GeForce RTX 4090 vs RTX 4080 – Is The 4090 Worth It Over the 4080? (Updated)

The GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 are NVIDIA’s most powerful GPUs based on the new Ada Lovelace architecture. Both GPUs are significantly faster than their predecessors. The RTX 4080 is around 50% faster than the RTX 3080, while the RTX 4090 is about 70% faster than the RTX 3090. And with DLSS 3, these new RTX 40 GPUs can offer a smoother gameplay experience than their predecessors. But should you get the RTX 4080 or the RTX 4090? Is the RTX 4090 really worth it over a 4080? Is there a big difference between these two GPUs? Let’s find out in our RTX 4090 vs RTX 4080 comparison below.

UPDATE: I have updated this article to reflect the current pricing and availability. Although the RTX 4090 and 4080 are expensive GPUs, we have seen (slight) discounts on some graphics cards lately.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 vs RTX 4080 – Which GPU Is Worth It?

Just a quick recap for those a bit late to the party, the GeForce RTX 4090 is NVIDIA’s latest and fastest flagship graphics card. NVIDIA announced its latest RTX 40 series GPUs back in September 2022. The company then released the RTX 4090 in the middle of October. A month later, the RTX 4080 16GB was released on the market. Oh, NVIDIA also “unlaunched” the RTX 4080 12GB after the release of the RTX 4090.

The GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 are NVIDIA’s latest and greatest GPU based on its new Ada Lovelace architecture. These new GPUs feature 3rd generation RT cores; 4th generation Tensor cores; Shader Execution Reordering; Ada Optical Flow accelerator; dual NVENC encoders with AV1 support; and DLSS 3 or AI Frame generation technology. DLSS 3 is an exclusive feature of the RTX 40 series GPUs.

On paper, the GeForce RTX 4090 has better specs than the RTX 4080. The RTX 4090 has around 68% more CUDA cores and 50% more VRAM than the RTX 4080. It’s also using a larger AD102 GPU compared to the RTX 4080’s smaller AD103 GPU. Despite the significant difference in specs, the RTX 4090 is only ~33% more expensive than the RTX 4080 if we base it on NVIDIA’s launch price.

Below are the complete specifications of each GPU, and after that, let’s see how these two perform.

GeForce RTX 4090 and 4080 Specifications

Check the latest pricing and availability: (#ad)
GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards are listed on Amazon here.
GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards are available on Amazon here.

Test System Used

GeForce RTX 4090 vs 4080 Performance Benchmarks

RTX 4080 vs RTX 4090 – Synthetic Benchmarks

It is no surprise that the RTX 4090 is faster than the RTX 4080. What we are trying to answer in this comparison is how fast the RTX 4090 is from the RTX 4080. Is there a big difference between the two? And is the RTX 4090 worth it over the 4080?

The synthetic benchmark results show that the RTX 4090 is about 37% faster than the 4080 in most synthetic tests. In Fire Strike Ultra and Port Royal, the RTX 4090 is 42% faster than the RTX 4080. It’s only in the Time Spy benchmark where the RTX 4090 is “just” 28% faster; the rest of the test shows that the 4090 is more than 30% faster than the 4080.

The tests above are just synthetic benchmarks and may not reflect real-game performance. Next, see how both GPUs perform with actual games and in three different resolutions.

RTX 4080 vs RTX 4090 – RT and DLSS Game Benchmarks

Let’s first see how the RTX 4080 and 4090 differ when ray tracing and/or DLSS are enabled. As you can see from the result above, both GPUs are bottlenecked at 1080p. You should never buy an RTX 4090 or 4080 for 1080p gaming. Even with a faster gaming CPU, like the Ryzen 7800X3D or Core i9 13900K, you will only be wasting your money and the GPU’s potential since the resolution limits both GPUs.

The real difference between the two GPUs is seen at 2160p or 4K resolution. At 3840×2160, both GPUs are not resolution and/or GPU-bottlenecked. And we can see that the RTX 4090 can handle even the most graphics-intensive task in this resolution.

Next, let’s check out the other game titles that use traditional rasterization.

RTX 4080 vs RTX 4090 – Rasterization Game Benchmarks

Again, even in traditional rasterization, the RTX 4090 is bottlenecked in 1080p and perhaps even in 1440p. In games like Cyberpunk 2077, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, The Division 2, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the RTX 4080 outperforms the RTX 4090 in 1080p. Although in rare or graphics-intensive games, like A Plague Tale: Requiem, both GPUs are scaling and performing well, even in lower resolutions.

Still, when it comes to 4K gaming, the RTX 4090 leaves the RTX 4080 in the dust. That’s why I don’t recommend the 4090 GPU for 1080p or even 1440p gaming. It’s just a waste of potential/power, and you are leaving some performance on the table. Even the RTX 4080, I can’t recommend it for 1080p gaming.

The only thing I regret is that I was not able to test these two monster GPUs with a super ultrawide monitor, like a 5120×1440 or 3440×1440 monitor. Or perhaps with an ultrawide 4K monitor, like the LG 40WP95C-W. I don’t have one (yet). Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure that the RTX 4090 would still perform better than the 4080 at those higher resolutions.

Let’s summarize the results that we got.

Summary Results

I only have a small sample size, only 14 games, but this should be enough to give us an idea of the performance difference between the two GPUs. On 1080p, the RTX 4090 is only ~2% faster than the RTX 4080. This is due to the resolution bottlenecking the RTX 4090. In some games, the RTX 4090 performs slower than the 4080 at 1080p. Both GPUs are not meant for 1080p gaming, and you should avoid buying a 4080 or 4090 if your monitor is only 1080p.

At 2560×1440, the performance difference widens a bit. The RTX 4090 is now around 14% faster than the RTX 4080. Still, it’s not a huge performance difference, and the resolution still holds back the 4090.

However, at 4K resolution, things took a drastic change. The RTX 4090 is now around 32% faster on average than the RTX 4080, leaving the latter GPU behind. This only accounts for traditional rasterization and RT with DLSS 2. I didn’t include DLSS 3 AI frame generation in this comparison since, with DLSS 3, it’s not really about frames per second. Instead, it smoothens the gameplay, giving it an impression of a higher frame rate by inserting generated frames between real frames. Also, with DLSS 3, the performance varies, and it’s not always “double the performance”.

Now that we have determined how fast the RTX 4090 is than the 4080 let’s discuss their price difference next.

Price Difference

Compared to their predecessors

The GeForce RTX 4090 starts at $1,600, while the RTX 4080 starts at $1,200. The RTX 4090’s predecessor, the RTX 3090, has a launch price of $1,500. There’s only a $100 increase between the RTX 4090 and RTX 3090. Not a big deal. But the performance improvement that the RTX 4090 offers is huge, almost double.

On the other hand, the RTX 4080’s predecessor, the RTX 3080, has a launch price of $700. There’s a $500 increase or around 71% price increase from its predecessor. That’s huge, making the RTX 4080 (very) expensive for an 80-class GPU.

Not only that, when we reviewed the RTX 4080 and compared it to its predecessors, we found that the RTX 4080 is up to 52% faster than the RTX 3080 on average, not counting DLSS 3. Don’t get me wrong, up to 50% performance improvement, gen on gen is a great improvement. Not to mention, these new RTX 40 series GPUs have a trick under their sleeves called DLSS 3 frame generation.

If we base the price-to-performance improvement on their respective predecessors, the RTX 4090 offers the better deal. The RTX 4090 is only ~7% more expensive than its predecessor but offers a huge performance uplift. On the other hand, the RTX 4080 is around 70% more expensive than its predecessor but only provides about a 50% performance uplift.

Compared to each other

Now comparing the RTX 4080 and 4090’s prices, the RTX 4090 is around 33% more expensive. Meanwhile, we also get about 30% more performance from 4080 to 4090. If we ignore their predecessors, the cost per frame of these two GPUs is almost the same, with the RTX 4080 being a hairline cheaper.

However, we also consider the price and performance improvement from their predecessors. In this case, NVIDIA just made the RTX 4080 look like it has a poor value. In addition, in our RTX 4080 vs 4070 Ti comparison, we found that the 4070 Ti offers a better value overall between the two GPUs.

I think one of the reasons why the RTX 4080 is priced at around $1,200 is to make the RTX 4090 a better value or option. Fortunately, there has been price movement for the RTX 4080 recently, and its current retail price is starting to decline. Hopefully, soon, the RTX 4080’s price would touch the $1,000 mark.

UPDATE: It’s Q4 of 2023, and the year is almost ending. Most RTX 4090 cards sell either at MSRP or (slightly) above MSRP. And with no competition in sight, it seems NVIDIA has no plans to adjust its current pricing. On the other hand, several RTX 4080 cards have gone below its MSRP. One reason could be that the RX 7900 XTX performs slightly better than the RTX 4080.

At the time of updating this article, the cheapest RTX 4090 I found was the Galax GeForce RTX 4090 SG, followed by the Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO. Both cards are currently priced at $1,649 and $1,700 respectively.

Meanwhile, the cheapest RTX 4080 card I found was the ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Trinity OC, PNY RTX 4080 16GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO EPIC-X RGB OC, and Galax GeForce RTX 4080 SG. All graphics cards currently sell for around $1,100.

Note that these prices are subject to change and were correct when updating this review. Be sure to check the latest pricing and availability below.

GeForce RTX 4090 vs. RTX 4080 – So, Which One To Buy?

Based on our benchmark results and considering the performance uplift from their respective predecessors, the GeForce RTX 4090 is a better buy than the RTX 4080. In the first place, the RTX 4090 is a halo product, and the target market is those who are looking for the best and fastest gaming GPU; money is no object. On the other hand, thanks to its 24GB of VRAM, the RTX 4090 is also a viable option for those who are into machine learning, deep learning, and AI without the need to spend on a workstation-class GPU.

The GeForce RTX 4080, on the other hand, is a bit of a mixed bag. It performs excellently, runs silently and cool, and consumes less power than the RTX 4090. The only issue with the RTX 4080 is its current pricing. I’m optimistic that if NVIDIA adjusts the RTX 4080’s price, perhaps at $999 or lower, it will sell like hotcakes, just like the RTX 4090.

Suppose you are gaming 4K, is the RTX 4090 overkill for 4K gaming? I think not. Especially if you want to enjoy games with ray tracing enabled. However, it doesn’t mean that the RTX 4080 is not good for 4K gaming. In fact, the RTX 4080 is enough for 4K gaming as well.

Outside of 4K gaming, I don’t really recommend any of these GPUs. Maybe if you are using a super ultrawide monitor. But if you’re using a 16:9 1440p or 1080p, you may want to consider an RTX 4070 Ti, 4070, or 4060.

Check the latest pricing and availability: (#ad)
GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards are listed on Amazon here.
GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards are available on Amazon here.

Or you can check out our lists of the best GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards here or the best RTX 4080 cards here.