The RTX 3080 was once one of the hottest graphics cards on the market. It was difficult to find and when you did see one in stock, it was well above MSRP. The GPU scene has changed since that card launched and NVIDIA has since released its RTX 40-Series GPUs. But the fact that newer graphics cards are around doesn't make the RTX 3080 a bad GPU. In fact, it's more than powerful enough to handle the best PC games, and it's a better bargain if you know where to look.
Right now, you can get an Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 gaming desktop for $1,500. That model has an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (10GB). The system has 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage as well.
The MSRP for that particular PC is $2,450, but a $950 discount makes it much more attractive.
If you don't want those specific specs, you can configure the desktop however you'd like using the link below. There's a $950 discount no matter which CPU or GPU you choose.
The Ryzen 5800X that sits inside the Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 launched at the end of 2020. Like the system's GPU, the CPU is not the newest, but is enough to handle PC games and demanding workloads. We reviewed the Ryzen 5800X when it came out, and it earned high marks at the time.
"The Ryzen 7 5800X is a big improvement over its Zen 2 counterparts, and it's clear that AMD isn't slowing down," we said in our review.
"If you want a top-end CPU for competitive gaming, some specialized work, and don't want to pay more than about $450, the Ryzen 7 5800X should make a great chip for years to come."
That comment was made in December 2020, so we're still in the "years to come" time period referred to.
