The RTX 4080 is here and you can grab the card now — if you’re quick enough. While the RTX 4080 will almost certainly sell out like the RTX 4090, that doesn’t mean you should grab the first card you find in stock.
I tested three RTX 4080 models to see if there were any big differences in performance, power, and heat: Nvidia’s Founder’s Edition design, PNY’s XLR8 Verto Epic-X, and MSI’s Suprim X. While there aren’t any big differences in performance, the more expensive models like the Suprim X may offer small advantages beyond performance.
You can buy the RTX 4080 models today
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
There are currently several RTX 4080 models available, but we could see more variations as time goes on. Besides EVGA, all the big names offer cards: Asus, MSI, PNY, Zotac and Gigabyte, to name a few. There are also models from Galax, Colorful, Gainward and Inno3D, although they are not as common in the US
Here are all the RTX 4080 models we spotted in stock on launch day:
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— 1200 dollars
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— 1200 dollars
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— 1200 dollars
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— 1200 dollars
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– $1,240
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– $1,270
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– $1,280
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— 1300 dollars
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– $1,325
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– $1,350
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– 1400 dollars
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– 1400 dollars
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– $1,550
While I wasn’t able to test all 15 models listed above (let alone a dozen or more from other board partners), I did get three RTX 4080s for comparison: Nvidia’s Founder’s Edition design, the PNY RTX 4080 XLR8 Verto Epic -X, and the MSI RTX 4080 Suprim X. This gives us a reference design, a typical partner board card at list price, and an overclocked model for comparison.
Performance and overclocking
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
There aren’t huge performance differences between the RTX 4080 models, so you don’t have to worry too much about that when choosing a card. Even overclocked models will produce the same performance in most games, as you can see in the table above.
The most expensive card in the lineup, MSI’s Suprim X, produced an average of half a frame more in its stock configuration. When I overclocked three cards, I saw the same behavior. The PNY card had an extra frame, but that’s not a real clue.
Synthetic benchmarks show greater differences. In both 3DMark Time Spy and Port Royal, the MSI Suprim X outperformed the other two models (although only by a maximum of 4%). What’s surprising is that PNY’s card ranks last, even compared to the Founder’s Edition design.
When pushed with a mild overclock, the Founder’s Edition design actually outperforms the Suprim X, albeit only by a small margin. The PNY card also did not undertake overclocking, allowing the Founder’s Edition design to enjoy a 5% advantage in Time Spy.
For my overclock, I pushed an additional 115MHz to the cores, as well as 300MHz to the memory speed. Translated clock speed, which I’ll cover in a later section, but that doesn’t always manifest itself as real-world performance.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Although some heavily overclocked models like the Asus ROG Strix could provide slightly better performance, that extra performance mostly comes at the back of the cooler. In short, don’t be put off by the 5% difference between the Founder’s Edition and the PNY card — it’s a small difference that doesn’t show up in actual games.
If anything, cards that offer more efficient ways of working are the best. The MSI Suprim X, for example, offers a BIOS switch for Silent and Gaming modes, depending on what you’re doing. The RTX 4080 rarely goes to the full 320 W of power, and my data shows that the most efficient is slightly lower.
Power, clock speeds and heat
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
The bigger differences between the RTX 4080 models come down to temperature and clock speed, though surprisingly not power. Nvidia has developed a reputation for inconsistent power requirements with its RTX 30 series GPUs, but the RTX 4080 is incredibly efficient. Even with a moderate overclock, the card hovers around 280W to 290W, which seems to be the sweet spot for efficiency.
Of the three I tested, the Suprim X actually kept the same power consumption both stock and overclocked cyberpunk 2077, despite offering higher clock speeds. The PNY model was allowed to boost the most, although those few extra watts didn’t translate into performance.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
In terms of clock speed, all three models gave basically the same results. What’s interesting is that even the Founder’s Edition model went somewhere around 200MHz higher than the specified boost speed. That difference is usually what you’d see with partner cards, but Nvidia’s first-party offerings have gotten more aggressive with factory overclocking over the last few generations. MSI’s Suprim X was the clocked winner, but it’s hard to call it a win considering how close my results are.
Where Suprim X takes a dominant victory is thermals. Both stock and overclocked, it maintained 58 degrees Celsius on my test bench. That’s a 5 degree advantage over the Founder’s Edition cooler design and easily the biggest difference between the stock design and what you get with the board partner card.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
In past generations, it was worth spending a little more money for a factory overclocked GPU for top performance. High-end models from recent generations don’t see much benefit from clock speed increases, however, mainly because the cards are allowed to overclock themselves. For cards like Gigabyte Eagle and Gigabyte Eagle Overclocked, spending an extra $40 won’t translate into extra performance, so it’s better to focus on design and cooler over clock speed.
You won’t get a huge clock boost anyway. The Eagle, for example, has a 15MHz overclock. Even the Asus ROG Strix, which is the most expensive RTX 4080 I could find, only comes with a 30MHz boost to the default clock speed.
Prices
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
The RTX 4080 lists for $1,200, and there are plenty of partner cards around that price. The Founder’s Edition design costs $1,200, as does the PNY XLR8 I tested. The MSI Suprim X, however, costs $1,400, and some models can go above $1,500.
For the price, the PNY XLR8 is a great option, assuming you prefer its design over the Founder’s Edition model. PNY offers its own overclocking utility where you can adjust the RGB lighting on the card, adding a little charm to your machine.
Spending mostly buys you a nicer refrigerator. The Suprim X has a slight advantage in performance, and this is mainly due to the massive cooler. It also comes with a dual BIOS switch, a metal GPU support bracket and a mouse pad. These are small extras, but they justify the slightly higher price.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
MSI is not the only one either. The $1,400 Zotac AMP Extreme comes with GPU support, dual BIOS, and even a port for an external RGB strip. Similarly, the $1,550 Asus ROG Strix comes with a support bracket as well as two PWM fan ports, allowing you to set a custom fan curve on the fan case based on your GPU.
Those extras are the reason to spend more on the RTX 4080, not the extra performance. Unless you’re into extreme GPU overclocking, all RTX 4080 models should perform at the same level.
Which RTX 4080 to buy?
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Most people will opt for one of the various $1200 RTX 4080 models available. I agree with the design of the Founder’s Edition, but I also like the extra lighting on PNY’s XLR8. However, it depends on your budget. At $1,200, spending even $50 or $100 more might be too much.
If you can stretch your budget a bit, the MSI Suprim X is a great card. The design is fantastic and comes with the extras you’d expect from a top-of-the-line model. The dual BIOS is what stands out to me, as the RTX 4080 rarely needs to run at full speed to achieve maximum performance.
The most important thing is to spend extra for the extras brought by board partners such as MSI, Asus and Zotac, not for better performance.
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn