In commonly played games, the RTX 5080 is anywhere from 10 to 20 percent faster than the RTX 5070 Ti at 2,560 x 1,440. Considering the RTX 5080 is 25 percent more expensive, and draws up to 20 percent more power, the RTX 5070 Ti looks like an overall better offering, as long as you have no grand aspirations for 4K gaming.
DLSS for All
All of the 50 Series cards support DLSS 4 (deep learning super sampling image enhancement), and once again the headline feature is multiframe generation. For a more in-depth look, check out the RTX 5090 Founders Edition review, but the short form is that the GPU uses AI to create artificial frames that it slips in between manually generated frames. Previous generations could add one additional frame in, where the new 50 Series cards can add three in supported games.
Screenshot courtesy of Brad Bourque
The effect is particularly noticeable in Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most demanding games with full DLSS 4 support. The AI frames aren’t free, but they might as well be, essentially multiplying the frame rate each time you add one in, a consistent pattern across all of the cards.
I still feel largely the same about the feature here as I did with the higher-end cards. It’s a great way to dramatically boost frame rates in games that support it, in particular for cinematic titles like Cyberpunk 2077, but I only want to lean on it as much as I have to.
The Asus Prime is in an unenviable position of being an appealing execution of a product that not many folks will be able to buy. If you can find one at MSRP, or you’re reading this months down the road and they’ve managed to sort out supply issues, the RTX 5070 Ti makes sense for 1080p and 1440p gamers, but only at that price point. The RTX 5080 is at least 25 percent more expensive, for only 10 to 20 percent more performance, assuming both cards are at their MSRP. The moment you start creeping past $800, the RTX 5080 becomes the better choice.
Photograph: Brad Bourque
Photograph: Brad Bourque
The problem with the RTX 5070 Ti is availability. As I finish writing this review, the graphics card has technically been for sale for hours, but I can’t find a single example online for anywhere close to retail. In fact, I can’t find any RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 cards at retail either, and we’re now several weeks past their release dates.
Limited inventory has plagued new GPU launches in previous generations, but this release has felt particularly tough on gamers. Combine that with relatively high price jumps for overclocked cards, and the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 start to blur together in both price and performance, so the best GPU starts to become the one you have in front of you. One thing’s for sure: If you’re looking at an RTX 5070 Ti on a shelf for $750, you better grab it before someone else does.
