The Ultimate 4K Experience: A Review of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super

At a glanceExpert’s Rating ProsSuperb and 1440p performance$200 cheaper than weaker non-Super versionExcellent power efficiency and ray tracingGreat creative chops, dual AV1 encodersFounders Edition is cool, quiet, and gorgeousConsMassive16-pin power adapter is short and uglyStill priced highOur VerdictNVIDIA’s RTX 4080 gets a small performance boost and a big price cut for this Super-fied variant. The cheaper GeForce RTX 4080 Super instantly upsets its rivals and becomes the best modern 4K graphics card under $1,000. First, the RTX 4070 Super added 15 to 20 percent more performance to better fight AMD’s Radeon RX 7800 XT rival. Then, the RTX 4070 Ti Super upgraded the original’s memory system to better run games at 4K. The biggest problem with the original RTX 4080? Its price. While the new GeForce RTX 4080 Super indeed offers some small speed increases, Nvidia once again aimed to plug the original’s weak spot. The RTX 4080 Super costs $999, a $200 improvement over the vanilla version (which is being discontinued). Nvidia also increased the Boost Clock speed from 2.51GHz to 2.55GHz, and nudged the memory clock speed upwards as well.Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super specs and featuresThe GeForce RTX 4080 Super still uses the same AD103 graphics die that powered the original 4080, but the full-fat version. The real draw here is the price cut. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super supports all the modern NVIDIA features that can push performance even higher, such as DLSS 3.5, Frame Generation, the latency-reducing NVIDIA Reflex, G-Sync monitors, and more. Nvidia’s Founders Edition design largely mirrors that of the original, from the (girthy) dimensions to the 16-pin 12VHPWR cable to the output setup: one HDMI 2.1, three DisplayPort 1.4a connections. The most notable change here is the color scheme, as the Super variants embrace a gorgeous blacked-out aesthetic with strong Darth Vader vibes. Nvidia’s custom cooler always impressed and it’s no different this time around. Our test system Adam Patrick Murray, the smiling face of PCWorld on YouTube, performed all the following benchmarks on a custom-built system, using the latest publicly available drivers for all GPUs except the RTX 4080 Super itself. We’re comparing the new $999 RTX 4080 Super against the original $1,200 RTX 4080 Super, the $999 Radeon RX 7900 XTX, and Nvidia’s step-down RTX 4070 Ti. Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super performance benchmarks Let’s start at 4K resolution, as that’s the most demanding common scenario for these ultra-high-end graphics cards, then look separately at 1440p performance. The RTX 4080 Super and Radeon RX 7900 XTX trade blows at both resolutions; Nvidia wins big in some titles, AMD wins big in some others, and they’re neck-and-neck in the rest. The RTX 4080 Super and Radeon RX 7900 XTX trade blows at both resolutions; Nvidia wins big in some titles, AMD wins big in some others, and they’re neck-and-neck in the rest. In general, Nvidia’s architecture runs a bit better at 4K resolution, while the Radeon has a slight edge at 1440p. Nvidia RTX 4080 Super is even more power efficient than its namesake, despite delivering a smidge more performance. Should you buy the GeForce RTX 4080 Super? Adam Patrick Murray / IDG The GeForce RTX 4080 draws massively less power than its AMD rival to deliver similar frame rates in traditional games. Flip on ray tracing and Nvidia holds a gargantuan lead, with stellar AI-powered features like DLSS, Frame Generation, and Ray Reconstruction pushing both speed and performance advantages to 11. Features like Nvidia Broadcast and Reflex hold deep practical appeal; RTX Video Super Resolution uses AI to make ugly videos beautiful. And Nvidia maintains a strong lead in most creative…