Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super is a graphics card designed to deliver 4K gaming performance in recent video games. This Super variant boasts an additional 5% of compute units and a 3% increase in memory bandwidth, all within a Full Black design.
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Introduction
The GeForce RTX 4080 Super is the third Super model in Nvidia’s RTX 40 series in early 2024. The GeForce RTX 4070 Super offered performance improvements and positioned itself competitively, accompanied by a price drop for the GeForce RTX 4070. However, the other Super models did not see significant performance advancements.
For instance, the RTX 4070 Ti Super only gained 4GB of video memory to align with market trends, resulting in a relatively modest performance increase. Similarly, the RTX 4080 Super only sees a minor bump in its specifications. The only positive aspect for this model is a significant price drop of $200, as the RTX 4080 Super is officially priced at $999, compared to the $1,199 price of the RTX 4080.
Technical Details of Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super
From a technical standpoint, the GeForce RTX 4080 Super utilizes the same GPU as the GeForce RTX 4080, featuring an AD103 chip fabricated on a 4nm process by TSMC and housing a staggering 45.9 billion transistors. This time, the GPU is fully utilized with all units. It includes seven graphics processing clusters (GPCs) with 40 TPCs, compared to 38 for the GeForce RTX 4080. The number of traditional rendering units (CUDA) increases from 9728 to 10240, representing a 5% increase. This boosts the chip’s power from 48 TFLOPS to 52 TFLOPS.
The base operating frequency gains 90 MHz, reaching 2295 MHz, while the boost operating frequency remains stagnant at 2505 MHz.
The video memory section sees marginal changes, still offering 16GB of GDDR6X video memory on a 256-bit bus. They are now clocked at 2875 MHz, compared to 2800 MHz for the initial version of the GeForce RTX 4080, resulting in a bandwidth increase to 737 GB/s from the previous 717 GB/s.
Finally, the GPU’s TDP remains at 320W, indicating that the changes made are marginal. Nvidia claims an average power consumption of 246W during gaming for the GeForce RTX 4080 at launch, with the manufacturer indicating an average gaming power consumption of 250W.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super: Review Procedure
For our review platform, we use an Asus TUF Gaming LCII 360 ARGB cooling system and an Intel Core i9-14900K processor. The motherboard for LGA1700 processors is an Asus TUF Gaming Z790-Pro Wifi, housing 2 x 16GB of DDR5-5200 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB memory. Finally, an Asus TUF 1000W power supply provides the necessary power to drive this setup.
All graphics cards are reviewed on Windows 11 with the latest game patches and drivers.
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Performance in Games
1440p
Comparing Performances:
Global Performance Index
Rasterization Performance Index
Ray Tracing Performance Index
Scaling Performance Index (FSR/DLSS)
A Plague’s Tale Requiem
Alan Wake II
Assassin’s Creed: Mirage
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Cyberpunk 2077
Forspoken
Jedi Survivor
Returnal
Starfield
WRC 2023
At 1440p, the GeForce RTX 4080 Super achieves nearly the same performance as the GeForce RTX 4080. In rasterized content only, neither card stands out on our panel of 10 games. Ray tracing needs to be activated to observe a slight advantage for the Super, with a 2% gain. However, enabling DLSS reduces this gain to 1%.
Against the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, the GeForce RTX 4080 Super is 6% less performant with rasterized content only. Activating ray tracing gives the advantage back to the GeForce with a 23% difference. Enabling FSR or DLSS reduces this gap to 6%, still in favor of the GeForce RTX 4080 Super.
4K
Comparing Performances:
4K Performance Index
Rasterization Performance Index at 4K
Ray Tracing Performance Index at 4K
Scaling Performance Index (FSR/DLSS) at 4K
A Plague’s Tale Requiem
Alan Wake II
Assassin’s Creed: Mirage
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Cyberpunk 2077
Forspoken
Jedi Survivor
Returnal
Starfield
WRC 2023
At 4K, the observations are largely similar. Compared to its predecessor, the RTX 4080 Super is 2% faster in rasterization, 4% with ray tracing activated, and only 1% with DLSS.
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX lags behind the RTX 4080 Super in 4K. With rasterized content, the former maintains an advantage with a 6% higher framerate. Activating ray tracing shifts the advantage in favor of the GeForce, with a 23% higher framerate. However, after scaling (FSR/DLSS), the gap reduces to 11% in favor of Nvidia’s card.
NVIDIA’s Ecosystem
Since the release of the GeForce RTX 40 series, Nvidia has expanded the features of its graphics cards. The company offers RTX Remix, an application that allows developers to easily convert classic games to ray tracing rendering. Additionally, VSR is now available, smoothing videos similarly to DLSS in gaming, accessible in browsers and VLC. In September 2023, Nvidia introduced DLSS 3.5 with the Ray Reconstruction option, enabling ray-traced rendering with fewer resources, now complemented by Frame Generation.
Other applications remain, such as the Broadcast tool suite, which now includes recording and streaming in AV1, Reflex for reducing latency in compatible games, and GeForce Experience for managing gaming libraries and driver updates.
Noise
The GeForce RTX 4080 Super provided by Nvidia, a Founders Edition model, maintains an identical design to the GeForce RTX 4080, except for the color change, featuring two large fans to circulate air through the casing. The fan below the card draws in fresh air (in a typical horizontal setup) to expel it above near the processor. If you have a CPU cooler to cool the latter, it will draw in the hot air expelled by the graphics card. Ideally, an AiO (water cooling) cooling system would be preferable for your processor.
During gameplay, the GPU did not exceed 65°C, averaging 61°C across our panel of games at 4K. The casing of our Founders Edition model remains relatively cool, not exceeding 52°C.
Once again, the noise levels of this model are relatively low. We measured 38.9 dB during gameplay, a reasonable value that allows the GeForce RTX 4080 Super Founders Edition to blend in seamlessly with a complete setup.
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super Power Consumption
The average power consumption across our panel of games, regardless of settings, is 274W at 4K. We even reached a maximum of 305W on Alan Wake 2. This represents an 8% increase compared to its predecessor. However, it is still far from the 335W recorded on the Radeon RX 7900 XTX (+22%).
Our Founders Edition model features a 12VHPWR port for its electron supply. An adapter is provided in the box for users whose power supplies do not have the required connector. Partner models will also feature this connector.
To ensure stable power delivery, Nvidia recommends a 750W power supply. However, a 650W power supply with 80Plus Gold or higher certifications should suffice.
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Pros and Cons of Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super
Pros
- 4K Performance.
- DLSS 3.
- Ray tracing performance.
- Efficient cooling system.
- HDMI 2.1a video output.
- Nvidia software ecosystem.
- Excellent build quality.
- Fan stops spinning when the card is idle.
Cons
- Requires a well-ventilated case.
- Cooling system can interfere with air CPU coolers.
- Power connector in the middle of the card.
Conclusion
The GeForce RTX 4080 Super is an excellent graphics card for 4K gaming overall. It delivers outstanding performance regardless of rendering type, with lower power consumption compared to the competition. Owners of an RTX 4080 will likely pass on this upgrade, while owners of older generations of graphics cards may find this model enticing.
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