Last week , I was optimistic . This week , I ’m disquieted . Nvidia followed up the most potent GPU it ’s ever made , the RTX 5090 , with this — the RTX 5080 . It ’s half the price , and it offers around 70 % of the performance . That should be a good affair , but the RTX 5080 falls short when compared to Nvidia ’s last - gen offer that still rank among thebest art cards .

Only one GPU into Nvidia ’s new propagation and last - gen card are extend better performance . That ’s not a great start to the propagation , especially considering the $ 1,000 price tag that Nvidia is asking for with the RTX 5080 . If you ’re coming from something several generations old , the RTX 5080 is your best bet at this price . But for enthusiasts with recent hardware see for a true upgrade , you wo n’t find much here .

Nvidia RTX 5080 specs

The RTX 5080 is the 2d GPU from Nvidia ’s Blackwell generation that we ’re seeing , and it starts to paint a full picture of the party ’s latest architecture . Unlike previous generation , Nvidia’sRTX 50 - seriesGPUs do n’t have a pregnant lymph gland advantage . It ’s still using the TSMC N4 process and instead focusing on specs like remembering , nub count , and power attracter to obtain fully grown performance increase .

That means the specification tell a decent story about what to expect . On the core front , you ’re getting a bare 5 % hike in CUDA , ray tracing , and Tensor cores . However , Nvidia is now using an AI Management Processor ( AMP ) to schedule tasks across these unlike inwardness , which likely contributes a bit to the generational performance increase .

Do n’t care ; Nvidia is offer more than a 5 % boost in functioning . That largely derive on the back of the retention user interface and the increased major power draw . You get 16 GB of memory on the RTX 5080 , just like the RTX 4080 andRTX 4080 Super , but Nvidia is using unexampled GDDR7 memory . Even on the same 256 - bit jalopy , Nvidia is deliver around a 25 % increase in memory bandwidth .

On the power front , Nvidia increased the power draw by 12 % , plump from 320 Watt on the RTX 4080 Super to 360W. You ’ll still be fine with a 750W top executive supply , just like the previous generation , but at least some of the execution improvement here comes from feeding the cores with more power .

4K gaming performance

The primal takeaway here is that the RTX 5080 is slower than theRTX 4090at 4 K , and not by an undistinguished gross profit . Across my mental testing suite , it was nearly 9 % behind the RTX 4090 . The expectation is that Nvidia should be able to match the execution of its last - gen flagship , and hopefully exceed it . For context , the RTX 4080 delivered 36 % better performance than the RTX 3090 on average , and 22 % estimable than theRTX 3090 Ti .

Looking at the gen - on - gen perspective , Nvidia is deliveringexactly what it promised . On average , the RTX 5080 is 18 % faster than the RTX 4080 Super , and by extension , the base RTX 4080 , as well . Despite more disappointing performance than theRTX 5090 , the RTX 5080 is extradite a significantly better economic value — it ’s half the terms but deliver about 70 % of the public presentation on average .

dig out into case-by-case games , you may see why the RTX 5080 falls short of Nvidia ’s last - gen flagship . The margins are sparse between the RTX 4090 and RTX 5080 inAssassin ’s Creed MirageandRed Dead Redemption 2,with the last - gen posting coming out on top . And it takes an absolute beating inCall of tariff : Modern Warfare 2 .

In a effective lump of games I test , however , the two GPUs were in lockstep . That was the case inDying visible radiation 2 , Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered , andForza Motorsport . This is the experience Nvidia should be surrender , at minimum . I expect to see some wins for the RTX 5080 , even on slender margins . But tryout after test , they just never showed up — minus one exclusion ; more on that soon .

It ’s not all bad news , though . Although the comparability to the RTX 4090 is disappointing , the generational improvements still matter . hacker 2077is a estimable good example of where those generational advance matter . The RTX 4080 Super andRX 7900 XTXcan’t manage a stable 60 frames per second ( fps ) at 4 kilobyte without upscaling help , but the RTX 5080 can — and it can do so well .

That ’s not the only example , either . disgraceful Myth : Wukongis another game where the RTX 4080 Super ca n’t reach that 60 fps mark but the RTX 5080 can . This is the only secret plan I tested where the RTX 5080 provide an betterment over the RTX 4090 . I suspect that has something to do with this plot ’s use of Unreal Engine 5 . It ’s the only UE5 game in my mental test suite , and the RTX 5090 also saw an outsized melioration .

You have to take the good with the bad , though , and there are definitely some unsound points here . Returnalis in all probability the bad exemplar . Not only is the RTX 5080 15 % tedious than the RTX 4090 , it ’s a mere 10 % quicker than the RTX 4080 Super . Regardless of the perspective you look at , the RTX 5080 ’s performance in this secret plan is not good .

I ’d tell anyone to purchase an RTX 5080 over an RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XTX give that they all have the same list price . It ’s much more difficult to justify if you’re able to get one of those GPUs for less . At $ 800 even , the RTX 4080 or RTX 4080 Super capture you a much better bang for your vaulting horse . Unfortunately for buyers , the RTX 4080 Super is hard to come byat$1,000 , much less below it . I suspect the RTX 5080 will be caught in a similar situation , so pay near tending to the price shifting as the RTX 5080 rolls out .

1440p gaming performance

Down at 1440p , the situation is for the most part the same , though with a bit tighter margins . The RTX 5080 is 3 % behind the RTX 4090 and 17 % ahead of the RTX 4080 Super . You ’re fight toward aCPU bottleneckat 1440p , and you might run into one if you fight upscaling hard . But you may still get away with using the RTX 5080 at 1440p take over you have an upgrade to a 4 K monitor lizard in your near hereafter .

In specific games , the performance depiction convert just a bit . AlongsideBlack Myth : Wukong , where the RTX 5080 leads the RTX 4090 by 12 % ,   Nvidia ’s latest also posted a higher result inDying Light 2andHorizon Zero Dawn Remastered . In the latter , you may see this wall that all of the last - gen GPUs run into around 125 fps which both the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 overcome without issue .

If the RTX 5080 offered this spirit level of performance across games , especially at 4 KiB , it ’d be an wanton good word . That ’s unfortunately not the grammatical case . Too many claim look likeRed Dead Redemption 2 , Returnal , andCall of Duty : Modern Warfare 2where the RTX 5080 is intelligibly behind the RTX 4090 and only provide a slim uplift over the RTX 4080 Super .

There are some games where the RTX 5080 squeeze out a win , such asCyberpunk 2077.It ’s only a win by technicality , but a win however . More importantly , I saw a 25 % improvement with the RTX 5080 over the RTX 4080 Super in this biz , which is quite a generational improvement . It ’s just a disgrace that this spirit level of performance is n’t useable across the board .

alternate over to games likeForza MotorsportandAssassin ’s Creed Mirage , the moral force with the RTX 5080 and RTX 4090 remains the same , but the generational upthrust over the RTX 4080 Super is humble .

Nvidia is clearly prompting a readjustment of prospect here . In previous generations , I ’d look the RTX 5080 to beat the RTX 4090 , but Nvidia ’s flagship stay to become larger , more expensive , and more great power - athirst . The RTX 5080 ishalfthe price of the RTX 5090 , after all , placing a long ton of distance between Nvidia ’s flagship and the next footstep down .

The RTX 5080 for certain take care better at 1440p than it does at 4 K , but when you ’re pass $ 1,000 — andlikely much more than that — on a nontextual matter card , you want 4 K gaming performance . The margins are good at 1440p , but they ’re still not great , making the the RTX 5080 a elusive sell regardless of what declaration you wait at .

1080p gaming performance

At 1080p , the RTX 5080 finally handle to outclass the RTX 4090 , but it ’s a bit of a vacuous victory . You should n’t drop this much on a graphics menu to bring at 1080p , and the thin win for the RTX 5080 mostly come on the back of games that become bottlenecked by the CPU down at 1080p .

I wo n’t retread the specific plot here again ; there really is n’t much of bank bill . You ’ll see frame rate well into the triple digits across most game , and with comparatively thin margin between the RTX 5080 , RTX 4090 , and RTX 4080 Super . The results are different between the three GPUs , though the hard-nosed experience of using each of them is n’t .

Ray tracing and DLSS 4

Ray tracingisn’t a unassailable point for the RTX 5080 . Nvidia still dominates when it comes to ray tracing performance , especially at this price , where it ’s the only option . But when it come to the gen - on - gen improvements , the RTX 5080 lags .

Dying Light 2is a near example of that . Without ray tracing , the RTX 5080 managed to match the RTX 4090 at 4 K and even outperform it at 1440p , but it ’s clearly behind when you toggle ray tracing on . The RTX 5080 is still 17 % forward of the RTX 4080 Super at 4 K , but there ’s something about the RTX 4090 — be it higher power draw , more CUDA substance , or a big memory interface — that allows it to scale high in a way that the RTX 5080 ca n’t .

Returnalis get in a similar position . Both of these championship are sluttish on shaft of light tracing by today ’s standards , and Nvidia is n’t providing the gen - on - gen improvement in them as it once was .

regrettably , that carries over even intoCyberpunk 2077,which was once a substantial distributor point for any Nvidia GPU review . I ’m using the Ultra RT preset , but you could employ the RT Overdrive preset ( path tracing ) with a little helper from DLSS 4 , as well . Without going to full path tracing , the RTX 5080 looks as dissatisfactory as it does inReturnalandDying Light 2 .

With full way of life trace inBlack Myth : Wukong , the RTX 5080 is certainly respectable , offer superposable performance to the RTX 4090 . Still , this is n’t a great performance . As mention above , this is the only biz where the RTX 5080 cleanly beats the RTX 4090 at 1440p and 4 K , and when you toggle on ray tracing , that performance tether slick . Nvidia is n’t providing a immense uplift in ray tracing performance , and that factors into weigh its overall norm down .

How do you battle the functioning dip?DLSS 4 . Like the RTX 5090 , you get DLSS Multi - Frame Generation on the RTX 5080 . That admit you to bring forth up to three excess frames for each frame the GPU render , and at launch , it ’s support in 75 game . DLSS 4 is very good — you’re able to see an example of how good inMarvel Rivalsabove — but in the pillowcase of the RTX 5080 , it mainly dish to make up for performance the card should already have .

Although DLSS 4 is great , it does n’t do enough to warrant pass $ 1,000 on a unexampled GPU , especially if you already have an RTX 40 - series GPU with DLSS Frame Generation orthird - company tools like Lossless Scaling . DLSS 4 is certainly the best version of multi - frame generation I ’ve find , but it ’s not worth spending $ 1,000 or more on alone .

A sign of the times

The RTX 5080 left me worried . The stakes are n’t that high for this art card ; Nvidia has carefully controlled last - gen stock , so when it comes to the price you ’ll bear and the performance you ’ll get , the RTX 5080 is the right alternative in this price wall bracket . But the RTX 5080 position a negative feeling for the rest of the generation .

Nvidia is using the same lymph node with mostly similar spectacles as the former generation , and that show in the operation . If this is what Nvidia is delivering at the same damage as its last - gen offerings , I ’m worried about what the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 will look like considering they ’re $ 50 less than their last - gen counterparts .

That ’s a conversation for a different daylight , though . For the RTX 5080 , it ’s the best GPU you’re able to buy in this damage bracket — but you ’ll belike be grit your tooth and wishing you could get more for your money .