The Asus GeForce RTX 5080 Noctua Edition is claimed to be the “quietest graphics card in its class” and I don’t doubt it’s in the running. Though upon first removing it from its box, I was sure it had earned itself at least one accolade: it’s easily the largest graphics card I’ve ever tested. Just a year or two ago, I would have laughed at sheer heft of the RTX 4080 Founders Edition—it looks practically pint-sized next to the Noctua Edition.
This colossus is the product of a partnership between Asus and Noctua. The cooling company is providing three of its NF-A12x25 120 mm fans for the shroud here, including a splash of brown that we don’t see on a GPU too often. I think it looks great, with an almost steampunk appearance on account of its massive heft and unusual colourway. It even sparkles a little in the light, which is a nice touch.
Though its powerful look is a limit on what you can pair with it. It’s very easy to clash given it’s sporting Noctua’s telltale brown, unless you pair it with more Noctua brown.
So that’s what I did. I paired the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition with the only kit I could think to: the Noctua NH-D15 G2 cooler and a couple NF-A14x25 G2 fans. All loaded into the Havn BF 360. A gorgeous combination, if I dare say myself.
But it’s also extremely easy to build an ugly PC with this card. I moved it over to our MSI/Cyberpower test system for benchmarking, which is all-white and bathed in RGB lights, and the RTX 5080 looks absolutely horrid. I had to avert my eyes for the remainder of the tests.
Weighing in at 2.607 kg—enough that I weighed it on my human scales, not my kitchen scales—this card features a huge heatsink riddled with heat pipes. Four of these heat pipes run the length of the card, which, at 385 mm, is only able to fit inside very spacious cases. The rest culminate near the vapour chamber that sits atop the GPU.
One of the less spoken about but important parts of a graphics card’s construction is the thermal interface material (TIM). This card offers a phase-change thermal pad to keep an even contact between the heatsink and GPU at all times, and ideally, over a long period of time. The card has a lapped contact plate atop of the GB203 GPU, a technique that Asus calls MaxContact. It reckons this alone knocks up to 2 °C off.
FutureFutureFutureFutureFuture
For I/O, this card includes two HDMI 2.1 ports (one above the other) alongside three DisplayPort 2.1 ports, which run the remaining length of the two-slot bracket. It’s absolutely a four-slot card, however, measuring 388 x 80 x 138 mm by my own measurements
The graphics card offers two BIOS modes: Performance and Quiet. These are switched via a tiny switch near the 16-pin connector. The Quiet mode keeps the clock speed at 2,700 MHz. The Performance mode sets it to 2,730 MHz.
Performance – Asus GeForce RTX 5080 Noctua OC Edition
3DMark Port Royal Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 22443 RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 22940 RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 21669
GPU index score
Overall index score
3DMark Time Spy Extreme Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 16311 GPU index score, 13779 Overall index score RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 16353 GPU index score, 13738 Overall index score RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 15675 GPU index score, 13452 Overall index score
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Black Myth Wukong (1080p High) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 121 Avg FPS, 93 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 122 Avg FPS, 104 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 123 Avg FPS, 106 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Black Myth Wukong (1440p High + Upscaling (quality)) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 130 Avg FPS, 111 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 131 Avg FPS, 114 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 133 Avg FPS, 114 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Black Myth Wukong (1440p High) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 93 Avg FPS, 81 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 93 Avg FPS, 82 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 92 Avg FPS, 81 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Black Myth Wukong (4K High) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 56 Avg FPS, 49 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 56 Avg FPS, 49 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 54 Avg FPS, 48 1% Low FPS
Blender 4.3.0 (Junkyard) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 2161.54 RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 2139.47 RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 2284.56
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p RT Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 104 Avg FPS, 75 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 103 Avg FPS, 81 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 103 Avg FPS, 76 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Cyberpunk 2077 (1440p RT Ultra + upscaling (quality)) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 110 Avg FPS, 79 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 110 Avg FPS, 86 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 182 Avg FPS, 126 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Cyberpunk 2077 (1440p RT Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 68 Avg FPS, 55 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 66 Avg FPS, 55 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 70 Avg FPS, 56 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Cyberpunk 2077 (4K RT Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 35 Avg FPS, 28 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 34 Avg FPS, 28 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 34 Avg FPS, 28 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
F1 24 (1080p Ultra high) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 175 Avg FPS, 126 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 170 Avg FPS, 128 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 180 Avg FPS, 132 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
F1 24 (1440p Ultra High) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 120 Avg FPS, 95 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 118 Avg FPS, 95 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 123 Avg FPS, 98 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
F1 24 (1440p Ultra high +upscsaling (Quality), 2x FG) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 178 Avg FPS, 129 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 177 Avg FPS, 130 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 266 Avg FPS, 156 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
F1 24 (4K Ultra High) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 62 Avg FPS, 49 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 62 Avg FPS, 50 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 64 Avg FPS, 50 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Homeworld 3 (1080p Epic) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 149 Avg FPS, 68 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 150 Avg FPS, 70 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 145 Avg FPS, 67 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Homeworld 3 (1440p Epic + upscaling (quality)) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 144 Avg FPS, 69 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 149 Avg FPS, 69 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 141 Avg FPS, 66 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Homeworld 3 (1440p Epic) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 132 Avg FPS, 66 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 136 Avg FPS, 68 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 129 Avg FPS, 67 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Homeworld 3 (4K Epic) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 103 Avg FPS, 65 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 102 Avg FPS, 66 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 102 Avg FPS, 65 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition (1080p Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 188 Avg FPS, 54 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 190 Avg FPS, 55 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 184 Avg FPS, 55 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition (1440p Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 148 Avg FPS, 49 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 147 Avg FPS, 49 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 140 Avg FPS, 48 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition (4K Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 91 Avg FPS, 41 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 91 Avg FPS, 41 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 85 Avg FPS, 40 1% Low FPS
Index score
Duration (sec)
Procyon generative image creation Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 5196 Index score, 19.242 Duration (sec) RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 5192 Index score, 19.257 Duration (sec) RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 4770 Index score, 4770 Duration (sec)
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
The Talos Principle 2 (1080p Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 122 Avg FPS, 85 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 123 Avg FPS, 85 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 123 Avg FPS, 63 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
The Talos Principle 2 (1440p Ultra +upscaling (quality), 2x FG) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 125 Avg FPS, 84 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 125 Avg FPS, 84 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 195 Avg FPS, 101 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
The Talos Principle 2 (1440p Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 91 Avg FPS, 64 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 91 Avg FPS, 64 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 90 Avg FPS, 61 1% Low FPS
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
The Talos Principle 2 (4K Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 52 Avg FPS, 37 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 52 Avg FPS, 37 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 52 Avg FPS, 36 1% Low FPS
PC Gamer test platform
Supplied by Cyberpower | MSI
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D | Motherboard: MSI MPG X870E Edge Ti WiFi | RAM: Kingston Fury Beast RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) @ 6,000 MT/s | Cooler: MAG CoreLiquid i360 White | SSD: Spatium M480 Pro 2 TB | PSU: MPG A1000GS PCIe 5 | Case: MAG Pano 100R White
Switching between the Quiet and Performance modes doesn’t result in any major changes for performance or noise levels. A frame or two in Cyberpunk 2077 at most. That checks out, not only because of the small increase in clock speed between the two, but how much further the RTX 5080 can be pushed with an actual overclock. You can slap a couple hundred MHz more without even thinking about it—let alone with a beefy card such as this.
In fact, I slapped on a 400 MHz core offset and a 1,000 MHz memory offset onto the Noctua without thinking about it. I added an extra 10% power, too—the Noctua Edition offers up to 25%. In Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, that earned me eight more frames on average right there. I barely lifted a finger.
Overclocking – Asus GeForce RTX 5080 Noctua OC Edition
Avg FPS
1% Low FPS
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition (4K Ultra) Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (+400 core, +1000 mem, +10% PL) 99 Avg FPS, 44 1% Low FPS RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 91 Avg FPS, 41 1% Low FPS
4K frames per J
1080p frame per J
Performance per watt Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (+400 core, +1000 mem, +10% PL) 0.27 4K frames per J, 0 1080p frame per J RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 0.27 4K frames per J, 0.71 1080p frame per J
Peak temperature (°C)
Average temperature (°C)
Thermals Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (+400 core, +1000 mem, +10% PL) 62 Peak temperature (°C), 58 Average temperature (°C) RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 61 Peak temperature (°C), 59 Average temperature (°C)
Peak power (watts)
Average power (watts)
Power Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (+400 core, +1000 mem, +10% PL) 405 Peak power (watts), 382 Average power (watts) RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 370 Peak power (watts), 352 Average power (watts)
GPU frequency Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (+400 core, +1000 mem, +10% PL) 3195 RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 2801
The three G2 fans shut down when the card is under 50 °C. They start back up again at 55 °C. Even when this happens, they generate very little noise—not all that noticeable when I’m sat at my desk playing a game. A large fan can shift more air at slower speeds compared to smaller fan, and the Noctua Edition has very large fans compared to most. With low RPM and low noise, my test bench is actually too loud to pick up a specific reading for the Noctua card on my noise meter; the card operates quietly enough as to fade into the background hum of the PC.
Thermals – Asus GeForce RTX 5080 Noctua OC Edition
Peak temperature (°C)
Average temperature (°C)
Thermals Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 61 Peak temperature (°C), 59 Average temperature (°C) RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 61 Peak temperature (°C), 58 Average temperature (°C) RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 72 Peak temperature (°C), 69 Average temperature (°C)
Peak power (watts)
Average power (watts)
Power Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 370 Peak power (watts), 352 Average power (watts) RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 371 Peak power (watts), 350 Average power (watts) RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 395 Peak power (watts), 335 Average power (watts)
4K frames per J
1080p frame per J
Performance per watt Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 0.27 4K frames per J, 0.71 1080p frame per J RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 0.27 4K frames per J, 0.71 1080p frame per J RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 0.27 4K frames per J, 0.72 1080p frame per J
GPU frequency Data ProductValue RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (performance mode) 2801 RTX 5080 Asus Noctua Edition (quiet mode) 2805 RTX 5080 MSI Ventus 3X OC White 2654
As for temperatures, it’s nothing short of exceptional that the GB203 GPU was never seen above 61 °C during an extended run of Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition. That’s 11 °C lower than the MSI RTX 5080 Ventus 3X OC White, which is nothing short of spectacular, and moreover is not particularly impactful on performance—the two cards performed more or less the same in many tests.
Though what is impressive is that, even when overclocked and drawing more power and running at a significantly higher clock speed, the Noctua Edition kept its cool. Temperature difference in my testing was negligible, which suggests thermals are not going to be any sort of restriction on most realistic overclocking aspirations.
FutureFuture
✅ You genuinely plan to overclock: You can really push the RTX 5080 GPU, and that’s especially true of the Noctua Edition with up to 25% higher power limits and a cooling solution that can totally hack it.
❌ You want bang for your buck: You’re getting a lot of card for your money here, no doubt, but compared to an RTX 5070 Ti, it’s just absurd.
Those sorts of thermal bragging rights are what you’re paying the big bucks for here. And you will be expected to pay the big bucks.
The RTX 5080 Noctua Edition is available to purchase for $1,700/£1,560. That’s on the expensive side for an RTX 5080 today, though not by as much as you’d expect. The sorry state of the high-end GPU market means that this is not totally out of the ordinary—the RTX 5080 Founders Edition is $1,629—and the Noctua Edition is around $335 more than the cheapest RTX 5080 I’ve seen.
I have doubts about whether it’s worth buying any version of an RTX 5080 right now, let alone a high-end model over $300 more than most. That’s not to say the RTX 5080 Noctua Edition isn’t something impressive. It absolutely is. I’ve been waiting to test it myself since I first laid eyes on it at Computex in May, 2025, and it looks even better in a build befitting its majesty. The GB203 GPU is crying out for an overclock, and the headroom offered by this cooling solution is superb.
To review the card itself, and not the market, it’s a great pick. Unfortunately, we can’t just take value for money out of the equation, and on that front, I’d still rather an RTX 5070 Ti for not quite half price, but not far off either.
