NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Video Card Review

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Conclusion

Today, July 23rd marks the launch of NVIDIA’s new GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER video card for $699.  This completes NVIDIA’s new lineup of GeForce RTX SUPER video cards, there is the GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER and now GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER.  You can check out our previous NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER and 2060 SUPER Video Card Review

One thing to keep in mind about today’s launch review, and other GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER launch reviews is to watch out for what type of GeForce RTX 2080 video card reviewers are comparing.  You are bound to see many varied, different results around the web today when it comes to GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER reviews.  This is going to come down to what comparison cards reviewers used, and specifically what GeForce RTX 2080 card type is used. 

If the GeForce RTX 2080 standard-clock video card was used then there will be a larger difference between it and the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER.  If a GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition card was used then the results between it and the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER are going to be closer, like ours were.  Now let’s say a reviewer uses an add-in-board partner custom video card with an aftermarket overclock then there may not be any difference at all in performance.  Potentially the RTX 2080 overclocked video card could end up being faster. 

We wanted to specifically mention this today because of how close in performance the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER is supposed to be compared to the GeForce RTX 2080.  While many of the specifications have been upgraded, they are not as large in scope as the GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER was compared to the GeForce RTX 2060, or the GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER to the GeForce RTX 2070.  The GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER is a much smaller difference compared to the GeForce RTX 2080, but it is made that way.  The basic gist of the video card is that it offers better than GeForce RTX 2080 performance at a price that is $100 less than the Founders Edition.

We also think conclusions around the web are going to vary a lot.  There will be people that do not find this to be a good value since it doesn’t show a big difference over the GeForce RTX 2080.  Others however will hold the opposite position, understanding why this video card exists and its goals.  We feel there will also be division from gamers and hardware enthusiasts as they read our review, and reviews around the web.  Some will be ok with it, and others not impressed. 

The Results Speak

We have to understand that the improvements to this video card are minor, and not major.  The GeForce GTX 2080 in its initial iteration was very close to the max specs of the TU104 GPU.  There honestly wasn’t much room to take it further without making it an RTX 2080 Ti.  

NVIDIA squeezed all they could out of the TU104 GPU, and the GPU Boost clock is quite high with an incredibly high GDDR6 memory speed.  This is the GeForce RTX 2080 at its pinnacle of performance.  It was never meant to smash the RTX 2080, or come close to RTX 2080 Ti performance.  The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is a much more expensive video card, and in a completely different league.

NVIDIA stated in its reviewers guide quite clearly that the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER should be up to 10% faster compared to the GeForce RTX 2080.  NVIDIA also stated that it should be about 7% faster than the RTX 2080 Founders Edition.  Those claims were made up front, and quite honest on its performance level. 

Quite frankly, this has turned out to be exactly true.  Our performance results today clearly show these are the correct numbers.  Performance is going to vary by game.  We saw a wider 3%-12% differences, so the game makes the most impact on the actual advantage.  We will say what we said in the previous review of the new SUPER cards, this is the performance level the GeForce RTX 2080 should have initially launched at, and at this price.  The GeForce RTX 2080 is finally made whole.    

Brent Justicehttps://www.thefpsreview.com
Former managing editor of GPUs at HardOCP for 18 years, Brent Justice has been reviewing computer components since the late 90s, educated in the art and method of the computer hardware review, he brings experience, knowledge, and hands-on testing with a gamer-oriented and hardware enthusiast perspective. You can follow him on Twitter - @Brent_Justice You can sub to his YouTube channel - Justice Gaming https://www.youtube.com/c/JusticeGamingChannel You can check out his computer builds on KIT - @BrentJustice https://kit.co/BrentJustice

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