Skip to main content

Nvidia’s RTX 5080 Super could be coming much sooner than expected

The RTX 5080 sitting on a pink background.
I'd argue that even the RTX 5080's 16GB is too small in 2025. Especially for a $1,000+ card. Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

All eyes are on Nvidia and AMD as they get ready to launch some of the best graphics cards for the mainstream market, meaning the RTX 5060 and the RX 9060 XT. However, a new leak tells us that Nvidia is working on a GPU that’s set to come out later this year, and it’s one that might finally live up to the expectations. I’m talking about the RTX 5080 Super (or Ti).

The tantalizing leak comes from Baidu and was first shared by Wccftech. According to the leaker, who is a moderator on the Baidu forums, Nvidia will launch the RTX 5080S or the RTX 5080 Ti at the end of the year. Spec-wise, we don’t know much, but the leaker says it’s “basically certain” that the new graphics card will sport 24GB of VRAM, which marks an 8GB upgrade over the RTX 5080. That kind of memory capacity would also put the GPU on par with the RTX 4090.

Recommended Videos

Upon launch of the RTX 5080, many were hoping that it’d replace the last-gen RTX 4090. Unfortunately, the card never made it to that level, and even overclocking can’t bring it on par with the Ada flagship. However, depending on the specs of the rumored RTX 5080 Super, we might see the two cards battle it out on more even ground.

Memory alone won’t be enough to boost the bandwidth significantly; the GPU would also need a wider memory bus to match, and ideally, more CUDA cores. In the RTX 40-series, the RTX 4080 and the RTX 4080 Super were practically the same GPU in terms of specs, with a minor uplift in CUDA cores for the Super card and no changes to the memory interface. As a result, the GPU was around 1-3% faster than its predecessor.

The exciting thing here is that the RTX 5080 Super/Ti might arrive sooner than expected. If Nvidia does launch it at the end of 2025, it’ll change things up compared to its previous release cycle, where the Super refresh came at the beginning of the year, meaning a bit over a year after the initial launch of the RTX 4080.

Even if the above turns out to be true, I wouldn’t expect any announcements from Nvidia until the final quarter of the year, so we’ll just have to be patient.

Monica J. White
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
Nvidia claims RTX 5000 shipped better than 4000 but gamers are still waiting
The RTX 5090 sitting on a pink background.

Nvidia is trying to make its GeForce RTX 5000 series seem more impressive to the media by suggesting that the latest GPUs are selling better than the previous generation. However, many pundits aren’t buying the claim.

PC Mag pondered whether Nvidia has orchestrated a “paper launch” of the RTX 5000 series, suggesting that there might not be much of a product available for consumers. The majority of the people with their hands on the GPUs, especially the high-end models such as the 5090 and 5080 appear to be reviewers, influencers, and other determined enthusiasts as opposed to everyday gamers, who are still using prior generation GPUs at higher rates.

Read more
RTX 5090 GPU shortage could soon end if Nvidia adopts this strategy
Fans on the RTX 5080.

Nvidia may be close to resolving some of its delay issues and getting the RTX 5090 GPUs ready for consumers in at least a month, with a fortunate workaround.

Online leakers noted on X that the shortage began due to scalpers over-purchasing components, but it could soon end if Nvidia adopts this strategy.

Read more
Nvidia’s RTX 5070 Ti could displace the RTX 5080 — but I’m worried about it
Two RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics cards sitting next to each other.

Nvidia's RTX 5070 Ti is mere days away. Set to launch on February 20, the GPU marks the beginning of Nvidia's mainstream RTX 50-series. With similar specs to the RTX 5080, the RTX 5070 Ti has every chance to rank high among the best graphics cards -- but it's also going to face a number of obstacles that might impact its success.

Thanks to some leaked benchmarks, we now have a better idea of how the card might perform, and that rough ballpark is really a bit of a mixed bag. Here's why I think the RTX 5070 Ti might have an uphill climb when it first hits the shelves, but also why it might completely displace the RTX 5080.
Promising benchmarks -- well, kind of

Read more