AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Comparison

The Verdict

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the clear performance leader in this comparison. The recorded average benchmark score for the RTX 5080 is 56,083, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X averages 80,959. That apparent discrepancy stems from different benchmark suites used for each card, so the more direct comparison comes from the head-to-head Geekbench OpenCL result, where the RTX 5080 scores 235,901 versus 78,467 for the Vega 64X, a 66.7% advantage.

The Vega 64X is end-of-life, built on GCN 5.0, and lacks dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores. The RTX 5080 is active, Blackwell 2.0, with 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores. Anyone needing modern API support, ray tracing acceleration, or higher compute throughput should choose the RTX 5080. The Vega 64X remains relevant only for legacy Mac Pro environments, as its slot width is listed as IGP (integrated graphics processor) and its display outputs are portable device dependent.

The RTX 5080 also holds a massive architectural lead: 10,752 shading units versus 4,096, 56.28 TFLOPS FP32 versus 12.03 TFLOPS, and memory bandwidth of 960 GB/s versus 512 GB/s. The RTX 5080 wins one head-to-head benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL result, by 66.7%. The Vega 64X wins none. For a builder selecting a card today, the data points exclusively toward the RTX 5080.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different eras and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X uses the Vega 10 chip on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, with 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die. That works out to a transistor density of 25.3 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 uses the GB203 chip on a 5 nm process from TSMC, packing 45,600 million transistors into a smaller 378 mm² die, for a density of 120.6 million per square millimeter. The RTX 5080 crams roughly 3.6 times more transistors into a die that is about 76% the size.

Memory technology differs sharply. The Vega 64X uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 512 GB/s. The RTX 5080 also has 16 GB, but it is GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 960 GB/s. Despite a bus width one-eighth the size, the RTX 5080 nearly doubles bandwidth due to far higher memory clocks, 30 Gbps effective versus 2 Gbps effective.

Compute resources favor NVIDIA heavily. The RTX 5080 has 10,752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The Vega 64X has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, 64 ROPs. The RTX 5080 adds 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores; the Vega 64X has none. Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the RTX 5080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Vega 64X only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3.

Pixel and texture throughput tell the same story. The RTX 5080 outputs 293.1 GPixel/s and 879.3 GTexel/s, versus 93.95 GPixel/s and 375.8 GTexel/s for the Vega 64X. FP32 compute on the RTX 5080 hits 56.28 TFLOPS, identical to its FP16 figure, indicating a 1:1 ratio. The Vega 64X reaches 12.03 TFLOPS FP32 and 24.05 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 ratio.

Power and physical design differences matter for installation planning. The Vega 64X draws 250 W and requires no power connectors, listed as IGP slot width. The RTX 5080 draws 360 W, uses a single 16-pin connector, needs a 750 W suggested PSU, and occupies a dual-slot footprint measuring 304 mm long, 137 mm tall, and 40 mm wide. The Vega 64X has no listed dimensions because it is an integrated part, with portable device dependent outputs. The RTX 5080 offers a standard set of display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b.

FAQ

Q: Which card has better raw compute performance?

A: The RTX 5080. Its FP32 throughput is 56.28 TFLOPS versus 12.03 TFLOPS for the Vega 64X. In the single shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5080 scores 235,901 against 78,467, a 66.7% lead.

Q: Do both cards support ray tracing?

A: No. The RTX 5080 has 84 dedicated RT cores. The Vega 64X has no RT cores listed. The RTX 5080 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing features, while the Vega 64X only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: Are these cards comparable for a modern PC build?

A: No. The Vega 64X is end-of-life, launched in 2019, uses PCIe 3.0 x16, and is designed as an integrated part with no power connectors. The RTX 5080 is active, uses PCIe 5.0 x16, is dual-slot with a 16-pin connector, and supports current APIs like Vulkan 1.4.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 5080, with 960 GB/s from GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus. The Vega 64X has 512 GB/s from HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus. Both have 16 GB of memory.

Q: How do their transistor counts compare?

A: The RTX 5080 has 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die. The Vega 64X has 12,500 million on a 495 mm² die. The RTX 5080 also has a far higher transistor density at 120.6M per mm² versus 25.3M per mm².

Q: What is the launch MSRP of each card?

A: The RTX 5080 has a launch MSRP of 999 USD. The Vega 64X has no launch MSRP listed in the database.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080:

• Chip: Vega 10 versus GB203
• Architecture: GCN 5.0 versus Blackwell 2.0
• Generation: Radeon Pro Mac (Vega Series) versus GeForce 50
• Process node: 14 nm versus 5 nm
• Foundry: GlobalFoundries versus TSMC
• Transistors: 12,500 million versus 45,600 million
• Die size: 495 mm² versus 378 mm²
• Transistor density: 25.3M / mm² versus 120.6M / mm²
• Base clock: 1250 MHz versus 2295 MHz
• Boost clock: 1468 MHz versus 2617 MHz
• Memory clock: 2 Gbps effective versus 30 Gbps effective
• Memory type: HBM2 versus GDDR7
• Memory bus width: 2048 bit versus 256 bit
• Memory bandwidth: 512.0 GB/s versus 960.0 GB/s
• Shading units: 4096 versus 10752
• TMUs: 256 versus 336
• ROPs: 64 versus 112
• RT cores: None versus 84
• Tensor cores: None versus 336
• Pixel rate: 93.95 GPixel/s versus 293.1 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 375.8 GTexel/s versus 879.3 GTexel/s
• FP32: 12.03 TFLOPS versus 56.28 TFLOPS
• FP16: 24.05 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 56.28 TFLOPS (1:1)
• TDP: 250 W versus 360 W
• Slot width: IGP versus Dual-slot
• Power connectors: None versus 1x 16-pin
• Suggested PSU: Not listed versus 750 W
• Bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 5.0 x16
• Display outputs: Portable Device Dependent versus 1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b
• DirectX support: 12 (12_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2)
• Vulkan support: 1.3 versus 1.4
• Dimensions: Not listed versus 304 mm x 137 mm x 40 mm
• Production status: End-of-life versus Active
• Release date: 2019-03-18 versus 2025-01-29
• Predecessor: Not listed versus GeForce 40
• Successor: Not listed versus GeForce 60
• Launch MSRP: Not listed versus 999 USD

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains one direct head-to-head benchmark between these two cards. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5080 scores 235,901 against 78,467 for the Vega 64X. The delta is reported as -66.7%, meaning the Vega 64X trails by two-thirds. This is the only shared workload recorded, so it carries the full weight of the comparison.

The RTX 5080 also has a much broader benchmark footprint in the database. It records scores across 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (8,637), Geekbench Vulkan (255,450), and multiple Passmark tests: DirectX 9 at 389, DirectX 10 at 208, DirectX 11 at 324, DirectX 12 at 151, G2D at 1,415, G3D at 36,565, and GPU compute at 21,789. The Vega 64X only has Geekbench Metal at 83,450 and Geekbench OpenCL at 78,467.

The average benchmark score also points to different performance tiers. The Vega 64X averages 80,959, which places it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 at 81,995 (1.3% ahead of the Vega 64X), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 at 79,842 (1.4% behind), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants at 79,605 and 79,396 (1.7% and 2% behind). The RTX 5080 averages 56,083, placing it in the 87th percentile. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 8060S at 55,757 (0.6% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55,698 (0.7% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE at 57,367 (2.2% behind). These percentile and rival figures reflect different benchmark sets, so they should not be compared across the two cards directly.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5080 wins the only direct benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, by 66.7%. It wins on every architectural metric that matters for modern workloads: FP32 compute is 4.7 times higher, memory bandwidth is nearly double, pixel rate is over three times higher, and texture rate is more than double. It has 84 RT cores for ray tracing and 336 tensor cores for AI acceleration, neither of which the Vega 64X possesses. It supports newer APIs, DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, and it is an active product with a successor listed as GeForce 60.

The Vega 64X wins in exactly one domain: it is a self-contained integrated part. It requires no power connector, draws 250 W versus 360 W, and fits into an IGP slot configuration with no physical dimensions listed. That makes it usable in portable Apple Mac environments where a dual-slot, 304 mm card simply cannot go. Its HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus delivers respectable bandwidth for its era, and its 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs shows it was a strong performer in its time. But in 2025, with the RTX 5080 active and the Vega 64X end-of-life, the only reason to choose the AMD card is a specific proprietary form factor, not performance.

For compute-heavy tasks like OpenCL workloads, rendering, ray tracing. For gaming, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result of 8,637. For AI inference. The Vega 64X is simply outclassed on every measurable dimension except power draw and form factor compatibility.