Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Review: Fast, Expensive & 4K Capable All the Way

[punctualturn]

90/100???
This card is atrocious value for money but you guys gave it 90! Even Tom's hardware who have been 'associated' with Nvidia gave it a 3.5* I.e. 70/100. I wonder what is going on.

Sadly, it looks like we lost Steven in the same way that we lost Tim and Digital Foundry.

Pour one for our fallen homies.

That said, very interesting how the 6900 and the 6950 are always either close or faster than the 3090 and the 3090Ti, yet you never hear them mentioned or used in any of the videos and reviews.
Except of course when the gimmick of RT is mentioned, then AMD exist and its just to push the nvidia agenda.

And yes, 90 out of 100 for this overpriced fire risk heater.......

 

[pcnthuziast]

As if you can actually get this card for anything even close to 1200. More like 2k+ at best.

 

[yRaz]

Sadly, it looks like we lost Steven in the same way that we lost Tim and Digital Foundry.

Pour one for our fallen homies.

That said, very interesting how the 6900 and the 6950 are always either close or faster than the 3090 and the 3090Ti, yet you never hear them mentioned or used in any of the videos and reviews.
Except of course when the gimmick of RT is mentioned, then AMD exist and its just to push the nvidia agenda.

And yes, 90 out of 100 for this overpriced fire risk heater.......

well, lets not forget how nVidia tried to silence Steve when he posted a review they didn't like.

 

[Jrfeimst2]

I’m sorry but no way this is worth the score you gave it. Yeah it’s fast but it is one of the worst values ever for a gpu. EVER! You only take 10 points off for being such a horrible value. That is just straight up lame

 

[darkzelda]

Can't believe the score this GPU has gotten, so, TechSpot is actually recommending its readers that paying 70% over the same kind of product (RTX 3080) is the way to go. As of today, PC Gaming is a joke and PC oriented web sites should be trying to do something about it.

 

[punctualturn]

well, lets not forget how nVidia tried to silence Steve when he posted a review they didn't like.

That was then, this is now....

Also, Steve used to say that RT was irrelevant and now its something that we all should want and should be ok in paying nvidia extortion prices for it.

Personally I want that Steve back, the one that would had pulled a middle finger to Nvidia like the real Linus did.

 

[ddferrari]

90/100???
This card is atrocious value for money but you guys gave it 90! Even Tom's hardware who have been 'associated' with Nvidia gave it a 3.5* I.e. 70/100. I wonder what is going on.

It's called a difference in opinion. Relax, conspiracy guy.

 

[kiwigraeme]

Just vote with your wallet- I do not want a 4090- I do not want an expensive 4080.
For some gamers money is no object so they can buy - that 5% graphics difference is only a small part of a game ( ie 1440p vs 4K ) - lots of great looking bad movies out there.
This is more expensive than a PS5pro.
Consoles so easy plug and play to multiuse big screen - games fine tuned for same setup .

Most people want a good 300-$500

 

[shark975]

Who cares about any of these games. they all run at 100's of fps and they all bore to tears, and theyre all oldddddddd

 

[ddferrari]

Based on the GPU situation over the last few years and a rather obvious "hunch" that the 4xxx series was going to be unavailable and overpriced, I sold my beloved 1080ti as it was time to upgrade after a nearly 5-year loving relationship. It simply couldn't handle my new 3440x1440, 175Hz monitor at high settings.

I jumped on a freakish Newegg sale on the MSI 3080 12GB OC version for $810 about 5 months ago. It comes surprisingly close to the 3080ti and will serve me well for several years at this resolution.

My advice: skip this Gen and get the best 30xx for your setup and enjoy. The 4080 seems like complete overkill for 1440p, and the 3080 12gb is still completely adequate for 60Hz 4K, unless you're doing competitive online gaming.

I got a nearly golden sample that OC'd an additional 10% and is only slightly behind a 3080ti. Great temps on air around 68C!

Since I plan to stick with 3440x1440p 175Hz for many years, this card will serve me quite well. My two cents...

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Ridiculous fluff about RT and DLSS. It's not even a top tier product and yet costs more than the rest of a gaming system on it's own. The tech press should not be encouraging this kind of blatant profiteering. It deserves to score less than 20/100. Poor conclusion.

I understand people's disgust with the pricing on these cards. I personally think the prices are horrific and I agree that the scores should reflect that.... But if these reviewers started basing the score given to the hardware reviewed and based it on pricing, they'd have to go back and adjust other scores accordingly so they don't look biased against just this set of cards.

Take pricing out of the picture for your scoring of the card and the card does deliver solid performance. Has lower power draw than the 3080 (either model) cards. It has good temps and depending on the model you get, can be even more quiet than some last gen cards. As I said, take pricing out of it and the 4080 is a pretty impressive performing card. That's what the reviews are reflecting here.

The cost should be viewed on a personal level and left to the viewer to decide for themselves if it's a worthy purchase. Personally, it's not worth spending that kind of money for this card or the 4090 and I'd venture to guess 98% of all gamers would agree.

I think the review is good. I think the score reflects that. I don't think the pricing is good and I'll choose not to give them my money, regardless of how well the card appears to perform in the reviews.

 

[Julio Franco]

well, lets not forget how nVidia tried to silence Steve when he posted a review they didn't like.

I’m sorry but no way this is worth the score you gave it. Yeah it’s fast but it is one of the worst values ever for a gpu. EVER! You only take 10 points off for being such a horrible value. That is just straight up lame

To be clear, Steve does not score products (he doesn't on HUB) but historically we've always scored products in TechSpot reviews (Steve's and others, for years), so that's an (always subjective) layer of editing after Steve wraps up his testing and before we publish the review.

With that said, I will add this...

* We usually score a product based on features, performance, value, competitors, innovation, etc.

* A 90/100 score doesn't mean everyone should buy it, but rather where we believe the product slots among its direct competitors.

* In the case of the RTX 4080, it's a very fast GPU, it's just too expensive for most. In terms of value it's not horrible, but it's not great either. As of writing, there is nothing else that delivers that level of performance (from the competition).

* It's up to the consumer to decide if they want it/can pay for it. If not, there are alternatives. You will see us scoring other products (GPUs or otherwise) lower if we think they don't perform where they should within its segment/intended market, if they are not well built, are buggy, etc.

* Needless to be said, we try to write fair reviews and don't play favorites with any company. If you don't like company A or company B, that's fine but we won't judge a product based on that kind of sentiment.

One last comment not related to the review but GPUs in general (current and next generation)... GPU makers got spoiled by mining and scalpers pricing. My hope is that kind of distortion won't return for the foreseeable future and if that happens the pricing and lifecycle of these products will have to change and possibly go back to where it was 3+ years ago. In other words, we'd nothing but love if these 4080/4090s and $1000+ GPUs become a thing of the past and we go back to the days where a mainstream GPU cost $200-250 and a high-end one would set you back no more than $500-600 (and less than that months after launch). But that's not true today.

 

[nnguy2]

7900XTX, faster and cheaper than RTX4080... gets 75/100 for not being as fast as RTX4090.

 

[punctualturn]

But if these reviewers started basing the score given to the hardware reviewed and based it on pricing, they'd have to go back and adjust other scores accordingly so they don't look biased against just this set of cards.

Honestly, they should.
There is no way to justify a 3090ti costing 1000us$ over a 6900xt, because it's not offering that level of performance and that's one of the main problems with Nvidia pricing. If my math is correct, we are talking a difference of 100% amount of dollars higher for a not 100% increase/difference in performance. How is that point always ignored?
How is such a difference not used against the overall score ?

The truth is, Nvidia pricing is not following any historical neither logical reasoning to charge what they charge.

And let's not forget that everything they push (dlss, hair works, gsync, phyx so on and in) are not pluses, they are locking tech to keep customers and the industry segregated . If they were called out on that all the time, their imaged would be very different.

To be clear, Steve does not score products (he doesn't on HUB) but historically we've always scored products in TechSpot reviews

Steve, please accept my sincerest apologies, since it's TS merry band of Nvidia fans fault, not yours.

Sorry Julio, but I have said this before and will repeat it, writers and reviewers should be held to a higher standard and be unbiased, yet plenty of your staff, like Rob, simply show a crazy pro Nvidia bias that takes away any credibility. Hell, I can see Rob writing an article about toothpaste and somehow include a positive note for whatever Nvidia has on the xx90s range.

Take that as a constructive criticism, because besides the bias, the site and specially the community, are an interesting place to visit.

Ps. Done on mobile tiny screen, so typos and perhaps not streamline properly expected.

 

[Jrfeimst2]

To be clear, Steve does not score products (he doesn't on HUB) but historically we've always scored products in TechSpot reviews (Steve's and others, for years), so that's an (always subjective) layer of editing after Steve wraps up his testing and before we publish the review.

With that said, I will add this...

* We usually score a product based on features, performance, value, competitors, innovation, etc.

* A 90/100 score doesn't mean everyone should buy it, but rather where we believe the product slots among its direct competitors.

* In the case of the RTX 4080, it's a very fast GPU, it's just too expensive for most. In terms of value it's not horrible, but it's not great either. As of writing, there is nothing else that delivers that level of performance (from the competition).

* It's up to the consumer to decide if they want it/can pay for it. If not, there are alternatives. You will see us scoring other products (GPUs or otherwise) lower if we think they don't perform where they should within its segment/intended market, if they are not well built, are buggy, etc.

* Needless to be said, we try to write fair reviews and don't play favorites with any company. If you don't like company A or company B, that's fine but we won't judge a product based on that kind of sentiment.

One last comment not related to the review but GPUs in general (current and next generation)... GPU makers got spoiled by mining and scalpers pricing. My hope is that kind of distortion won't return for the foreseeable future and if that happens the pricing and lifecycle of these products will have to change and possibly go back to where it was 3+ years ago. In other words, we'd nothing but love if these 4080/4090s and $1000+ GPUs become a thing of the past and we go back to the days where a mainstream GPU cost $200-250 and a high-end one would set you back no more than $500-600 (and less than that months after launch). But that's not true today.

Well I would completely disagree and say the score should absolutely reflect VALUE of the product. The value of this product is horrible! I guess I agree more with Steve from gamers nexus who actually admits how horrible of a value this product is no matter how fast and good it is. You guys are blind if you think this is a decent value. I personally have a 4090 because it’s a better value even though it’s more expensive. Price per a frame is insanely important in a gpu. The 4090 has a decent value. Not great but much better than the 4080. The 4080 should be around 900. The score should be more like 75. Watch I bet you guys give a lower score for the 7900xtx at a 1,000 dollars even though it’ll beat the 4080 in raster.

 

[Giancarlo630]

I won't hold my breath for 7900xtx. It will probably trade blows with this 4080 monster in rasterization, but RT is again, dead for team red. Latest benchmark 4k max setting RT enabled, for Dying Light 2 and Cyberpunk, the games are unplayable on 7900xtx without FSR and the results come from AMD themselves. The performance difference in RT is becoming enormous for Nvidia. On one hand few people will pay that much extra for RT, on the other, AMD needs to catch up or be left in the dust in a couple generations.

The way things are going AMD will be catching up soon. RT its still not that important for the average gamer (IMHO). The truth is that we need AMD in the picture in order to generate competition. I have owned the GTX 1070, RTX 2070 and RTX 3080 and barely I have ever used RT in any of my games. I'll be honest, if the RX 7900 XTX shows better framerates without RT I'm switching to team red. we need to start using our heads and our wallets to change the greedy driven way of thinking of these companies. $1200 for a graphic card its absolutely ridiculous!

 

[godrilla]

From the comments I can see mostly everyone wants AMD's 7900xtx to obliterate the 4080 but if AMD can't supply the demand we will be in the same predicament!

Also the problem with today's cards for those that aren't into rt is that you are paying the rt premium either way. The problem with the 4000 series is that they Nvidia is charging dlss3 premium as well even though mostly no one wants it at current state.
If you want the least premium on rt at highest rasterization performance than 7900xt and xtx is the best obvious choice if AMD delivers the goods!
Honest question if they changed their subjective score to 100 or 50 would that change your purchasing decision?

 

[punctualturn]

The way things are going AMD will be catching up soon. RT its still not that important for the average gamer (IMHO). The truth is that we need AMD in the picture in order to generate competition. I have owned the GTX 1070, RTX 2070 and RTX 3080 and barely I have ever used RT in any of my games. I'll be honest, if the RX 7900 XTX shows better framerates without RT I'm switching to team red. we need to start using our heads and our wallets to change the greedy driven way of thinking of these companies. $1200 for a graphic card its absolutely ridiculous!

Honestly, you could had jumped already, since as you saw on this review and the previous ones, both the 6900 and 6950 ofer similar and in cases, better performance than the 3080, 3080ti, 3090 and 3090ti without the stupid RT gimmick at a way lower price and ate actually getting faster via drivers and fsr.

The truth is, nvidia mindshare is immense and its the problem we all are facing thanks to the uncontrolled pro nvidia bias of all these influencers .

so many cant be blamed for wanting a nvidia gpu even though they all carry a FU gamers price because you are bombarded daily with all these articles.

9 out of 10 videos and articles I see daily, always have a dammed nvidia gpu visible, at a minimum.

The last time I saw BS like this was on the apple cult side and its was not pretty.

 

[torchyear]

This segment of the GPU market is completely irrelevant to me personally, but the market reality is that there are plenty of people in the pointy end of gaming that will dump 4 figures of cash on stuff like this without batting an eyelid. These are the kinds of people who have kept Star Citizen afloat for 10 years. They want to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K with RT ultra on, no compromise, because it's important to them. Nvidia knows this, and they are pricing their top end accordingly as there's effectively no competition. They are selling at any price. It's not a crypto or pandemic thing. 4090s have been more-or-less out of stock in my country for several weeks. IMHO it's new game engines and high refresh monitors driving the demand, just like Crysis did back in the day.

Here's hoping that AMD (and Intel to some degree) remains in dialogue with the more sensible part of the community regarding performance-value for the next-gen GPU products.

 

[takaozo]

For me any card above $500 for non-professional use is a complete ripoff.

 

[Seong]

I won't hold my breath for 7900xtx. It will probably trade blows with this 4080 monster in rasterization, but RT is again, dead for team red. Latest benchmark 4k max setting RT enabled, for Dying Light 2 and Cyberpunk, the games are unplayable on 7900xtx without FSR and the results come from AMD themselves. The performance difference in RT is becoming enormous for Nvidia. On one hand few people will pay that much extra for RT, on the other, AMD needs to catch up or be left in the dust in a couple generations.

Not true that AMD is way behind. Right now you can buy the 6700 XT for the same price as the RTX 3060, and have faster FPS in RT games. AMD is just one model behind.

For example the 7900 XTX's RT will easily beat the RTX 4070's RT. That's partly because we have no full path traced games, just hybrid ones, so having faster raster helps you with RT somewhat also.

 

[Lounds]

There's no such thing as a bad product, just a bad price. This is a bad price and definitely not worthy of a 90/100 score.
4k performance - very good
4k + RT - exceptional
4k + RT + DLSS - Crazy good
70% higher asking than the 3080 - out right greed.

Good luck getting a 4080 for less than £1300/$1300 only the FE will be £/$1200.

 

[R00sT3R]

Good luck getting a 4080 for less than £1300/$1300 only the FE will be £/$1200.

I look forward to seeing how long the Asus 4080s, at nearly £1550/$1500 stay in stock, before the 1diotic FOMO suckers cave in and buy them because they didn't get an FE card.

..I give it 6 hours at most.

 

[0dium]

90/100
Also, why shouldn't the price be considered? Like if Nvidia sells 5080 for 6000€ it's still gonna get 90/100?
We are loosing techspot...

 

[takaozo]

We are loosing techspot...

Common sense was lost since 3 years when pandemic started, some say with 2000 series.