Today, January 30, 2025, marked the controversial launch of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card, with sales beginning across major Russian marketplaces such as Ozon, Yandex Market, and Avito. While there was significant anticipation for the release, preliminary reviews have revealed mixed results, and many prospective buyers are taken aback by the extremely high retail prices, which can exceed 250,000 rubles.
The GeForce RTX 5080 has officially gone on sale, but the financial stakes are high. Russian retailers have presented initial offers ranging from 193,000 to 240,000 rubles, substantially above the manufacturer's suggested retail price of around $1,000 (approximately 158,000 rubles) elsewhere, such as the UK. For comparison, the Palit GeForce RTX 5080 GameRock is priced at about 1,300 pounds in Great Britain, which translates to significantly lower costs than what is being demanded on the Russian market.
The sales event at major retailer DNS, initially scheduled for today, was postponed to January 31, 2025. Even so, prices presented by other retailers remain steep. Article reports indicate the Palit GameRock version is available at around 211,538 rubles on Yandex, with MSI models even listed under 200,000 rubles at some online outlets culminating with offers on platforms like Avito.
It’s not just the cost, but the performance of the RTX 5080 which has come under scrutiny. Significant testing has been carried out by international technology publications, with findings confirming the GPU's performance improvements over its predecessors are minimal. According to TechSpot, performance gains in 4K resolution only reached about 14% over the RTX 4080, and roughly 11% compared to the RTX 4080 Super. Other sources, such as TechPowerUp, corroborate these figures, showing similar increases of around 12-13%. Performance at lower resolutions was even less impressive, with just 4% improvement at 1440p, and reports indicate some tests even show the RTX 4080 Super outperforming the new model.
Further detailed testing reveals disheartening results for fans of high-end gaming. While energy efficiency remains competitive, consuming about 325 watts during load—similar to the RTX 4080—experts noted increased power consumption during idle states and when using multiple monitors. This inconsistency brings the efficiency of the new model under question.
Experts from TechSpot suggest the RTX 5080 is more of an enhanced variant of the RTX 4080 rather than a truly new generation upgrade. Critical points voiced in their analyses include the remarkable disparity of performance gains—only 14% at 4K—raising doubts about the legitimacy of this product's positioning as the latest and greatest offering from NVIDIA.
Meanwhile, Steve Burke from Gamers Nexus emphasized the significant performance gap between the RTX 5080 and its more powerful sibling, the RTX 5090, noting the difference can reach as much as 50-60% under various tests. Considering the RTX 5080 has been launched at the baseline price point of $999, analysts find the marginal increase over its predecessor to be insufficient to justify the cost.
With the current pricing crisis and the reality of its performance, the question on many tech enthusiasts’ minds is whether the RTX 5080 is worth purchasing. Given its inflated local pricing and modest upgrades, many consumers are left pondering if seeking out alternatives might yield greater value.
For now, interested buyers can find GeForce RTX 5080 cards available for order, though whether demand will meet supply remains uncertain. The RTX 4080 and RTX 4080 Super priced far more attractively could sway consumers away from the RTX 5080, particularly if they realize it doesn’t offer significant performance advantages.
Those considering the brand new RTX 5080 are advised to monitor the situation closely as third-party sellers begin to list their variants. With NVIDIA frequently under scrutiny for pricing strategies and product performance, the outcome of this launch will undoubtedly have ramifications for their strategy moving forward.