AMD Radeon Pro W5700 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Comparison

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti wins every single head-to-head benchmark against the AMD Radeon Pro W5700, taking 9 wins to 0. Its average benchmark score of 29,783 versus 25,726 puts it roughly 15.8% ahead overall, and the delta percentages in individual tests range from a marginal 3.1% in 2D graphics to a crushing 88% in Vulkan compute. If raw performance is the sole criterion, the RTX 2080 Ti is the clear choice.

However, the W5700 is not without its own logic. It is built on a newer 7 nm process (versus 12 nm), draws less power at 205 W versus 250 W, and uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface compared to PCIe 3.0 x16. It also has a more compact die, a lower launch MSRP, and five mini-DisplayPort outputs for multi-display professional setups. The RTX 2080 Ti, meanwhile, brings hardware ray tracing and tensor cores that the W5700 lacks entirely. For a workstation that prioritizes CUDA-accelerated or ray-traced workloads, the 2080 Ti is the pick. For a power-conscious professional who needs many display outputs and does not rely on NVIDIA-specific features, the W5700 is the more sensible fit. The benchmark data simply does not support choosing the W5700 on speed alone.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 29,783, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700 sits at 25,726. That is a difference of approximately 15.8% in favor of the NVIDIA card.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the most demanding graphics test?

A: In the PassMark G3D test, the RTX 2080 Ti scores 21,548 versus 14,520 for the W5700, a 48.4% advantage. The gap is even wider in Geekbench Vulkan, where the 2080 Ti leads by 88% with a score of 132,930 against 70,706.

Q: Does the AMD card win any benchmark at all?

A: No. The head-to-head benchmark set includes nine tests, and the RTX 2080 Ti wins all nine. The closest the W5700 comes is the PassMark DirectX 9 test, where it trails by only 4.4% (235 versus 225), and the PassMark G2D test, where it trails by 3.1% (927 versus 899).

Q: What are the key architectural differences?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti uses NVIDIA's Turing architecture on a 12 nm process with 18,600 million transistors on a 754 mm² die. The W5700 uses AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture on a 7 nm process with 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die. The 2080 Ti includes 68 ray tracing cores and 544 tensor cores; the W5700 has neither.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti has 616.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 11 GB of GDDR6 on a 352-bit bus. The W5700 has 448.0 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. Both use 14 Gbps effective memory clocks.

Q: What is the launch MSRP difference?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti had a launch MSRP of 999 USD, while the W5700 had a launch MSRP of 799 USD. This is a 200 USD difference at launch, though both cards are now end-of-life products.

Architecture Differences

The RTX 2080 Ti is built on NVIDIA's Turing architecture, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It uses the TU102 chip, which packs 18,600 million transistors into a 754 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.7 million per square millimeter. Turing brings dedicated hardware for ray tracing in the form of 68 RT cores, plus 544 tensor cores for AI acceleration. These features are entirely absent from the W5700. The 2080 Ti also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which is a newer API level than the W5700's DirectX 12 (12_1).

The W5700 is built on AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture, using the Navi 10 chip on a 7 nm process, also at TSMC. It has 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, giving it a much higher transistor density of 41.0 million per square millimeter. The smaller process node allows for a more power-efficient design, which is reflected in its 205 W TDP versus the 2080 Ti's 250 W. However, RDNA 1.0 lacks dedicated ray tracing and tensor hardware, and its DirectX support stops at 12 (12_1), not 12 Ultimate.

Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, and both use GDDR6 memory with 14 Gbps effective clocks. The 2080 Ti has significantly more shading units (4,352 versus 2,304), texture mapping units (272 versus 144), and raster operation units (88 versus 64). The 2080 Ti also leads in raw throughput: 13.45 TFLOPS FP32 against 8.663 TFLOPS, and 26.90 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1) against 17.33 TFLOPS (2:1). The pixel rate is 136.0 GPixel/s versus 120.3 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 420.2 GTexel/s versus 270.7 GTexel/s. The W5700 counters with a higher boost clock (1,880 MHz versus 1,545 MHz) and a faster bus interface (PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16).

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification. The RTX 2080 Ti has a base clock of 1,350 MHz and a boost clock of 1,545 MHz, while the W5700 has a higher base of 1,400 MHz and a much higher boost of 1,880 MHz. Memory capacity differs: 11 GB on the 2080 Ti versus 8 GB on the W5700. The bus width is 352-bit versus 256-bit, which drives the bandwidth difference of 616.0 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s.

Compute resources differ sharply. The 2080 Ti has 4,352 shading units, 272 TMUs, 68 RT cores, and 544 tensor cores. The W5700 has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, no RT cores, and no tensor cores. The ROP count is 88 versus 64. FP32 throughput is 13.45 TFLOPS against 8.663 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 26.90 TFLOPS (2:1) against 17.33 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and connectivity also differ. The 2080 Ti has a 250 W TDP, requires two 8-pin power connectors, and suggests a 600 W PSU. The W5700 has a 205 W TDP, uses one 6-pin plus one 8-pin connector, and suggests a 550 W PSU. Both are dual-slot cards, and both are 267 mm long. The 2080 Ti is 116 mm tall and 35 mm wide; the W5700 is 111 mm tall with no recorded width. Display outputs differ: the 2080 Ti has one HDMI 2.0, three DisplayPort 1.4a, and one USB Type-C; the W5700 has five mini-DisplayPort 1.4a and one USB Type-C. The 2080 Ti uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the W5700 uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Both are end-of-life products, released in September 2018 and November 2019 respectively.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest victory for the RTX 2080 Ti comes in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 132,930 against 70,706, a 88% lead. This is a compute-oriented test, and the gap reflects the 2080 Ti's 4,352 shading units and 544 tensor cores against the W5700's 2,304 shading units and no tensor cores.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the 2080 Ti scores 128,171 versus 74,613, a 71.8% advantage. This is another compute-heavy workload, and again the NVIDIA card's raw FP32 and FP16 throughput dominates. The W5700 does have a Geekbench Metal score of 89,557, but the 2080 Ti has no Metal result recorded, so no direct comparison is possible there.

The PassMark suite shows consistent wins across all API levels. In DirectX 10, the 2080 Ti leads 153 to 88, a 73.9% margin. In DirectX 11, it leads 190 to 104, a 82.7% margin. In DirectX 12, the gap narrows to 55.6% (84 versus 54). The oldest API, DirectX 9, shows the closest result in the entire suite: 235 versus 225, a slim 4.4% edge for the 2080 Ti. This suggests that legacy titles do not fully utilize the newer card's hardware advantages.

The PassMark G3D test, which is a general 3D graphics benchmark, shows a 48.4% lead for the 2080 Ti (21,548 versus 14,520). The G2D test is nearly a tie, with the 2080 Ti at 927 and the W5700 at 899, a 3.1% difference. Finally, the GPU compute test shows a 54.8% lead for the 2080 Ti (10,056 versus 6,495). The pattern is clear: the NVIDIA card wins every test, with margins ranging from 3.1% in 2D work to 88% in Vulkan compute, and the average benchmark score confirms the overall gap.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 2080 Ti wins everywhere the benchmarks measure. It takes every head-to-head test, and its margins are largest in compute-heavy workloads like Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan, where it leads by 71.8% and 88% respectively. It also dominates in DirectX 11, with a 82.7% lead, and in the general G3D test, with a 48.4% lead. For anyone running OpenCL or Vulkan compute tasks, ray-traced rendering, or CUDA-accelerated workflows, the 2080 Ti is the only rational choice based on this data. Its 68 RT cores and 544 tensor cores make it suitable for workloads that leverage hardware ray tracing and AI inference, areas where the W5700 has no hardware support at all.

The W5700's wins are not in the benchmark scores but in the specification sheet. It has a lower TDP of 205 W versus 250 W, which means less heat and potentially lower cooling requirements in a workstation chassis. It uses PCIe 4.0 x16, which offers double the bandwidth of PCIe 3.0 for data transfers, though this does not translate into a benchmark win here. It has five mini-DisplayPort outputs versus the 2080 Ti's single HDMI and three DisplayPorts, making it more practical for multi-monitor professional setups. Its smaller die (251 mm² versus 754 mm²) and higher transistor density (41.0M per mm² versus 24.7M) point to a more modern manufacturing process. For a professional who needs many display outputs, runs primarily OpenGL 4.6 workloads where both cards are equal, or wants to minimize power draw, the W5700 has a rational appeal. But the recorded data shows that in every single benchmark where both cards were measured, the RTX 2080 Ti comes out ahead.