Best Graphics Card

(This article is one of 16 parts in our Tech Awards 2025: Editor's Choice content series.)

NVIDIA’s dominance of the consumer GPU market has been relentless, and it has continued that march with the release of their GeForce RTX 5080 GPU earlier this year. It may not be anywhere close to the company’s flagship RTX 5090, but it certainly is the more attainable GPU thanks to its less-painful US$999 SRP (compared to the 5090’s US$1,999). Even that says a lot about the increasingly inflated GPU market, where what once passed for a flagship price tag is now being framed as the ‘affordable’ option. But I digress.

During our qualifying period for the Best Graphics Card, between April 2024 and April 2025, the GeForce RTX 5090 was also frequently unattainable due to limited stocks in this part of the world. Naturally, this led us to compare the next best attainable tier as summed up above.

In our Best Graphics Card category for 2025’s Tech Awards, we picked three of the best RTX 5080 cards that we could land our hands on.

Nominees:

1. ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 16GB OC Edition
2. Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 5080 Master 16G
3. MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Vanguard SOC

Note: Zotac was unfortunately unable to send us a test unit during our qualification period.

And the winner is…

Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 5080 Master – Best Graphics Card

Unlike the ROG Astral and MSI cards, which looks radically different from their 4080 predecessors, the Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 5080 Master looks uncannily alike to its RTX 4080 namesake. But look under the hood and there are some key differences (GPU aside), such as the redesigned cooling system with the new Hawk fans, which improves airflow and reduce noise compared to the RTX 4080 Master. For RGB, the RTX 5080 Master retains the triple-ring RGB Halo light as well as the popular LCD Edge display.

Gigabyte also bundled the same anti-sag bracket that you can install on the end of the card to give it additional reinforcement against sagging, although this won’t work with E-ATX-sized motherboards. Interestingly, the company has also bundled a separate 120mm RGB fan that you can place on the back of the card to pull air out and further improve cooling.

Ultimately, what made the Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 5080 Master our favourite in this category is its superior performance and competitive pricing of S$2,469 in comparison to the other nominees.

Check out our full review here and our snapshot of how all the nominees performed from our testing:-

Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 5080 Master is available from Amazon, Lazada, Shopee and Techyard.

For more details on how we rated our nominees and to learn about our experience with each graphics card, check out the full reviews and articles listed in the References section below. Next, we share some thoughts on the other tested contenders.

Special Mentions

ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 16GB OC Edition – The best-looking card

The ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 16GB OC Edition is one fantastically good-looking card and should be the final puzzle for gamers who are building a DIY PC with ROG components. While the performance difference between it and the winning Gigabyte Aorus card is marginal at best, its more expensive price tag for no additional gains is the only reason it lost out this time around. Head over here for our full review.

ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 is available from Amazon, Shopee, Newegg and Techyard.

MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Vanguard SOC – The best value card

If you’re already tied to an MSI PC components ecosystem, then the Vanguard is a no-brainer – it runs games at 4K as well as any RTX 5080 GPU should, but more importantly, its pricing makes it an easy choice for gamers who want 4K gaming performance without burning a hole in their wallet. Although saying splashing two grand on a graphics card is “cheap” just shows what a mad world we are living in now. Our full review.

The MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Vanguard SOC is available from Amazon and Lazada.

(This article is one of 16 parts in our Tech Awards 2025: Editor's Choice content series.)

References

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.