The Nvidias RTX 4080 GPU comes in two versions, as youre likely aware, and Team Green has just presented some benchmarks which are a starting point for demonstrating the relative performance that these graphics cards will deliver.
Both the RTX 4080 16GB and the 12GB lower-tier model were identified in three games A Plague Tale: Requiem, F1 22, and Microsoft Flight Simulator, all of which are among the first titles with DLSS 3 support.
In those games, the RTX 4080 16GB is up 21%, 27%, and 21% faster than the 12GB graphics card respectively, (about 23% faster on average) in a quadratic resolution (rendering performance, with DLSS switched on), and in a PC with an Intel Core i9-12900K processor.
Benchmarks for current-gen graphics cards are also included, and we see that in the RTX 3080 vs. the RTX 3070, the former is 29 percent, 30%, and 15% faster in those same tests, averaging 25% faster.
Nvidias layering and naming strategies are discussed in this analysis.
Why is it possible to consider the difference between the RTX 3080 and 3070 here? Well, with the RTX 3080 being 25% faster than the 3070, we can compare it to the RTX 4080 16GB versus 12GB, with the former a 23% faster on average.
Which is to say that the difference between the two RTX 4080 GPUs is almost the same as the RTX 3080 and 3070 kilo (at least in this three-game set of benchmarks)
The specs of the RTX 4080 12GB are considerably reduced; it actually uses a different GPU than the 16GB flavor, a chip that was expected to power the RTX 4070, and it was then ranked up to be a 4080 variant late in the day. Another advantage that the above comparison to the above 3000 cards rather reinforces.
Of course, we must be aware that the 4K resolution is in which the more powerful RTX 4080 will shine brighter, with less grunt required from the GPU than lesser resolutions. However, these limitations seem to highlight the performance gap between the two 4080 models, and how the lower-end offering appears to be positioned in the performance envelope of a prospective (should-have-been?) RTX 4070.
We find that the RTX 4080 12GB is really needing a boost from DLSS 3 to outdo the RTX 3090 Ti without a frame rate booster, which is pretty slow than the current fastest Ampere card. (Remember, the 3090 Ti can only use DLSS 2, which doesn''t increase it as much as DLSS 3, as the 4080 Ti benefits from when upscaling technology comes into play, but it won''t be the norm.)
If the RTX 4080 16GB was originally designed as an original model, then it''s in line (more or less) with the performance differences here. However, the price difference pinned on the RTX 4080 12GB is still causing quite the controversy online, with the most affordable initial Lovelace offering being far from actually priced as such. But, then, if this model had been an original plan, that satisfaction would have been compounded (to say the least considering the RTX 4080 12GB is
Nvidias'' big rival deems it to continue selling RTX 3000 models as a multibillion-dollar acquisition, but Team Green insists that pricing should be avoided as we move deeper into what appears to be more difficult and uncertain times. In addition, Team Red will relish the opportunity on pricing, which we hope we will trust.