Nvidia's rumored RTX 5080 Super could feature 24GB of VRAM - could it be enough to match the RTX 4090's performance?

It appears as though Nvidia may not be done with the Blackwell GPU lineup after the RTX 5060, as rumors suggest we may be seeing an RTX 5080 Super soon.

Apr 28, 2025 - 12:00
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Nvidia's rumored RTX 5080 Super could feature 24GB of VRAM - could it be enough to match the RTX 4090's performance?

  • A new rumor hints at Nvidia working on RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Super GPUs
  • The rumored RTX 5080 Super could use 24GB of GDDR7 VRAM
  • It has the potential to close the gap with the RTX 4090

Nvidia looks set to complete its RTX 5000 series desktop lineup with the RTX 5060 (and perhaps the rumored RTX 5050). However, it might not be the last we see of the Blackwell GPU lineup, with a new rumor hinting at another powerful card in Team Green's pipeline.

According to rumors in the Chiphell forums, Nvidia is preparing an RTX 5070 Super and, more notably, an RTX 5080 Super that will supposedly use 24GB of GDDR7 VRAM. This is a step up from the current RTX 5080 model and its predecessor, the RTX 4080 Super, which both use 16GB of VRAM.

It may be worth noting that MSI previously teased a non-Super RTX 5080 GPU using 24GB of GDDR7 VRAM: it's unclear whether Nvidia plans to simply upgrade VRAM, or release a new Super model - either way, it lends this new rumor some more credibility.

This purported VRAM upgrade could see the unconfirmed RTX 5080 Super match the RTX 4090's memory capacity, but use GDDR7 instead of GDDR6X VRAM. The purported GPU will more than likely still be using the GB203 die, which is inferior to the RTX 4090's AD102 die (despite being older, the RTX 4090 still outperforms the RTX 5080).

The question is, will 24GB of GDDR7 VRAM be enough to close the gap, or perhaps even outperform the previous generation's flagship GPU? One thing's for sure: the rumored GPU would definitely benefit from the memory bump, considering the increasing number of triple-A games that require more VRAM.

a silver card on a motherboard

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Even if it does match or outperform the RTX 4090, it likely won't matter due to the state of the GPU market

Not only is it hard for me to predict a potential RTX 5080 Super GPU dethroning the powerhouse RTX 4090, but this GPU market is an eyesore, and I'm willing to bet that very few gamers will pay up.

Unless Nvidia makes this rumored RTX 5080 Super cheaper than the non-Super counterpart (similar to the RTX 4080 Super's lower price launch compared to the original RTX 4080), I think it will be a hard sell - especially if it doesn't match the RTX 4090's performance.

And that's excluding the harsh reality of the market: even if Team Green made this a cheaper and more powerful card, the trend of the GPU market tells me it would likely cost more than an RTX 4090. Bear in mind that the RTX 4090's third-party models are still consistently selling above the launch price, almost three entire years since release.

I hope I'm wrong, but if this rumor is legitimate, I believe we'll only see a slight upgrade in terms of performance matching the RTX 4090 rather than equal footing or dethroning. Either way, we’ll likely see some upset RTX 5080 owners in the near future…

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