Technologies
GeForce RTX 4080 Review: Sufficiently Speedy for Solid 4K
Though $1,200 may not be «on a budget,» for more-than-just-playable 4K it’s a reasonable deal. At least at the moment.
Though the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090may be the first flagship of the company’s Ada Lovelace-architecture gaming GPU line, the step-down RTX 4080 should attract more potential buyers, if only because its $1,200 price tag is $400 lower than the 4090’s (though that will vary by board manufacturer). And if you want to save money but still get solid 4K gameplay or smoother streaming out of your graphics card, the RTX 4080 is definitely your best bet — for the moment.
A lot depends upon how well AMD’s newest RDNA 3-architecture RX 7900 XTX performs (or the 7900 XT at $899), since it will directly compete with the RTX 4080 at a lower $1,000 figure. We won’t know that until mid-December, though, since that’s when it’s expected to ship. And the rest of the RTX 40-series, from the RTX 4070 down, remains somewhat of a mystery; if the «unlaunched» 12GB model of the RTX 4080 indeed becomes the RTX 4070, I’d place that as a top-end 1440p card or bare-bones 4K.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 FE
Like
- Really fast
- Lifts performance of everything, not just games and applications that specifically support the new algorithms
- Relatively quiet
Don’t Like
- Big
- Relatively expensive
- Using the power adapter requires more clearance than you might have
In fact, the RTX 40 series thus far seems to be a notable leap over the 30 series, not just in frame rates but in ray tracing and latency performance improvements, as well as improved performance consistency in general. Enough of a leap that if you’re on the fence about upgrading from a 30 series card, it might tip you into the greener pasture. (Here’s a summary of all the updates the 40 series brings to the line.)
But it might merit waiting if you need to save even more or aren’t quite set up for 4K gaming — you really want a powerful CPU and system with a high-bandwidth (PCIe 4 or later) GPU slot, not just a 4K monitor, or you won’t get as much out of the new GPU as you’d expect. The two 40-series cards I’ve tested are not only faster with significantly lower latency, but they also seem to rely on the CPU far more than the 30 series.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition specs
| Memory | 16GB GDDR6X |
|---|---|
| Memory bandwidth (GBps) | 716.9 |
| Memory clock (GHz) | 11.2 |
| GPU clock (GHz, base/boost) | 2.21/2.51 |
| Memory data rate/Interface | 22Gbps / 256-bit |
| RT cores | 76 |
| CUDA cores | 9,728 |
| Texture mapping units | 304 |
| Streaming multiprocessors | 76 |
| Tensor Cores | 304 |
| Process | 4nm |
| TGP/min PSU | 320W / 750W |
| Max thermal (degrees) | 194F/90C |
| Bus | PCIe 4.0×16 |
| Size | 3 slots; 12.0×5.4 in. (304x137mm) |
| Launch price | $1,200 |
| Ship date | Nov. 15, 2022 |
And if you’re upgrading from an RTX 3080 Ti, you might even need a new case to fit the RTX 4080. The latter is a three-slot card, longer and higher than the former — in fact, it’s the same size as the RTX 4090. Since it’s higher, if you’re using the three-headed power adapter, there needs to be sufficient clearance to keep it from bending too much near the connector. There have been isolated reports of, well, melting.
The RTX 4080 is as fat as the RTX 4090, which is the same size as an Xbox Series S.
Lori Grunin/CNETFor gamers who use DLSS, the card still delivers a lift in DLSS 2 as well as an even better bump with DLSS 3. For games that support the latter, if you run in Performance mode on the RTX 4080 it can deliver the same frame rate as the RTX 4090 in Quality mode, though whether the drop in quality (if there is one) depends upon the game, your visual acuity and how much you care. It’s definitely a tradeoff to consider if you’re on a budget.
Only 10 games with DLSS 3 support are available as of the launch of the RTX 4080:
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Bright Memory: Infinite
- Destroy All Humans! 2 — Reprobed
- F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch
- F1 22
- Justice
- Loopmancer
- Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Super People
Of course that number will grow over time, but until it does, you still need to think about DLSS 2 performance.
Pending formal encoder testing, I can say that it seems like the AV1 encode/decode bump makes a difference, at least in OBS (one of the few applications that have thus far added support, since it requires the use of a different Nvidia codec) where it handled recording a stream well enough in 4K. But it’s early days, and it can be persnickety about the settings to do so successfully. Not a deal-breaker, but an annoyance. DaVinci supports them, but as yet Adobe Premiere Pro doesn’t seem to. For 3D-based pro graphics applications, at least as measured by SpecViewPerf 2020, there are the usual generational and 4090-over-4080 performance differences.
While the RTX 4080 isn’t as fast as the RTX 4090 with all the stops pulled out, nor would you expect it to be, on a lot of games where the shiny and the detail are more important than speed, the RTX 4080 should do them justice in 4K for less cash. Whether or not it’s the best deal out there for the job may change over the next couple of months, as AMD ships and CES announcements arrive.
Relative performance of recent GPUs
Shadow of the Tomb Raider gaming test (4K)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS)
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
SpecViewPerf 2020 SolidWorks (4K)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS)
3DMark Speed Way (DX12 Ultimate)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
3DMark DXR (DirectX Ray Tracing)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS)
3DMark DLSS
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS)
Test PC configuration
| Custom PC | Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (22H2); 3.2GHz Intel Core i9-12900K; 32GB DDR5-4800; 2x Corsair MP600 Pro SSD; Corsair HX1200 80 Plus Platinum PSU, MSI MPG Z690 Force Wi-Fi motherboard, Corsair 4000D Airflow midtower case |
|---|
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #707
Hints and answers for Connections for May 18, #707.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections puzzle is a mix of difficult and easy. The purple category does what most purple categories do, and makes you really break down how you think about the words. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: School days.
Green group hint: About there!
Blue group hint: Sure, let’s go.
Purple group hint: The Scarlett Letter.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Tasks for a student.
Green group: Encouraging responses in a guessing game.
Blue group: Up for anything.
Purple group: What «A» might mean.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is tasks for a student. The four answers are assignment, drill, exercise and lesson.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is encouraging responses in a guessing game. The four answers are almost, close, not quite and warm.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is up for anything. The four answers are easy, flexible, game and open.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is what «A» might mean. The four answers are area, athletic, excellent and one.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #441
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 441 for May 18.
Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s NYT Strands will probably be easier if you have some basic knowledge about a certain type of vessel. You don’t really need to have ever been on one, since the answers show up in books and movies all the time. If you need hints and answers, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: Riding the wind.
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: famed song by Christopher Cross.
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- DULL, TILE, TILER, SEER, GALE, GALES, HAIL, SAIL, LEEK, GLUE, HALL, TALL, HEAT
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- HELM, HULL, KEEL, MAST, STERN, RIGGING, RUDDER, TILLER
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is SAILBOAT. To find it, start with the S that’s four letters down on the farthest row to the left, then wind across, up and down.
Technologies
Google I/O 2025: How to Watch and What to Expect
With Android 16 out of the way, Google I/O will certainly be all about AI.
Google I/O 2025 takes place on May 20 and 21 with Google’s big keynote happening on day 1. We expect Big G to talk about its myriad innovations across its ever-expanding portfolio of products — almost certainly with a huge focus on AI every step of the way. If we collectively cross our fingers, promise to be good and eat all our vegetables then we may even be treated to a sneak peek at upcoming hardware.
Read more: Android 16: Everything Google Announced at the Android Show
Google also hosted a totally separate event that focused solely on Android. The Android Show: I/O Edition saw the wrappers come off Android 16, with insights into the new Material 3 Expressive interface, updates to security and a focus on Gemini and how it’ll work on a variety of other devices.
By breaking out Android news into its own virtual event, Google frees itself to spend more time during the I/O keynote to talk about Gemini, Deep Mind, Android XR and Project Astra. It’s going to be a jam-packed event, so here’s how you can watch I/O 2025 as it happens and what you can look forward to.
Google I/O: Where to watch
Google I/O proper kicks off with a keynote taking place on May 20, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. BST). It’ll almost certainly be available to stream online on Google’s own YouTube channel, although a holding video is yet to be available. There’s no live link on the I/O website yet, either, though you can use the handy links to add the event to your calendar of choice. Expect links to a livestream to be available closer to the day.
What to expect from Google I/O 2025
Little chat about Android 16: As Google gave Android 16 its own outing already, it’s likely that it won’t be mentioned all that much during I/O. In fact at last year’s event, Android was barely mentioned, while uses of the term «AI» went well over a hundred.
Android XR: Google didn’t talk much about Android XR during the Android show, focusing instead on the purely phone-based updates to the platform. We expected to hear more about the company’s latest foray into mixed-reality headsets in partnership with Samsung and its Project Moohan headset, so it’s possible that this is being saved for I/O proper.
Gemini: With Android being spun out into its own separate event, Google is evidently clearing the way for I/O to focus on everything else the company does. AI will continue to dominate the conversation at I/O, just as it did last year (though hopefully Google can make it more understandable) with updates to many of its AI platforms expected to be announced.
Gemini is expected to receive a variety of update announcements, including more information on its latest 2.5 Pro update which boasts various improvements to its reasoning abilities, and in particular to its helpfulness for coding applications. Expect lots of mentions of Google’s other AI-based products, too, including DeepMind, LearnLM and Project Astra. Let’s just hope Google has figured out how to make this information make any kind of sense.
Beyond AI, Google may talk about updates to its other products including GMail, Chrome and the Play Store, although whether these updates are big enough to be discussed during the keynote rather than as part of the developer-focused sessions following I/O’s opening remains to be seen.
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