NVIDIA RTX 5080 Benchmarks Leak – Is It Just An RTX 4080 Refresh?




/ 7 days ago

Fresh benchmarks for NVIDIA’s upcoming RTX 5080 have surfaced (via TechPowerUp), giving us our first glimpse at what this $999 USD GPU might bring to the table. Slated to launch on January 30 alongside the already-released, at least in terms of reviews, RTX 5090 (of which you can check out our full review of the RTX 5090 Founders Edition here, and ASUS ROG ASTRAL model here), the RTX 5080 was spotted on Geekbench, showing performance gains—but not the kind of generational leap many might have hoped for.

The benchmarks, conducted on an MSI-branded RTX 5080 labeled as model MS-7E62, paired the card with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, an MSI MPG B850 Edge TI Wi-Fi motherboard, and 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory. In the Vulkan score, the RTX 5080 scored 261,836 points, offering a 22% uplift over its predecessor, the RTX 4080.

However, the OpenCL score of 256,138 points represents a more modest 6.7% improvement.

Blender Open Data results showed a median score of 9,063.77, translating to just a 9.4% boost over the RTX 4080 and an 8.2% edge over the RTX 4080 Super.

For those expecting a 4090-killer, the RTX 5080 might disappoint. Unlike previous NVIDIA generations where the new x80-class GPU would outperform the outgoing x90-class, these early numbers suggest the RTX 5080 won’t dethrone the RTX 4090—especially considering the latter’s 24GB of GDDR6X memory and higher CUDA core count. That said, at $999 USD, the RTX 5080 is launching at a significantly lower price point than the $1,599 USD RTX 4090 from 2022.

While the pricing looks attractive on paper, the RTX 5080’s real-world appeal might hinge on more than just raw performance. NVIDIA’s pricing strategy for the 50-series GPUs seems designed to address the current landscape, where the RTX 4090’s inflated price—upwards of $2,700 USD due to shortages and retailer markups—has pushed high-end gaming enthusiasts to their limits. The RTX 5080 might not topple the 4090 in raw power, but its substantially lower cost makes it an enticing proposition for those wanting next-gen features without a mortgage-worthy price tag.

The RTX 5080’s design underpins NVIDIA’s Blackwell architecture, featuring 10,752 CUDA cores spread across 84 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs). With 16GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card boasts significant bandwidth improvements, which should shine in AI and ray tracing tasks. NVIDIA claims it delivers 1,801 TOPS of AI performance via Tensor Cores and 171 TFLOPS of ray tracing power through its RT Cores. These figures suggest a GPU well-suited for modern gaming and professional workloads, but how this translates to actual performance gains over the RTX 4080 remains a key question and something that sadly you’ll have to wait a little longer for in terms of real confirmation, which of course, we will have for you soon.

NVIDIA’s tiered product launch could also have ripple effects on pricing across its current lineup. With the RTX 5090 already in the wild and the rest of the 50-series looming, the RTX 4090’s price might finally drop to more reasonable levels—though how low remains to be seen. If the 4090 lands closer to its original $1,599 MSRP, buyers might face a tougher choice between it and the RTX 5080. Conversely, if NVIDIA keeps the 4090 as the flagship premium option of last generation, the RTX 5080 could become the default recommendation for high-end gamers looking for value.

But let’s not overlook competition from AMD. With the Radeon RX 9000 series on the horizon, NVIDIA will need to carefully position the RTX 5080 to ensure it doesn’t lose ground to AMD’s often-aggressive pricing. If AMD can deliver similar or better performance at a lower price point, the RTX 5080 might find itself in a more crowded and competitive market than anticipated, but based on the delays and talk around the RX 9070 and 9070 XT, who knows what the future holds for the red team, so maybe NVIDIA will have even less to worry about.

Ultimately, the RTX 5080 represents an interesting crossroads for NVIDIA. Priced at $999 USD, it could hit a sweet spot for gamers and creators alike. But without a substantial leap in performance over the RTX 4080 and the 4090 looming large in the background, NVIDIA must deliver more than just numbers—it needs a compelling story for why the RTX 5080 is worth your money, and while NVIDIA believe that AI upscaling could be that answer, not everyone from a consumer level is completely sold on it, though take it from someone who has personally tried it out on the RTX 5090, and dare I say 5080, as we do our testing, it’s very impressive stuff.

Of course, we urge you to stay tuned to eTeknix, where we’ll be diving deep into the RTX 5080’s performance once the review embargo lifts, but I’d invite you to comment below as to where you believe the performance needs to be and do you believe these numbers give enough information for you as a consumer to make an educated decision on?


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