GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop Benchmarks: 10% Slower Than RTX 5090

Key Takeaways

1. Performance Gap: The mobile RTX 5080 is 10 to 15 percent slower than the mobile RTX 5090 based on benchmark tests.

2. Game Performance: The performance difference is more noticeable in demanding games and at 4K resolutions, while it decreases at lower resolutions.

3. DLSS Effect: The performance advantage of the RTX 5090 over the RTX 5080 remains consistent, regardless of whether DLSS is enabled or disabled.

4. Value Consideration: The small performance difference suggests that choosing the RTX 5080 could be more cost-effective than opting for the RTX 5090.

5. Potential Savings: Selecting laptops with the RTX 5080 may result in savings of hundreds of dollars while still providing strong performance.

Laptops with Blackwell GPUs are starting to appear on the market just as manufacturers have promised. Now that the high-end mobile RTX 5090 has been extensively tested, it’s time to look at how the mobile RTX 5080 stacks up. It’s not surprising that the performance difference between the mobile RTX 5080 and the mobile RTX 5090 is similar to the difference seen between the mobile RTX 4080 and the mobile RTX 4090.

Performance Comparison

3DMark benchmarks from our two Schenker Neo 16 test units, which both feature the same Ryzen 9 9955HX processors, indicate that the RTX 5080 model is about 10 to 15 percent slower than its more expensive counterpart. This gap is evident when playing actual games like Baldur’s Gate 3, Final Fantasy XV, Alan Wake 2, or Assassin’s Creed Shadows. As usual, the performance difference is larger at 4K resolutions in demanding games, while at lower resolutions, where graphics are less reliant on the GPU, the difference shrinks.

DLSS Impact

An interesting point to note is that the performance difference between the mobile RTX 5080 and mobile RTX 5090 stays constant regardless of whether DLSS is turned on or off. For instance, when playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows with DLSS activated, the mobile RTX 5090 still holds a 15 percent advantage over the mobile RTX 5080.

Conclusion on GPU Selection

The relatively minor performance gap between these two high-end GPUs suggests that it could be more beneficial to choose laptops with the RTX 5080 rather than the RTX 5090. This choice could lead to savings of hundreds of dollars or potentially offer better value for performance per dollar spent.