RTX 5080 vs RTX 3080
Short answer: which is best?
RTX 5080 is 84.9 % stronger than RTX 3080. RTX 5080 ranks #3 of 74 measured graphics cards at WhatFPS (16,718 GPU score in its best run — best of 3 rigs, 4 verified runs). RTX 3080 ranks #17 of 74 measured graphics cards at WhatFPS (9,043 GPU score in its best run — best of 2 rigs, 2 verified runs). Each part is shown at its best run, picked from 6 verified WhatFPS runs — measured, not estimated, not self-reported.
Measured comparison
| Metric | RTX 5080 | RTX 3080 |
|---|---|---|
| GPU score, best run (the card's own performance) | 16,718 | 9,043 |
| Best rig (GAMING — whole PC) | 15,624 | 10,171 |
| Earth II (Vulkan) | 73.7 FPS | 38.2 FPS |
| Mission to Earth II (DX12) | 91.8 FPS | 48.2 FPS |
| Earth II Landing (DX12 Ultimate) | 75.7 FPS | 43 FPS |
| Supernova (DX11) | 128.4 FPS | 109.2 FPS |
| Memory bandwidth | 389 GB/s | 225 GB/s |
| VRAM | 16 GB | 10 GB |
| Ray tracing | Yes | Yes |
Fragz' verdict
The RTX 5080 clearly takes the crown in this matchup, outperforming the RTX 3080 with an impressive 83.9% lead in overall GPU score. This substantial performance leap is evident across our GPU benchmarks, with the RTX 5080 delivering nearly double the frames in Earth II Vulkan, hitting 72.9 FPS compared to the RTX 3080's 37.5 FPS, and showing similar gains in Mission to Earth II DX12 and Earth II Landing DX12 Ultimate. Its higher peak clock of 3225 MHz, significantly larger ALU index of 729727, and increased 16 GB of VRAM contribute to its superior raw compute and memory bandwidth, offering a much more powerful gaming experience. While the RTX 3080's data is based on a thin sample of only two verified runs, its 10 GB of VRAM and 226 GB/s bandwidth are still respectable, making it a viable option for gamers who don't require the absolute cutting edge performance of the RTX 5080.
Generated November 7, 2026 from the 6 verified runs available then. The verdict is never silently rewritten — new numbers get a new verdict.
What the numbers mean
The headline score is the part's best measured run, and the measurements under it come from that same run. It shows what the part has been proven to do — not what an average rig gets out of it. The GPU score is the graphics card's own performance — that is what we rank on. GAMING is the whole rig's score in the best PC we measured the card in, and depends on processor, memory and storage. We show both and never mix them.
All numbers come from our benchmark suite: four hand-built 3D scenes written directly against the graphics APIs in Rust, the same load on every PC. The methodology is open at https://whatfps.com/metodik
All measurements for RTX 5080 · All measurements for RTX 3080