Yesterday, NVIDIA published brand new gaming performance benchmarks of the GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB & RTX 4080 12 GB graphics cards. Based on the results, there's a huge gap between each of the three GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Is Up To 60% Faster Than RTX 3090 Ti, and RTX 4080 12 GB Is Up To 30% Faster As Per Official Gaming Benchmarks
The benchmarks cover three games but show us comparisons of the GeForce RTX 40 series cards against the RTX 30 series offerings. We have already seen how well the GeForce RTX 4090 performs in games, delivering almost 2x the gains without DLSS and up to 4x gains with DLSS 3 enabled but eyes are now set upon the performance of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB & 12 GB variants.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB & RTX 4080 12 GB Performance 4K Native
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB & RTX 4080 12 GB Performance 4K DLSS
To sum things up:
- RTX 4090 vs RTX 4080 16 GB at Native 4K = 50% Faster
- RTX 4080 16 GB vs RTX 4080 12 GB at Native 4K = 28% Faster
- RTX 4080 12 GB vs RTX 3090 Ti at Native 4K = 11% Slower
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB & 12 GB Versus RTX 3090 Ti In F1 2022
The performance numbers shared by NVIDIA give us a first look at both native and DLSS 3 gaming performance. Starting with F1 2022 at 4K & Ray tracing enabled, we see that the RTX 4080 16 GB is 16% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti with DLSS disabled and 44% faster with DLSS 3 enabled. The RTX 4080 12 GB is 6% slower than the RTX 3090 Ti at native 4K and 14% faster with DLSS 3 enabled. It also looks like the gap between the RTX 4080 16 GB & 12 GB models is quite significant which will explain the massive price difference. In F1 2022, the RTX 4080 16 GB is 24% faster at native & 27% faster with DLSS 3 enabled.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB & 12 GB Versus RTX 3090 Ti In A Plague Tale: Requiem
Moving over to A Plague Tale: Requiem, we see that the 4080 16 GB is 9% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti and RTX 4080 16 GB is 16% slower than the same card at native 4K with RT off. With DLSS 3 on, the cards are 41% and 16% faster than the 3090 Ti. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB is also a whole 30% faster than the 12 GB variant at native and 21% faster with DLSS 3 enabled.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB & 12 GB Versus RTX 3090 Ti In Microsoft Flight Simulator
In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB is 24% faster while the RTX 4080 12 GB is 1% slower than the RTX 3090 Ti at native 4K resolution. With DLSS 3 enabled, the cards gain a 94% and 60% boost over the 3090 Ti, respectively. Once again, the 4080 16 GB is 26% faster at 4K native and 21% faster with DLSS enabled versus the 12 GB variant.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB 'Official' Specifications
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB graphics card is expected to utilize a cut-down AD103-300 GPU configuration with 9,728 cores or 76 SMs enabled of the total 84 units whereas the previous configuration offered 80 SMs or 10,240 cores. While the full GPU comes packed with 64 MB of L2 cache and up to 224 ROPs, the RTX 4080 might end up with 48 MB of L2 cache and lower ROPs too due to its cut-down design. The card is expected to be based on the PG136/139-SKU360 PCB. The graphics card is said to offer a peak clock rate of 2505 MHz.
As for memory specs, the GeForce RTX 4080 is expected to rock 16 GB GDDR6X capacities that are said to be adjusted at 22.5 Gbps speeds across a 256-bit bus interface. This will provide up to 720 GB/s of bandwidth. This is still a tad bit slower than the 760 GB/s bandwidth offered by the RTX 3080 since it comes with a 320-bit interface but a lowly 10 GB capacity. To compensate for the lower bandwidth, NVIDIA could be integrating a next-gen memory compression suite to make up for the 256-bit interface.
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB "Official" TBP - 320W
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB "Official" TBP - 350W
For power, the TBP is now set to be rated at 340W, a 20W increase from the previous 320W spec that we got. This brings the TBP to the same ballpark as the existing RTX 3080 graphics card (up to 350W). The maximum BIOS TGP is said to be rated at 516W. Now it is not known whether the other RTX 40 series graphics cards will also be getting the faster GDDR6X memory treatment but we know that Micron has commenced full mass production of up to 24 Gbps GDDR6X memory modules so they have to go somewhere.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 12 GB 'Official' Specifications
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 will also feature a 12 GB variant that is expected to utilize the AD104-400 GPU configuration with 7,680 cores or 60 SMs enabled which is the full-fat SKU. The GPU will be packing 48 MB of L2 cache and features a 192-bit bus interface so that's why we are getting up to 12 GB of GDDR6X capacities. The memory is said to be running at 21 Gbps speeds for a memory bandwidth of 504 GB/s. The card is said to be clocked at a 2610 MHz boost clock however the peak frequency will be higher.
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 12 GB "Official" TBP - 285W
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10 GB "Official" TBP - 320W
For power, the TBP is now set to be rated at 285W which is a 35W decrease versus the RTX 3080 10 GB model. The card is expected to offer better performance than the RTX 3080 but given the specs cut over the 4080 16 GB, there will be a big gap between both models. The maximum BIOS TGP is said to be rated at 366W.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series Official Specs:
| Graphics Card Name | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU Name | Ada Lovelace AD102-300 | Ada Lovelace AD102-250 | Ada Lovelace AD103-300 | Ada Lovelace AD104-400 | Ada Lovelace AD104-250 | Ada Lovelace AD106-350 | Ada Lovelace AD107-400 |
| Process Node | TSMC 4N | TSMC 4N | TSMC 4N | TSMC 4N | TSMC 4N | TSMC 4N | TSMC 4N |
| Die Size | 608mm2 | 608mm2 | 378.6mm2 | 294.5mm2 | 294.5mm2 | 190.0mm2 | 146.0mm2 |
| Transistors | 76 Billion | 76 Billion | 45.9 Billion | 35.8 Billion | 35.8 Billion | 22.9 Billion | TBD |
| CUDA Cores | 16384 | 14592 | 9728 | 7680 | 5888 | 4352 | 3072 |
| TMUs / ROPs | 512 / 176 | TBD | 320 / 112 | 240 / 80 | 184 / 64 | 136 / 48 | TBD |
| Tensor / RT Cores | 512 / 128 | 456 / 128 | 304 / 76 | 240 / 60 | 184 / 46 | 136 / 34 | TBD |
| L2 Cache | 72 MB | 72 MB | 64 MB | 48 MB | 36 MB | 32 MB | 24 MB |
| Base Clock | 2230 MHz | 2280 MHz | 2210 MHz | 2310 MHz | 1920 MHz | 2310 MHz | 1830 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 2520 MHz | 2520 MHz | 2510 MHz | 2610 MHz | 2475 MHz | 2535 MHz | 2460 MHz |
| FP32 Compute | 83 TFLOPs | TBD | 49 TFLOPs | 40 TFLOPs | 29 TFLOPs | 22 TFLOPs | 15 TFLOPs |
| RT TFLOPs | 191 TFLOPs | TBD | 113 TFLOPs | 82 TFLOPs | 67 TFLOPs | 51 TFLOPs | 35 TFLOPs |
| Tensor-TOPs | 1321 TOPs | TBD | 780 TOPs | 641 TOPs | 466 TOPs | 353 TOPs | 242 TOPs |
| Memory Capacity | 24 GB GDDR6X | 24 GB GDDR6X | 16 GB GDDR6X | 12 GB GDDR6X | 12 GB GDDR6X | 8-16 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 384-bit | 384-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit | 192-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit |
| Memory Speed | 21.0 Gbps | 21.0 Gbps | 23.0 Gbps | 21.0 Gbps | 21.0 Gbps | 18.0 Gbps | 17.0 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 1008 GB/s | 1008 GB/s | 736 GB/s | 504 GB/s | 504 GB/s | 288 GB/s (554 GB/s Effective) | 272 GB/s (453 GB/s Effective) |
| TBP | 450W | 425W | 320W | 285W | 200W | 160-165W | 115W |
| Price (MSRP / FE) | $1599 US / 1949 EU | 12,999 RMB (China-Only) | $1199 US / 1469 EU | $799 US | $599 US | $399-$499 US | $299 US |
| Price (Current) | $1599 US / 1859 EU | 12,999 RMB (China-Only) | $1199 US / 1399 EU | $799 US | $599 US | $399-$499 US | $299 US |
| Launch (Availability) | 12th October 2022 | 28th December 2023 | 16th November 2022 | 5th January 2023 | 13th April 2023 | 24th May / 18th July 2023 | 29th June 2023 |
In terms of performance, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB will have a bigger uplift versus the RTX 4080 12 GB. The 4080 12 GB will still be around 1.5 to 2.0x faster than the RTX 3080 Ti but its the RTX 4080 16 GB that will push things beyond 3X.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB and RTX 4080 12 GB graphics cards will be launching in November and be priced at $1199 US and $899 US, respectively.
