NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti vs RTX 4080 A Look at Gaming on Laptops
We checked how the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti stacks up against the older GeForce RTX 4080 mobile cards. Testing on 25 new games showed that the older RTX 4080 keeps a small lead in speed, but the RTX 5070 Ti uses less power.
What the Specs Tell Us
At first, the specs point to a winner, but it’s not that simple:
- Memory: Both have 12GB VRAM on a 192-bit bus. Yet, the RTX 5070 Ti has faster GDDR7 memory.
- Core Count: The RTX 4080 beats the RTX 5070 Ti by 26% in core numbers.
- Power Limit: The RTX 4080 uses up to 175W, whereas the RTX 5070 Ti tops out at 140W.
Game Performance Results from 25 Games
We tested using a Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (RTX 4080, Core i9-13900HX) and an XMG NEO 16 (RTX 5070 Ti, Core Ultra 9 275HX) with maximum settings. The RTX 4080 led in average frame rates:
- At 1080p: The RTX 4080 was about 4.58% faster. In games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Baldur's Gate 3, it was much faster.
- At 1440p: Lead grew to about 7.41%.
- At 2160p: RTX 4080 had a 7.3% lead.
In games like Ghost of Tsushima, the RTX 4080 showed a 16% higher average FPS at 1440p. But in games like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 with ray tracing, the RTX 5070 Ti system did better because of its new CPU and GPU tech.
Biggest Win Use of Power
Though the RTX 4080 shows higher high FPS, it eats up much more power. Tests show that the RTX 4080 used 26% to 37% more power than the RTX 5070 Ti at 4K with max settings. This makes the RTX 5070 Ti the star in power use, giving near-similar performance much more efficiently.
When both GPUs run at the same 140W, their performance is almost the same, with the RTX 4080 less than a 2% lead.
Important Factors
Two big things affect this look. First, RTX 50 series has a "Multi-Frame Generation," letting it make two or three AI frames for every real one, unlike the RTX 40 series’ one AI frame. While this may give a smoother feel, it's not a straight match due to differences in delay and how it looks.
Second, the tests use different CPUs and RAM speeds. Since newer GPUs come with new system parts, this can change results, especially at 1080p where the CPU can limit results.
End Thoughts Cost, Price, and Finding One
The RTX 5070 Ti acts as a less power-hungry swap for the RTX 4080, giving similar performance. Choosing between them mostly comes down to price and what’s available.
As RTX 4080 laptops get rarer, the RTX 5070 Ti emerges as the choice for 1440p gaming. If you find an RTX 5070 Ti laptop cheaper than an RTX 4080, it's a good deal. For those who have an RTX 4080, moving to a 5070 Ti doesn’t make much sense. For new buyers, it's all about finding the best price since the performance difference in real gameplay is small.
