AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded benchmark data presents a decisive picture. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 scores 214,739 against the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64’s 71,094. That is a 66.9% margin in favor of the RTX 4080. The gap widens further in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 4080 reaches 263,779 while the Radeon Pro Vega 64 manages 74,174, a 71.9% difference. These are not close contests by any stretch. The RTX 4080 holds a commanding advantage in both compute API workloads, and the magnitude of the lead is consistent across the two tests.

The AMD card’s average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 72,379, while the RTX 4080 averages 54,247. That average, however, is skewed by the fact that the RTX 4080’s benchmark list includes several Passmark tests with low scores (for example, Passmark DirectX 12 at 132 and Passmark DirectX 10 at 204), which drag down its average. The head-to-head numbers are the more reliable comparison here, and they show a clear NVIDIA victory in both shared tests.

What is notable is that the Radeon Pro Vega 64 holds a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs, sitting at the 91st percentile, while the RTX 4080 is at the 86th percentile. This seems counterintuitive given the raw score disparity. The explanation lies in the benchmark pools: the Radeon’s percentile is computed against a broader set of older and less powerful cards, while the RTX 4080’s percentile reflects its position among a newer, faster field. The percentile data should not be read as a performance equalizer; the direct comparison is unambiguous.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4080 wins every head-to-head benchmark in the database. There are no recorded tests where the Radeon Pro Vega 64 comes out ahead. In OpenCL, the 66.9% lead suggests the RTX 4080 is substantially more efficient at general-purpose compute workloads, which often scale with raw shader throughput and memory bandwidth. In Vulkan, the 71.9% lead indicates that the RTX 4080 also excels in graphics-oriented compute tasks, where driver optimization and architecture efficiency play a major role.

For the Radeon Pro Vega 64, there is no category in the shared benchmark suite where it claims victory. Its strengths, if any, would have to be inferred from its architecture and specifications rather than from direct test results. It does have a higher transistor density per square millimeter? No, actually the RTX 4080 has the higher density at 121.1 million transistors per square millimeter versus 25.3 million for the AMD card. The Radeon’s edge, if it exists, might come from its HBM2 memory with a 2048-bit bus, which provides lower latency potential in some workloads, but the recorded data does not support any specific win condition for the AMD card.

The use-case split is therefore stark: for any workload covered by Geekbench OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX 4080 is the clear choice. For workloads not covered by these tests, the database offers no evidence that the Radeon Pro Vega 64 would outperform. The RTX 4080’s Passmark scores, while not directly comparable to the AMD card (which has no Passmark results), do show a balanced profile across DirectX versions, 2D graphics, and compute, with a Passmark G3D score of 34,457 and a GPU compute score of 20,671.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different eras and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 uses the Vega 10 chip on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, with 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 uses the AD103 chip on a 5 nm process from TSMC, packing 45,900 million transistors into a smaller 379 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: 25.3 million per square millimeter for AMD versus 121.1 million for NVIDIA. That is a 4.8x density advantage for the Ada Lovelace architecture, which is what enables the RTX 4080 to fit nearly four times the transistors on a smaller physical footprint.

Memory subsystems differ fundamentally. The Radeon uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 402.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 4080 uses 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s. Despite having one-eighth the bus width, the RTX 4080 achieves 78% more bandwidth thanks to faster memory clocks (22.4 Gbps effective versus 1572 Mbps effective). This bandwidth advantage is directly relevant to the benchmark results, as compute workloads often saturate memory bandwidth.

The compute pipelines are vastly different in scale. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 has 4,096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The RTX 4080 has 9,728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also brings dedicated hardware that the AMD card lacks entirely: 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores. These are not present in the Radeon’s specification at all. The FP32 throughput is 48.74 TFLOPS for the RTX 4080 versus 11.06 TFLOPS for the Radeon, a 4.4x difference. FP16 performance is 48.74 TFLOPS (1:1) for NVIDIA versus 22.12 TFLOPS (2:1) for AMD, meaning the RTX 4080 does not rely on a rate-halving trick to reach its FP16 number.

Clock speeds also diverge. The Radeon runs at a 1250 MHz base and 1350 MHz boost, while the RTX 4080 runs at 2205 MHz base and 2505 MHz boost. The NVIDIA card’s boost clock is 85% higher than the AMD card’s boost clock. Power draw is higher for the RTX 4080 at 320 W versus 250 W, but the performance per watt is still heavily in NVIDIA’s favor given the score differences. The RTX 4080 also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the Radeon is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. API support shows the RTX 4080 with DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, versus DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3 for the Radeon.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 has an average benchmark score of 72,379, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 averages 54,247. However, this average includes different test sets; the direct head-to-head tests favor the RTX 4080 overwhelmingly.

Q: What are the specific head-to-head benchmark results?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4080 scores 214,739 against the Radeon’s 71,094, a 66.9% lead. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4080 scores 263,779 against 74,174, a 71.9% lead.

Q: How do the memory bandwidth figures compare?

A: The RTX 4080 has 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth from its GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 has 402.4 GB/s from HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus. The RTX 4080 delivers 78% more bandwidth despite a much narrower bus.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro Vega 64 have any ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 4080 has 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The RTX 4080 has 121.1 million transistors per square millimeter on its 5 nm process. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 has 25.3 million per square millimeter on its 14 nm process. The RTX 4080’s density is about 4.8 times higher.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The Radeon Pro Vega 64 sits at the 91st percentile, while the RTX 4080 sits at the 86th percentile. This ranking reflects different comparison pools and should not be interpreted as the Radeon being faster.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the faster card in every head-to-head test recorded. With a 66.9% lead in OpenCL and a 71.9% lead in Vulkan, there is no workload category in the database where the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 comes out ahead. The RTX 4080’s architectural advantages, including 9,728 shading units, 48.74 TFLOPS FP32, 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, and dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, translate directly into benchmark dominance.

The Radeon Pro Vega 64 does hold a higher percentile ranking (91st versus 86th), but this is a function of the reference pool, not a performance indicator. Its 16 GB of HBM2 memory and 2048-bit bus are notable, but they do not overcome the RTX 4080’s raw compute advantages. For any user selecting between these two based on the recorded data, the RTX 4080 is the clear choice for OpenCL and Vulkan workloads. The Radeon’s only potential niche would be in scenarios involving HBM2-specific optimizations, but no such test exists in the database to support that claim.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 |

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

| Process Node | 14 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 12,500 million | 45,900 million |

| Die Size | 495 mm² | 379 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 25.3M / mm² | 121.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1250 MHz | 2205 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1350 MHz | 2505 MHz |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR6X |

| Memory Bus Width | 2048 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 402.4 GB/s | 716.8 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 4096 | 9728 |

| TMUs | 256 | 304 |

| ROPs | 64 | 112 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | None | 76 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 304 |

| Pixel Rate | 86.40 GPixel/s | 280.6 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 345.6 GTexel/s | 761.5 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 11.06 TFLOPS | 48.74 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 22.12 TFLOPS (2:1) | 48.74 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 320 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Triple-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 16-pin |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2017-06-26 | 2022-09-19 |

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