphics card Nvidia has ever made, and won’t likely fit in your average PC case. The RTX 3070, meanwhile, is more affordable at $499, and Nvidia says it’s also more powerful than the RTX 2080 Ti. The RTX 3090 will be available on September 24, while the RTX 3070 is due out in October.

　　AMD’s upcoming RX 6000 graphics are rumored to include a high-end GPU that could finally challenge Nvidia’s top-shelf graphics cards. As of now, though, AMD’s offerings are capped at the RX 5700XT.

　　

How long will it last?

The Nvidia RTX 3080 should last you at least five years. The most common graphics cards among Steam gamers is still Nvidia 10-series cards, which first launched in 2016. Nvidia offers a fairly generous three-year warranty on its Founders Edition GPUs that covers hardware failures and defects.

　　

Should you buy it?

Yes. For top-notch, blisteringly fast PC gaming, the Nvidia RTX 3080 sets a new standard.