🏁 Summary
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Average gaming performance: RTX 5080 is 10–20% faster than RTX 4080, typically ~14% lead in full‑HD/4K games
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Synthetic benchmarks (3DMark Fire Strike/Night Raid, PassMark, Geekbench): 14–20% gains in favor of RTX 5080
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Compute workloads with Vulkan: up to 22% faster, while in OpenCL gains drop to ~6%
🔍 Real‑world Gaming Tests
At 1440p, the performance increase is often modest, with average uplift around 4–9% depending on the title. At 4K, the RTX 5080 shows more consistent double‑digit gains (often 14–20% faster than RTX 4080 or 4080 Super). Examples include:
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Dying Light 2 @ 4K RT + DLSS: ~17% advantage over RTX 4080
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Marvel Rivals: ~14% faster at 1440p, widening to ~16% at 4K
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Dragon Age: The Veilguard: ~15% up at 1440p, ~16% at 4K
However, certain titles show minor or even negative uplift (e.g., Counter‑Strike 2, Delta Force). Overall average uplift across 17 games: ~4% at 1440p, ~11–14% at 4K.
⚡ Ray Tracing & DLSS 4 / Multi‑Frame Gen
With RT enabled and DLSS 4 / Multi‑Frame Generation (MFG) active, frame rates are significantly improved—RTX 5080 unlocks better AI‑driven upscaling than the 4080 Super offers, contributing to higher FPS particularly in Cyberpunk 2077, Metro Exodus, and Dying Light 2. Uplifts in these RT titles are modest, averaging ~6–12% over RTX 4080 Super and up to ~50% over Radeon 7900 XTX in some settings.
Reddit commentary reflects real‑world skepticism:
“The 4080 Super beats the 5080 in RT benchmarks in some cases, even!”
🔧 Power Efficiency & Specs
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Specs: RTX 5080 features 10,752 CUDA cores (vs 10,240 in 4080 Super), slightly higher clocks, and similar die size. Offers ~8% higher FP32 throughput and marginally improved memory bandwidth.
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Efficiency: Consumes up to 19% less power than RTX 4080 Super under load and idle power is slightly improved (~12–13 W vs ~15–16 W).
🧠 AI & Compute Benchmarks
In AI workloads like Stable Diffusion, Llama models, and vision benchmarks, the RTX 5080 performs consistently ahead of RTX 4090 and Ada cards, outperforming the RTX 6000 Ada in several tests. This makes it attractive for content creators and AI users at a ~$999 price point.
🧾 Conclusion: Is Upgrading Worth it?
✅ Pros of RTX 5080:
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Noticeable gains in 4K gaming (~14–20%)
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Enhanced RT + DLSS 4 / MFG support
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AI workloads perform strongly per dollar
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Slightly more efficient power use
❌ Cons:
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Modest uplift in 1440p or older titles
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Added features like DLSS 4 may not justify upgrade over 4080 for everyone
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Some benchmarks show 4080 Super outperforming in rare RT scenarios
Recommendation: If you game primarily in 4K or use the GPU for AI workloads, the RTX 5080 offers a smart upgrade path over RTX 4080. But if you're gaming in 1440p and already own an RTX 4080, the marginal gains may not justify the cost.
