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The Bottom Line
Pros
- + A 4K gaming powerhouse second only to the GeForce RTX 4090
- + Stomps the competition when it comes to ray-tracing
- + The price drop makes the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER feel like a relaunch
- + PNY's XLR8 design offers exceptional thermal performance
- + DLSS, Frame Generation, the new Ray Reconstruction, and Reflex is a brilliant combo
Cons
- - A modest boost to performance compared to the GeForce RTX 4080
Should you buy it?
AvoidConsiderShortlistBuyIntroduction
PNY is an interesting company in terms of those releasing GeForce RTX GPUs. In addition to its lineup of graphics cards for gamers, PNY has a range of professional NVIDIA Graphics Cards for workstations and data centers. This is not to say that this gives them an advantage when putting together boards, components, and cooling - but when reviewing the PNY GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC last week, we discovered that XLR8 Gaming models offer some of the best out-of-the-box thermal design we've seen for a high-end gaming GPU. Low temps and low noise, with a large RGB-lit triple-fan look that is great for those who want their gaming GPU to look like a gaming GPU. If that makes sense.
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The PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC reviewed here is essentially the same card in GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER form. It's a little chunkier, 3.5 slots thick versus 3.3 slots, but you have the same overall design and excellent thermal performance. It's cool and quiet, with enough headroom to increase the out-of-the-box overclock.
Other than that, it's every bit the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER that we've been testing over the past week in our lab - faster than the GeForce RTX 4080 it replaces, but not by an exciting amount.
NVIDIA's third (and potentially final) GeForce RTX 40 SUPER Series release takes a different route compared to the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER in that the big thing here is a sizeable $200 price cut to the MSRP, bringing it down to $999 USD. A price that puts it on par with AMD's flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX, the GPU's main competition, so to speak.
However, when you add in NVIDIA's RTX technology suite that includes DLSS, Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, and Reflex - not to mention the excellent content creator tools and features - the new price point makes the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER feel more like a relaunch than refresh. Let's dig in.
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The Ada Lovelace Generation - SUPER Edition
Below is a summary of the GeForce RTX 40 Series technology, applicable to all models.
Visual fidelity and performance go hand-in-hand when it comes to PC gaming. It isn't simply a matter of a game looking good; when you're playing a PC game, it also needs to feel buttery-smooth. Back in the day, this combination of performance and visuals was all about how much GPU and silicon you had under the hood. With the GeForce RTX 40 Series, including the new SUPER Series refresh, NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace generation continues and evolves the company's history of embracing AI and hardware-accelerated ray-tracing to not only push visual fidelity - but to ensure that visual fidelity and performance go hand-in-hand.
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The GeForce RTX 40 Series is a lineup of GPUs built on a cutting-edge process node while leveraging and evolving all of the AI and hardware-based ray-tracing advances that NVIDIA helped become mainstream with the GeForce RTX 30 Series. Named after mathematician Ada Lovelace, considered the world's first computer programmer, the GeForce RTX 40 Series is built on TSMC 4N process technology - a giant leap forward over the Samsung 8nm process used in the GeForce RTX 30 Series Ampere generation.
From a pure numbers perspective, the full NVIDIA Ada GPU features 76.3 billion transistors, up to 18,432 CUDA Cores (70% more than the previous gen), and delivers clock speeds over 2.5 GHz while maintaining the same power requirements of the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. Ada also introduces the latest generation of RT and Tensor Cores, with the latter introducing brand-new hardware responsible for the next iteration of AI rendering - DLSS 3 and DLSS 3.5.
NVIDIA's DLSS or Deep Learning Super Sampling is one of the reasons why raw power is no longer the be-all-end-all; it's an AI-based form of upscaling that can provide a sizable boost to in-game performance without sacrificing visual fidelity. It can improve upon native rendering. The brand-new DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction dramatically improves ray-tracing image quality (over native rendering) with groundbreaking AI denoiser technology. DLSS 3 Frame Generation uses the power of AI to generate new frames and dramatically improve perceived performance.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 6 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 6](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_6_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.jpg)
For this reason, DLSS and other algorithm-based upscaling and frame generation have become some of the most talked about bits of technology in the PC gaming space. Take Cyberpunk 2077 using the game's Path Tracing (aka full ray tracing) mode with DLSS 3.5, NVIDIA Reflex, and Frame Generation. In this example, seven of eight pixels are AI-generated, meaning path tracing is impossible on today's hardware without these technologies. In the case of the GeForce RTX 40 Series, the addition of DLSS 3 and Frame Generation has proven to be a true game changer.
DLSS 3 combines DLSS Super Resolution (DLSS 2) with NVIDIA Reflex to reduce system latency and the brand-new hardware-accelerated Frame Generation technology. Three bits of rendering tech = DLSS 3. And it's exclusive to the GeForce RTX 40 Series. It gets a little confusing when you throw DLSS 3.5 into the mix, Ray Reconstruction, which greatly improves ray-traced visual quality across all GeForce RTX GPUs. Still, the result is the same - NVIDIA's technology and development tools for rendering, performance, and latency are unmatched in the industry.
Frame Generation is NVIDIA looking to do what it has done for real-time graphics upscaling to the idea of frame-interpolation - or what they call Motion Plus in the TV world. Which, to be fair, is not a fair comparison on account of tech like Motion Plus being - well - terrible. But the fundamental idea is the same, albeit using specialized AI hardware in the GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards to generate and create entire frames.
The results are impressive - with dramatic improvements to overall performance (in the frame-per-second stakes) seen in games like Cyberpunk 2077, F1 23, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, Diablo IV, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and Alan Wake II.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 10 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 10](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_10_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.jpg)
The Ada generation is much more than "smaller = more," with NVIDIA introducing back-end technology in the form of Shader Execution Reordering - which effectively ensures render tasks happen more efficiently and without running into bottlenecks. This means a leap forward in the real-time rendering of hardware-intensive ray-tracing effects. And there's generative AI, with TensorRT-LLM for Windows accelerating and leading the way to AI computing in the era of the "AI PC."
The Ada generation also levels up NVIDIA's already formidable content creation chops with the arrival of AV1 encoding for better video quality for streamers without sacrificing performance or bandwidth. AV1 encoding is 40% more efficient than traditional H.264, and NVIDIA works with platforms like Twitch to bring the technology to all streamers. Of course, in the age of working from home, it can also dramatically improve video conferencing.
Specs and Test System
Specifications
Here, we can see how the specs and hardware stack up for the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER compared to the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, the GeForce RTX 4080 it replaces, and the GeForce RTX 4090.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 74 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 74](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_74_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
As highlighted in the introduction, the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC doesn't offer a massive or notable performance uplift compared to the GeForce RTX 4080 - and this comes down to a modest 5.3% increase in specs.
With the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, you've got 5.3% more CUDA Cores, RT Cores, and Tensor Cores than the GeForce RTX 4080, alongside a small increase to the Boost Clock speed. The PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC takes this higher as an OC model, from 2550 MHz to 2595 MHz - which can be increased even further via PNY's easy-to-use software.
Another notable change to the hardware, although potentially minor with what it brings to the PC gaming table, is an increase in memory speed to 23Gbps for 736 GB/sec of total memory bandwidth. Although a small increase, this is great because it makes the 16GB of memory in the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER some of the fastest for a gaming GPU. Memory bandwidth between 16GB GPUs isn't alike; if you look at the Radeon RX 7800 XT (a far more affordable GPU), its 16GB delivers 624 GB/sec of total memory bandwidth.
Again, the big thing with the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the price cut, with the SUPER serving as a relaunch for a more cost-effective 4K gaming powerhouse. Interestingly, the 5.3% increase in specs and other tweaks to the hardware lead to a 5.2% increase in 4K gaming performance with the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC - pushed higher thanks to the OC. Unlike the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, which increased specs by 20%, or the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, which increased specs by 10%, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER's modest increase does lead to workloads where the performance is essentially the same as what you'd find with the GeForce RTX 4080.
But here's the thing: the GeForce RTX 4080 and high-end enthusiast GPUs like it are incredibly powerful, so the price cut goes a long way to making it a more attractive option than even something like the GeForce RTX 4090.
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER
- Model: PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC
- Interface: PCI Express 4.0
- CUDA Cores: 10240
- Tensor Cores: 320 (4th Generation)
- RT Cores: 80 (3rd Generation)
- Clocks: Base Clock: 2295 MHz, Boost Clock: 2595 MHz
- Memory: 16GB GDDR6X
- Memory Speed: 23 Gbps
- Memory Interface: 256-bit
- Total Memory Bandwidth: 736 GB/s
- L2 Cache: 64 MB
- Display Connections: 3 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI
- Power Connectors: 16-pin 12V-2x6 (3 x PCIe 8-pin cables via adapter)
- Recommended PSU: 850W
- What's in the Box: PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC, Adapter Cable (1 to 3), Graphics Card Anti-Sag Bracket, Installation Guide
Kosta's Test System
- Motherboard: MSI MPG X670E Carbon Wi-Fi
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
- Cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT Liquid CPU Cooler
- RAM: 64GB (2x32GB) Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB DDR5 DRAM 5200MHz
- SSD: Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus-G M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 4TB, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus Plus M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 8TB
- Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 850W
- Case: Thermaltake Core P3 Tempered Glass Snow
- OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Physical Design and Cooling
The PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC is a 3.5-slot big boy, a chunky high-end GPU that makes its presence known the moment you take it out of the box - with a chunky visible heatsink, full metal backplate with generous ventilation, three large fans, and a shroud with RGB laid out in a big 'x' pattern symbolizing the XLR8 branding. It's a monster, and it performs like one, too - and if you're a fan of a light show when it comes to GPUs, it's definitely up there regarding visibility and being able to customize it to suit your build.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 8 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 8](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_8_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.jpg)
You can, of course, turn off the lighting or make it dimmer and more subtle, and the all-black design with visible heatsinks is one that you'd call classic in the realm of premium GPUs. On the rear, you've got the usual port setup for a GeForce RTX 40 Series card - three DisplayPort 1.4a and a single HDMI 2.1 port. The build quality here is excellent, which carries through to the expected thermal performance. Like all modern GPUs, the fans stop completely during light or non-gaming workloads, and when activated during a Cyberpunk 2077 or Alan Wake II gaming session, it's all quiet on the Western front.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 11 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 11](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_11_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.jpg)
With stock OC settings, during a stress test, the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC's GPU temperature barely rises above 55 degrees Celsius with memory temps in the same region. It's one of the most effective cooling solutions we've tested to date on a high-end GPU and a testament to PNY's expertise in creating hardware for PC gamers - and worth taking into consideration if you're eyeing one of the several GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER models currently available.
Benchmarks - 15 Game Averages
The Games and Tests
PC gaming is a complicated and varied space, from indie games to major blockbuster releases and titles that push hardware and technology to their limit with the adoption of effects like real-time ray-tracing.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 1 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 1](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_1_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.jpg)
This is all a way of saying that the 15 in-game benchmarks we've chosen (and run at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K) represent a wide range of styles, not only in terms of genres, like first-person shooters and racing games but also in the API technology (DirectX 11, 12) and cutting-edge features like ray tracing and upscaling technology.
Results include DLSS and FSR 2, where possible, as both technologies are the sorts of things, especially in 4K, which you'd turn on. Six of the 15 game benchmarks also feature ray tracing, a great way to see the additional benefit of NVIDIA's DLSS and Frame Generation technology. Also, each title is set to ultra-equivalent quality settings to push GPU hardware and minimize CPU bottlenecks at higher resolutions.
Also, it's just fun to max out a game's visual settings and see the results. Here's the breakdown of games, graphics settings, and what's being tested.
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Ultra High-quality settings, with the in-game benchmark tool used.
- Borderlands 3: Ultra quality settings, with the in-game benchmark tool used.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II: Ultra quality setting, in-game multiplayer benchmark tool used. AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
- Cyberpunk 2077: Ultra quality setting, in-game benchmark tool used. AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
- Cyberpunk 2077 (RT): Ray tracing Ultra quality setting, in-game benchmark tool used. AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
- DOOM Eternal (RT): Ultra Nightmare quality setting with ray-tracing enabled, the opening of Mars Core campaign level used to benchmark. NVIDIA DLSS results are included
- F1 22 (RT): Ultra High-quality setting with ray tracing, one lap of the Bahrain track benchmarked. AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
- Forza Horizon 5 (RT): Extreme quality setting with ray tracing enabled, in-game benchmark tool used. AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
- Hitman (RT): Ultra-quality settings with ray-tracing, Dubai scene benchmarked. AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
- Horizon Zero Dawn: Ultimate quality setting, in-game benchmark used. NVIDIA DLSS results are included
- Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (RT): Ultra quality setting with ray tracing enabled, the in-game benchmark tool used. NVIDIA DLSS results are included
- Rainbow Six Extraction: Ultra quality settings and in-game benchmark tool used. NVIDIA DLSS results are included
- Red Dead Redemption 2: Maximum quality settings, with in-game benchmark tool used. AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
- The Division 2: Ultra quality settings with in-game benchmark tool used.
- Total War: Warhammer III: Ultra-quality settings with the in-game Battle Benchmark tool used.
15 Game Average FPS - 4K Results
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 26 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 26](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_26_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
When you get to the enthusiast level for GPUs, 4K gaming performance is where you see the hardware being utilized to its fullest and pushed to its absolute limit. Across our 15-game benchmark suite that includes six titles with ray-tracing, the raw performance of the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC delivers an average frame rate of 102 FPS. This is enough, on average, to make it 5.2% faster than the GeForce RTX 4080 and 7.4% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX.
AMD's flagship does fall behind in ray tracing; you'll find that performance between these GPUs is much closer in non-RT or traditional rasterized performance. There are games where the Radeon RX 7900 XTX is double-digits faster, such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Borderlands 3, but for the most part, it's only a few frames separating these two titans. Ray tracing is a different story, and it's here where the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a step or two ahead.
The 4K results here are also 23.3% slower than NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 4090, which still sits in a class of its own. The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER only closes the gap by a modest amount; however, with the price cut, you're looking at better value overall for high-end 4K gaming. Compared to the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, a card you'd consider as an option for high-end 4K or Ultrawide gaming, the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC is 18.6% faster.
Also, this is raw performance without DLSS or Frame Generation taken into consideration. DLSS Super Resolution at 4K is something you would enable 10 times out of 10 as it delivers free performance without sacrificing image quality. It is a killer feature for the GeForce RTX lineup of GPUs and is wonderful for 4K gaming.
15 Game Average FPS - 1440p Results
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 25 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 25](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_25_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
Any GPU that you're going to label a powerhouse for 4K gaming is not going to have an issue with 1440p gaming, and that's the case here with the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC. However, here, it's diminishing returns regarding performance - with the lead of the baseline GeForce RTX 4080 shrinking down to just 3.7%. Still, you're looking at an average frame rate of 170 FPS with 1% lows in the triple-digit region - so the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC would be a fantastic card to pair with one of those new ultrawide OLED displays announced at CES 2024.
The GPU's lead over the Radeon RX 7900 XTX also shrinks to 5.9%, as AMD's Radeon flagship excels at this resolution. Its lead over the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER also shrinks to 16.4%. Even though the shrinkage continues when you look at the GeForce RTX 4090, the 14.6% gap is more about these GPUs not always being fully utilized than any clear indication of raw performance. And with that, if you're after high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, the more affordable GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER could be the way to go.
That said, 1440p is the sweet spot for the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER when it comes to path-tracing, the net-gen hardware-intensive full ray-tracing seen in games like Cyberpunk 2077, Alan Wake II, and NVIDIA's own Portal with RTX mod. This requires DLSS Super Resolution, Frame Generation, and Reflex to work, in addition to high-end hardware like the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER for the best results. And it is incredible stuff to witness.
15 Game Average FPS - 1080p Results
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 24 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 24](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_24_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
These 1080p results are more for reference than anything else, as the performance difference between the high-end GPUs drops to a single digit. At this resolution, a card like the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC is wasted, with most PC games running into bottlenecks, with GPU usage sitting closer to 50% than 100%.
Benchmarks - 3DMark FireStrike
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Switching gears to synthetic benchmarks, let's take a closer look at some 3DMark FireStrike results - a DirectX 11 test that has been around for several years. With the 4K 3DMark FireStrike Ultra results highlighted above, the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC's score is 4.8% higher than the GeForce RTX 4080's score. This aligns with game results. However, the score is also 6.9% lower than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. This is not in line with our average game results; however, it could indicate that AMD's flagship is the faster option for games that use the DirectX 11 API.
The 4K test is the most relevant for this level of hardware, as when you look at the standard 1080p 3DMark FireStrike test, there's not a lot separating the GeForce RTX 4080, GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, Radeon RX 7900 XT, and Radeon RX 7900 XTX.
Benchmarks - 3DMark TimeSpy and Port Royal
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 18 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 18](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_18_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
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3DMark TimeSpy is the next synthetic benchmark to look at, and with this test covering DirectX 12 performance, it's a more relevant one to modern games and titles released in the past year or so. Here, the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC's score is only 2.6% higher than the GeForce RTX 4080 and Radeon RX 7900 XTX's score in the 4K 3DMark TimeSpy Extreme test. It's lower than the in-game averages we saw, but as we're talking about going from 2.6% to 5.2%, it's not exactly noticeable in most cases. So far, these synthetic benchmark results align with in-game results, indicating that the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER only offers a modest performance increase over the GeForce RTX 4080.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 20 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 20](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_20_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
The final synthetic benchmark on the menu is the 3DMark Port Royal ray-tracing test, and here, the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC's score is only 2.3% higher than the GeForce RTX 4080's score. Again, it's not all that exciting but indicative of what we have seen so far, reinforcing that the big thing here is the significant price cut for this SUPER refresh. Still, the score is 26.3% higher than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX's score, which showcases the difference you can expect when playing games with hardware-intensive RT effects enabled.
Benchmarks - 1080p Gaming
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 27 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 27](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_27_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 30 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 30](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_30_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 33 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 33](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_33_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
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![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 51 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 51](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_51_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
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![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 57 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 57](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_57_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 60 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 60](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_60_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 63 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 63](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_63_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 66 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 66](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_66_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 69 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 69](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_69_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
Benchmarks - 1440p Gaming
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 28 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 28](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_28_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 31 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 31](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_31_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 34 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 34](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_34_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 37 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 37](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_37_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 40 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 40](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_40_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 43 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 43](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_43_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 46 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 46](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_46_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 49 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 49](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_49_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 52 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 52](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_52_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 55 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 55](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_55_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 58 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 58](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_58_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 61 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 61](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_61_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 64 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 64](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_64_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 67 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 67](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_67_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 70 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 70](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_70_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
Benchmarks - 4K Gaming
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 29 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 29](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_29_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 32 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 32](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_32_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 35 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 35](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_35_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 38 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 38](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_38_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 41 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 41](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_41_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 44 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 44](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_44_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 47 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 47](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_47_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 50 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 50](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_50_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 53 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 53](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_53_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 56 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 56](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_56_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 59 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 59](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_59_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 62 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 62](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_62_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 65 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 65](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_65_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 68 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 68](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_68_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 71 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 71](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_71_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
Benchmarks Summary, Ray-Tracing Performance, and DLSS 3
Real-time ray tracing is still a hardware-intensive effect when enabled. However, the results in games like Cyberpunk 2077, Hitman, Alan Wake II, and many more are game-changing regarding cinematic immersion. And here's the thing: if you're going to spend $999 USD on a GPU in 2024, you'd expect RT performance to be decent - and this is one area where NVIDIA still has the edge.
Also, with or without RT, DLSS Super Resolution continues to be an incredible feature for GeForce RTX owners, offering free performance with minimal impact on image quality. When gaming in 4K, where the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC excels, DLSS is a game changer in its own right - pushing performance to new and incredible heights.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 9 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 9](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_9_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.jpg)
And with the arrival of DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction in recent months, enabling DLSS with ray-tracing in a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or Alan Wake II now delivers image quality that looks notably better than native rendering - an impressive achievement. Okay, so the final round of game benchmarks and performance we will look at is DLSS 3 Frame Generation - the new tech introduced with and exclusive to the GeForce RTX 40 Series.
Leveraging custom AI hardware, it generates entirely new frames to dramatically increase performance with the aid of upscaling and latency reduction. This is as far from raw rendering performance as you can get. However, frame generation is slowly becoming a game changer for performance, with AMD also offering its version with FSR 3 (which, unlike DLSS 3, works on GeForce RTX cards) and the driver-based AFMF or Fluid Motion Frames.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 72 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 72](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_72_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 73 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 73](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_73_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
The adoption of DLSS 3 is accelerating and is now available in a wide range of games. The results are impressive, with great image quality and performance. DLSS 3 is something worth playing with in games where a small hit to latency is something you can live with, as the results are akin to a magic trick. Looking at the 4K results, Cyberpunk 2077 with RT sees a massive 2.6X increase in performance compared to native rendering, A Plague Tale Requiem sees a 2.1X increase, while F1 22 and Hitman both see a 2X increase in performance.
Temperature and Power Efficiency
The GeForce RTX 40 Series and NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture offer some of the best power efficiency we've ever seen in a GPU generation, even when it comes to a high-end overclocked GPU like the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC. Looking at 4K gaming, the card uses less power on average than the GeForce RTX 3080 and delivers a massive 60% or so increase in performance.
The SUPER variant does use more power than the non-SUPER GeForce RTX 4080, so it's not the most efficient GPU in the lineup. However, as performance is closer to the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, there is no denying that Ada is a step ahead in this department compared to RDNA 3.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 23 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 23](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_23_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 21 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 21](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_21_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 22 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 22](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_22_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.png)
It gets interesting when you look at lower-resolution gaming and scaling. For example, if you were to take a game that was running at 100 FPS and then cap the frame rate to a solid 60 FPS, the power usage with the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC decreases dramatically - which is not something you see with the GeForce RTX 30 Series' Amper architecture or RDNA 3.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 75 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 75](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_75_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.jpg)
Okay, here we can see the PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC's excellent thermal performance in action - with results captured during an extended stress test. With a GPU temperature of 54.2 degrees Celsius, a hot spot of 60.3 degrees, and a memory temperature of 56 degrees, the XLR8 cooling is right up there with the best you can find. And with fan speed hovering at a 30% capacity of 1400 RPMs, it is quiet, too - another impressive XLR8 result from PNY.
Final Thoughts
The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is here, and if you have checked out any of our previous reviews (or others floating around out there), you'll know that when it comes to performance, it's only a modest single-digit upgrade over the GeForce RTX 4080, it replaces. So why not keep the GeForce RTX 4080 and lower its price? That is a good question, but with the SUPER variant and tag, you've got what feels like a relaunch in addition to a refresh. 5.2% faster 4K gaming performance is still impressive when the baseline was already at the '4K powerhouse' level.
![PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 13 PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC Review 13](https://static.tweaktown.com/content/1/0/10663_13_pny-geforce-rtx-4080-super-xlr8-gaming-verto-oc-review.jpg)
With the price cut, NVIDIA's RTX technology suite that includes DLSS and Frame Generation, content creator features, superior AV1 encoding, generative AI performance, and next-level power efficiency, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is an all-round better version of the GeForce RTX 4080. The PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO OC offers excellent build quality with exceptional thermal performance that opens the door to tinkering with clock speeds and voltages to see how far the GPU can go.