AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The data splits these two cards into entirely different performance universes. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 wins every head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database, and the margins are decisive. In OpenCL compute, the RTX 5080 posts 235901 against the Radeon Pro Vega 64's 71094, a 69.9% advantage. In Vulkan, the gap is even wider: 255450 versus 74174, a 71% lead. There is no benchmark category where the AMD card comes out ahead.

However, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 holds a different kind of win: it sits at the 91st percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 5080 sits at the 87th percentile. That counterintuitive ranking reflects the composition of the benchmark pool. The Vega 64's average benchmark score is 72379, which places it within 1.4% of the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition and 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal. The RTX 5080's average score of 56083 is dragged down by its Passmark results, particularly the DirectX 12 score of 151 and DirectX 10 score of 208, which are far below its compute-oriented scores. The RTX 5080's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 8060S at 55757 (0.6% behind) and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE at 57367 (2.2% ahead).

The real division of wins is by workload type. The RTX 5080 dominates raw compute and modern graphics APIs. The Vega 64 wins on consistency across legacy APIs and on its placement within its own peer group. The data shows that the RTX 5080 is the stronger card by every direct comparison, but the Vega 64 remains competitive against the GPUs it actually shipped alongside.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two is generational. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 uses the Vega 10 chip on GCN 5.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 12,500 million transistors into a 495 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 25.3 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 uses the GB203 chip on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It crams 45,600 million transistors into a smaller 378 mm² die, achieving a density of 120.6 million per square millimeter. That is roughly 4.8 times the transistor density of the Vega chip.

The compute resources differ just as sharply. The Vega 64 has 4096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The RTX 5080 has 10752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The RTX 5080 also brings dedicated hardware the Vega 64 lacks entirely: 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores. The Vega 64 has no equivalent units in the database record.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The Vega 64 runs at a base of 1250 MHz and boosts to 1350 MHz. The RTX 5080 starts at 2295 MHz base and boosts to 2617 MHz. Memory architecture is fundamentally different as well. The Vega 64 uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 402.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 5080 uses 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s. Despite having one-eighth the bus width, the RTX 5080 achieves more than double the bandwidth thanks to its memory technology and clock rates.

The feature sets diverge on API support. The Vega 64 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The RTX 5080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 5080 also uses PCIe 5.0 x16 versus the Vega 64's PCIe 3.0 x16. The RTX 5080 is a dual-slot card with a 16-pin power connector and a suggested 750 W power supply, while the Vega 64 is an integrated graphics package with no power connectors and a 250 W TDP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains two direct comparisons between these cards, and both are landslides. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5080 scores 235901 against the Vega 64's 71094. The delta is 69.9% in favor of NVIDIA. That is not a marginal win; it is a threefold advantage in raw compute throughput. The Vega 64's OpenCL score is actually its second-best benchmark result, trailing only its Vulkan score.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 5080 scores 255450 against the Vega 64's 74174, a 71% delta. This is the largest margin in the head-to-head set. The Vulkan result is particularly telling because the Vega 64's Vulkan score of 74174 is its best recorded benchmark, meaning the AMD card performs at its peak in this API and still loses by more than two-thirds.

Contextualizing the Vega 64's own numbers helps explain its percentile ranking. Its average benchmark score of 72379 puts it just 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal (72098) and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M (71768). It trails the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition (73370) by 1.4%. The RTX 5080's average score of 56083 is lower than the Vega 64's average, but that is an artifact of the Passmark suite. The RTX 5080's Passmark G3D score of 36565 is strong, but its DirectX 12 score of 151 and DirectX 9 score of 389 pull the average down. Its Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are what define its actual compute capability.

The delta percentages in the head-to-head set are the clearest signal: when both cards run the same workload, the RTX 5080 is roughly 70% faster. No other interpretation fits the data.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 has an average benchmark score of 72379, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 has an average of 56083. However, the RTX 5080 wins both direct head-to-head comparisons by wide margins.

Q: Why does the Vega 64 rank higher in percentile despite losing every head-to-head test?

A: The Vega 64 sits at the 91st percentile among all GPUs, while the RTX 5080 sits at the 87th. The RTX 5080's average is lowered by low Passmark scores, including 151 in DirectX 12 and 208 in DirectX 10, which are not representative of its compute performance.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5080 in Vulkan?

A: The RTX 5080 scores 255450 in Geekbench Vulkan versus the Vega 64's 74174, a 71% advantage.

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards use?

A: Both have 16 GB, but the Vega 64 uses HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 402.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 5080 uses GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the RTX 5080 support ray tracing hardware?

A: Yes, the RTX 5080 includes 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores. The Vega 64 has no such dedicated units recorded in the database.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 is end-of-life with a release date of 2017-06-26. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is active with a release date of 2025-01-29.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the superior card for any workload captured in the head-to-head benchmarks. It wins OpenCL by 69.9% and Vulkan by 71%. Its shading unit count (10752 versus 4096), texture rate (879.3 GTexel/s versus 345.6 GTexel/s), pixel rate (293.1 GPixel/s versus 86.40 GPixel/s), and FP32 throughput (56.28 TFLOPS versus 11.06 TFLOPS) all point in the same direction. The RTX 5080 also has dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, features entirely absent from the Vega 64.

Who should pick the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64? The data supports only one scenario: a user constrained to the Vega 64's integrated form factor, its 250 W TDP, and its lack of external power connectors. The Vega 64 was released in 2017, is end-of-life, and its closest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal and the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition. Against those contemporaries, it holds its own. Against the RTX 5080, it does not.

Who should pick the RTX 5080? Anyone whose workload involves modern APIs, compute-heavy tasks, or ray tracing. The RTX 5080's nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon 8060S and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, which bracket its average score. But its Geekbench results put it in a different class from the Vega 64. The launch MSRP is 999 USD. The Vega 64 has no recorded launch MSRP.

The verdict is straightforward: the RTX 5080 is the choice for performance, and the Vega 64 is the choice for legacy compatibility or integrated-system constraints. The data does not support any other conclusion.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 |

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

| Architecture | GCN 5.0 | Blackwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 5 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 12,500 million | 45,600 million |

| Die Size | 495 mm² | 378 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 25.3M / mm² | 120.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1250 MHz | 2295 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1350 MHz | 2617 MHz |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR7 |

| Memory Bus Width | 2048 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 402.4 GB/s | 960.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 4096 | 10752 |

| TMUs | 256 | 336 |

| ROPs | 64 | 112 |

| RT Cores | None | 84 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 336 |

| Pixel Rate | 86.40 GPixel/s | 293.1 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 345.6 GTexel/s | 879.3 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 11.06 TFLOPS | 56.28 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 22.12 TFLOPS (2:1) | 56.28 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 360 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

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

| Suggested PSU | None | 750 W |

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

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

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b |

| Dimensions | Not recorded | 304 mm x 137 mm x 40 mm |

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

| Release Date | 2017-06-26 | 2025-01-29 |

| Launch MSRP | None | 999 USD |