The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 was unveiled with two products, a 16 GB model and a 12 GB model however due to severe backlash and criticism by the consumers, only one variant survived, & that is the one we are testing today, the RTX 4080 (16 GB). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card is a definite upgrade over the RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti in terms of raw performance, ray tracing performance and packs more features in the form of DLSS 3, AV1, superb compute performance, and much more. So let’s dive in and see how well the MSI custom lineup performed.
An RTX 3080 Ti Successor With A Missing ‘Ti’
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 undoubtedly delivers better performance than an RTX 3090 Ti across all games we tested. The graphics card breaks no sweat at 4K gaming and is going to be impressive in ray tracing and DLSS titles. The performance can range anywhere between 20-40% & ray tracing will further push the bar up. Top DLSS on that and you are getting a performance jump of a lifetime but there’s a catch.
You see, if the RTX 3090 Ti and RTX 3090 were still at their MSRP, the RTX 4080 would’ve been a lot more sense at its $1199 US MSRP. Even as of right now, the card is just $100-$200 US expensive vs a new RTX 3090 Ti and RTX 3090 which is decent value but the problem is how the graphics card is named. In its official charts, NVIDIA compares the RTX 4080 with the RTX 3080 Ti and in terms of its pricing, the card matches the previous-gen RTX 3080 Ti. But the problem is that it isn’t named so & despite the missing ‘Ti’ label, some users won’t be able to swallow the $500 US price bump versus what they paid for their RTX 3080 (10 GB) graphics card. Well, no one ever paid the MSRP for the 3080s considering it was never available due to the crypto boom. But this is a different market now that is flooded with used cards and new ones that are available at dirt-cheap rates.
Furthermore, if you look at the RTX 4090 at $1599 US, the flagship suddenly starts looking like a much better value which costs around 35% more but delivers up to 40-50% higher performance, increased memory, and even more compute power to boot. Overall, the RTX 4080 performed great and is the second-best gaming GPU that one can buy right now. The RTX 3080 and 3080 Ti users will benefit from increased performance and frame rates that is if they are willing to drop over $1K US in cash.
That Power Efficiency Tho!
The thing that surprised me the most about the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card is its power efficiency. During gaming, the graphics card was running at an average power draw of 250-300W. We saw several cases where the power dropped below 250W with DLSS applied and that’s impressive because, at the same time, we were also getting up to 35% better performance than an RTX 3090 Ti which consumed 480W of power. Even under Cyberpunk 2077 with Psycho settings, the card never jumped above 300W. That’s a 37.5% lower power draw than an RTX 3090 Ti while offering 40% higher performance.
Besides that, the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X and Gaming X Trio performed splendidly with a temperature that never peaked above 65C at full load while at stock or overclocked. This should be enough for people who believe that Ada is a hot and power-hungry architecture. Its power efficiency was already demonstrated in our 4090 FE review and we get to see it perform even better with the AD103 GPU core.
How much more performance will the custom models get me?
One of the main questions that one would ask is about the net performance upgrade that a custom model will offer over the Founders Edition. Considering that the SUPRIM X and Gaming X Trio are coming in at a premium, one should expect better performance and with a slight increase in clocks and lots of engineering put into the coolers, you can see anywhere from 5-8% higher performance with a custom model but performance is just one part of the equation. There’s also the matter of thermals, the power numbers, and the overall overclocking uplift that these cards can deliver & also sustain.
Both cards are able to hit over 3 GHz with ease. The SUPRIM X can hit that number more often due to its lower temps opening up more space but in the end, with its full unlocked power limit, the 4080 SUPRIM X can hit over 3.1 GHz which is a superb clock speed and something that last-gen cards could only achieve on LN2 cooling. If you are not looking to pay the hefty premium that ranges from $100-$200 US over the $1199 US MSRP, you can always find the Gaming X (Non-Trio) which retails at MSRP.
It’s Better To Wait Than Getting An RTX 4080 Now
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a good graphics card in terms of performance but its value is questionable at best. While MSI is offering a great package in the form of its SUPRIM X and the Gaming X Trio lineup, offering superior cooling and factory-overclocked specifications, there’s a good reason to hold off your purchase for a few weeks. The reason is simply that AMD has their counterattack coming in the form of the Radeon RX 7900 series and users should definitely consider waiting to see how those cards perform against the RTX 4080. As of right now, I’d ask users if they can wait just two weeks, they might have a better groundwork of where their hard-earned cash should go.
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