GPU Showdown

GeForce GTX 1080vsGeForce RTX 4090

The GeForce GTX 1080 is a classic high-end card for 1440p gaming from a few years ago, while the RTX 4090 is a modern monster built for 4K gaming and heavy creative work.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
8 GB · 180W
VS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
24 GB · 450W
NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 1080

Pascal · TSMC 16 nm · 2016

38score
4.5/ 5
0 votes
VRAM
8 GB
TDP
180W
CUDA Cores
2,560
Boost Clock
1733 MHz

As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases.

NVIDIA

GeForce RTX 4090

Ada Lovelace · TSMC 5 nm · 2022

92score
3.8/ 5
0 votes
VRAM
24 GB
TDP
450W
Shaders
16,384
Boost Clock
2520 MHz

As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases.

Aggregate Performance

Overall Performance Score

A unified score from combined synthetic and real-world benchmarks. 100 represents the fastest consumer GPU available.

GTX 1080
38
RTX 4090Winner
92
RTX 4090 leads by 142.1% in aggregate performance.
Where they rank overall
#2RTX 509094
#3RTX 409092
#4RTX 508086
#72RTX 2060 12 GB38
#73GTX 108038
#74RTX 3060 8 GB37
Technical Specifications

Side-by-Side Specs

Every detail compared. Highlighted cells indicate the leading value for that metric.

SpecsGTX 1080RTX 4090
General
ArchitecturePascalAda Lovelace
Process Node16 nm5 nm
Memory
VRAM8 GB24 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5XGDDR6X
Memory Bus256-bit384-bit
Bandwidth320 GB/s1010 GB/s
Compute
CUDA Cores2,56016,384
TMUs160512
ROPs64176
Boost Clock1733 MHz2520 MHz
FP328.873 TF82.58 TF
Power
TDP180450
Power Connectors1x 8-pin1x 16-pin
Display
Max Resolution7680×43207680×4320
Display OutputsDP 1.42, HDMI 2.0b, DL-DVI1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
Verdict

Which should you buy?

Winner overall

The RTX 4090 utterly dominates the GTX 1080 across every aspect of gaming and creative work.

Best value

For budget buyers, the older GTX 1080 is the smarter pick if you need only 1080p gaming on a tight budget.

When the other wins

The GTX 1080 is the right choice for a secondary PC or a low-cost build where modern high-end power is unnecessary.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is the GTX 1080 better than the RTX 4090?

Overall the RTX 4090 is the stronger graphics card: it ranks higher in our aggregate performance score (92 vs 38 out of 100), so it leads the GTX 1080 in most workloads.

How much faster is the RTX 4090 than the GTX 1080?

Based on our aggregated benchmark scores the RTX 4090 is roughly 142% faster than the GTX 1080 overall. The real-world gap varies by game, resolution and settings.

Which should you buy, the GTX 1080 or the RTX 4090?

If you want the most performance, pick the RTX 4090. If the GTX 1080 is meaningfully cheaper where you shop, it can be the better value for similar real-world results — check current prices and the full spec comparison above before deciding.