Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Founders Edition – Photos
What’s in a Name
Before we get to the spec sheet and performance numbers, we should cover the RTX 4080 nomenclature and talk a bit about how Nvidia’s GPUs are typically positioned – and why this generation is a bit different from previous years. Dating back more than a decade, Nvidia’s GPUs bearing the “-80” name are considered the top mainstream cards and are priced between $500 and $700. Looking more specifically at recent trends, the GTX 1080 launched at $599 and both the RTX 2080 and 3080 launched at $699. So you might be wondering why the RTX 4080 starts with almost double the range. The answer lies in that aforementioned naming fiasco. Originally, Nvidia planned two variants of the RTX 4080 – a 16GB for $1,199 (the version we’re reviewing here) and a 12GB, priced at $899. This wouldn’t be the first time Nvidia released variant VRAM cards, but usually the amount of VRAM was the only difference, and in this case the two cards also had different core counts and clocks – differences that would previously have warranted switching to another. level (in this case, the RTX 4070). People rightfully complained about the confusion it was already starting to cause, and to Nvidia’s credit it responded, choosing to “launch” the RTX 4080 12GB. These cards are now rumored to be re-announced under the “RTX 4070 Ti” moniker, though nothing official yet. That’s all well and good, but it leaves us with a “mainstream” card that carries the enthusiast-class pricing that would previously have been reserved for a “Ti”-labeled card – representing a step up into the mid-gen. In other words, the typical generational comparisons are a bit skewed this time around, so we’ll mostly be comparing the RTX 4080 to the RTX 3080 Ti, which also launched at $1,199 in June 2021, as opposed to the RTX 3080.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 – Design and features
If you read my RTX 4090 review, you’ll remember that it’s an absolutely massive card, both in terms of size and performance. The RTX 4080, meanwhile, isn’t…not smaller. It carries the same triple-socket specification, measuring 11.9 inches (304 mm) long, 5.4 inches (137 mm) wide, and 2.4 inches (61 mm) thick – the exact same dimensions as the RTX 4090. This is a large card. By comparison, the RTX 3080 was 11.2 inches (285 mm) long, 4.4 inches (112 mm) wide, and 1.5 inches (40 mm) thick, while the RTX 2080 and GTX 1080 were even smaller. Most of that weight comes from the large, dual axial flow cooling solution required to keep temperatures under control. The cooler design is mostly similar to that of the RTX 3090, but with larger fans and taller fins to achieve what Nvidia says is 15% more airflow at the same acoustic level. In practice, the RTX 4080 remained quiet while keeping temperatures hovering around 53-55C, with a peak of 57C, during a long stretch of benchmarking. Compared to the RTX 3080 Ti, the RTX 4080 has 9,728 CUDA cores (up from 10,240), 304 fourth-gen Tensor cores (vs. 320 third-gen), and 76 third-gen RT cores (vs. 80 second-gen). In other words: it has newer cores, but a little less overall. However, the drop in number shouldn’t be a concern, as the 4080 includes a boost clock speed of 2,505 MHz compared to the RTX 3080 Ti’s 1,665 MHz clock, not to mention 16 GB of GDDR6X VRAM, compared to 12 GB in the lineup 30″. predecessor.” Like the RTX 4090, the 4080 uses the somewhat controversial 16-pin 12VHPWR power connector that has been in the news recently due to reports of overheating and melting. We didn’t have any issues with this in any of our tests, but we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on the situation as this generation of graphics cards matures. Speaking of power, the RTX 4080 has a TDP of 320W, up from 350W in the RTX 3080 Ti. Nvidia recommends using at least a 750W power supply. There’s also a 3x 8-pin adapter in the box for people whose power supplies don’t have the new socket. For ports, the RTX 4080 has 3x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x HDMI 2.1a. This is the standard setup for current-generation graphics cards, although AMD’s recently announced RX 7900 XT and XTX use the newer DisplayPort 2.1, which has more than three times the bandwidth and allows for 4K resolution up to 480Hz or 8K up to 165 Hz. vs. 240Hz at 4K and 60Hz at 8K for DisplayPort 1.4. Most games and monitors won’t be able to take advantage of this bandwidth, so it’s a moot point, but AMD technically has the advantage.
Nvidia Geforce RTX 4080 – Performance
Test system: Z390 Asus ROG Maximus XI Extreme Motherboard, Intel Core i9-9900K CPU (stock), Corsair H115i PRO RGB 280mm AIO CPU Cooler, 32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3200, 1TB Samsung Me EVO 20 Plus watt power supply. Starting with our synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4080 comes out swinging in 3D Mark Fire Strike Ultra with a 17% improvement over the RTX 3090 Ti and a 28% improvement over AMD’s RX 3950 XT – the two best GPUs of the previous generation – and a 35% boost over its generation-equivalent predecessor, the RTX 3080 Ti. As you’d expect, it falls well short of the RTX 4090, however, with a score of 16,255 compared to the RTX 4090’s 21,872, which makes perfect sense considering the card costs $400 more. Moving on to Unigine Heaven, the RTX 4080 outperforms the RTX 3090 Ti and RX 6950 XT at 1080p and 1440p, but actually falls short of both cards at 4K. However, against the RTX 3080 Ti, it consistently wins with a 13% lead at 1080p, 14% at 1440p and a slight 4% at 4K. The ray tracing synths are more dramatic. The RTX 4080 offers an average lift of 28% over the RTX 3090 Ti in our three tests, and of course it absolutely blows away the RX 6950 XT, which lacks the ray-tracing bits of Nvidia’s hardware. Comparing it to the 3080 Ti delivers even more impressive results, with an average improvement of 45% compared to that card. Moving on to our gaming benchmarks, the RTX 4080 is again a strong performer across all three resolutions tested. At this point our benchmark tests are basically CPU-bound at 1080p, with the RTX 4080 pinging the meter alongside the more powerful RTX 4090. 1440p is relatively similar, with the card showing big gains over the last generation in tests that are not CPU bound, and of course match the best in tests that are. Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Founders Edition – Gaming Benchmarks Given the high-quality nature of this material, however, the real story is in 4K. (If you’re not gaming at 4K or higher resolutions, you shouldn’t be spending that much money on a GPU.) Expanding the test suite slightly, you can see that the RTX 4080 offers significant gains over the previous generation, with an average improvement of 27% over the RTX 3090 Ti and 45% over the RTX 3080 Ti. Note that the second of these cards launched at the same $1,199 price point, while the first had an MSRP of $2,000 when it launched earlier this year (although prices have now dropped to what you’d expect to pay for a new RTX 4080 from shelf). These are impressive gains, but not really out of the ordinary when you consider that this is a new generation of graphics. Looking back at our RTX 3080 review, this card offered 50% to 70% improvements over its generational predecessor, the RTX 2080 Super. That’s not to discount the RTX 4080 – 4K frame rates well over 60fps in the most demanding games will raise eyebrows for a few more years – I just think it’s important to remember that we’re talking high-end, if not enthusiast-level prices here , so my expectations are high. Finally, I want to touch on Nvidia’s new DLSS 3 frame generation technology. Check out my RTX 4090 review for a more in-depth explanation, but in a nutshell the GPU looks at two consecutive frames, calculates the difference between them, and then uses AI to create a frame between them. As with the RTX 4090, I tested DLSS 3 and framerate in Cyberpunk 2077. DLSS again provided a stunning upgrade, taking the RTX 4080’s frame rate to 73 without frame-building and 108 with it. These are amazing numbers for one of the most technically demanding games available on PC today – and remember this benchmark is running at 4K with max settings and ray tracing enabled. 30-series RTX cards, meanwhile, get less boost from DLSS and don’t have access to framerate all together. Of course, DLSS 3 is still a new technology and game support is limited for now. That said, it’s been consistently released in more games, including Microsoft Flight Simulator, A Plague Tale: Requiem, and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered. If support continues to grow as expected, and the performance increase remains this tremendous, DLSS 3 will be the killer feature that will really make upgrading to a 40 series card worthwhile for high-resolution, high-framerate gaming.
Shopping guide
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Founders Edition will be available starting November 16 with an MSRP of $1,199. There will also be variants from partners such as Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and others available at similar prices (although remember that EVGA recently announced that they will no longer produce Nvidia cards).
