In NVIDIA's graphics card product line, the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090, as representatives of the high-end series, have become the focus of many enthusiast gamers and professional creators with their powerful performance. Although both belong to the 50 series, there are significant differences in positioning and performance. This article will compare the two graphics cards in terms of architectural parameters, gaming performance, professional applications, power consumption and price, providing accurate purchasing suggestions for users with different needs.
Both graphics cards are based on NVIDIA's new Blackwell architecture and adopt TSMC's 3nm process, which improves energy efficiency by about 20% compared to the previous generation. However, the gap in core specifications directly widens the performance level:
RTX 5090: Equipped with 18,176 CUDA cores, with a base clock of 1900MHz and a boost clock of up to 2900MHz. It uses 24GB GDDR7 memory with a 384-bit width and a memory bandwidth of up to 1200GB/s.
RTX 5080: Has 12,288 CUDA cores, with a base clock of 1800MHz and a boost clock of 2600MHz. It is equipped with 16GB GDDR7 memory with a 256-bit width and a memory bandwidth of 896GB/s.
In terms of parameters, the number of CUDA cores in the RTX 5090 is 47.9% more than that of the RTX 5080, and it also has obvious advantages in memory capacity and bandwidth, which lays a hardware foundation for its performance in high-load scenarios.
Improved performance is often accompanied by increased power consumption:
The RTX 5090 has a TDP of 450W. It is recommended to be paired with a gold-certified power supply of 1000W or higher, and requires a dual 8Pin + 16Pin power interface.
The RTX 5080 has a TDP of 320W, and an 850W power supply can meet the demand, with a power interface of single 8Pin + 16Pin.
In terms of cooling, due to the greater heat generation of the RTX 5090, non-reference models generally adopt a three-fan + 6 heat pipe design, and some flagship models are even equipped with water cooling modules; while the cooling solution for the RTX 5080 is relatively flexible, and a dual-fan high-end cooling module can run stably.
At 4K resolution and maximum image quality settings, the gap between the two graphics cards is fully enlarged:
3A Masterpiece Frame Rate Test:
Cyberpunk 2077 (with ray tracing + DLSS 4 quality mode): The RTX 5090 has an average frame rate of 125FPS, and the RTX 5080 has an average of 92FPS, with a gap of 35.9%.
Diablo IV (maximum image quality): The RTX 5090 is stable at 180FPS, and the RTX 5080 is 130FPS, leading by 38.5%.
Microsoft Flight Simulator (4K ultra-high-definition texture): The RTX 5090 averages 78FPS, and the RTX 5080 averages 55FPS, with an advantage of 41.8%.
The RTX 5090 is one of the few graphics cards that can run 8K games smoothly:
In Starfield 8K resolution + ray tracing mode, the RTX 5090 can be stable above 45FPS with the help of DLSS 4 super-resolution technology, while the RTX 5080 is difficult to exceed 30FPS even in performance mode.
The number of new-generation ray tracing cores (RT Cores) in the RTX 5090 is 50% more than that in the RTX 5080, and the ray processing capability is improved by 30%, resulting in more detailed 画面 and less stuttering in complex light and shadow scenes.
For professional scenarios such as video editing and 3D rendering:
Premiere Pro Export Test: For a 10-minute 4K 60fps HDR video, the RTX 5090 takes 2 minutes and 15 seconds, and the RTX 5080 takes 3 minutes and 40 seconds, with an efficiency improvement of 56%.
Blender Rendering Test: For complex scene rendering, the RTX 5090 completes the task 42% faster than the RTX 5080, thanks to its more CUDA cores and larger memory capacity.
Both graphics cards support NVIDIA's Tensor Core technology, but the AI computing power of the RTX 5090 reaches 190TOPS, far exceeding the 120TOPS of the RTX 5080:
When generating 512x512 pixel images in Stable Diffusion, the RTX 5090 can generate 3.2 images per second, and the RTX 5080 can generate 2.1 images per second.
When running large language models (such as LLaMA 2-70B), the memory advantage of the RTX 5090 enables it to avoid frequent data exchange, and the response speed is increased by 35%.
Extreme 4K/8K Gamers: Pursue top image quality and frame rate, and are willing to invest in flagship experience.
Professional Creators: Engage in 4K/8K video production, complex 3D modeling or AI training, and need efficient hardware support.
Hardware Enthusiasts: Pay attention to the flagship identity and collection value of the graphics card, and pursue platform performance without shortcomings.
High-end 4K Gaming Users: Pursue high frame rates at 4K resolution, and have a relatively limited budget.
Multi-purpose Users: Balance gaming and moderate content creation, such as 1080P/4K video editing and simple 3D design.
Platform Balanced Builders: Hope to allocate more budget to other hardware such as CPU and monitor to avoid performance waste.
The starting price of the RTX 5090 is \(1999, and the RTX 5080 is \)1199, with a price difference of $800.
In terms of performance per dollar, the RTX 5080 has more advantages in 1440P and 4K mainstream scenarios, while the premium of the RTX 5090 is mainly reflected in 8K and professional fields.
The RTX 5090 is a flagship graphics card designed for extreme performance. It can meet the most demanding gaming and creation needs now and even in the next 3 years, and is suitable for users with sufficient budget and pursuing "one-step" solutions. The RTX 5080, with more balanced performance and price, has become the "cost-effective king" in the high-end market, and is sufficient for more than 95% of high-end application scenarios.
If you are building a high-end platform with more than $10,000 and your monitor is 4K 144Hz or 8K, the RTX 5090 is the best choice; if your monitor is 4K 60-120Hz and you value the overall budget allocation more, the RTX 5080 will be a more practical choice. For either model, it is recommended to match it with a PCIe 5.0 motherboard and DDR5 memory to give full play to its performance potential.
