Upgrading to an RTX 5080 on Old Hardware Was Rough, But Sold Me on Multi-Frame Generation

I get excited each clip a caller graphics paper launches, and adjacent much truthful erstwhile Nvidia revealed the RTX 5080 and its latest DLSS 4 technology, which uses AI to amplify visuals and framework rates beyond what was antecedently possible. But I took 1 look astatine my grandpa-build of a gaming PC and hesitated for a infinitesimal

My RTX 3080 served maine good passim the years, getting a dependable 60 fps astatine 4K, max settings successful my favourite games, but that honeymoon epoch didn’t past precise long. It began a dependable diminution down to 30 fps until I had to yet crook down settings. I hated that – I unrecorded to acquisition the afloat breadth of creation successful video games. Those beauteous artists enactment truthful overmuch into their work, and I conscionable wanted to spot it. But could my PC adjacent grip it?

Well, arsenic it turned out, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 does work with my aging build. I adjacent person a 1000-watt PSU to accommodate the powerfulness displacement from my RTX 3080.

However, I ran into immoderate snags. My wide setup was little than optimal and the earthy show particularly seemed… lackluster. Yet, contempt that and my criticisms of DLSS 4, its multi framework procreation exertion near 1 heck of an impression. One that whitethorn person yet sold maine connected the tech.

Installing the RTX 5080 – 4 Hours Later

I accidental grandpa-build, but it’s not really that old. My PC has an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor and 32GB of RAM, some of which are slotted into a Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master motherboard (trust me, that’s important). I’d reason that the graphics paper whitethorn beryllium 1 of the easier parts to swap retired of a customized PC build, but the gods smote maine for my hubris.

I falsely assumed that the aforesaid powerfulness cables that powered my RTX 3080 would enactment connected the RTX 5080, truthful I plugged the 2 PCIe 8-pin cables into the RTX 5080’s 2 retired of 3 adapters. I assumed this was not going to work, but I didn’t privation to bash much enactment than this. When I turned my PC on, the RTX 5080’s LEDs did not amusement signs of life. Ugh.

At this point, I had already popped unfastened my PC and its guts were laid strewn about. So naturally, I looked up wherever to get PCIe 12-pin cables, and to my genuine surprise, I saw DoorDash. Yep, I DoorDashed a acceptable of Corsair PCIe Gen 5 Type 4 600-watt powerfulness cables from a Best Buy successful a antithetic authorities for a full of $44. Man gets bare for power, what tin I say?

It took astir an hr to arrive, and past I raced upstairs to plug everything successful and voilà! The GPU sprang to life… benignant of. It flickered hesitantly and, of course, my PC didn’t activate the monitors. Instead, determination was a beauteous reddish airy connected my motherboard wherever the VGA awesome is. It took maine different hr earlier I figured retired what was wrong. You see, the X570 Aorus Master’s chipset instrumentality is simply a chunky monkey, and the RTX 5080 besides happens to beryllium rather chunky itself. The paper wasn’t afloat plugged into the PCIe x16 slot due to the fact that the X570’s dump motortruck of a instrumentality was successful the way. And nary substance however hard I tried to shove it in, it would not budge. Sigh.

And so, aft each of this, I was forced to plug the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, 1 of the champion Nvidia GPUs presently available, into a measly PCIe x8 slot. Okay, truthful betwixt the aged CPU and the downgraded PCIe x8 slot, what did that bash to performance?

RTX 5080 Running connected My Grandpa-Build

After moving a full of 30 benchmarks done 5 antithetic games, the RTX 5080 managed wide middling earthy show connected my PC. However, with DLSS 4 enabled, I saw those ridiculous numbers that Nvidia wanted maine to see. As I’ve said, I privation to acquisition the imaginativeness that artists acceptable to make successful their games, but DLSS 4 complicates that. It is unluckily the lone way guardant for PCs similar mine.

For those that are unaware, DLSS 4 is simply a ace sampling exertion that tin summation show and sharpen representation quality. What’s unsocial to the RTX 50-series cards, however, is Multi Frame Generation, which uses AI to make up to 3 frames per existent frame. It works lone successful supported games, however. And immoderate games that enactment framework procreation mightiness not enactment Multi Frame Generation, though you tin override that successful the Nvidia app.

With the RTX 5080 arsenic my sword, I chose Monster Hunter Wilds arsenic my archetypal boss. This poorly optimized nightmare made maine recognize my RTX 3080 wasn’t rather up to snuff anymore. And truthful vengeance was nigh. However, astatine 4K, with the Ultra preset and RT High settings, my PC could not interruption 60 fps. Instead it stopped astatine 51 fps… with DLSS disabled. When I flipped the power to DLAA (native resolution) and enabled regular framework procreation (2x), it jumped to 74 fps. Getting max settings astatine supra 60 fps is each I wanted with Monster Hunter Wilds, truthful I’d telephone this a brag slain. But if you wanted more, flipping to Ultra Performance netted maine 124 fps. (At the clip of writing, Multi-frame Generation (4x) doesn’t enactment natively successful the Nvidia app, though determination is simply a workaround radical person found.)

When I antecedently traversed the Living Lands successful Avowed, I could not get adjacent to 60 fps without turning down fractional the settings. But now… well, it inactive hurts. At Ultra, 4K, RT connected with DLSS disabled, my PC sputtered retired a measly 35 fps. The gods of Eora laughed astatine maine and my $1K+ GPU. Then I revved up my anime sword (enabled DLAA and MFG) and chopped down a campy of Xaurips astatine 113 fps. That is simply a 223% summation successful framework rate. My jaw dropped erstwhile I saw that number. And the DLSS Ultra Performance fig is virtually treble those frames.

If you thought Avowed was chunky, conjecture again. I person ne'er struggled much with show than successful Oblivion: Remastered. Yes, the remaster of the adjacent twenty-year aged crippled gave adjacent my RTX 5080 a tummy ache. At Ultra, 4K, RT Ultra with DLSS disabled, I couldn’t ascent down the mountains adjacent Bryma without archetypal climbing down to 20 fps. It occasionally flickered up to 40 fps and averaged astir 30 fps total. It ran similar however it did erstwhile Oblivion primitively launched. But pursuing the signifier of jumping to DLAA with MFG, my PC achieved 95 fps. And with Ultra Performance, I got 172 fps. Those Daedra are truthful toast.

One crippled I ne'er had occupation with was Marvel Rivals (thanks, NetEase). However, successful a competitory rubric similar this, a azygous framework tin propulsion you disconnected your game, and arsenic a Magik main, I americium hyper-focused connected hitting my dash close connected time. I measured some fps and latency (in milliseconds), and astatine Ultra, 4K with DLSS disabled, the RTX 5080 performed that Umbral Incursion astatine 65 fps with a 45ms latency. I acceptable DLSS to Native with MFG and got 182 fps and 50ms. Those are my perfect visuals, but the latency was really the worst among the 7 tests. The lowest latency was connected Performance with modular framework procreation (2x), netting maine 189 fps with a 28ms latency, which matched the latency show without framework generation. I can’t accidental that DLSS 4 enactment my Eldritch Armor Magik up connected that MVP slot, but I’m not not saying it.

I saved Black Myth Wukong for past due to the fact that I ran lone the benchmark tool, which constricted maine to modular framework generation, but the numbers were inactive solid. At Cinematic, 4K, DLSS 40% with RT Very High, the RTX 5080 scraped by with 42 fps. However, flipping connected framework procreation scored maine 69 fps. That’s a bully effort, and much than capable frames to bask the crippled (which I volition play eventually, arsenic a person of simulated suffering). Multi-frame Generation would astir treble the added frames. So connected my hardware, if I gained 27 fps connected a x2 jump, past x4 could theoretically springiness maine a full of 123 fps.

Needless to say, I was rather distraught erstwhile I tried to tally my favourite games connected earthy GPU show alone. The effect is simply a substance of my aged PC components and the information that the RTX 50-series didn’t spot a huge leap successful earthy show this generation. Despite that, DLSS 4 rather virtually changed the crippled for me.

You Don’t Need a New PC for a New GPU

Again, determination are immoderate caveats with relying connected DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation. The bundle is virtually creating creation that ne'er existed before, and the exertion decidedly isn’t perfect. Whether I was moving astir Cyrodiil oregon the Living Lands, I noticed immoderate fuzziness successful biology textures and adjacent immoderate artifacts portion scrolling done inventory screens. That’s due to the fact that DLSS 4 isn’t magic. You’re sacrificing earthy fidelity for accrued framework rates and an optimized ocular acquisition that tin heighten oregon imitate the existent thing. It’s large for the occasionally mediocre prime port, but I proceed to anticipation that developers don’t trust connected this benignant of exertion to optimize games.

However, if you instrumentality thing distant from my journey, it should beryllium that caller GPUs tin get a heck of a batch of enactment done adjacent successful an inefficient situation. I’ll admit, I was tempted to rip disconnected my motherboard instrumentality conscionable truthful I could get the RTX 5080 into the PCIe x16 slot, but it seemed unnecessary aft discovering what DLSS 4 could bash successful these conditions.

So no, you don’t request to upgrade everything to instrumentality vantage of a caller graphics card. You mightiness request a caller powerfulness proviso (RTX 5080 requires 850W) and powerfulness cables (like I did), but that’s it. GPUs are costly enough, fto unsocial hard to find, truthful don’t spell spamming PC parts successful your Newegg cart. You’re astir apt fine.

Now, I’m not definite however agelong my setup volition past earlier I request to afloat upgrade my gaming PC, but I deliberation DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation bought maine astatine slightest 7 minutes to accidental hullo to Wesker.

Rami Tabari is simply a contributing writer astatine IGN with implicit 9 years of acquisition successful the tech and gaming industry. You tin find his bylines astatine Laptop Mag and Tom's Guide (and connected a random Predator reappraisal astatine Space.com). When Rami isn't wading done a oversea of the latest gaming tech, he's agonizing implicit the worldbuilding successful his upcoming novella.