NVIDIA’s latest GeForce RTX 5080 seems to have hit a speed bump, showing unexpected results in recent synthetic benchmark tests. While many anticipated that this new generation would surpass its predecessors, the RTX 5080 appears to fall short, especially when compared to the formidable RTX 4090.
The Time Spy benchmark test revealed that the RTX 5080 scored 32,701 points. This score lags behind the RTX 4090’s impressive 36,318 points, highlighting a noticeable 10% gap. This is particularly surprising given the previous generation’s performance improvements, where the RTX 4080 outperformed the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti.
Further tests on Geekbench shed light on the raw computational power of the RTX 5080. Using a setup that includes a Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, the RTX 5080 was put through its paces in Vulkan and OpenCL tests. It yielded 281,746 points in the Vulkan test and 278,138 points in OpenCL. However, when the RTX 4090 was tested with a similar configuration, it achieved a Vulkan score of 365,013 and an OpenCL score of 337,319. This indicates a significant performance discrepancy—23% in Vulkan and 17.6% in OpenCL—between the two cards.
Yet, it’s not all bad news for the RTX 5080. When placed against the RTX 4080, it does show improvements. In a similar setup, the RTX 4080 scored 259,403 in Vulkan and 254,007 in OpenCL. The RTX 5080 shows an 8% increase in Vulkan and a 9% improvement in OpenCL over the RTX 4080, suggesting minor advancements.
These results emphasize that while the RTX 5080 may offer some progression over its immediate predecessor, it faces challenges when matched against NVIDIA’s powerful RTX 4090. For consumers and gaming enthusiasts looking for groundbreaking performance, the RTX 5080 might need to demonstrate more in real-world gaming scenarios to truly capture their interest. As we await more comprehensive gaming benchmarks, the full potential of the RTX 5080 remains to be seen.
