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The Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti and the RTX 5080 are high-end gaming GPUs designed to target enthusiasts with some of the best rendering performance ever. They comfortably rank among the fastest graphics cards ever made and can play all the latest titles at high resolutions without major compromises to the visual settings. However, which premium graphics card is the better buy? The answer depends on what you're looking for in a GPU.
In this article, we have compared the functional and practical aspects of the graphics cards to try to answer the question. Below, we have a specs comparison, followed by a test of the cards in some of the latest video games.
The Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 are some of the fastest GPUs in the market
The Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti and 5080 are based on the latest Blackwell architecture, which brings premium 1440p and 4K gaming performance alongside top-tier AI upscaling technologies (Transformer-based Super Resolution and Multi-Frame Generation). The only difference between the two video cards is their underlying hardware and price tags.
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Specs comparison
The Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 aren't different in their offerings. The cards are based on the same GB206 graphics chip. In a way, the 70-class offering is a cut-down variant with fewer cores and slightly tuned down power requirements.
In terms of VRAM, both cards bundle the latest GDDR7 standard. Moreover, you get 16 GB buffer with either, which limits future-proofing and flexibility in AI experiments, especially on the costlier $999 GPU. The VRAM, on the 5080 is slightly faster, which increases the bandwidth by 7%. This feels like a missed opportunity where Nvidia could have severely underpinned the capabilities of the latest 80-class offering.
The detailed specs sheet of the two Blackwell GPUs are as follows:
In terms of pricing, the 80-class offering is the more premium option. Per MSRP, the 5070 Ti costs $749, while the 5080 starts at $999. However, real-world prices of third-party AIB variants are quite different from the introductory tags.
Performance comparison
Performance is the main deal for most players when it comes to choosing GPUs. Given how close the RTX 5070 Ti's and the RTX 5080's specs are, looking at their performance details becomes ever so important. However, we aren't expecting the gap in frame rates to be very high.
The performance figures achieved by either GPU are listed below. The numbers were sourced from Testing Games, and each game was tested at a 4K resolution.
In terms of gaming performance, the RTX 5080 is about 14.5% faster than its cheaper sibling. The gains are pretty consistent across video games, with the only exception being Alan Wake 2, which relies on some of the latest tech features, such as mesh shaders and heavy ray tracing. The higher-end card delivers 20% better frame rates in this game.
Read more: Nvidia RTX 5080 gaming benchmarks
Overall, choosing between the RTX 5070 Ti and 5080 can be quite difficult. However, looking at the performance figures and the hardware offerings, the 70-class option seems to be the better buy. You do lose out slightly on the framerate numbers; however, the GPU's $250 cheaper price tag makes it more approachable for a large segment of the population.
If you have the extra cash, opting for the 5080 can be beneficial. The lack of any extra VRAM reduces the allure of the costlier offering.
