The old flagship against the new upper tier. The RTX 4090 is still faster and has 8 GB more memory, but it launched $600 higher, draws 90 W more and is out of production. The RTX 5080 gives up a little speed for a newer feature set and a current warranty.
Last updated
The previous flagship, now out of production. It remains a top-tier 4K card with 24 GB of memory, but it lacks DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation and is only worth considering at a genuine discount on the second-hand market.
A capable 4K card with the full RTX 50 feature set at roughly half the price of the flagship. The 16 GB memory pool is the one specification that invites debate at this price point.
RTX 4090 comes out ahead of RTX 5080.
The score blends performance at 1440p (50%), performance per dollar (30%) and memory headroom (20%), each against every card CompareYourGPU tracks. Fewer than three points apart counts as level. How verdicts are calculated.
Performance, memory, power and value rows, ranked by how far apart RTX 4090 and RTX 5080 are. The full sheet below has every row.
| Difference | RTX 4090 | RTX 5080 | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| VRAM | Better: 24 GB | 16 GB | RTX 409050% higher |
| Performance per $100 | Better: 5.1 | 3.8 | RTX 409037% higher |
| Board power | 450 W | Better: 360 W | RTX 508025% lower |
| Performance index, 4K | Better: 78 | 69 | RTX 409013% higher |
| Performance per 100 W | 18.2 | Better: 20.6 | RTX 508013% higher |
| Performance index, 1440p | Better: 82 | 74 | RTX 409011% higher |
Open any area to see every row. Rows where a card wins are marked; rows where the two match, or where a figure is not published, say so.
| Specification | RTX 4090NVIDIA | RTX 5080NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Launch MSRP | $1,599 | Best in this row: $999 |
| Current priceNot compared: data missing for at least one cardCompareYourGPU does not publish a price it has not verified. | Check current price | $1,973 |
| Performance per $100Performance index at 1440p per $100 of a mix of verified prices and launch MSRP, which are not directly comparable. | Best in this row: 5.1 | 3.8 |
| Specification | RTX 4090NVIDIA | RTX 5080NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here. | Best in this row: 88 | 82 |
| CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here. | Best in this row: 82 | 74 |
| CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here. | Best in this row: 78 | 69 |
| CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here. | Best in this row: 78 | 72 |
| Measured suite average at 1440pThird-party geometric mean across their game suite, run with vendor upscaling at Quality. A different test from the estimated row below, not a check on it. | Best in this row: 122.7 FPS (ComputerBase) | 105.4 FPS (ComputerBase) |
| Estimated FPS at 1440pModelled estimate for a typical modern AAA game at High settings with no upscaling. Not a measurement. | Best in this row: 150-215 FPS | 135-190 FPS |
| Specification | RTX 4090NVIDIA | RTX 5080NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Blackwell |
| GPU die | AD102 | GB203 |
| Only comparable within one manufacturer. | Best in this row: 16,384 | 10,752 |
| Data unavailable | Data unavailable | |
| Best in this row: 128 | 84 | |
| Best in this row: 512 | 336 | |
| 2,235 MHz | 2,295 MHz | |
| 2,520 MHz | 2,617 MHz | |
| Game clockAMD only. | Data unavailable | Data unavailable |
| Specification | RTX 4090NVIDIA | RTX 5080NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd-generation RT cores | 4th-generation RT cores | |
| DLSS 4 Super Resolution, DLSS Ray Reconstruction, FSR 3.1, XeSS | DLSS 4 Super Resolution, DLSS Ray Reconstruction, FSR 3.1, XeSS | |
| DLSS 3 Frame Generation | DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation | |
| Yes | Yes | |
| Video encoder | 8th-generation NVENC with AV1 and HEVC encode (dual encoder) | 9th-generation NVENC with AV1 and HEVC encode |
| Video decoder | 5th-generation NVDEC with AV1, HEVC and H.264 decode | 6th-generation NVDEC with AV1, HEVC and H.264 decode |
Each price carries its source and date, or is labelled as a launch MSRP. The retailer page is the authority on today's price.
Launch MSRP in US dollars, as set by the manufacturer at release. CompareYourGPU has no verified street price for this card, so this is a reference point rather than what it sells for today. The Amazon store the link opens depends on your location and charges in its own currency (US dollars, euros or pounds): expect a different figure there, and treat that page as the authority on what the card actually costs.
This card is out of production, so street prices are especially unpredictable.
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MSRP $999
Good price
Amazon.es · ES · new · price checked (40 days ago)
This price is getting old. It was last checked 5 weeks ago, and graphics card prices move week to week.
This price was checked on a specific listing, not necessarily the one linked below — treat the retailer’s own page as the authority on what it costs today.
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Cards that cost at least 10% less than one of these and come within 10% of its estimated 1440p performance.
$1,457 · $516 less than RTX 5080
93% of the performance
Compare with RTX 5080Each category is decided by the same numbers used everywhere else on the site. A category with no clear leader says so rather than picking one.
All six axes are normalised to a 0-100 scale so they can share one chart. Performance and ray tracing are CompareYourGPU’s estimated indices; value, VRAM, efficiency and features are each card’s standing relative to every other card tracked here.
| Criterion | RTX 4090 | RTX 5080 |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 82 | 74 |
| Ray tracing | 78 | 72 |
| Value | 48 | 30 |
| VRAM | 100 | 80 |
| Efficiency | 47 | 65 |
| Features | 90 | 100 |
CompareYourGPU estimate aggregated from public review coverage, not a measurement.
Modelled from the performance index. Not a measured benchmark. Real results vary widely by title.
Capacity alone is not the whole story: memory bus width and bandwidth decide how much of it the GPU can actually use.
Based on the specifications, estimated performance indices and prices on record for these cards. How verdicts are calculated.
Highest estimated performance index at 1440p of the cards compared here, at 82. It is the right answer if frame rate is the only thing you are optimising for.
Delivers the most performance per dollar of the cards compared, at $1,599. Choose this if the difference in price matters more to you than the difference in frame rate.
Strongest ray-traced performance here, with an estimated ray tracing index of 78 at 1440p. It also carries DLSS 4 Super Resolution, which is how ray tracing becomes practical.
Carries 24 GB, the most headroom of the cards compared at 1440p. Memory is usually what dates a card before raw speed does.
Best performance per watt of the cards compared, drawing 360 W. That means less heat, quieter fans and less pressure on your power supply.
Best balance of speed, price and memory of the cards compared: 50% performance at 1440p, 30% performance per dollar, 20% memory headroom. Not necessarily the fastest.
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