AMD Radeon HD 7790 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Comparison

The Verdict

The database places the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti decisively ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7790 in the only direct head-to-head benchmark recorded, Geekbench Metal. The GTX 1080 Ti scores 30,624 against the HD 7790’s 17,666, a 42.3% advantage. This is not a close contest; the gap is substantial and consistent with the architectural gulf between the two.

The AMD Radeon HD 7790 is a product of an older era. Its recorded average benchmark score is 17,666, and it sits at the 61st percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (17,639, 0.2% slower), the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588, 0.4% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551, 0.7% slower). This suggests that, despite its age, the HD 7790 still performs in the same bracket as modern integrated graphics and entry-level discrete solutions, being within 0.7% of those three competitors. It is also 0.7% slower than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 (17,789).

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, in contrast, has a lower percentile ranking at 58th, but a much higher average score of 15,548. This discrepancy is explained by the mix of benchmarks recorded for it, which includes heavy compute and DirectX workloads with very different scales. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (15,521, 0.2% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (15,290, 1.7% slower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (15,283, 1.7% slower). The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is 0.8% ahead with a score of 15,679.

Who should pick which? From the recorded data, the GTX 1080 Ti is the clear choice for any workload that benefits from raw compute throughput, particularly Metal-based rendering. The HD 7790, however, remains a relevant baseline for legacy compatibility testing or for systems constrained by power and physical size, given its 85 W TDP versus the 250 W TDP of the GTX 1080 Ti. The data does not support any scenario where the HD 7790 outperforms the GTX 1080 Ti in the recorded metrics.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench Metal score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti scores 30,624, which is 42.3% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7790’s 17,666 in the same test.

Q: How does the HD 7790 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The HD 7790 is 0.2% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (17,639), 0.4% faster than the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588), and 0.7% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551). It is 0.7% slower than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 (17,789).

Q: What is the GTX 1080 Ti’s position relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti is 0.2% faster than the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (15,521), 1.7% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (15,290), and 1.7% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (15,283). The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679) is 0.8% faster.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has a memory bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s, while the HD 7790 offers 96.00 GB/s. The GTX 1080 Ti also has a wider 352-bit bus versus the HD 7790’s 128-bit bus.

Q: What power draw does each card require?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7790 has a TDP of 85 W and requires a 250 W suggested PSU. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W suggested PSU.

Q: Which API versions do they support?

A: The HD 7790 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The GTX 1080 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon HD 7790 is built on the Bonaire chip using the GCN 2.0 architecture, belonging to the Southern Islands generation (HD 7700 family). It is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.0M per square millimeter.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti uses the GP102 chip with the Pascal architecture, part of the GeForce 10 series. It is manufactured on a 16 nm process, also at TSMC, but packs 11,800 million transistors onto a 471 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 25.1M per square millimeter. The GTX 1080 Ti’s die is nearly three times larger and holds over five times as many transistors.

Core configurations reflect this disparity. The HD 7790 has 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 16 raster output units (ROPs). The GTX 1080 Ti has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 88 ROPs. These are 4x, 4x, and 5.5x the counts of the HD 7790, respectively. Neither card features dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores.

Memory architecture differs fundamentally. The HD 7790 uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 96.00 GB/s. The GTX 1080 Ti uses 11 GB of GDDR5X on a 352-bit bus, delivering 484.4 GB/s. The GTX 1080 Ti also has a larger physical footprint at 267 mm length, 112 mm height, and 40 mm width, versus the HD 7790’s 183 mm length. Both are dual-slot cards.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every measurable specification. The HD 7790 has no listed base or boost clock, while the GTX 1080 Ti has a base clock of 1481 MHz and a boost clock of 1582 MHz. Memory clocks also differ: the HD 7790 operates at 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the GTX 1080 Ti runs at 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective).

Compute rates show the GTX 1080 Ti’s dominance. The HD 7790 delivers a pixel rate of 16.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 56.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 1.792 TFLOPS. The GTX 1080 Ti reaches 139.2 GPixel/s, 354.4 GTexel/s, and 11.34 TFLOPS FP32. The GTX 1080 Ti also lists FP16 performance of 177.2 GFLOPS (1:64), which the HD 7790 does not specify.

Power and connectivity differ sharply. The HD 7790 has an 85 W TDP, a single 6-pin power connector, and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The GTX 1080 Ti has a 250 W TDP, requires one 6-pin plus one 8-pin connector, and suggests a 600 W PSU. Display outputs: the HD 7790 provides 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. The GTX 1080 Ti provides 1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both use PCIe 3.0 x16.

API support differs in DirectX and Vulkan versions. The HD 7790 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170; the GTX 1080 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4. Both support OpenGL 4.6. Release dates are 2013-03-21 for the HD 7790 and 2017-03-09 for the GTX 1080 Ti. The launch MSRP is 149 USD for the HD 7790 and 699 USD for the GTX 1080 Ti.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records only one direct comparison between these two GPUs: Geekbench Metal. In that test, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti scores 30,624, while the AMD Radeon HD 7790 scores 17,666. The delta percentage is -42.3 from the perspective of the HD 7790, meaning the GTX 1080 Ti is 42.3% faster in this workload. This is the sole head-to-head result, and it gives the GTX 1080 Ti one win out of one contest.

Beyond the direct comparison, the broader benchmark sets for each card reinforce the hierarchy. The GTX 1080 Ti has a much wider range of recorded tests, including PassMark scores: 118 in DirectX 10, 151 in DirectX 11, 66 in DirectX 12, 231 in DirectX 9, 939 in G2D, 18,600 in G3D, and 9,632 in GPU compute. It also records 67,929 in Geekbench OpenCL and 40,511 in Geekbench Vulkan. The HD 7790 has only the single Geekbench Metal entry.

The average benchmark scores further contextualize the difference. The HD 7790’s average is 17,666, which is actually higher than the GTX 1080 Ti’s average of 15,548. This is because the GTX 1080 Ti’s average is dragged down by the low-scale PassMark DirectX tests (which range from 66 to 231), while the HD 7790’s single score comes from a high-scale Metal test. The percentile ranks reflect this: the HD 7790 sits at the 61st percentile, while the GTX 1080 Ti sits at the 58th, despite the GTX 1080 Ti being far faster in raw compute.

When comparing to their respective nearest rivals, both cards show tight clustering. The HD 7790’s nearest rivals are within 0.7% of its score, indicating that its performance level is well-established in the database. The GTX 1080 Ti’s nearest rivals are within 1.7%, except for the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 which is 0.8% faster. This clustering suggests that the GTX 1080 Ti, despite its age, remains competitive with much newer mid-range cards in the recorded metrics.

In summary, the GTX 1080 Ti wins the only direct benchmark by a wide margin, but the HD 7790 holds its own in its own percentile bracket. The data does not support any scenario where the HD 7790 overtakes the GTX 1080 Ti in performance; the 42.3% delta in Geekbench Metal is the definitive recorded outcome.