AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Comparison

The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 decisively outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER in this benchmark comparison, winning 9 of 10 head-to-head tests. The only exception is a single Vulkan compute workload where the older NVIDIA card holds a substantial lead. While the AI PRO R9700 dominates raw performance metrics, the RTX 2080 SUPER's specific API strength and lower launch MSRP (699 USD versus 1,299 USD) make it a relevant option for particular legacy workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 wins the majority of benchmark tests by significant margins. The largest victory comes in the demanding 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the AMD card scores 7006 against NVIDIA's 1882, a delta of -73.1% relative to the AMD winner. This indicates the AI PRO R9700 delivers roughly 3.7 times the performance in this modern DirectX 12 workload, a gap that dwarfs any other difference in the comparison.

Compute-oriented workloads also favor AMD heavily. In PassMark GPU Compute, the R9700 scores 15300 versus 8290 for the RTX 2080 SUPER, a -45.8% delta. This pattern continues with Geekbench OpenCL, where AMD's 118202 edges out NVIDIA's 99226 by 16.1%. The PassMark DirectX 11 test shows a 272 to 165 result in favor of AMD, a -39.3% delta, while DirectX 9 performance reveals a -37.5% gap with scores of 363 versus 227.

Not every difference is massive, but all favor AMD except one. The DirectX 10 test shows a modest -9.7% delta (155 versus 140), and DirectX 12 results are close at -9.6% (83 versus 75). PassMark G2D shows AMD ahead by -25.6% (1236 versus 920), and the overall PassMark G3D score favors AMD at 26979 versus 19490, a -27.8% delta.

The single NVIDIA victory is striking. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 2080 SUPER scores 111284 against the R9700's 63550, a 75.1% delta in NVIDIA's favor. This is the largest relative margin in either direction across all tests, and it reveals a fundamental API-level strength for the Turing architecture that the RDNA 4.0 part cannot match. It is importantly despite this Vulkan win, the NVIDIA card's overall average benchmark score of 24170 actually sits above the AMD card's 23315, though this is driven by the Vulkan outlier rather than broad superiority.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent entirely different design philosophies separated by six years of silicon evolution. The RTX 2080 SUPER uses the TU104 chip built on TSMC's 12 nm process, packing 13,600 million transistors into a 545 mm² die with a transistor density of 25.0M per square millimeter. In contrast, the Radeon AI PRO R9700 uses the Navi 48 chip on TSMC's 4 nm node, housing 53,900 million transistors in a smaller 357 mm² die, achieving a density of 151.0M per square millimeter. This represents a roughly 4x improvement in transistor density and a 4x increase in total transistor count.

The compute configuration is equally divergent. NVIDIA's Turing architecture provides 3072 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, alongside 48 ray tracing cores and 384 tensor cores. AMD's RDNA 4.0 architecture counters with 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, plus 64 ray tracing cores but no tensor cores. This gives the AMD card a theoretical FP32 throughput of 47.84 TFLOPS versus NVIDIA's 11.15 TFLOPS, a 4.3x advantage. The FP16 comparison is stark: AMD delivers 47.84 TFLOPS at 1:1 ratio, while NVIDIA's 22.30 TFLOPS is achieved only at a 2:1 rate.

Memory and bandwidth differences further separate the two. The RTX 2080 SUPER features 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 495.9 GB/s. The AI PRO R9700 offers 32 GB of GDDR6 on the same 256-bit bus width, but with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. Clock speeds also diverge significantly, with AMD's boost clock reaching 2920 MHz and a game clock of 2350 MHz, versus NVIDIA's 1815 MHz boost. The R9700's pixel rate of 373.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 747.5 GTexel/s dwarf the RTX 2080 SUPER's 116.2 GPixel/s and 348.5 GTexel/s.

The interface and power delivery also differ markedly. NVIDIA uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while AMD employs PCIe 5.0 x16. Power consumption rises from 250 W to 300 W, and the power connector changes from a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin setup to a single 16-pin. The suggested PSU increases from 600 W to 700 W. Physical dimensions are similar at 267 mm length, but the AMD card is slightly shorter at 111 mm height versus 116 mm, and thicker at 40 mm versus 35 mm.

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on benchmark results, the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 is the clear winner for most workloads. It dominates modern DirectX 12 gaming as evidenced by the 3DMark Steel Nomad result, and it leads across all PassMark DirectX tests from 9 through 12. For compute-heavy tasks like GPU rendering, scientific simulation, or OpenCL-based workloads, the R9700's 47.84 TFLOPS FP32 throughput translates directly into a 45.8% advantage in PassMark GPU Compute and a 16.1% lead in Geekbench OpenCL. The 32 GB memory capacity also positions it for large dataset processing, though no specific memory-intensive benchmark is present in the data.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER's only clear win is in Geekbench Vulkan, where it outperforms the R9700 by 75.1%. This suggests that applications leveraging Vulkan compute or graphics APIs will run significantly better on the older Turing card. The RTX 2080 SUPER also holds a slightly higher average benchmark score (24170 versus 23315), though this is inflated by the Vulkan outlier. For users targeting Vulkan-specific workloads, the NVIDIA card is the data-backed choice, but this is a narrow use case given the breadth of AMD's wins elsewhere.

The RTX 2080 SUPER also carries a lower launch MSRP of 699 USD compared to the R9700's 1,299 USD, which may factor into procurement decisions, though the performance difference is substantial.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the most benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 wins 9 of 10 head-to-head tests, with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER winning only the Geekbench Vulkan test.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the most demanding test?

A: In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the AMD card scores 7006 versus NVIDIA's 1882, a -73.1% delta, meaning the R9700 delivers roughly 3.7x the performance.

Q: Is there any workload where the RTX 2080 SUPER is significantly better?

A: Yes, in Geekbench Vulkan the RTX 2080 SUPER scores 111284 versus 63550 for the R9700, a 75.1% advantage in NVIDIA's favor.

Q: What is the FP32 compute difference?

A: The AMD card provides 47.84 TFLOPS compared to NVIDIA's 11.15 TFLOPS, a 4.3x advantage in theoretical single-precision throughput.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The R9700 has 32 GB of GDDR6 with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 2080 SUPER has 8 GB with 495.9 GB/s, both on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The RTX 2080 SUPER averages 24170, while the R9700 averages 23315, though this is influenced by the large Vulkan delta favoring NVIDIA.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER | AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Turing | RDNA 4.0 |

| Process Node | 12 nm | 4 nm |

| Transistors | 13,600 million | 53,900 million |

| Die Size | 545 mm² | 357 mm² |

| Boost Clock | 1815 MHz | 2920 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 32 GB |

| Memory Bandwidth | 495.9 GB/s | 644.6 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3072 | 4096 |

| TMUs | 192 | 256 |

| ROPs | 64 | 128 |

| RT Cores | 48 | 64 |

| Tensor Cores | 384 | None |

| FP32 | 11.15 TFLOPS | 47.84 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 22.30 TFLOPS (2:1) | 47.84 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 300 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 16-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 700 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C | 1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1a |

| Height | 116 mm | 111 mm |

| Width | 35 mm | 40 mm |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Launch MSRP | 699 USD | 1,299 USD |

The Verdict

The data points overwhelmingly toward the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 for anyone prioritizing raw performance across modern APIs and compute workloads. It wins 9 out of 10 tests, including the most demanding DirectX 12 benchmark by a 73.1% margin, and it crushes the RTX 2080 SUPER in FP32 compute, DirectX 11, and GPU compute tests. The 4x transistor count increase, 4.3x FP32 throughput, and 4x memory capacity make it the superior choice for gaming, rendering, and data-parallel tasks.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER retains a single, but significant, advantage: Vulkan performance. Its 75.1% lead in Geekbench Vulkan indicates that this card is the better option for Vulkan-centric applications. Additionally, its lower launch MSRP of 699 USD and lower power draw of 250 W may appeal to specific configurations, though the performance gap is severe. Given that the R9700 is an active product with modern PCIe 5.0 support, while the RTX 2080 SUPER is end-of-life with PCIe 3.0, the choice is clear for future-proofing. The verdict is simple: pick the R9700 for nearly every workload, and choose the RTX 2080 SUPER only if Vulkan performance is your absolute priority.