The RTX 5090 is heading our way soon and while it boasts some beefy specs, it sure does come at a eye-watering price. Sure, the RTX 5090 seems to be in a league of its own, but how large is the gulf between that and popular current cards like the RTX 4080 super?
We were impressed with how the RTX 4080 Super performed in our testing, and for many it’s a solid card for 4K gaming and productivity, so we’re interested to see how the 5090 compares – at least on paper, while we wait to get our hands on the card itself.
When we do receive the card, it will run the gauntlet in our testing lab, and we’ll be updating this article with real world performance – but for now, let’s take a look at the specs side by side, and break down the key differences between the two.
Spec comparison
Here’s how the two compare regarding specifications and what they offer, with a summary of what that means for each card and how they compare. Being in different generations, there are some fundamental improvements in their makeup, but there are some other spec changes apart from the chip itself. So here’s how the two compare on some of the key specs.
| Specifications | RTX 5090 | RTX 4080 Super |
|---|---|---|
| CUDA Cores | 21,760 | 10,240 |
| Base clock speed | 2.01 GHz | 2.29 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.41 GHz | 2.55 GHz |
| Memory | 32GB GDDR7 | 16GB GDDR6X |
| Memory interface | 512-bit | 256-bit |
| Bandwidth | 1.79 TB/s | 736GB/s |
| TGP | 575W | 320W |
CUDA cores
The brains of the GPU, the CUDA cores, do all the hard work of crunching numbers, creating the frames portrayed on your monitor, and completing the other tasks put to it. Being the proprietary tech for Nvidia, it has a great deal of power, and there’s quite a big difference in count between the two GPUs.
Not only does the 5090 more than double the count in the 4080 Super, but it also has improvements from the Blackwell architecture. Utilizing a newer, improved TSMC 4nm process to create it, it can have a more dense die with performance upgrades. But even without, the 5090 has 21,760 cores, overshadowing the 10,240 found on the RTX 4080 Super and having a lead in power and capabilities.
Clock speeds
Here’s one where the 4080 Super can boast about winning, and its clock speeds are higher than the RTX 5090. It’s not by that much, but it has a base clock of 2.29GHz, which is 280MHz higher than the 5090, and a boost clock reaches 2.55GHz over the 2.41GHz that the 50 series reaches.
These relate to how fast the cores on the graphics card process the data, with higher being better. Overclocks on the GPU can be pushed beyond the factory setting. But by default, the 40 card leads the way, even if it’s by a small amount.
Memory
Regarding VRAM on the cards, Nvidia has also vastly improved the capability and capacity for the new flagship. Splashing an impressive 32GB of GDDR7 onto it, there is plenty of memory for any tasks you chuck and loading any textures in the buffer. Not only that but it has a 512-bit memory bus allowing for a whopping 1.79TB/s of bandwidth, pushing those AI capabilities even more in a consumer card.
In comparison, the 16GB of GDDR6X on the 4080 Super is just half of what the 5090 has to offer and with a lower bandwidth. Dropping it down to 736GB/s cuts the bandwidth by more than half, which will quickly impact the performance capabilities of the card alongside the lower core count.
Power
Another advantage of the 4080 Super is the lower power amount required to power it. In fact, it’s rated for 255W less, as it is rated for 320W of board power. Whilst the 5090 jumps up all the way up to 575W, a massive power requirement that is not going to be cheap to run.
It will also have quite an impact on the power requirements of your gaming PC, as you have to consider the best PSU to fit it with. All of these will affect your budget and consideration of which to fit; not an insignificant decision and one that will definitely need some mulling over.
Price difference
Another big factor is how much each card costs; here, there’s also a rather big discrepancy between the two. The RTX 5090 jumps up rather high in price, especially compared to the RTX 4080 Super. It jumps up to $2,000, doubling what the RTX 4080 Super cost with an MSRP of $1000, already lowering the price of the original 4080, which was already expensive.
That is quite a shocking price since the RTX 4090 price was already so high, but Nvidia keeps pushing it even higher. Along with the high power requirements, it’s neither a cheaper card to buy or run.
Final words
Looking at the differences between the two, there’s quite a drastic change but also quite a price difference. Unless you need all the extra cores and memory and even have the higher power requirements of the RTX 5090, then the RTX 4080 Super just makes that bit more sense to go for.
For gaming put the money into a better CPU or the rest of the system and get a better value for it. But as always, the high spec of the card makes it all the more appealing, too, and it has plenty of use cases beyond gaming. Even the likes of DLSS 4 will be limited to the 50 series so you might not want to miss out on the extras.
