NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition Review

TweakTown's Rating: 95%

The Bottom Line

A small bump to performance but a big reduction in price - that's the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER story in a nutshell. And in stylish Founder Edition form, you still have impressive, god-like, 4K gaming performance with unmatched ray-tracing capabilities and additional features like DLSS.

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
• + The all-black Founders Edition design is stunning, with excellent 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?

AvoidConsiderShortlistBuy

Introduction

With the arrival of the new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, NVIDIA's SUPER Series refresh is now complete. It's a graphics card that replaces the current GeForce RTX 4080 with a notable price cut from $1199 to $999 USD. As the third and potentially final SUPER card to enter the Ada Lovelace gaming lineup, it follows in the footsteps of the GeForce RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 Ti SUPER variants by making changes to the underlying hardware and specs but with a more modest approach.

Performance sits close enough to the GeForce RTX 4080 it replaces that it feels more like a relaunch with a new price point than a substantial upgrade. For 4K gaming, across our 15-game benchmark suite that covers a wide range of titles - you're only looking at a 3% increase in performance.

76

However, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is still one of the most powerful gaming GPUs available - second only to the GeForce RTX 4090. It's a 4K powerhouse, and that's before you add NVIDIA's RTX technologies into the mix. Regarding gaming at higher resolutions, technology like DLSS super Resolution, Frame Generation, and NVIDIA Reflex offer what you would consider 'free performance,' a notable performance increase without sacrificing visual fidelity. In the case of the new DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction for ray tracing, image quality improves. From Alan Wake II to Cyberpunk 2077 to the upcoming release of Horizon Forbidden West, DLSS tech is more prevalent than ever.

And when you throw in NVIDIA's content creator workload performance across various applications, generative AI performance as the age of the AI PC begins, superior AV1 video encoding, and impressive power efficiency compared to the competition and previous-gen counterparts like the GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 - the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the complete high-end package.

The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition from NVIDIA reviewed here is easily one of the best-looking models currently available. The new matte-black metallic finish is stunning, taking NVIDIA's premium, unique, and stylish Founders Edition design and presenting it in a new way. Let's dig in.

ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4080 Super Trinity Black Edition

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$948.17	$948.17	$1088.99	$1199.99	Buy
	$999.99	$999.99	$999.99	$999.99	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 4/26/2024 at 9:34 pm CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

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.

76

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.

76

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.

76

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.

76

NVIDIA announced the new GeForce RTX 40 SUPER Series refresh at CES 2024, offering more performance than non-SUPER variants without raising prices. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER increases specs like CUDA Core, RT Core, and Tensor Core counts by 20% compared to the GeForce RTX 4070.

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER increased its comparative specs by 10% while increasing the VRAM capacity by 33% to offer 16GB of memory - making it an excellent option for 4K gaming, with the most significant performance gains coming at this resolution when compared to the now end-of-life GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB.

The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER takes a different approach in that it doesn't really address or significantly change the existing GeForce RTX 4080 hardware. There's a modest 5.3% increase in CUDA Core, RT Core, and Tensor Core counts here. In addition, there's a slight increase in boost clock speed and total memory bandwidth, which is now an impressive 736 GB/sec. The good news is that the overall power rating hasn't changed - sticking with the 320W of the GeForce RTX 4080 non-SUPER.

Again, the big difference is the price cut with the new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER launch, which has a 16.7% lower cost than the GPU it replaces. With only a minor spec change, there are workloads and games where performance between the new SUPER and non-SUPER variants are on par. However, with 4K gaming performance at this level, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER offers better price-to-performance or value than the flagship GeForce RTX 4090.

• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER
• Model: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition
• 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: 2550 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: 750W
• What's in the Box: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition, Adapter Cable (1 to 3), 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

NVIDIA introduced its current Founders Edition design with the GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 back in 2020, where the unique push-and-pull dual fan design was met with a stylish and beautiful all-metal build with visible intricate fins and minimalist meets industrial aesthetic. With the arrival of the GeForce RTX 40 SUPER series, NVIDIA improved the design without changing the overall look, with the upgrades and evolution all about improving thermal performance.

76

In terms of the physical design and cooling, the new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is identical to the GeForce RTX 4090 - featuring the same three-slot thickness with a massive weight of 2 kilograms or so, which is on par with the GeForce RTX 4090 and a big boy GeForce RTX 3090 from the Ampere generation. The big difference comes from the new all-black metal, and much like we found with the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, it's enough to dramatically change the overall Founders Edition aesthetic. It's beautiful in black and blends subtly with PC components of similar color while better highlighting the subtle white LED lighting found on the GeForce RTX logo and the middle of the GPU.

76

The "black-anodized aluminum" is a show stopper, but you've also got the excellent cooling we've seen across the GeForce RTX 40 Series Founders Edition models. Fans only spin up when the GPU is being properly utilized, and the dual large axial fans employed by NVIDIA here are not only silent but deliver when it comes to airflow. The push-and-pull design of the Founders Edition cards is excellent for cooling the GPU; however, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition is quite large - with dimensions of 304 x 147 x 61mm, so when compared to the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Founders Edition it looks almost twice the size.

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.

76

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

76

The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition, across our 15-game benchmark suite, manages to hit an average frame rate of 100 FPS, which is impressive when you consider that this is about pure performance without DLSS Super Resolution upscaling. Hitting triple-digits here makes it the second graphics card outside the GeForce RTX 4090 to reach this milestone. That said, the raw performance uplift over the GeForce RTX 4080 it replaces is only 3.1%. However, this is enough to give the GPU a 5.3% lead over AMD's flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX.

Compared to the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, a card that launched just one week prior to the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, you're looking at a card that is 16.3% faster for 4K gaming - which is enough to put it in a higher tier regarding capabilities. Compared to the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is 37% faster for 4K gaming - which is the sort of leap forward you want to see when going from $599 to $999.

There's no doubt the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a 4K powerhouse, especially when it comes to real-time ray tracing with DLSS, where NVIDIA's high-end GPU delivers notably faster performance and better image quality than its main competition - the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. There are non-ray-tracing titles where AMD's flagship pulls ahead, most notably Call of Duty, where the Radeon GPU has a commanding double-digit lead. However, across the full suite of games tested, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER appears ahead more often than not.

15 Game Average FPS - 1440p Results

76

According to the latest Steam Hardware Survey, 1440p is the fastest-growing resolution among PC gamers. Alongside Ultrawide displays, it's a resolution where performance and image quality kind of meet in the middle, offering the best of both worlds. Calling a GPU like the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER a 4K powerhouse is a pretty rare thing because there are only a handful of graphics you'd consider suitable for high-end gaming at that resolution. Still, as a 4K powerhouse, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is also a 1400p beast - with an average frame rate of 169 FPS across 15 titles.

Again, this result only makes it 3% faster than the GeForce RTX 4080 it replaces and 5% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. All three cards can crush at this resolution, with AMD's flagship only falling behind in a handful of RT-heavy games. And it's there where the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has a clear advantage - ray tracing. Doubly so if you begin to dabble in path tracing or full ray-tracing where raw performance is matched by the path tracing performance trio - DLSS Super Resolution, Frame Generation, and NVIDIA Reflex. Throw in the new DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction, and the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER offers a glimpse at the future of game visuals.

At 1440p, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER's lead over the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER decreases slightly to 15.8%. By that same token, the beastly GeForce RTX 4090's lead over the RTX 4080 SUPER also decreases to around 15%. Essentially, you've got more options for 1440p gaming, with cards like the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER and GeForce RTX 4090 not always fully utilized at this resolution. For 1440p gaming with an eye toward value for money, the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER and RTX 4070 Ti SUPER make more sense.

15 Game Average FPS - 1080p Results

76

Does the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER destroy when it comes to 1080p gaming? Sure, but this is where it begins to run into bottlenecks and other limitations. Across our 15-game benchmark suite, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition is only 4.1% slower than the GeForce RTX 4090. It's a result that indicates that these two cards are pretty close when it comes to performance, but it's actually showcasing that they're both way overpowered for 1080p. This can also be said for AMD's flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX.

Benchmarks - 3DMark FireStrike

76

3DMark FireStrike is a synthetic benchmark created to showcase the performance you can expect when playing DirectX 11 games. Even though, as an API, it's showing its age, some of the most popular PC games being played today still run on DX11. There are three test variations, with the 4K-based 3DMark FireStrike Ultra highlighted above.

Here, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition's score is 4% higher than the GeForce RTX 4080 and 18.7% higher than the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER. It's a result that matches what we saw when running in-game benchmarks - where you've only got a modest performance improvement compared to the baseline GeForce RTX 4080. That said, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition's score is also 7.7% lower than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX's score - a result that is seen in some titles but one that doesn't reflect the overall picture once you factor in every style of game and modern effects like ray-tracing.

Benchmarks - 3DMark TimeSpy and Port Royal

The next synthetic benchmark on the menu is 3DMark TimeSpy, which covers the more relevant and current DirectX 12 API. Looking at the 4K-based 3DMark TimeSpy Extreme test, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition's score is only 1.8% higher than the GeForce RTX 4080 and 2% higher than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. This aligns with in-game results because there's not much performance separating all three - on average. The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition's score is also 22.9% lower than NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 4090, which also aligns with in-game results.

76

The final synthetic benchmark is 3DMark Port Royal, a real-time ray-tracing test - and it comes as no surprise that the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a notably higher score than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. Even though it's another example of the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER only being slightly faster than the GeForce RTX 4080, the score is still 25.3% higher than AMD's flagship RDNA 3 GPU result. When you get to the enthusiast level of graphics cards, where prices sit closer to $1,000 than $500 - ray tracing performance is important because most major releases include it as part of their high-end PC features, from Cyberpunk 2077 to Alan Wake II to Hogwarts Legacy and many more.

Benchmarks - 1080p Gaming

76

Benchmarks - 1440p Gaming

76

Benchmarks - 4K Gaming

76

Benchmarks Summary, Ray-Tracing Performance, and DLSS 3

The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition delivers exceptional gaming performance in 4K, second only to the GeForce RTX 4090. However, up until now, the majority of the discussion and analysis has been centered on raw performance. PC gaming has changed dramatically in recent years, and we're now at a point where raw performance doesn't tell the full story.

Suppose a game features DLSS support in the form of Super Resolution upscaling. In that case, you'd enable it with the 'Quality Mode' setting (at a minimum), as it offers improved performance without impacting visual fidelity.

Free performance in many ways. It's an invaluable tool, and with DLSS and RTX technologies available in over 500 titles, most major releases include DLSS support on day one. When gaming in 4K with titles that include hardware-intensive ray-tracing effects, DLSS becomes an essential way to boost performance significantly.

76

With the GeForce RTX 40 Series, NVIDIA introduces AI-powered Frame Generation, which leverages specialized hardware to generate or render new frames. And when inserted into the rendering process, the result is a generational leap in performance. The most dramatic examples of this can be seen with path tracing in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake II, where the DLSS Super Resolution, DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction, DLSS 3 Frame Generation, and NVIDIA Reflex combination make the impossible possible.

Here, we've got some DLSS 3 Frame Generation data for four games with RT and image quality settings set to 'Ultra.' Looking at the 4K results, Cyberpunk 2077 sees a 2.6X increase in performance, A Plague Tale Requiem sees a 2.1X increase in performance, while Hitman and F1 22 both see a 2X increase in performance. It's a remarkable result, and even though we're talking about AI-generated frames and a situation where you need decent performance (around 50 FPS or so), DLSS 3 Frame Generation is another game changer.

Temperature and Power Efficiency

The GeForce RTX 40 Series and NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace generation of GPU hardware have delivered exceptional power efficiency at every turn, from the mainstream GeForce RTX 4060 to the flagship GeForce RTX 4090. Even though the new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition uses, on average, more power than the GeForce RTX 4080 it replaces - you're still looking at a situation where it's a card that delivers 60% faster 4K performance than the GeForce RTX 3080, while using less power.

76

Average power usage when gaming with an Ada GPU like the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER shows incredible scaling - where gaming at a lower resolution or even capping the frame rate can significantly reduce energy consumption while maintaining excellent performance. In a way, this is a feature exclusive to the GeForce RTX 40 Series, where cards like the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER and GeForce RTX 4090 are still powerful and fast even when drawing 150W or less than half of their power limit.

76

The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, with its all-black aluminum look and feel, is a gorgeous GPU - one of the best-looking Founders cards ever produced. It's also a triple-slot giant on par with what we saw with the GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4090 Founders models. It's a quiet and cool giant with a temperature of 56.3 degrees Celsius recorded during a stress test, a hot spot of 63.2 degrees, and memory temperatures kept to a nice and cool 64 degrees. With a fan speed capacity of 35% or 1200 RPMs, it's basically silent even when under load. NVIDIA's Founders Edition cards all launch and ship with reference specs, so with thermal performance like this, there's definite room for a little OC action.

Final Thoughts

With a price drop to $999 USD and a slight increase to 4K gaming performance, the new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER feels like a relaunch for the GPU - and a very welcome one. Even though you're only looking at a 3% uplift in 4K gaming performance compared to the GeForce RTX 4080, this is still more than enough to make it one of the most powerful gaming GPUs in 2024 - second only to the GeForce RTX 4090. It delivers enough GPU power for ray-tracing and path-tracing, benefitting from NVIDIA's excellent RTX suite of DLSS, Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, and Reflex.

76

NVIDIA's GPUs are unmatched when it comes to ray tracing, and, at this level, RT is important - and a feature found in some of the most cinematic and visually impressive releases from the past couple of years. With AMD's flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX falling behind in this department, having these two cards now priced the same makes it an easy decision unless you only play the handful of games where the Radeon RX 7900 XTX is faster. And even then, they are only concerned with raw performance.

With the GeForce RTX 40 Series, NVIDIA has expanded its tools, software, and features across gaming, content creation, productivity, and generative AI. On the gaming side, we're in the midst of Frame Generation (via DLSS 3), becoming a genuine game changer in select titles and dramatically improving performance to the point where it can feel like you're gaming with a GeForce RTX 5080. For creators, there is RTX Broadcast, superior AV1 encoding for video, and improved performance for rendering and other hardware-intensive tasks. No matter how you slice it, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a powerhouse, and in all-black Founders Edition form, it doubles as a stunning, stealthy showpiece.