The Nvidia RTX 5080 has been a much-maligned graphics card since its launch. It’s a smaller, extra power-hungry GPU than its Ada predecessor, and would not actually supply an entire lot extra silicon than the RTX 4080 Tremendous. Sure, it is ostensibly the identical value, however is barely delivering round 15% greater body charges at 4K, and fewer at decrease resolutions.
Oh boy, I used to be not anticipating this. I’ve not seen this degree of overclocking headroom in a launched GPU in years.
That hasn’t stopped them from all promoting out the moment they went on sale. In any case, the spectacular efficiency of Multi Body Era and its $999 sticker value does make it less expensive than the $2,000+ RTX 5090 and nonetheless capable of supply a wholesome generational uplift in DLSS 4 supporting video games.
I’ve felt fairly uninspired by the second-tier RTX Blackwell GPU, in truth. Will probably be an amazing foundation for high-end gaming PCs going ahead, however in uncooked silicon phrases the needle has barely moved from Ada to Blackwell.
Effectively, I used to be fairly uninspired till I began overclocking this factor. And oh boy, I used to be not anticipating this. I’ve not seen this degree of overclocking headroom in a launched GPU in years. There’s a ton of uncooked efficiency left on the engineering room ground, and it makes what was a reasonably middling efficiency hike over the RTX 4080 Tremendous quite extra telling.
I am seeing over 500 MHz further efficiency to play with, which is giving me virtually one other 10% greater body charges. And all with out actually taxing the facility or thermal efficiency of the Founders Version board.
Since we obtained into the realms of enhance clocks, and good GPUs primarily altering their clock speeds on the fly relying on the thermal and energy headroom obtainable to it, there hasn’t been quite a bit left for overclockers.
Positive, you would bump up the frequency offset a contact, however not often by a significant quantity, particularly to not a degree that might register as something greater than the form of gaming body fee variance you’d see simply from commonplace testing. Even manufacturing facility overclocked playing cards barely provided something notably thrilling. Go have a look at an overclocked Asus RTX 4080 Tremendous and also you’re fortunate when you get one other 90 MHz out of it.
What’s completely different right here, with the RTX 5080, is that even these manufacturing facility overclocked playing cards are providing one thing completely different. The Asus ROG Astral RTX 5080 is providing a +173 MHz overclock and the Gigabyte Aorus RTX 5080 a +188 MHz overclock. We have not seen that degree of confidence from a manufacture on the subject of their OC playing cards in a protracted whereas.
Now, as a lot as folks would possibly recommend I’ve received the silicon lottery—and as a lot as Nvidia needs to level out that customers shouldn’t anticipate each board to have the ability to hit the identical 0.5 GHz enhance clock bump that I am seeing—it is apparent to me there may be a number of headroom within the GB 203 GPU proper right here.
I’m not some tremendous particular overclocker. Although I’ve been professionally messing round with GPUs for the perfect a part of 20 years, I’m a really primary overclocker. MSI Afterburner is my jam, and I do not go too deep. I did mess around with the OC Scanner, which tries to tailor the voltage curve to the capabilities of your GPU, and that may give you greater secure efficiency, but it surely did not actually transfer the needle an excessive amount of with the RTX 5080.
Simply going buckwild with the MHz sliders, nonetheless, positive did. With the Black Fantasy Wukong benchmark operating, I used to be rapidly capable of undergo the gears and hit a stable +500 MHz offset. That wasn’t fairly giving the three.1 GHz clock I needed, nonetheless, so I squeezed the GPU some extra and hit +525 MHz.
It very a lot wouldn’t go to +550 MHz, although. That manner lay catastrophic failure, black screens, and a GPU that was quite tentative about going fairly so excessive once more after I rebooted. Having let it lie for a wee whereas I then went again to +525 MHz and it has remained secure since.
I used to be quite cavalier with the reminiscence clocks and went all the best way as much as +1,000 MHz, the place I simply drew the road out of worry.
As you may see, the efficiency improve is there. Just about a ten% bump at 4K and never far off at 1440p (which is vital, as when you’re operating DLSS at High quality mode at 4K that is the decision you are actually operating).
Mix that with the gen-on-gen bump of the RTX 5080 over the RTX 4080 Tremendous and also you’re now speaking a couple of 25% improve as an alternative of a 15% bump. That is a much more compelling determine, and makes the RTX Blackwell card a extra tempting possibility, particularly because it’s the identical value and in addition comes with Multi Body Gen as an additional efficiency panacea.
After all, it is nonetheless properly under the 50%+ body fee improve you noticed going from the RTX 3080 as much as the RTX 4080, but it surely’s a greater look than the second-tier RTX Blackwell card has introduced to this point, and far nearer to the 30% enhance the RTX 5090 will get over the RTX 4090. And it additionally really delivers a number of events the place the RTX 5080 is ready to match the uncooked rendering energy of that high Ada GPU.
It is barely shifted the thermals or efficiency calls for of the GPU.
One different factor that has impressed me, and made me really feel like that is greater than only a numbers recreation, however an overclock I might legitimately dwell with fulltime, is that it is barely shifted the thermals or efficiency calls for of the GPU. I used to be half anticipating an exponential improve to get that further 10%, which might have defined why Nvidia had been so conservative on the enhance clocks. However no, it is barely modified.
Fairly why there may be a lot efficiency being left behind as commonplace, I am undecided. I solely have this one RTX 5080 Founders Version handy proper now, so it will likely be attention-grabbing to see what different producers’ playing cards ship on that entrance, however I’d anticipate to nonetheless see some efficiency in there to play with.
What’s attention-grabbing right here is that the upcoming RTX 5070 Ti additionally makes use of the identical GB 203 GPU. Positive, it will be a reasonably lower down model, but it surely’s additionally obtained a default enhance clock properly under that of the RTX 5080. If there is identical headroom in that card it might properly be the overclocking king of the higher mid-range.
Nonetheless, for now, I will bask within the glory of profitable the silicon lottery. And keep it up making it run Soccer Supervisor 2024 in any case. I imply, it will should hold doing that for some time now the 2025 model’s been cancelled, eh 🫗.
