Reviews for the NVIDIA RTX 5080 are live to complement the RTX 5090 reviews published last week, and AMD's RDNA 4 GPU waiting game is looking more and more like the right move every day.
The majority of reviews I've checked out so far — including our own RTX 5080 review to which I contributed — agree that while the RTX 5080 undeniably improves performance compared to its RTX 4080 predecessor, it's much closer to the RTX 4080 Super at 1440p and 4K than everyone suspected. I'm generally seeing single-digit improvements in a lot of games tested by various outlets, which don't look great when you factor in the 40W TGP boost in the newer GPU.
What's more surprising is how close AMD's last-gen Radeon RX 7900 XTX comes to the RTX 5080. TechSpot, for example, did a great job testing 17 games on a variety of cards. The averages pulled from those tests don't look great for the RTX 5080. At 1440p, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX averaged 139 FPS, while the RTX 5080 improved to 146 FPS. At 4K, the RX 7900 XTX pulls even closer with an 84 FPS average compared to the 5080's 91 FPS average.
Looking at the RX 7900 XT's results — which is expected to be succeeded by the RX 9070 XT to compete with the 5070 Ti — the impression isn't that much better. Compared to the RTX 5080, it averaged 120 FPS at 1440p (vs. 146 FPS) and 70 FPS at 4K (vs. 91 FPS).
Assuming AMD has made even minor improvements to its next-gen GPUs, NVIDIA could have some serious competition on its hands when RDNA 4 finally comes to market.
👉 Where to buy RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 on launch day
AMD's last-minute decision to pull its RDNA 4 announcement
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX is AMD's flagship GPU from the RDNA 3 generation, which we now know is being succeeded by RDNA 4 after what seemed like a botched announcement at CES 2025.
AMD sent out press packs with some limited RDNA 4 information inside ahead of the CES presentation, and when AMD wrapped up the show without even mentioning the cards, it left a lot of us wondering what had happened.
The slides from the unaired presentation introduced the next-gen RDNA 4 GPU architecture with some brief and unspecific hardware improvements. It also revealed FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4) as now being powered by machine learning rather than advanced spatial upscaling algorithms, undoubtedly a response to NVIDIA's impressive DLSS technique.
In a video shared by Hardware Unboxed, FSR 4 running on the RX 9070 XT looks a lot better than I was expecting compared to FSR 3.1. Many of the last-gen FSR quirks — difficulty with small but high-quality details and background scenes — seem to have been cleared up with the new tech's reliance on machine learning.
Furthermore, AMD "introduced" us to its Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 GPUs with designs from hardware partners like Acer, ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, PowerColor, Sapphire, XFX, and Yeston.
In the aftermath of the no-show, AMD clarified a few points. AMD VP and GM of Ryzen and Radeon David McAfee remarked, "We are taking a little extra time to optimize the software stack for maximum performance and enable more FSR 4 titles" in an X (formerly Twitter) post on January 20.
A day later it was revealed by McAfee that the next-gen RDNA 4 cards aren't expected to launch until March 2025.
Radeon 9000 series hardware and software are looking great and we are planning to have a wide assortment of cards available globally. Can’t wait for gamers to get their hands on the cards when they go on sale in March!January 20, 2025
While I was initially dismayed by the launch delay, it's certainly starting to look like AMD made the right choice. Rumors of impending RTX 5000 stock shortages were confirmed by NVIDIA (via VideoCardz), scalpers are already listing $7,000+ RTX 5090s on eBay, and so-so raw performance improvements are leaving a lot of potential buyers unsure of their decision.
Adding the fact that retailers have been stockpiling RDNA 4 GPUs for weeks with more than a month to go until the theoretical launch, AMD has everything it needs — at least on paper — to have a successful RDNA 4 launch.
Where do AMD's RDNA 4 cards fit into the market?
Going by the limited information that AMD has so far shared regarding its RDNA 4 GPUs, it doesn't look like the Radeon RX 7900 XTX that performs so well against the RTX 5080 is getting a direct successor. However, I don't see any reason why a more powerful option won't show up sometime in RDNA 4's lifetime.
AMD is changing its model branding for RDNA 4 to line up better with its Ryzen 9000 CPUs and NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPUs. The RX 9070 XT appears to be coming in as a successor to the 7900 XT (without the second X) as AMD's answer to the RTX 5070 Ti. That leaves the RX 9070 to compete against the RTX 5070.
NVIDIA isn't expected to launch its two lesser cards until February 2025, when we'll find out where performance actually sits. But that's still about a month ahead of AMD's RDNA 4 hardware, assuming there aren't any more delays. That leaves plenty of time for AMD to figure out its pricing, which will hopefully undercut NVIDIA's $549 RTX 5070 and $749 RTX 5070 Ti.
NVIDIA's secret weapon is DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation
NVIDIA made a bold claim during its CES 2025 presentation, stating that the RTX 5070 is as fast as the RTX 4090 when it comes to gaming performance. That's technically true, but the claim leans heavily on DLSS 4's new Multi Frame Generation (MFG) technique that's so far exclusive to the new RTX 5000 GPUs. NVIDIA hasn't ruled out DLSS 4 MFG coming to RTX 4000 GPUs sometime in the future.
MFG relies more than ever on NVIDIA's AI Tensor cores to produce multiple frames. Your GPU now only has to brute-force render one frame from which AI can create multiple frames. This technique significantly boosts frame rates while lowering the reliance on VRAM.
In our NVIDIA RTX 5090 review, for example, Senior Editor Ben Wilson tested Cyberpunk 2077 with and without MFG. The GPU averaged 64 FPS without, jumping up to an impressive 228 FPS with MFG enabled. That's hardly insignificant. It remains to be seen exactly what AMD is preparing behind the scenes for FSR, but it's unlikely that it will best NVIDIA in the AI upscaling race.
AMD's RDNA 4 timing looks better every day
Following NVIDIA's CES presentation I was sure I'd be buying an RTX 5070 for my personal gaming PC. That quickly changed as more information about DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Gen came out. Do I really care about how my frames are being produced as long as they're plentiful? Right now, at least, I'd rather have a GPU in my system that represents a more significant upgrade to raw power than what the RTX 5080 can offer.
It remains to be seen what NVIDIA has cooked up for its RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti. The cards might offer a massive boost to raw performance, and AMD will have waited itself out of the GPU game as everyone scrambles to get their hands on Blackwell hardware.
If AMD can match (or even best) the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti's raw performance with its upcoming RDNA 4 GPUs, I know that many gamers, including myself, who prefer "real" frames over "fake" frames will be willing to give Team Red a shot — especially if some money can be saved.
