Leaked RTX 5080 Time Spy Graphics score shows small lead vs RX 7900 XTX and 15% improvement vs RTX 4080 Super

After reviews of the RTX 5090 went live a few days ago, all eyes are now set on the second member of the RTX 50 launch duo, the RTX 5080. The GPU is scheduled to debut on January 30 at a starting price of $999. So far, RTX 5080 performance leaks have suggested a notable but unremarkable improvement over its predecessor, the RTX 4080.

For instance, we reported a few days ago that the leaked Blender and OpenCL benchmarks put the RTX 5080 only 10% and 3% faster than the RTX 4080, respectively. 

Now, a new 3DMark Time Spy result of the RTX 5080 has emerged online which paints the RTX 5080 in a better light than the previous OpenCL and Blender leak.

According to a 3DMark Time Spy result posted on Baidu (via Olrak29 on X), the RTX 5080 earns a Time Spy Graphics score of 32,701. Per our database, the RTX 4080 and the RTX 4080 Super manage, on average, around 27,605 and 28,344 points in the 3DMark Time Spy Graphics test, respectively. This puts the leaked RTX 5080 18.5% and 15% ahead of the RTX 4080 and the RTX 4080 Super.

Additionally, folks who were hoping for the RTX 5080 to overtake or match the RTX 4090 might be disappointed. The RTX 5080’s 32,701 Time Spy Graphics score is 10% slower than the RTX 4090 per our testing.

While AMD currently doesn’t have an RTX 5080 competitor in the RDNA 4 lineup, the company might not need to release one if the 3DMark scores are any indication. The RX 7900 XTX earns, on average, 31,540 points in Time Spy Graphics. This score is only 4% slower than the proposed RTX 5080 result. 

Since you can, at the time of writing, buy the RX 7900 XTX for less than $950 on retailers like Amazon and Newegg, the RTX 5080 might not make much sense for some fans. The situation becomes even worse for the RTX 5080 when we consider that the launch supply of the RTX 5080 is reportedly quite tight, potentially making it hard to score a GPU at the official MSRP. Thus, gamers on the hunt for an RTX 5080 might have to spend considerably more than the $999 starting price.

That said, the overall situation changes drastically in favor of the RTX 5080 if you consider DLSS 4 and the Multi Frame Generation as a must-have feature.

In the end, only time will tell how well the RTX 5080 actually performs and what the availability looks like at launch. Till then, take all leaks and rumors with skepticism.