New tests cast a disappointing light on Nvidia’s RTX 5090 laptop GPU, suggesting that at today’s prices, RTX 5080 notebooks are a far better buy

• Testing has shown that the RTX 5080 is close to the RTX 5090’s performance
• This is despite the RTX 5090 having quite a beefier spec, and laptops with this GPU being much more expensive
• There are reasons for this, though, on the performance front, seemingly wrapped up in power use and thermals

Nvidia’s RTX 5080 laptop GPU is surprisingly close to the performance of the RTX 5090 mobile, going by some recent testing of gaming laptops that use these freshly arrived graphics cards.

Although this isn’t as much of a case of glowing praise for the speed of the RTX 5080 as such – though it is very fast – rather it’s more about a relative lack of oomph that the Blackwell flagship GPU seems to be burdened with (for a reason that I’ll come back to later).

As you might recall, there have already been mutterings about the performance offered by the laptop version of the RTX 5090 compared to Nvidia’s flagship on the desktop (though some scenarios may suggest otherwise).

Now, however, VideoCardz noticed that Notebookcheck.net’s comparative testing of the RTX 5080 laptop GPU has shown how close it is in frame rates to the top dog RTX 5090 mobile – within 10% to 15%, in fact.

The report from Notebookcheck.net shows that, for example, in Assassin's Creed Shadows at Full HD (ultra-high details) you’re getting 74 fps with the RTX 5090, and 63 fps with the RTX 5080. Switching to 4K resolution makes the difference 39 fps plays 34 fps, which is only an 11% slowdown.

That’s based on testing using Schenker Neo 16 laptops that have the RTX 5080 and 5090 inside, paired with the same processor (the AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX).

Generally speaking, as you’d expect, the gap is a bit bigger at 4K versus lower resolutions, but it’s never all that huge, and often around, or just over, the 10% mark.

Analysis: Component claustrophobia

There’s no doubting that the RTX 5090 makes a superb graphics engine for any gaming laptop, the trouble is it also makes said portable exorbitantly expensive. That’s pretty much our review of the new Razer Blade 16 with the RTX 5090 (pictured above) in a nutshell.

When you look at the huge price difference of a laptop with an RTX 5090 and one with an RTX 5080, which means that you’re paying around two-thirds more (or thereabouts) for only a difference of 10% (and maybe a bit) – it’s difficult to justify forking out the tons of money necessary to grab a portable with the Blackwell flagship. Really difficult.

You may be scratching your head at this point if you’re familiar with the relative specs of these two laptop GPUs. The RTX 5090 boasts 37% more graphics cores, and 50% more (superfast) video memory too, which adds up to considerably more oomph on paper. So why isn’t the RTX 5090 also considerably speedier than the RTX 5080?

Well, as VideoCardz points out, the power envelope that limits these two mobile GPUs is the same, namely 150W (or a 175W temporary boost). And that restriction on the wattage being supplied to the GPU is really what’s holding back the RTX 5090 – and the thermal constraints of having such a very powerful graphics card in a relatively small and claustrophobic laptop chassis.

While this is only one round of (very limited) testing being presented here, given that factor, the relative results aren’t so surprising. What we must also remember about the RTX 5090, though, is that it’ll be able to do what it does in a more refined manner than the RTX 5080. (I presume, anyway – feedback around the fan noise with the mobile RTX 5090 seems favorable, from the likes of our sister site, PC Gamer).

In the overall picture, though, unless you’re really not concerned about the asking price and money is no real object, RTX 5080 laptops look a far, far better option currently than gaming notebooks using the RTX 5090. Although we do also have to consider that those flagship portables may offer other options alongside the RTX 5090 that lesser models from the same laptop range don’t (maybe the fanciest screen going, for example, but that’ll also jack up the price tag).

At any rate, right now, trying to see the benefits of the Blackwell flagship in its laptop form factor, compared to the truly formidable RTX 5090 desktop GPU, is an uphill struggle, frankly. Maybe pricing will start to reflect this as a function of demand, mind you – we shall see.

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