The GeForce RTX 5080 is Nvidia's new $1,000 GPU offering, coming in at half the price of the RTX 5090 with, unsurprisingly, half the specs. You get half the cores, half the memory bus, half the VRAM, and almost half the memory bandwidth.Nvidia has created a massive gap between the 5080 and 5090, clearly aiming to upsell gamers on the much faster and far more expensive RTX 5090 for those who can afford one. Additionally, this approach leaves them plenty of room to release more costly GeForce 50 Super series cards within the next 12 months, addressing the obvious VRAM limitations present in much of the Blackwell lineup. So that's fun.In terms of specifications, the RTX 5080 is only a minor upgrade over the RTX 4080 Super, which it is set to replace. The GeForce RTX 5080 features just 5% more cores, clocked a mere 3% higher. The only meaningful upgrade is the shift to GDDR7 memory, which on the same 256-bit wide memory bus boosts bandwidth by 30% thanks to its 30 Gbps memory speed Dj vu? You might as well call this the RTX 4080 Ti Super.GeForce RTX 5090GeForce RTX 4090GeForce RTX 5080GeForce RTX 4080 SuperGeForce RTX 4080Price $US MSRP$2,000$1,600$1,000$1,000$1,200Release DateJanuary 30, 2025October 12, 2022January 30, 2025January 31, 2024November 16, 2022ProcessTSMC 4NDie Size (mm2)750 mm2608.5 mm2378 mm2379 mm2Core Config21760 / 680 / 19216384 / 512 / 17610752 / 336 / 12810240 / 320 / 1129728 / 304 / 112L2 Cache (MB)96 MB72 MB64 MBGPU Boost Clock2407 MHz2520 MHz2617 MHz2550 MHz2505 MHzMemory Capacity32 GB24 GB16 GBMemory Speed28 Gbps21 Gbps30 Gbps23 Gbps22.4 GbpsMemory TypeGDDR7GDDR6XGDDR7GDDR6XBus Type / Bandwidth512-bit / 1792 GB/s384-bit / 1008 GB/s256-bit / 960 GB/s256-bit / 736 GB/s256-bit / 717 GB/sTotal Board Power575 W450 W360 W320 WThe previous-gen RTX 4080 Super likely wasn't heavily memory-limited, so the improvements here are expected to result in only a modest performance gains. Of course, we're about to dive into the numbers to confirm this.RTX 5080 vs RTX 4080 ThermalsBefore diving into the blue bar graphs, let's take a look at how Nvidia's Founders Edition version of the RTX 5080 handles thermals compared to the RTX 4080 FE. For this test, we used The Last of Us Part I running at 4K with maxed-out settings.After an hour of load inside an enclosed ATX case, the RTX 5080 reached a peak GPU temperature of 63C remarkable, given how quiet and compact this graphics card is. The fan speed peaked at 1,400 RPM and was virtually inaudible over our already very quiet case fans.The cores maintained an average clock speed of 2,655 MHz, with an average GPU power draw of 266 watts. Meanwhile, the memory temperature peaked at 72C, operating at a frequency of 2,500 MHz for a transfer speed of 30 Gbps.By comparison, the RTX 4080 FE peaked at 62C, with a memory temperature of 74C and fans spinning at just over 1,300 RPM. It's clear that the RTX 5080 design is more efficient, at least in terms of physical size. However, when ignoring the size difference, the thermal performance between the two cards is nearly identical.So, while the new FE model delivers great results in terms of thermals and efficiency, the real question is: how does it perform in terms of FPS? Let's find out.Test System SpecsCPUAMD Ryzen 7 9800X3DMotherboardMSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi (BIOS 7E49v1A23 - ReBAR enabled)MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6000 [CL30-38-38-96]Graphics CardsGeForce RTX 4070 GeForce RTX 4070 Super GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super GeForce RTX 4080 GeForce RTX 4080 Super GeForce RTX 4090 GeForce RTX 5080 GeForce RTX 5090 Radeon RX 7700 XT Radeon RX 7800 XT Radeon RX 7900 GRE Radeon RX 7900 XT Radeon RX 7900 XTXATX CaseMSI MEG Maestro 700L PZPower SupplyMSI MPG A 1000G ATX 3.0 80 Plus Gold 1000WStorageMSI Spatium 1TB M470 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2Operating SystemWindows 11 24H2Display DriverNvidia GeForce Game Ready 566.36 WHQL AMD Radeon Adrenalin 24.12.1Gaming BenchmarksMarvel RivalsStarting with Marvel Rivals at 1440p, the new RTX 5080 achieved 108 fps, making it just 8% faster than the 7900 XTX and 14% faster than the 4080 Super. It was also only 9% slower than the 4090, which isn't bad considering it should cost significantly less. Now, let's check out the 4K results.At 4K, the 5080 looks slightly more impressive, now showing a 16% lead over the 4080 Super and a 12% advantage over the 7900 XTX. While it is faster, the improvement isn't particularly significant in this scenario.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylNext, we have S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, where the 5080 is only 4% faster than the 4080 Super at 1440p and just 3% ahead of the 7900 XTX.Moving to 4K doesn't change much. Here, the new 5080 is 4% faster than the 7900 XTX and 9% faster than the 4080 Super, resulting in unimpressive gains.Counter-Strike 2The 5080 struggles in Counter-Strike 2, coming in 4% slower than the 4080 Super at 1440p and a significant 13% slower than the 7900 XTX.At 4K, the 5080 recovers slightly, beating the 4080 Super by a mere 5%, but still trails behind the 7900 XTX by 8%, making for a poor showing.God of War RagnarkThe God of War Ragnark results were also disappointing. At 1440p, the 5080 was just 4% faster than the 4080 Super and again fell behind the 7900 XTX, though only by a few frames.The 4K results are more promising, with the 5080 pulling ahead of the 7900 XTX by 9% and the 4080 Super by 8%. However, for a next-generation product, this is still a letdown though at least in this case, it was faster.Delta ForceFor some reason, the new GeForce 50 series GPUs perform particularly poorly in Delta Force. At 1440p, the 5080 was 10% slower than the 4080 Super and 12% slower than the 7900 XTX an abysmal result.Even at 4K, it remained behind both the 4080 Super and 7900 XTX. Although the gaps were reduced at this resolution, the overall performance remained poor.Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2The Space Marine 2 results are better, but still, the RTX 5080 was only 6% faster than the 4080 Super at 1440p and 18% faster than the 7900 XTX.At 4K, we see a 21% improvement over the 4080 Super, making it one of the better results so far. The 5080 was also 27% faster than the 7900 XTX, which is at least a more competitive showing.Star Wars Jedi: SurvivorPerformance in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is also disappointing. At 1440p, the 5080 was just 2% faster than the 7900 XTX and 5% faster than the 4080 Super.The 4K results are more favorable, but even then, the 5080 was only 15% faster than the 7900 XTX and 19% faster than the 4080 Super. While a 19% lead is a step in the right direction, it's still a modest gain for a new generation.A Plague Tale: RequiemA Plague Tale: Requiem delivers more reasonable gains compared to most other titles tested. The RTX 5080 was 15% faster than the 4080 Super at 1440p and 18% faster than the 7900 XTX.Oddly, however, at 4K, the RTX 5080 was only 11% faster than the 7900 XTX and 15% faster than the 4080 Super disappointing, as the margins didn't expand relative to the 1440p results.Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom LibertyEven in Cyberpunk 2077, performance remains underwhelming. At 1440p, the RTX 5080 was just 9% faster than the 4080 Super and 7% ahead of the 7900 XTX.Moving to 4K helped the 5080 slightly, but it was still only 10% faster than the 7900 XTX and 16% faster than the 4080 Super. Disappointingly, these are among the better margins we've seen for the new 50 series GeForce GPU.Dying Light 2 Stay HumanIn Dying Light 2, the 5080 was 12% faster than the 4080 Super at 1440p and 11% ahead of the 7900 XTX another underwhelming result.At 4K, the margins grew slightly, with the 5080 being 18% faster than the 7900 XTX and 20% faster than the 4080 Super. While these are some of the largest gains we've seen so far, they still fall short of expectations for a new generation.Dragon Age: The VeilguardDragon Age delivers only modest gains, with a 9% uplift over the 4080 Super at 1440p and a 15% increase over the 7900 XTX.The 4K results aren't much better, showing just a 16% improvement over the 4080 Super and an 18% gain over the 7900 XTX. While it's not nothing, these results are highly underwhelming for a next-generation product especially given how long we've waited for it.War ThunderIn War Thunder at 1440p, the 5080 only manages to match the 4080 Super. However, this still makes it significantly faster than the 7900 XTX, as Radeon GPUs perform poorly in this title when using the default DX11 mode. Performance is considerably better with DX12, but for now, that API remains labeled as "beta" and is not the default.At 4K, the RTX 5080 is just 3% faster than the 4080 Super and 12% ahead of the 7900 XTX, making for yet another set of unimpressive margins.Marvel's Spider-Man RemasteredPerformance in Spider-Man Remastered is disappointing. While 1440p results may be somewhat CPU-limited, this is not the case at 4K, yet the 5080 still only manages to match the 4080 Super and 7900 XTX.Hogwarts LegacyNext up is Hogwarts Legacy, where at 1440p, the 5080 is just 12% faster than the 4080 Super but actually 5% slower than the 7900 XTX.Increasing the resolution to 4K provides some improvement, with the 5080 now 22% faster than both the 7900 XTX and 4080 Super arguably the most impressive margin we've seen so far.The Last of Us Part IMoving on to The Last of Us Part I, the 5080 was only able to match the 4080 Super at 1440p, making it 6% slower than the 7900 XTX.At 4K, it managed to match the 7900 XTX and was 7% faster than the 4080 Super another disappointing result.Star Wars OutlawsThe Star Wars Outlaws results are equally disappointing. At 1440p, the 5080 was just 3% faster than the 4080 Super, though it did hold a 16% advantage over the 7900 XTX.At 4K, the 5080 was only 5% faster than the 4080 Super and 17% ahead of the 7900 XTX.StarfieldFinally, in Starfield, the 5080 was just 2% faster than the 4080 Super at 1440p while trailing the 7900 XTX by 2%.At 4K, it inched ahead of the 7900 XTX by a mere 3%, making it 8% faster than the 4080 Super. Ultimately, these are mostly single-digit gains, but let's move on to examine the average performance across the 17 games tested.Performance SummaryAlthough we didn't go over the 1080p numbers in detail, here's the average data for those interested. Essentially, the GeForce RTX 5080 only managed to match the 4080 Super at this resolution. It seems the Blackwell architecture struggles slightly more than previous generations at lower resolutions, and this isn't always due to a CPU bottleneck.At 1440p, we're looking at a mere 4% performance increase for the RTX 5080 over the 4080 Super just 4% on average or 5% over the 7900 XTX. That said, it's still better than the 2% uplift we saw from the 4080 to the 4080 Super, so perhaps things are improving after all.At 4K, the results don't improve much. Sure, the 5080 was, on average, 11% faster so at least we hit double digits but that's still quite underwhelming for a next-gen GPU. Compared to the original RTX 4080, it's only 14% faster, and when stacked against AMD's nearest competitor, it offers just an 8% gain over the 7900 XTX.Power ConsumptionThe good news is that power consumption is quite reasonable, at least based on our 1440p testing. Here, the 5080 consumed anywhere from 4% to 19% less power than the 4080 Super and significantly less than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX.Ray Tracing PerformanceUnfortunately, the RTX 5080 doesn't offer anything particularly impressive when it comes to ray tracing, delivering only an 11% increase over the 4080 Super at 1440p in Metro Exodus. However, this did make it nearly 50% faster than the 7900 XTX. As we always say, if you care about RT performance, a GeForce GPU is the way to go.At 4K, the results are similar, with the 5080 showing a 14% improvement over the 4080 Super.RT - Alan Wake IIThe Metro Exodus results are not an anomaly. In Alan Wake II at 1440p, there is very little difference between the 4080 Super and the 5080 in RT performance.At 4K, there is some separation, but even then, the 5080 only pulls ahead of the 4080 Super by 12% a highly underwhelming result.RT - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom LibertyThe Cyberpunk 2077 results tell the same story, with the 4080 Super and 5080 delivering comparable performance at 1440p.At 4K, using quality upscaling with the ultra ray tracing preset, the 5080 averaged just 50 fps, making it only 6% faster than the 4080 Super.RT - Marvel's Spider-Man RemasteredIn Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, there was no performance difference between the 5080 and the 4080 Super at either 1440p or 4K, with both tested using DLSS quality upscaling.RT - Dying Light 2 Stay HumanWe saw a 9% uplift in Dying Light 2 at 1440p for the 5080 over the 4080 Super, which, surprisingly, is one of the better RT gains observed so far.At 4K, the margin extended slightly to 10%, but at least the 5080 was 55% faster than the 7900 XTX.RT - Black Myth: WukongWith ray tracing enabled at 1440p using quality DLSS upscaling, Black Myth: Wukong averaged just 70 fps an 11% improvement over the 4080 Super. The 4K results followed the same pattern, making for highly disappointing gains, with no CPU bottleneck to blame for these results.Ray Tracing Performance SummaryThe GeForce RTX 5080 and 4080 Super delivered nearly identical performance with ray tracing turned on at 1080p, making the 5080 nearly 80% faster than the 7900 XTX.At 1440p, the 5080 was just 5% faster than the 4080 Super, while Radeon GPUs remained largely irrelevant in this category.Finally, at 4K with quality upscaling, the RTX 5080 was, on average, 9% faster than the 4080 Super. So much for improved RT performance.Cost per FrameMSRPIn a perfect world where GPUs sold at MSRP or perhaps not so perfect when we're talking about $1,000+ products if MSRP applied across the board, the RTX 5080 wouldn't look terrible. However, it certainly doesn't feel like a next-generation product, offering 11% better value than the RTX 4080 Super.For many months, the 4080 Super was readily available at its $1,000 MSRP, so this isn't anything new. Essentially, if you wanted this level of performance from a 16GB GeForce GPU, you could have gotten it a year ago.Retail PricingSupporting that point, if we look at the best pricing from mid-2024 many of which were available for most of the year if the RTX 5080 launches at $1,000, it will offer just an 8% improvement in value over a product that could have been purchased at least six months earlier.Furthermore, if ray tracing isn't a priority, the 7900 XTX arguably presents a better value. However, if the price difference is only $100, the RTX 5080 is likely the better buy. That said, considering how much older competing GPUs like the 7900 XTX and 4080 Super are, the 5080 remains an underwhelming release.What We LearnedSo there you have it the GeForce RTX 4080 Ti Super. Actually, it's probably not even that good.In terms of cost per frame, the 4080 Super offered nearly 20% better value than the 4080, whereas the RTX 5080 appears to be, at best, just 10% better value than the 4080 Super. Some may argue that the RTX 5080 should be compared to the original 4080, but that's nonsense.The RTX 4080 was essentially a failed product and that's not even referring to the "unlaunched" AD104 version. The $1,200 RTX 4080 we ultimately received was a disappointment, and most gamers agreed by not buying any. This led to stock sitting on shelves, forcing Nvidia to release the 4080 Super, which was essentially the same GPU in terms of performance but with a $200 price cut.Given that, it only makes sense to compare the RTX 5080 with the 4080 Super. Once you do, it quickly becomes clear that there's very little new on offer. Features like multi-frame generation can be useful, but they are highly situational. For the most part, you're not missing out on much, and the most exciting DLSS 4 features will be available on previous RTX GPUs anyway (which is great).GeForce 30 Series Owners Take NoteFor those still using GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs and holding out for nearly five years, the RTX 5080 is 67% faster than the RTX 3080 but comes with a 43% price increase. Adjusting for inflation, that price increase is closer to 20%. If we recalculate cost per frame with inflation in mind, the RTX 5080 has improved by 28% relative to the 3080.So, after all this time, it's not exactly an amazing upgrade. Without question, the 5080 comes with a premium, and a similar performance jump could have been achieved at least six months ago with the 4080 Super.Closing ThoughtsLooking back at the flagship GeForce RTX 5090, it delivers a somewhat disappointing gen-on-gen boost, providing approximately 30% more performance for what will be at least a 25% price increase. However, since this is more of a "price is no object" product, value can be overlooked to some extent in favor of raw performance. We just wish there was more to it.Now, if you consider that was underwhelming, then what should we make of the RTX 5080?If the RTX 5080 launches slightly above $1,000 and closely aligns with the 4080 Super in terms of value, then it really doesn't matter which one you buy. Of course, you might as well get the 5080 since it's newer, but beyond that, there's no compelling reason to choose it and certainly no reason to pay a premium.For the RTX 5080 to avoid the same fate as the original 4080, sitting on shelves unsold, it simply cannot be priced above $1,000. Hopefully, its MSRP will be more reasonable than how the 5090's shaping up. However, once reviews go live, we'll get a clearer sense of how the community feels and it's unlikely to be well received.Shopping Shortcuts:Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 on AmazonNvidia GeForce RTX 5090 on AmazonAMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX on AmazonNvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super on AmazonNvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super on AmazonAMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on AmazonAMD Radeon RX 7900 XT on Amazon