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Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 review: performance worthy of the name?

RT benchmarks: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, A Plague Tale: Requiem.

If you're on a desktop browser that gets the full video embeds for each game we tested, you may have noticed that we've selected the 4K runs from the RTX 5090, RTX 4090, RTX 3090 Ti and RX 7900 XTX to appear by default. However, you can use the tick boxes to the right of the video to make your own selections too. Why not select your own graphics card if we've tested it, or opt for the resolution of your current monitor? The choice is yours.

Our final trio of RT games includes two titles that require ray tracing to even run: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, one of our best game graphics of 2024 winners, and Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, the first game to make an RT-capable graphics card a requirement. We round out the selection with A Plague Tale: Requiem, which is tested with RT engaged here but doesn't require it.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Supreme Settings

Frame Rate (FPS)120100806040
Frame Time (ms)10.015.020.025.0
Overall frame-rate (FPS)
Resolution:
020406080100120140160180200220
RTX 5090 2160p
RTX 5080 2160p
RTX 4090 2160p
RTX 4080 Super 2160p
RTX 4080 2160p
RTX 3090 Ti 2160p
RTX 3090 2160p
RTX 3080 Ti 2160p
RTX 3080 2160p
RTX 2080 Ti 2160p
RTX 2080 2160p
RX 7900 XTX 2160p
RX 7900 XT 2160p
RX 6900 XT 2160p
RX 6800 XT 2160p
RX 6800 2160p
RX 6700 2160p
Hover to compare:

Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition

Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, Extreme, Nvidia Features Off

Frame Rate (FPS)10090807060504030
Frame Time (ms)10.015.020.025.030.0
Overall frame-rate (FPS)
Resolution:
020406080100120140160180
RTX 5090 2160p
RTX 5080 2160p
RTX 4090 2160p
RTX 4080 Super 2160p
RTX 4080 2160p
RTX 3090 Ti 2160p
RTX 3080 Ti 2160p
RTX 3080 2160p
RTX 2080 Ti 2160p
RTX 2080 2160p
RX 7900 XTX 2160p
RX 7900 XT 2160p
RX 6900 XT 2160p
RX 6800 XT 2160p
RX 6800 2160p
RX 6700 2160p
Hover to compare:

Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition was the first major release to require an RT-capable card thanks to its inclusion of RTGI, and remains an interesting test even four years later. There's a 26 percent lead for the RTX 5090 over the 4090, a 2.1x lead for the 3090 Ti which lifts again to 3.5x against the 2080 Ti.

A Plague Tale: Requiem

A Plague Tale: Requiem, Max Settings, RT Shadows

Frame Rate (FPS)70605040302010
Frame Time (ms)0.050.0100.0150.0200.0250.0
Overall frame-rate (FPS)
Resolution:
020406080100120
RTX 5090 2160p
RTX 5080 2160p
RTX 4090 2160p
RTX 4080 Super 2160p
RTX 4080 2160p
RTX 3090 Ti 2160p
RTX 3090 2160p
RTX 3080 Ti 2160p
RTX 3080 2160p
RTX 2080 Ti 2160p
RTX 2080 2160p
RX 7900 XTX 2160p
RX 7900 XT 2160p
RX 6900 XT 2160p
RX 6800 XT 2160p
RX 6800 2160p
RX 6700 2160p
Hover to compare:

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Analysis