AMD Radeon Pro W5500 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti are two very different GPUs aimed at different markets, despite their nearly identical average benchmark scores. The W5500 is a professional workstation card built on a modern 7nm process, while the GTX 1080 Ti is a high-end consumer flagship from a previous generation. The data shows a clear split: the W5500 dominates in Metal and Vulkan compute, while the GTX 1080 Ti crushes it in traditional DirectX and overall 3D rendering workloads.

The Verdict

The benchmark data paints a clear picture for buyers. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the superior choice for anyone prioritizing raw rasterization performance and legacy API support. It wins 8 of the 10 head-to-head comparisons, including massive victories in PassMark G3D (18600 vs 8978, a 51.7% lead) and PassMark GPU Compute (9632 vs 4804, a 50.1% lead). This card is the pick for high-resolution gaming or any DirectX-based 3D application where absolute frame throughput matters.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500, conversely, is the specialist's tool. Its two wins are decisive: a 77.3% advantage in Geekbench Metal (54302 vs 30624) and a 3.7% edge in Geekbench Vulkan (42021 vs 40511). If your workflow is built around Apple's Metal API or Vulkan compute tasks, the W5500's architecture delivers results the GTX 1080 Ti cannot match. The data also shows the W5500 achieves this with a 125 W TDP versus the GTX 1080 Ti's 250 W, making it the efficient choice for dense workstation environments where power and cooling are constrained. The GTX 1080 Ti's 58th percentile ranking is identical to the W5500's, but that average is skewed; the actual workload determines which card is truly "better."

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 uses the Navi 14 chip on a 7nm TSMC process, packing 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti uses the GP102 chip on a 16nm TSMC process, with 11,800 million transistors spread across a much larger 471 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: the W5500 achieves 40.5M transistors per mm² versus the GTX 1080 Ti's 25.1M.

The compute configurations diverge sharply. The W5500 has 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the GTX 1080 Ti has 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 88 ROPs. This explains the GTX 1080 Ti's raw throughput advantages: its pixel rate is 139.2 GPixel/s versus 59.36 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 354.4 GTexel/s versus 163.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute figures confirm the gap: 11.34 TFLOPS for the GTX 1080 Ti versus 5.224 TFLOPS for the W5500.

Memory subsystems also differ significantly. The W5500 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 1080 Ti uses 11 GB of GDDR5X on a 352-bit bus, delivering 484.4 GB/s bandwidth. Clock speeds favor AMD, with the W5500 boosting to 1855 MHz versus the GTX 1080 Ti's 1582 MHz, but the NVIDIA card's wider memory bus and more compute units overcome this. The W5500 supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the GTX 1080 Ti uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs differ as well: the W5500 offers four DisplayPort 1.4a connectors, while the GTX 1080 Ti provides one HDMI 2.0 and three DisplayPort 1.4a.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is the clear winner in Apple-centric and Vulkan compute environments. Its Geekbench Metal score of 54302 is not just a win; it is a 77.3% blowout over the GTX 1080 Ti's 30624. This suggests the RDNA 1.0 architecture is highly optimized for Metal workloads, making the W5500 the data-backed choice for macOS-based creative professionals or developers targeting Apple platforms. Its Vulkan advantage, while smaller at 3.7%, still indicates better compute efficiency for modern cross-platform APIs.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti dominates every legacy and DirectX benchmark. Its PassMark DirectX 11 score of 151 is 62.9% higher than the W5500's 56. The DirectX 12 gap is 40.9% (66 vs 39), and even older APIs show huge leads: DirectX 10 at 118 vs 47 (60.2% advantage) and DirectX 9 at 231 vs 126 (45.5% advantage). The GTX 1080 Ti also wins the 2D workload test, scoring 939 versus 806 in PassMark G2D. For gaming, rendering with DirectX, or any application that relies on mature rasterization pipelines, the GTX 1080 Ti is the only choice between these two.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 has an average benchmark score of 15679, which is 0.8% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti's 15548.

Q: Is the GTX 1080 Ti better for all DirectX versions?

A: Yes. The GTX 1080 Ti wins all four DirectX tests in the data: DirectX 9 (231 vs 126), DirectX 10 (118 vs 47), DirectX 11 (151 vs 56), and DirectX 12 (66 vs 39).

Q: Why does the W5500 win Geekbench Metal by such a large margin?

A: The W5500's RDNA 1.0 architecture appears to be significantly more efficient in Metal workloads. It scores 54302 versus the GTX 1080 Ti's 30624, a 77.3% delta in AMD's favor.

Q: Which card requires more power?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W power supply, while the W5500 has a TDP of 125 W with a 300 W recommended PSU.

Q: Do both cards support the same modern APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, although their performance under these APIs varies dramatically.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR5X, while the W5500 has 8 GB of GDDR6. The GTX 1080 Ti also has significantly higher bandwidth at 484.4 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench Metal test is the W5500's crowning achievement. Its score of 54302 beats the GTX 1080 Ti's 30624 by 77.3%, the largest delta in the entire comparison. This is not a marginal victory; it is a generational architectural advantage for Apple-focused compute. The Vulkan test is closer, with the W5500 taking a 3.7% win (42021 vs 40511), reinforcing that the RDNA 1.0 card handles modern low-level APIs more efficiently.

The GTX 1080 Ti's response is overwhelming in traditional 3D tests. The PassMark G3D score of 18600 is nearly double the W5500's 8978, a 51.7% lead that translates directly to real-world rasterization performance. The GPU Compute test shows a similar 50.1% advantage (9632 vs 4804). The DirectX suite is equally one-sided: DirectX 11 shows the largest relative gap at 62.9% (151 vs 56), followed by DirectX 10 at 60.2% (118 vs 47), DirectX 9 at 45.5% (231 vs 126), and DirectX 12 at 40.9% (66 vs 39). Even the 2D test favors NVIDIA, with 939 versus 806, a 14.2% difference.

The overall win count is 8-2 in favor of the GTX 1080 Ti, but the average scores are nearly identical at 15548 versus 15679. This paradox is explained by the nature of the benchmarks: the W5500's massive Metal win inflates its average, while the GTX 1080 Ti's consistent but moderate leads across many tests keep it competitive. For OpenCL, the GTX 1080 Ti wins decisively at 67929 versus 45615, a 32.8% margin. The data suggests that if your workload is Metal or Vulkan compute, the W5500 is unequivocally better; for everything else, the GTX 1080 Ti is the stronger performer.