So. Funny factor about our RTX 4080 overview: I kind of don’t have time for it. We are amidst the busiest few weeks in PC gaming {hardware} for at the least 4 years, with main product launches all spherical (from its rival Radeon RX 7900 XT to Intel’s thirteenth Gen CPUs) and a neverending stream of different parts and peripherals that also want appraising. Also, I get the impression that if I don’t do extra Black Friday stuff, senior ReedPop figures will present up at my flat and begin taking my fingers with chisels.
Still, there’ll little question be potential graphics card upgrade-makers wanting on the RTX 4080 to see if it’s extra of a palatable buy than the RTX 4090. That vanguard of Nvidia’s next-gen Ada Lovelace structure is by far essentially the most highly effective GPU I’ve ever examined, and launched a really cool new function in DLSS 3, however with costs beginning £1679 / $1599 it’s simply not a wise choice. And since I did have an RTX 4080 present up on the final minute – Asus’ customised ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4080 OC Edition – I can at the least present some fast benchmarks and preliminary ideas as as to whether it’s a greater deal.
Here’s one such thought: no. The RTX 4080 could also be cheaper than the RTX 4090 however at £1269 / $1199 and upwards, it nonetheless tacks on a whole bunch of kilos/{dollars} over the launch worth of the RTX 3080. This Asus mannequin? More like £1649 / $1550, which is approaching the outlay for an RTX 4090 Founders Edition. That… it… I… no. No!
It does, at the least, outperform the king of the Ampere technology: the RTX 3090 Ti. And typically by respectable margins, too. Below are the outcomes of my RTX 4080 benchmarks to date, specializing in its pure habitat of 4K:
The RTX 4080 additionally produces sizeable features on the RTX 3080, although they’re not precisely proportional to the worth rise. If drastic gen-on-gen enhancements are what you really search, then the RTX 4090 may even be – and it nearly hurts to push these phrases right into a keyboard – the higher purchase. Its performances in Total War: Three Kingdoms and Metro Exodus, particularly, are miles forward of the remaining. The RTX 4080’s advances look merely routine as compared.
There’s comparatively constructive information from the RTX 4080’s DLSS 3 output. This overhauled upscaler, which might additional increase efficiency by including in AI-generated, interpolated frames alongside the ordinarily rendered ones, is definitely higher at ramping up FPS right here than it’s on the RTX 4090. Here’s how the 2 playing cards evaluate in Cyberpunk 2077:
The RTX 4080 begins off at an obstacle; at 4K it may possibly’t even actually deal with the Psycho ray tracing setting with out upscaling. But with each DLSS 3’s upscaling and its AI body technology switched on, the RTX 4080 finally ends up with a larger multiplication impact on its total framerate. DLSS 3’s Quality setting makes for a 204% enchancment over native on the RTX 4080, as an illustration, whereas the RTX 4090 will get a 153% enchancment. On the sooner Performance setting, it’s 278% sooner (!) on the RTX 4080 and 223% sooner on the RTX 4090.
The catch is that Cyberpunk 2077 will nonetheless ‘really feel’ smoother on the RTX 4090, as a quirk of those AI-generated frames is that they don’t have an effect on enter responsiveness like ‘actual’ rendered frames do. In phrases of aiming smoothness and digital camera actions when driving, that 82fps on Quality mode would really feel extra just like the 49fps that the RTX 4080 received with body technology off.
I nonetheless assume DLSS 3 is completely value making an attempt in powerful games like this, although the listing of supporting games wants time to develop. And in different games, together with these with older variations of DLSS, can we are saying the RTX 4080 is shut sufficient behind the RTX 4090 to justify its value? Or even that it’s far sufficient forward of the RTX 3090 Ti, which is now cheaper? Not actually, at the least from my testing to date. Power effectivity appears to be like surprisingly good, and DLSS 3 compatibility is a plus level in itself, however that is it for compelling strengths to date.
I’ll run some extra benchmarks after I get the possibility and/or can as soon as once more shove all of the offers protection onto Will. But exterior of repeated barnstorming performances, and maybe higher luck with melting energy adapters, it’s arduous to see how the RTX 4080 may be well worth the money.