ASUS RTX 5080 Noctua Edition Review

1. Introduction2. Meet the ASUS RTX 5080 Noctua Edition3. Testing Methodology4. Game Benchmarks5. Clock Speed6. GPU Temperatures7. Acoustics8. Noise-Normalised Temperatures9. Power Draw and Efficiency10. Overclocking11. Closing Thoughts12. View All Pages

There's no doubt about it, the ASUS RTX 5080 Noctua Edition is one of the most technically proficient graphics cards we have ever tested at KitGuru. The level of engineering that allows for a triple fan setup, using 120mm NF-A12-x25 G2 models, alongside a heatsink that incorporates a vapour chamber and no less than eleven heatpipes, is highly, highly impressive.

That technological prowess is borne out by our testing results, too, as this is easily one of the quietest graphics cards we've ever tested, with the fans barely spinning above 600rpm using the default Quiet BIOS. That's while keeping GPU temperatures below 70C under a full 4K load, while noise-normalised thermals are the best we have seen from an RTX 5080.

However, as good as this card is from an objective sense, I feel it poses more questions than it has answers. Given its price of £1500 (!), for instance, how many people are really prepared to drop this much cash on an RTX 5080, but wouldn't step up to an RTX 5090, given they now start at below £2000?

In a similar vein, I find it strange that ASUS and Noctua continue to choose GPUs for these special collaborations that aren't the current flagship in Nvidia's lineup. First it was the Noctua Edition of the 3070 and 3080, then the 4080 and 4080 Super, and now the 5080. Surely if you're going to go all out on a unique design and cooler like this, it makes more sense to put it on the fastest consumer GPU that's currently available and make an RTX 5090 version.

I suspect the reason we haven't seen a 5090 model is because the extra power demands would mean adjusting the noise profile of the card, which neither ASUS or Noctua would want to do, but I still can't help but feel this card is stuck in somewhat of a no man's land. After all, RTX 5080 is not a whole lot faster than RTX 5070 Ti – generally in the region of 20% – and doesn't offer any more VRAM, despite this model coming in at well over twice the price of some 5070 Ti cards.

We also can't ignore the fact the rumour mill has been churning out more and more RTX 5080 Super leaks, suggesting a 24GB model may be launching by the end of the year. I appreciate things move fast in this industry and there's always something new on the horizon, but I can imagine a potential customer would be pretty peeved to drop £1.5K on a 5080 now, only for a new model with 50% more VRAM to launch by Q4.

Ultimately, the ASUS RTX 5080 Noctua Edition is a highly impressive feat of engineering, but to actually ask customers to go out and spend £1500 on one of these – which is now a 65% premium over MSRP – does feel somewhat ridiculous. If you want one and can afford it, I have no doubt you'll be happy with it, but I don't think I'd ever understand why you wouldn't just grab an RTX 5090 instead.

Update: After going live, Noctua got in touch and told us they would ‘love' to make an RTX 5090 version, but it's not quite so simple. We published an article detailing their statement, and what the company thinks a speculative RTX 5090 Noctua Edition might look like, over HERE.

We found it listed on Scan for £1500 HERE.

Pros

• Ridiculously quiet.
• Best in class noise-normalised thermals.
• First graphics card to feature three 120x25mm fans.
• Noctua fanboys will love the aesthetic.
• Overclocked very well.

Cons

• Enormous price increase over the RTX 5080 MSRP.
• Is anyone spending £1500 on this but not dropping a few hundred more to get an RTX 5090?
• Physically massive – quad-slot thickness and almost 40cm long.

KitGuru says: It's technically impressive and a great showcase, but I'm not sure it makes a whole lot of sense to go out and buy.

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