Card Layout and Photos
The RTX 5080 Founders Editon looks almost exactly like the RTX 5090 Founders Editon that I took a look at last week with the only exception being the cast fan shroud has a dark grey finish not a black finish. The overall design manages to look like all of the other Founders Edition designs while also changing things up. It has the infinity loop shape that gives it that X shape in the middle of the card but this generation Nvidia has changed things up with both fans now being on one side of the card, not with one on each side like last generation. The RTX 5080 Founders Editon is 304 mm long and 137 mm tall, just like the 4080 and 4090 from last generation but the new design is thinner with it being a proper 2-slot card, not 3-slots like previously. It is still a large card with its length and height, but the thinner profile should help with some SFF cases and in server farms where they want to pack as many into a small space as they can. One of the main reasons they managed the thinner design is a very unique PCB design which has almost all of the PCB packed into the center section between fans. They then have two breakout boards, one for the display connections and the other for the PCI 5.0 connection at the bottom of the card. I am curious if that means the card will be more repairable, a damaged PCIe slot might be replaceable in the right hands.
The side view of the RTX 5080 Founders Editon gives us a better look at both of the fans and the double flow through thermal design as Nvidia calls it. They have heatpipes that run the length of the card that are built into the heatplate over the center PCB, five in total. They then run out across both fans helping pull the heat from the center of the card out to the two main heatsink halves. Both fans take advantage of the full height of the card to fit, they are 115mm edge to edge and sit in a 120 mm fan opening. They both have 7 blades and a ring that wraps around the entire fan to give it more strength. They are axial and blow down into the card and out the back with the blow-through design. It still looks like magic on the left fan side where you have all of the display connections but can see right through it all in that area.
Up on the top edge of the RTX 5080 Founders Editon, the thick cast shroud wraps around on the front and back of the card, then in the center, there is a black cap that wraps around to both sides and over the top. That cap has the power connection tucked away in it recessed down and sitting at an angle. This new configuration is a lot better at preventing any strain on the connection. On top of that, the power connection itself is now a 12V-2x6 connection. It uses the same 12VHPR cable that the RTX 4080 used, but on the card itself the connection now has .25mm longer pins for each of the power connections and the sense pins on the back are 1.5mm shorter. The idea is that you get a better connection easier, but the now shorter pins will pick up if you don’t have it plugged all the way in. Combined with the new adapter that was also included should help prevent melting issues. Also on the top edge, the card has the GeForce RTX branding which is backlit. I don’t mind the simple branding, but I still think it would be cooler to get the model name here backlit instead. Showing off you have an RTX 5080 is cooler than GeForce RTX.
With the two fans being on the front side of the RTX 5080 Founders Edition, it’s no surprise that on the back side of the card, we don’t have a fan like with past Founders Edition cards. This side has the same infinity loop shape with the metal shroud making an X in the center of the card. You can’t see it, but there is backlighting between the X and the heatsink fins. Both sides have horizontal heatsink fins that fill almost the entire card. It is hard to see it, but behind the fans, the fins do have a convex shape to them. Beyond that this side has the black center sections that wrap around from front to back, the top section has the RTX 5080 branding on it, flipped upside down so it will be readable in your case.
Looking around at the top, bottom, and the end of the card we can see that Nvidia’s blow-through design doesn’t cheat with venting anywhere else other than two small vents at the center on the top and bottom. The metal shroud wraps around the end without any vents but does have two removable screws that can be used for attaching a support to the card. With a minimal amount of vents at the bottom it does mean that you won’t have much hot if any being blown down onto your motherboard, a lot of boards have their M.2 drives hidden there and the extra heat can be an issue with the PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 drives.
For display connections, the RTX 5080 Founders Edition has four in total. There are three DisplayPort 2.1b connections with UHBR20 and then one HDMI 2.1b down at the bottom. What is interesting is with the full blow-through design this end of the card is completely sealed up as well. Like with the RTX 5090 Founders Edition, the 5080 has a fully blacked-out PCI bracket which looks great. I’ve been pushing for this for years, they always look great and when the card is installed it better blends in with the case.
Getting the RTX 5080 Founders Edition and the RTX 500 Founders Edition next to each other shows that they are both the same size. The only difference between the two cards is the different finish color. The 5080 has a lighter finish which is similar to what Nvidia used for the RTX 4090, the RTX 5090 on the other hand is darker, basically black.
Before getting into testing I also got a few pictures of the RTX 5080 Founders Edition with the lighting lit up. The V-shaped accent lights on both sides of the card are completely hidden away when you look at the card when it is turned off but lit up you can see them well. Then up on top, the GeForce RTX branding is backlit as well. All of the lighting is white which looks great with the card and is neutral for just about any build, that said I do wish that RGB was an option, this could look cool lit up with the Nvidia green or in a color that matches your PC.