MSI GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING 32GB GDDR7 Black
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 AERO OC 16GB GDDR7 White
What Buyers Say
MSI GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING 32GB GDDR7 Black
The MSI RTX 5090 LIGHTNING Z is praised as a top-tier, high-performance GPU with excellent 4K gaming, a customizable display, and superior cooling. However, reviewers note its extremely high price, with one calling it the "Bugatti" of GPUs for only modest gains over the reference model. Overall, it's seen as a premium, powerful choice for enthusiasts willing to pay a premium.
Pros
- Excellent 4K gaming performance
- Customizable 8-inch display
- Efficient AIO cooling
- Dual BIOS options
- Premium build quality
Cons
- Extremely high price
- Modest gains over reference model
- Overkill for most users
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 AERO OC 16GB GDDR7 White
The GIGABYTE AERO GeForce RTX 5080 is highly praised for its all-white aesthetic, fitting perfectly into white-themed builds with only the radiator fins being black. Users confirm it includes a 3x 8pin to 16 pin adapter and a versatile VGA support bracket, and it is compatible with small form factor cases. Overall, sentiment is very positive.
Pros
- All-white aesthetic
- Compatible with small form factor cases
- Includes 3x 8-pin to 16-pin adapter
- Includes versatile VGA support bracket
- White backplate and body
Cons
- Radiator fins are black (not white)
Scores
Specifications
| MSI GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING | Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 AERO OC | |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | ||
| GPU Chipset | GeForce RTX 5090 | GeForce RTX 5080 |
| Brand | NVIDIA | NVIDIA |
| Architecture | Blackwell | Blackwell |
| Class | consumer | consumer |
| Process | — | 5★ |
| Memory | ||
| VRAM | 32 GB★ | 16 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR7 | GDDR7 |
| Memory Bus | ||
| Bandwidth | No data | |
| Compute | ||
| CUDA Cores | ||
| Tensor Cores | No data | |
| RT Cores | — | 84★ |
| Base Clock | ||
| Boost Clock | ||
| FP16 TFLOPS | — | 56.279998779296875★ |
| FP32 TFLOPS | — | 56.279998779296875★ |
| Performance | ||
| PassMark G3D | ||
| GPU Compute | ||
| Power & Cooling | ||
| TDP | 800 | 360★ |
| Recommended PSU | 1,500 | 850★ |
| Power Connectors | 16-pin x 2 | 1 x 16-Pin |
| Cooler | AIO Liquid★ | Triple Fan |
| Fans | 3 | 3 |
| Connectivity | ||
| Interface | PCI Express 5.0 x16 | PCI Express 5.0 |
| DisplayPort | 3 | 3 |
| HDMI | 1 | 1 |
| USB-C | 1★ | — |
| Max Displays | 4 | 4 |
| Max Resolution | 7680 x 4320 | 7680 x 4320 |
| Physical | ||
| Length | 260★ | 304 |
| Slot Width | 2.9000000953674316 | 2.5★ |
| Form Factor | ATX | Full Height |
| Weight | — | 1.95 kg★ |
| Features | ||
| Ray Tracing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Upscaling | DLSS Support | DLSS 4 |
| AV1 Encode | ✓ | ✓ |
| VR Ready | — | ✓★ |
| DirectX | 12 Ultimate | 12 |
| RGB | ✓ | ✓ |
Pros & Cons
MSI GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING 32GB GDDR7 Black
- Strong compute (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong connectivity (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong thermal (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong raster (99th percentile)99th %ile
- Below average affordability (2nd percentile)2nd %ile
- Below average efficiency (18th percentile)18th %ile
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 AERO OC 16GB GDDR7 White
- Strong feature (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong rt (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong raster (94th percentile)94th %ile
- Strong connectivity (94th percentile)94th %ile
- Below average affordability (16th percentile)16th %ile
Pricing
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 AERO OC 16GB GDDR7 White offers 3.8x better value for money
MSI GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING 32GB GDDR7 Black
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 AERO OC 16GB GDDR7 White
Verdict
Scores 99 overall, wins 4 of 8 usage categories and 11 of 39 specs.
