Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace is a game changer when it comes to modern GPU tech with Nvidia pushing very impressive numbers as part of its DLSS 3.0-powered push to corner the market. The initial set of RTX 4000 GPUs available for all of 2022 was limited to the RTX 4090 (October 12, 2022) and the RTX 4080 (November 16, 2022) with the RTX 4070TI following suit shortly after on Jan 5th, 2023. The performance gap (and sadly in some cases pricing gap) versus the RTX 3000 lineup is solid enough to warrant taking a second look.
The RTX 4080 is based on Nvidia’s AD103 vs the current supremo’s AD102, and it has a sizable performance gap versus the RTX 4090 which leads to the latter being consistently in demand versus the RTX, which, while it does command a premium for some variants is much more readily available even as Nvidia (and to a lesser extent AMD) control & limit supplies of Ada Lovelace GPUs religiously to keep price points in line with their MSRP. While many disagree with the price point the RTX 4080 launched with, it happens to be the only card in its space from Nvidia that is a true next-generation performance upgrade that also benefits from DLSS 3.0 fully.
How to Choose the Best RTX 4080 GPU for You:
Choosing a GPU to go in your PC is not a straightforward answer. Users also might want to consider options beyond just the RTX 4080s. Game Rant has you covered here via a comprehensive Nvidia GPU guide for 2023 that should help with making an informed choice for a new PC GPU, an RTX upgrade, or simply a budget card that gets the job done until you can splurge on something better. If a user is dead set on an RTX 4080, feel there are no bad choices here.
If you are looking for the very best possible Nvidia GPUs possible, it is worth checking out Game Rant’s curated list of RTX 4090 GPUs instead. These offer considerably more performance, more memory and are currently the fastest consumer-grade graphics processors money can buy.
Alternatively, if you are on a budget or want better value for money, the RTX 4070TI offers the best value for money out of all the RTX 4000 series (Ada Lovelace) based GPUs, offering a true next-generation experience that also happens to clock in less than $1000 for an upgrade that outperforms the last generation’s top-end RTX 3090TI.
If an RTX 4080 GPU has already been purchased, it’s recommended to check out this current list of the best PSUs to buy to power and safeguard any GPU investment while ensuring long hours to game or work for long hours without issues on your PC/Workbench.
UPDATE: 2023/07/24 10:32 EST BY RAHIM AMIR
RTX 4080 Price Update
As RTX 4080 prices continue to settle, more SKUs from different AIBs often push towards the $1200 MSPR for the GPU, with some even dipping below said price range at times such as Prime Day earlier this month, making it easier to find deals on more premium SKUs without paying a sizable price difference over the Founder’s Edition. As prices continue to tumble, more expensive ASUS TUF RTX 4080 OC feature more prominently on our list, moving up to be the best overall RTX 4080 on offer, besting our previous MSI pick thanks to its better clocks, build quality and silent operation as price differences disappear.
The RTX 4080 might not be the value upgrade that most gamers are looking for, but it does make for a compelling choice for those of us looking to get a new GPU either for a new PC or a necessary upgrade down the line.
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX® 4080 OC Edition
The Best Overall RTX 4080 GPU
A Tuf Bargain
$1225 $1400 Save $175
The ASUS TUF RTX 4080 OC edition is a solid entry for an RTX 4080 GPU and matches up with the MSRP of Nvidia’s own Founders Edition (FE) in terms of price thanks to a price cut by Asus. It has an excellent boost clock and maintains low operating temperatures thanks to the vapor-chamber centric design.
- Brand
- ASUS
- Cooling Method
- Air Cooled Vapor Chamber
- GPU Speed
- 2205MHz
- Interface
- PCI Express 4.0
- Memory
- 16GB GDDR6X
- Power
- 320W
- Boost Speed
- 2625MHz
- Excellent Value for money – Costs as much as the Founders Edition while delivering better performance
- Has a vapor chamber as part of its design which should keep temps low.
- Extremely durable design as part of the TUF moniker. The card is built to last in more ways than one, ranging from dual ball bearing fans to military-grade capacitors
- Has Dual HDMI 2.1 Ports unlike the competition
- Average looking; There are better looking cards in the same price bracket and while TUF isn’t ASUS’s premium product, it could do with a better aesthetic down the line
The ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX® 4080 OC Edition happens to be positioned in just the right place at the right time as it is currently on sale on Amazon. At nearly $200 off currently on Amazon, it competes directly with Nvidia’s Founders Edition (FE) RTX 4080 which it beats with ease in terms of durability, clock speeds, and significantly better cooling mechanism.
The ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX® 4080 OC Edition comes with a complete vapor chamber as part of its cooling mechanism. This means that the card will be one of the coolest-running RTX 4080s on the market while also sporting dual HDMI 2.1 ports. It does skip on the more elaborate RGB lighting effects that some of its direct competitors offer, but the small TUF logo still does work with ASUS’s Aura Sync software, making it a relatively easy to set up its limited take on RGB especially when you compare it to its higher end (and more costly) Strix alternative from ASUS.
With the TUF RTX 4080 already boosting to at least a very respectable 2625MHz out of the box, the vapor chamber might allow most users to push it quite a bit higher. It does trade performance gains for looks with the TUF not being the first choice for many gamers based on aesthetics alone but in our opinion, that is a fair tradeoff given the price point it currently commands as it takes the crown of the best budget RTX 4080 in the market currently.
Update: With the ASUS TUF offering better value of late thanks to most of its cheaper competitors not exhibiting similar price cuts, coupled with its stellar performance as arguably the best-balanced RTX 4080 offering in terms of price performance, it now features as the top-tier RTX 4080 SKU, dethroning the previous pick of MSI RTX 4080.
MSI GeForce RTX™ 4080 16GB GAMING X TRIO
The Best Alternate Overall RTX 4080 GPU
At The Right Place At The Right Time
$1200 $0 Save $-1200
The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 16GB GAMING X TRIO is an excellent piece of hardware that delivers a stellar performance, above-average clock speeds, and great aesthetics in a package this is only marginally above MSRP for the Nvidia RTX 4080 Founders Edition (FE)
- Brand
- MSI
- Cooling Method
- Air Cooled
- GPU Speed
- 2205MHz
- Interface
- PCI Express 4.0
- Memory
- 16GB GDDR6X
- Power
- 320 W
- Boost Speed
- 2610MHz (MSI Center) / 2595MHz (Gaming/Silent)
- Excellent build quality
- Has Dual-bios support
- Can be tweaked/overclocked quite well
- Better value for money overall than the founders edition
- Looks better than the stock and many lower end 4080 variants
- Does not have a premium vapor chamber like its more expensive Suprim X sibling
The MSI GeForce RTX™ 4080 16GB GAMING X TRIO is a capable entry from MSI that overclocks fairly well with dual bios support in tow. It is relatively well-priced for an aftermarket variant and has the looks to match some of the better-looking RTX 3080 cards while maintaining the ability to be tweaked fairly well to eke out some extra performance without pushing the card too hard.
The MSI GeForce RTX™ 4080 16GB GAMING X TRIO runs quietly and cool while delivering acceptable overclocking headroom at an acceptable price. It does fall short of both MSI’s premium Suprim X and ASUS’s high-end ROG Strix & Strix OC variants in terms of clock speeds, cooling, and design, but the price point it trades at makes it the runner-up contender for the best overall RTX 4080 – overclocking gains are minor across the board and temps are more than respectable for the TRIO even without the premium cooling that the Suprim X brings to the table.
Update: The MSI Gaming X Trio version of the RTX 4080 is still a very respectable GPU on offer currently, offering a mix of RGB lighting, performance and dual BIOS options as pricing on RTX 4080 SKUs gets more competitive, making it a solid mainstay on our list of the best RTX 4080 SKUs we currently recommend to end-users, gamers and productivity professionals alike.
PNY GeForce RTX 4080 16GB XLR8 Gaming GPU
The Best Cheap Non-FE RTX 4080 GPU
Excellent Build Quality meets Excellent Price
$1130 $1180 Save $50
The PNY GeForce RTX 4080 16GB XLR8 Gaming OC GPU is an excellent RTX 4080 GPU that is priced at a discount compared to the bulk of its competition while offering decent performance in tow. It does have relatively tame boost clocks, however, while using a tri-fan air-cooled thermal component to keep temperatures in check.
- Brand
- PNY
- Cooling Method
- Tri-Fan Air Cooling
- GPU Speed
- 2205 MHz
- Interface
- PCI Express 4.0
- Memory
- 16GB GDDR6X
- Power
- 320 W
- Boost Speed
- 2550 MHz
- CUDA Cores
- 9728
- Has a boost clock that is 45 MHz higher than the RTX 4080 Founders edition
- Has an excellent large air cooler on top of a thermal solution that operates quietly while keeping temperatures low
- Has great-looking but subtle RGB lighting effects that outdoes most of its competition with ease
- Is priced much more aggressively than most RTX 4080 variants, making it considerably cheaper than even the FE SKU’s MSRP
- Has slightly lower boost clocks than the competition on our list
The PNY GeForce RTX 4080 16GB XLR8 OC Gaming GPU is an excellent, well-priced RTX 4080 SKU that doesn’t win many performance awards within the RTX 4080 target audience but does offer much better value for an RTX 4080 chip that is $80 cheaper than the founder’s edition MSRP while delivering good-looking ARGB lighting, decent boost clocks with potential for more and an excellent vapor chamber based air-cooled thermal solution that makes it distinctly better than most of its competition.
At the same time, you could argue that the PNY offering is but the start of unofficial price cuts by Nvidia and its AIB partners for a relatively slow RTX 4000 series market even as AMD posted guidance indicating that it was expected slower semiconductor sales across the board, a theme that seemingly also affects Nvidia, where the RTX 4080 is trapped between a much more competent RTX 4070TI in terms of price: performance and downwards pricing pressure from the RTX 4090 itself that sees SKUs trading close to or slightly below their MSRP levels for the first time since their launch.
Update: The PNY GeForce RTX 4080 16GB XLR8 OC Gaming GPU has seen a small price cut since we last looked at it, making it an even-cheaper RTX 4080 option than when we were examined it. It still offers exceptional value compared to most of its alternatives even if it offers lower boost clocks than many of its competitors.
ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Trinity OC
Best Budget-friendly RTX 4080 GPU
Well-built, Conservatively-Clocked Workhorse
$1189 $1300 Save $111
Zotac’s take on the RTX 4080 in the form of the Trinity OC SKU is (relatively) reasonably priced, runs cool, and overclocks well; all these features make it a top contender for our best high-end RTX 4080 SKU even as its limited factory boost clocks make it look like a much tamer GPU than it is.
- Brand
- Zotac
- Cooling Method
- Air-cooled Vapor Chamber
- GPU Speed
- 2205 Mhz
- Interface
- PCI-E 4.0 x16
- Memory
- 16GB GDDR6X
- Power
- 320W
- Boost Speed
- 2520 Mhz
- Comes at the same price as the MSRP of the RTX 4080 Founders Edition
- Has excellent RGB lighting with 5 distinct zones that you can customize
- Comes with an industry-leading 24+4 phase VRM design for the GPU
- Has a custom vapor chamber-based design as part of its offerings
- Has a relatively tame overclock out of the box compared to most 3rd party SKU alternatives
The ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Trinity OC is an excellent alternative RTX 4080 for those of us who aren’t sold on the MSI offering we recommended. With a beefy cooler, somewhat limited boost clocks in tow, and an excellent power delivery mechanism, the Zotac Trinity SKU of the RTX 4080 comes with outstanding RGB lighting with extensive control of as many as 5 zones while being priced at the same MSRP tier that the founders edition is.
As with most RTX 4080/4090 GPUs, size can be an issue for an upgrade to the RTX 4080 and the ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Trinity OC is no exception in this regard, with a large profile that could struggle to fit in some smaller cases. The Zotac offering isn’t the fastest kid on the block, but is still a full RTX 4080 with excellent pricing, great RGB lighting, and build quality that makes it an easy recommendation on our part given its price-to-performance with respect to other RTX 4080 SKUs.
Update: The ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Trinity OC is an excellent take on the RTX 4080 that still happens to trade just below the MSRP for a founder’s edition. It offers decent RGB lighting on offer along with decent clocks, thermals and great power delivery on offer, making it an excellent RTX 4080 SKU to get currently, though Zotac does offer a much better Amp Extreme Edition for only a few dollars more which is also worth considering.
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX® 4080 OC Edition
The Best Performance-Centric RTX 4080 GPU
Premium Power At A Price
$1365 $1550 Save $185
The ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX® 4080 OC Edition brings the Strix’s badge to Nvidia’s RTX 4080 lineup. With what is arguably the best-in-class cooler in the market right now with a design that exudes quiet power, the Strix RTX 4080 is the endgame when it comes to RTX 4080 options
- Brand
- ASUS
- Cooling Method
- Air Cooled Vapor Chamber
- GPU Speed
- 2205 MHz
- Interface
- PCI Express 4.0
- Memory
- 16GB GDDR6X
- Power
- 320W
- Boost Speed
- 2655 MHz OC, 2625 MHz Default
- One of the fastest RTX 4080 units out of the box
- Has some of the best cooling in the market that allows for considerable tweaking potential
- Has excellent 24+4 Phase power delivery that means the GPU can handle pretty much all reasonable overclocking needs while delivering stable, reliable power across the board
- Somewhat pricey versus the competition, including the TUF from ASUS.
- At 3.5 slots wide, this will be a hard fit in most average or ITX-sized builds, if at all.
The ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX® 4080 OC Edition by the virtue of its name can be assumed to be ASUS’s most premium offering in any segment and the same rings true for the RTX 4080 Strix OC that follows the same design philosophy of its higher-end RTX 4090 variant for the most part. With 24+4 phase power delivery, stable power delivery is never a question when it comes to the Strix OC that tops the benchmarks for pretty much every game it runs versus the competition when it comes to comparable RTX 4080s.
This has partly to do with the excellent vapor chamber-centric cooling that has been a mainstay for ASUS’s Strix lineup for the RTX 4000 launch cards which sees the 4080 Strix OC easily push past the 3GHz barrier routinely on multiple titles and staying there with relative ease. As it nears the sub $1500 mark, it wades gingerly into RTX 4090 territory quite fast, but if you want a premium RTX 4080 with performance and looks to match, it doesn’t get much better than the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX® 4080 OC Edition.
Update: The ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX® 4080 OC Edition is arguably the most premium RTX 4080 offering on our list, and it trades blows with MSI’s slightly more expensive premium Suprim X offerings but offers a slightly better PCB design, making it unchanged as our best performance-grade RTX 4080 pick for gaming and productivity alike.
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 4080 Master
The Best-Looking RTX 4080 GPU
With Great Looks Comes Great Build Quality
The Gigabyte Aorus Master RTX 4080 is a beauty to say the least. It comes with an excellent vapor chamber-based design and its Windforce cooling fan system. With the Edge view LCD, you get an excellent-looking window as to how your GPU is doing in real-time which contrasts beautifully with the rest of the GPU’s design. To top it all off, with Dual Bios in play, you can go overclocked or quiet with the press of a button.
- Brand
- Gigabyte
- Cooling Method
- Air Cooled Vapor Chamber
- GPU Speed
- 2205 MHz
- Interface
- PCI Express 4.0
- Memory
- 16GB GDDR6X
- Power
- 320W
- Boost Speed
- 2550 MHz
- Has a comprehensive 4 year warranty for the Aorus Master RTX 4080
- The LCD edge view, a mainstay of Gigabyte’s Aorus Master lineup looks fantastic in contrast to the GPU in both well-lit and dimly-lit scenarios
- Extremely sturdy build quality with protection built in to factor into a long-lasting GPU design
- The factory overclock is somewhat mediocre when it comes to comparable GPUs in the same price bracket which push past 2600MHz easily
- The pricing is a bit curious. There are faster out-of-the-box GPUs available for less and while the Aorus Master is a very good-looking take on Nvidia’s penultimate card this generation, it raises a valid question of value on a GPU that already takes flack for its $1200 MSRP
The Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 Master 16G is a mouthful to say, but it does deliver on its promise to provide one of the best-looking RTX 4080s in the market with mild factory overclocks in tow. Gigabyte’s AORUS Master lineup generally tends to be premium, focused on build quality and looks, and its current RTX 4080 offering check both boxes with ease.
With a comprehensive warranty that covers you for 4 years and a well-utilized LCD edge view function, the Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 Master 16G does offer decent value for money for the sub-$150 premium it asks for when compared to the RTX 4080 Founders Edition (FE) but you do have to question Gigabyte’s reasons for clocking down what is a well-cooled GPU significantly below the competition for a card that can easily take it in custom overclock modes which makes it a curious call from the Aorus team on an otherwise excellent GPU.
Update: Gigabyte’s LCD-display touting AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 Master 16G sees limited availability affect its pricing significantly making its water-cooling based RTX 4080 Waterforce option a much more viable option if aesthetics are your primary concern when picking up what is currently the most expensive RTX 4080 on our list currently.
FAQ:
Q: What is the minimum power supply I should get for an RTX 4080?
A: The RTX 4080 is a highly power-efficient GPU but is also an investment you want to protect. We suggest a high-end Gold-rated PSU that can handle 850W of load. If an RTX 4090 upgrade is on the horizon later, you might want to consider a 1000W PSU as a future-proof purchase.
Q: Should I get the RTX 4080 or wait?
A: The RTX 4080 is an expensive GPU to purchase right now, but it does deliver stellar gaming performance and RT at 4K for most titles making it an excellent contender for your next GPU upgrade. It is the 2nd fastest GPU chip on the market right now and that is not a bad place to be at a time when AMD and Nvidia are releasing their top-heavy RTX 4000 and RX 7000 series GPUs in a bid to capture more market share.
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