It’s an odd time to be reviewing an Nvidia graphics card. The corporate despatched me a GeForce RTX 5080 a month and a half in the past, and in that point, I’ve performed quite a lot of video games and watched quite a lot of GPU benchmark comparability movies. But additionally in that point, Nvidia’s longtime competitor AMD (which has traditionally been the underdog of the 2) launched its new line of playing cards, together with the Radeon RX 9070 XT, which is shockingly similar to the RTX 5080 whereas being considerably cheaper (the 9070 XT retails for $599, whereas the RTX 5080 prices $999). I figured, possibly by the point I submit one thing, you’d be capable to purchase both GPU.
Right here’s the factor, although — you’ll be able to’t. Virtually as quickly as Nvidia’s new playing cards hit the market in February, they bought out in lower than an hour. The AMD playing cards are additionally in terribly quick provide. Extra troubling, each the Nvidia and AMD GPUs have ended up promoting for considerably greater than their retail worth, both due to enterprising resellers, or as a result of retailers can and do make the most of the truth that persons are at all times prepared to pay fairly a bit extra for these playing cards than the listing costs. However even when you had been prepared to pay a number of thousand {dollars} for one among these playing cards, you continue to may not be capable to get one for months — or longer, it’s exhausting to say proper now. Not that many of those playing cards exist on the planet presently, seemingly. [Ed note: This is not a new problem.]
I don’t have a 9070 XT to which I can evaluate the RTX 5080, and when you’re studying this and also you care about that comparability, you’ve in all probability already determined which one you favor and what you hope to get. You may be the form of one who has additionally been watching comparative benchmark movies and is prepared to attend nonetheless lengthy it takes to buy the best-performing card in the marketplace.
Otherwise you may be any individual extra like me, who purchases what’s obtainable and reasonably priced after I’m able to improve. I truly purchased an RTX 4070 Ti Tremendous final fall with my very own cash. At the moment, rumors steered that Nvidia would launch new playing cards in early 2025, however I used to be fearful about President Trump’s impending tariffs, and I guessed that the 50-series playing cards wouldn’t truly be obtainable to buy for a very long time after their debut anyway. It’s why I truly purchased all of the components for a brand-new PC construct alongside my new GPU. (Additionally, at the moment I didn’t know Nvidia was going to ship me an RTX 5080 to evaluation. One can’t and shouldn’t depend on such issues, even in our line of labor.) This PC, for readers’ reference, incorporates an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-core processor, a Gigabyte X670 AORUS Elite AX motherboard, 64 GB of RAM, and a 1600 W energy provide. I’ve two 1440p displays and, sadly for testing functions, no 4K shows.
Picture: GSC Recreation World through game-feeds
Picture: GSC Recreation World through game-feeds
Picture: GSC Recreation World through game-feeds
Picture: GSC Recreation World through game-feeds
Along with feeling determined to improve my PC earlier than Trump took workplace, lest I make an already costly improve even pricier, I simply needed to play STALKER 2, which didn’t run in any respect on my earlier PC (the one which contained the RTX 3070 I reviewed in 2020, a card that’s barely beneath the really useful STALKER 2 system necessities). I’m not saying that STALKER 2 ran poorly on my earlier machine. It didn’t run in any respect. It wouldn’t even load. Now, the PC model of STALKER 2 wasn’t precisely optimized for achievement at launch, however I saved on attempting after a number of updates, and it didn’t go effectively. It appeared like an sick portent. Plus, the RTX 3070 was by far the latest part in my PC at the moment.
I used to be planning to circle again to the RTX 3070 as my comparability level for this RTX 5080 evaluation as a result of I figured the variations between it and my RTX 4070 Ti Tremendous can be considerably negligible, or at the least, not very thrilling to jot down about. As an alternative, I’ve ended up realizing that my RTX 4070 Ti Tremendous — by far the most costly merchandise in my new PC construct — was not truly that nice.
I hate to even admit this as a result of I’m nonetheless form of pissed off about it, however right here we go. I had truly realized this drawback lengthy earlier than the RTX 5080 arrived on my doorstep. Most video games regarded good on my new PC construct, however Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle — and let me use a technical time period right here — regarded like dogshit. I might have, and would have, spent extra time attempting to determine the place the bottlenecking was occurring, or why the body charge within the sport would plummet any time I attempted to really flip up the graphics settings in any respect to take some good screenshots of what ought to have been a really fairly online game. Even on regular settings, it nonetheless tended to look shimmery and grainy and simply plain incorrect.
I’m now gratified to study that I’m not alone on this expertise. Googling “RTX 4070 Ti Tremendous Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle seems dangerous” will yield tons of various discussion board threads on Steam, Reddit, and elsewhere from folks having the identical issues that I bumped into. After quite a lot of tweaking with settings, I managed to discover a candy spot the place the sport regarded fairly good and the body charge wasn’t struggling, however I felt confused and dissatisfied that it didn’t look manner higher — and that this a lot effort was required to really feel content material with the outcomes. In spite of everything, I had simply upgraded my total PC, and Nice Circle was the primary main AAA, graphically intensive sport that was launched after my huge improve. It felt dangerous.
I now really feel extraordinarily spoiled by how good my video games have regarded and carried out in 1440p with the RTX 5080. As quickly as I plugged it in and put in the brand new Nvidia drivers, Nice Circle regarded unbelievable, no tweaks required. With each setting maxed out, I used to be nonetheless capable of common 120-125 frames per second within the sport, even in wide-open areas with numerous transferring property on display (with Nvidia’s DLSS Body Technology expertise on the 4x setting). STALKER 2 fared even higher, averaging 160 fps on all “Epic” settings and solely dropping to 120 fps after I bumped into these huge anomaly areas with tons of stuff floating round within the air.
Maybe essentially the most satisfying level of comparability for me was Cyberpunk 2077. This can be a sport with quite a lot of shiny, reflective surfaces, and I had a blast taking photos of all of them. I in contrast them to a few of my outdated screenshots after I first performed the sport, on my earlier PC with the RTX 3070 (which was a brand-new card for me when that sport was first launched), and it’s enjoyable to see the enhancements. Cyberpunk 2077 has gotten an enormous makeover (together with DLSS 4 assist and path tracing) because it was first launched, and now, my PC has, too, and I get to reap the advantages.
All of this stated, would I’ve tried to buy an RTX 5080 by myself, had I not been despatched one by Nvidia final month? I truly suppose I might need, however not for a very long time — in all probability a 12 months from now, or longer, as soon as the cardboard truly turns into broadly obtainable and reasonably priced. By that time, my private frustrations with the RTX 4070 Ti Tremendous — itself not a very huge bounce in energy in comparison with the RTX 4070 Ti and the RTX 4070 Tremendous (sure, these are literally two different playing cards with extraordinarily related names) — might need motivated me to resell and commerce up my GPU. Or maybe in the mean time, I might have troubleshooted no matter bizarre, unlikely bottleneck was occurring with my GPU on Nice Circle. I’ve the private privilege, at the moment, of not having to determine that out anymore, as a result of I’ve an RTX 5080 that makes every part look implausible proper out of the field with no work on my half in any respect. Even when I resolve to improve to 4K displays down the road, I’m not too involved about whether or not the RTX 5080 can sustain.
For a daily one who’s seeking to buy a GPU proper this second, I don’t know that I can suggest the RTX 5080 since you actually can’t purchase it proper now. I imply, you’ll be able to actually attempt, and when you’re as anxious about impending tariffs as I’m, then possibly it is best to, regardless of the resale markup you’ll in all probability face. Even Nvidia’s 40-series playing cards are at the moment promoting for hefty worth tags, and it may be some time earlier than even these playing cards get cheaper. They in all probability gained’t till the 50-series playing cards are extra broadly obtainable, assuming that ever occurs.
That is a part of why the complete competitors between the Nvidia RTX 5080 and AMD RX 9070 XT is a theoretical one, at the least for the second. Except you’re prepared to pay prime greenback for a wallet-gouging resale on the precise new card you need, you’re in all probability going to do what I did final fall, which was to buy a decently new card that occurred to be obtainable at a bearable worth through the time interval that I used to be making stated buy. If that one way or the other finally ends up being an RTX 5080, I can promise you it’ll make AAA video games look implausible for the subsequent couple of years. Additionally, I hope you’re surviving no matter is occurring to you within the far future the place that RTX 5080 was available for purchase at a bearable worth.
