GeForce RTX 5080 vs NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation), AI & Machine Learning Comparison
GeForce RTX 5080 wins 5 of 11 benchmarks, averaging 89% faster.
Both cards were measured first-party on our bench, same suite, same test rig.
What the numbers say
The gap is widest in Llama 3.1 8B, where GeForce RTX 5080 leads by 126% (150.71 vs 66.59 tok/s); the closest fight is Stable Diffusion XL (35% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) runs 6 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 6, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | GeForce RTX 5080 | NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 215.89 | 110.18 | +96% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 150.71 | 66.59 | +126% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 81.97 | 36.34 | +126% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 8.86 | 6.56 | +35% |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| LTX-Video (distilled) frames/s | 3.34 | 2.06 | +62% |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0 | 0.18 | n/a |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. GeForce RTX 5080 is faster on 1 of 1; NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) on 0.
| Workflow | GeForce RTX 5080 | NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 12.2 min | 27.5 min | GeForce RTX 5080 2.26x faster | $0.027 vs $0.092 |
Renting by the hour, GeForce RTX 5080 finishes 1 of 1 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| GeForce RTX 5080 | $0.135 |
| NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | $0.200 |
GeForce RTX 5080 is 1.48x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| GeForce RTX 5080 | NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 16GB | 20GB |
| Architecture | Blackwell (GB203) | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 960 GB/s | 360 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 2,617 MHz | 2,175 MHz |
| TDP | 360 W | 130 W |
| Launch MSRP | $999 | $1,250 |
| Release | 2025-01-30 | 2023-08-09 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: GeForce RTX 5080 or NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- GeForce RTX 5080 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 5 of 11 benchmarks in our suite with an average 89% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between GeForce RTX 5080 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- GeForce RTX 5080 has 16GB VRAM and a 360W TDP, while NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) has 20GB VRAM and a 130W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between GeForce RTX 5080 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) fits 1 more of our 12 workloads than GeForce RTX 5080. A model that exceeds VRAM doesn't run slower, it doesn't run at all, so the card that fits the model wins that workload outright.
- Where is the biggest performance difference between GeForce RTX 5080 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation)?
- Llama 3.1 8B: GeForce RTX 5080 leads by roughly 126% (150.71 vs 66.59 tok/s) in our testing.
GeForce RTX 5080 full review · NVIDIA RTX 4000 (Ada Generation) full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings