If you have deep pockets, or you can find a good deal, you could make the bump to the RTX 5080 (8/10, WIRED Recommends), starting at around $1,500. It’s capable of high-refresh 1440p gameplay in the sort of titles people play regularly, like Fortnite and Helldivers 2, while being able to leverage frame generation and DLSS 4 to make 4K gaming a possibility in some titles.
Unfortunately, unless someone finds one behind a shelf in a warehouse, the Founders Edition we reviewed is likely already sold out.
With that in mind, I’d recommend the Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5080 OC. I got to spend time with the RTX 5070 Ti (8/10, WIRED Recommends) version of the card, and I was impressed with its performance, build quality, and efficient cooling despite the relatively compact size. Best of all, you get Asus’ top-notch overclocking expertise, tuning your card to get the most out of it.
I’ve spotted it in stock fairly consistently, and although it’s over MSRP, so are basically all of the other RTX 5080s at the moment. This one is sitting near the bottom of the group in terms of price, while still offering important upgrades.
