GeForce RTX 5080 vs GTX 960

Place in the ranking	350	3
Place by popularity	37	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	9.09	41.02
Power efficiency	9.11	18.23
Architecture	Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)	Blackwell 2.0 (2025)
GPU code name	GM206	GB203
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 January 2015 (10 years ago)	30 January 2025 (recently)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	$999

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

RTX 5080 has 351% better value for money than GTX 960.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	1024	10752
Core clock speed	1127 MHz	2295 MHz
Boost clock speed	1178 MHz	2617 MHz
Number of transistors	2,940 million	45,600 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	4 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	360 Watt
Texture fill rate	75.39	879.3
Floating-point processing power	2.413 TFLOPS	56.28 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	128
TMUs	64	336
Tensor Cores	no data	336
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	84

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 5.0 x16
Length	241 mm	304 mm
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)	400 Watt	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	1x 16-pin
SLI options	+	-

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR7
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	16 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	1875 MHz
Memory bandwidth	112 GB/s	960.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2	1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
G-SYNC support	+	-
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStream	+	-
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	-
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	-

API and SDK compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.8
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	3.0
Vulkan	+	1.4
CUDA	+	10.1

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 960 15.71

RTX 5080 94.26
+500%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GTX 960 6097

RTX 5080 36570
+500%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	62 −211%	193 +211%
1440p	24−27 −542%	154 +542%
4K	30 −240%	102 +240%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	3.21 +61.3%	5.18 −61.3%
1440p	8.29 −27.8%	6.49 +27.8%
4K	6.63 +47.7%	9.79 −47.7%

GTX 960 has 61% lower cost per frame in 1080p
RTX 5080 has 28% lower cost per frame in 1440p
GTX 960 has 48% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	27−30 −650%	210−220 +650%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 −481%	180−190 +481%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 −129%	110−120 +129%
Counter-Strike 2	27−30 −650%	210−220 +650%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 −481%	180−190 +481%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −438%	350−400 +438%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 −567%	280−290 +567%
Metro Exodus	40−45 −326%	180−190 +326%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 −311%	150−160 +311%
Valorant	60−65 −981%	650−700 +981%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 −129%	110−120 +129%
Counter-Strike 2	27−30 −650%	210−220 +650%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 −481%	180−190 +481%
Dota 2	33 −430%	170−180 +430%
Far Cry 5	55−60 −175%	157 +175%
Fortnite	85−90 −250%	300−350 +250%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −438%	350−400 +438%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 −567%	280−290 +567%
Grand Theft Auto V	49 −492%	290−300 +492%
Metro Exodus	40−45 −326%	180−190 +326%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	110−120 −90.3%	210−220 +90.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 −311%	150−160 +311%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	49 −255%	170−180 +255%
Valorant	60−65 −981%	650−700 +981%
World of Tanks	200−210 −38.8%	270−280 +38.8%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 −129%	110−120 +129%
Counter-Strike 2	27−30 −693%	222 +693%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 −481%	180−190 +481%
Dota 2	55−60 −426%	300−310 +426%
Far Cry 5	55−60 −223%	180−190 +223%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −438%	350−400 +438%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 −567%	280−290 +567%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	110−120 −90.3%	210−220 +90.3%
Valorant	60−65 −981%	650−700 +981%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	20−22 −625%	140−150 +625%
Dota 2	24−27 −600%	160−170 +600%
Grand Theft Auto V	24−27 −483%	140−150 +483%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	110−120 −475%	650−700 +475%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 −564%	90−95 +564%
World of Tanks	110−120 −369%	500−550 +369%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 −172%	85−90 +172%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −483%	70−75 +483%
Far Cry 5	35−40 −310%	160−170 +310%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −490%	230−240 +490%
Forza Horizon 5	24−27 −768%	210−220 +768%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −349%	150−160 +349%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −491%	130−140 +491%
Valorant	40−45 −1230%	500−550 +1230%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	6−7 −1717%	109 +1717%
Dota 2	27−30 −593%	180−190 +593%
Grand Theft Auto V	27−30 −493%	160−170 +493%
Metro Exodus	10−12 −1073%	120−130 +1073%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	45−50 −345%	200−210 +345%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 −540%	60−65 +540%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30 −493%	160−170 +493%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 −507%	90−95 +507%
Counter-Strike 2	6−7 −500%	36 +500%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −500%	30−33 +500%
Dota 2	27−30 −493%	160−170 +493%
Far Cry 5	20−22 −425%	100−110 +425%
Fortnite	18−20 −433%	95−100 +433%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −465%	130−140 +465%
Forza Horizon 5	12−14 −1092%	140−150 +1092%
Valorant	18−20 −1661%	300−350 +1661%

This is how GTX 960 and RTX 5080 compete in popular games:

RTX 5080 is 211% faster in 1080p
RTX 5080 is 542% faster in 1440p
RTX 5080 is 240% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Counter-Strike 2, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RTX 5080 is 1717% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RTX 5080 surpassed GTX 960 in all 45 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	15.71	94.26
Recency	22 January 2015	30 January 2025
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	16 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	4 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	360 Watt

GTX 960 has 200% lower power consumption.

RTX 5080, on the other hand, has a 500% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 600% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce RTX 5080 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 960 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.