With the RTX 5080 now available, there’s been much discussion around custom AIB models, especially with some brands sticking to their tried-and-tested designs while others refine their cooling and aesthetics. One of the standout cards from ASUS is the RTX 5080 TUF OC, a card that builds on the robust and reliable design philosophy the TUF lineup is known for. Given that NVIDIA’s Founders Edition has slimmed down this generation, we wanted to see what ASUS has done differently and whether the larger TUF cooler can push performance further. So today, we’ll be putting it through its paces!
ASUS RTX 5080 TUF Gaming
On Wednesday, we took a look at the RTX 5080 Founders Edition from NVIDIA. Being an MSRP-based card, anything that tries to compete with it is already facing an uphill struggle, as we’ve already shown that the FE cooler handles temperatures, power and fan noise with ease. This is where we’re going to be focusing today, as underneath the TUF cooler from ASUS is the same GB203 core, so there’s not much point going over all the same tests. Though, as always, we will be making sure that the ASUS TUF OC card matches the same range of performance that we saw with the NVIDIA Founders Edition before putting it under a stress test to see how it holds up.
Key Features
- NVIDIA Blackwell Architecture: The latest GPU architecture from NVIDIA, offering significant performance and efficiency improvements over previous generations.
- 16GB GDDR7 Memory: Plenty of high-speed memory for demanding games and applications.
- PCI Express 5.0: Supports the latest PCIe standard for blazing-fast data transfer speeds.
- Axial-tech Fans: These fans provide superior cooling performance while remaining quiet.
- Military-grade Components: Built with high-quality components for exceptional durability and reliability.
- Protective PCB Coating: Helps protect the card from moisture, dust, and debris.
- Dual BIOS: Allows you to switch between performance and quiet modes.
- GPU Tweak III: A powerful utility for monitoring and overclocking your graphics card.
Before we do that, let’s talk about the specs of this card. Being an OC-based card, naturally, you’d expect it to come with a factory overclock, which it does, with a boost clock of 2700MHz. Compared to the 2620MHz of the Founders Edition card, it’s pushing another 3% faster speeds. When you put it like that, it doesn’t exactly sound amazing. While overclocks in this day and age don’t always provide a drastic increase in frame rates, in some cases, we’ve seen up to a 10% improvement, depending on the workload. However, that always brings us back to the value proposition—if a card delivers a 5–10% performance gain but costs 15–20% more, is it really worth it? That’s where cooling, noise levels, and build quality start to factor into the decision-making process, and it will have to make a big difference because this card is, and you may want to be sitting down, 49% more expensive than the Founders Edition card.
So, being a TUF card, anyone who’s had any TUF products before will know that they’ve evolved significantly over the last few years. ASUS has refined the lineup, improving cooling performance and durability, while still keeping costs slightly lower than their premium ROG STRIX counterparts.
