NVIDIA RTX 5080 vs. RTX 4090-Can you destroy the Rey of the latest generation?
Navida RTX5080 vsRTX 4090


So how does the RTX 5080 compare with RTX 4090? Can you compete? Does it offer a value update for owners of 30 series and 20 series looking for the Best graphics card Can they afford? Let’s find out.
Prices and availability

The RTX 4090 debuted in October 2022 with a record price over time for a graphics card of the main consumers of $ 1,600. That price bounced a lot during GPU’s shortage, but finally remained relatively constant in recent years. The card of the card has almost disappeared at the time of writing, but the used models have fired in price after the mediocre improvements of The RTX 5090. 4090 now has a price of between $ 1,500 and $ 2,500 even in second -hand markets.
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The RTX 5080 is for sale now, but the shares are extremely limited. Its suggested retail price is $ 1,000, but third -party cards are already up to $ 1,500, and shortage and resellers can further increase the short -term price.
Budget
NVIDIA RTX 5080 | NVIDIA RTX 4090 | |
CUDA cores | 10,752 | 16,384 |
RT nuclei | 84, fourth generation | 128, third generation |
Tensioner nuclei | 336, fifth generation | 512, fourth generation |
Impulse clock | 2.6Ghz | 2.5 GHz |
Memory size | 16GB GDDR7 | 24 GB GDDR6X |
Memory bus | Of 256 bits | 384 bits |
Memory speed | 30 Gbps | 21 Gbps |
Memory bandwidth | 960GBPS | 1.008 Gbps |
TBP | 360W | 450W |
The RTX 5080 is, on paper, a weaker card than RTX 4090, with about 50% less CUDA nuclei, less RT and tension cores (although from a later generation), 50% less memory and a memory bus narrower. The RTX 5080 has a higher impulse clock and a much faster memory, but we hope that Blackwell’s new architecture will do more than heavy work to close the gap between these two cards.
The RTX 5080 is more efficient than the latest generation king, also demanding only 360W, while RTX 4090 could easily throw 450W when pushed strongly.

However, the specifications rarely tell the whole story, and certainly do not cover the new DLSS features admitted by the NVIDIA RTX 5080 vs RTX 4090. Its next -generation tensioner centers allow it to use Multiframo generationwhich has the potential to artificially increase the speeds of paintings in games compatible by enough margin.
Performance
The real -world performance tests are always where GPU rubber meets the game path, and unfortunately despite all its potential, the RTX 5080 does not really impress. Its average performance in our set of games in 4K and 1440p showed it as a very fast card, and 10-15% faster than the RTX 4080 Super that is being replaced, but it is far from the RTX 4090 when we do not use use of use of The new multiple frame generation function.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
In 1440p, the gap between 5080 and 4090 decreases, but 4090 is still influenced, particularly in slightly older games.
Although we do not find VRM problems during the tests, it is worth noting that super demanding games such as Alan Wake 2 It has been shown that up to 15 GB of VRM have been executed when it is executed with complete specifications, so we are already seeing that the 5080 potentially lost the future characteristics of the games because it simply does not have the vram room as the 4090 does.
The performance of the lightning layout sees 5080 almost reached with 4090, and is ahead of the super 4080 (in addition to erasing AMD alternatives), but the additional RT nuclei in 4090 keep it more than relevant as the second best RT Graphics card, although at a distance of 5090.
The function of generation of paintings is the only real prominent for the RTX 5080, and it could be said that it is its only large point of sale for any super owners of 4080 or 4080 considering an update. In compatible games, you can duplicate or triple speeds of paintings when enabled, although not all players will be willing to make the sacrifices of visual fidelity that such impulse demands. The least amount of tensioning cores in RTX 5080 (versus 5090) means that its performance success when enabling multiple frames is also more pronounced, so it is more likely to see artifacts and other problems than the generation of Marcos can cause.
In general, RTX 5080 is a better card than 4080 Super, but cannot eclipse 4090 without its generation of AI aquatic paintings.
Thermal and dimensions
At this level of graphics card with this type of energy demands, you know that they will run hard and perhaps hot, but with refrigerators on these cards, they don’t really get too roasted. The RTX 4090 refrigerator is gigantic and still works very well to cool that roasted GPU, but the RTX 5080 is much thinner (the dual slot!), Which makes it a card that is easier to adjust in compilations of smaller factors. That is nothing, but it is a very smaller point of sale for a disappointing GPU.
Reluctantly, NVIDIA RTX 5080 vs RTX 4090 is the “best” option
I would like there to be enough RTX 4090 for everyone to buy at an affordable price because it would probably only recommend that you buy that. It is still incredibly fast, and although it demands more power, it has vram loads without signs of saturation on the horizon. But I can’t. Because RTX 4090 is no longer on sale, and second -hand options are enormously expensive.
So, where does players leave that with about $ 1,000 burning a hole in their pocket, looking for an GPU update: RTX 5080, if you can find it at a good price? If you can’t, One of these could be better. It is still an improvement on anything in addition to 4090 and 5090 (and approaches the first), and the generation of multiple paintings may not be the change of game that NVIDIA RTX 5080 vs RTX 4090wants it to be, but in the right environment, it makes a great difference. There is a reason why we have All have been using lossless scale a lot.
The RTX 5080 is not the great new generation card that we expected to be, and it is not worth it if it is already playing in a Super 4080 or 4080 Super. However, for any other person, huh? Alright. It could be worth waiting to see if the RX 9070 XT of AMD It approaches at a fairer price, but that is still a couple of months away. At least, do not pay the climber prices for 5080. It is not worth it.