The 1080Ti had fulfilled it's purpose, lasting from 2017 to 2023, 6 years is more than enough. In the times of old, the 1080Ti would've become obsolete within a couple of years. We've quickly transitioned from DX5 in 1997 to DX11 in 2008. Meaning 6 major DirectX versions in the span of 11 years, each version obsoleting the one before it. DX9 itself had multiple versions obsoleting each other, when DX9c came with it's Shader Model 3 obsoleted the DX9b cards before it (with their Shader Model 2). We've had a good hiatus with DX11 and DX12 when DX11 cards extended their DX11 support into DX12 support. That hiatus should have ended with the release of DXR and DX12U after it but it didn't, and now it's happening. People shouldn't feel suprised, instead they should prepare for this, as we've had enough of a transition period already.
At any rate, the 1080Ti and the Pascal archeticture in general should be compared to it's period correct competitor, which is Vega and Polaris. They all lack mesh shaders, which one would come up on top?