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

F1 2022

A Plaque Tale: Requiem

Microsoft Flight Simulator

0

40

80

120

160

200

240

0

40

80

120

160

200

240

RTX 4090 79

106

74

RTX 4080 16 GB 57

55

66

RTX 4080 12 GB 46

42

52

RTX 3090 Ti 49

50

53

RTX 3080 37

38

43

RTX 3070 27

29

32

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB & RTX 4080 12 GB Performance 4K DLSS

F1 2022

A Plaque Tale-Requiem

Microsoft Flight Simulator

0

40

80

120

160

200

240

0

40

80

120

160

200

240

RTX 4090 184

175

152

RTX 4080 16 GB 143

128

147

RTX 4080 12 GB 113

106

121

RTX 3090 Ti 99

91

75

RTX 3080 77

70

71

RTX 3070 59

53

62

To sum things up:

RTX 4090 vs RTX 4080 16 GB at Native 4K = 50% FasterRTX 4080 16 GB vs RTX 4080 12 GB at Native 4K = 28% FasterRTX 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 - 320WNVIDIA 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 - 285WNVIDIA 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: