AMD Radeon Pro W5700X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 represent two vastly different approaches to high-end graphics, separated by three years of silicon evolution. The W5700X is a professional Mac-centric card built on 7nm RDNA 1.0, while the RTX 4080 is a 5nm Ada Lovelace behemoth aimed at enthusiasts. Despite the W5700X holding a marginal 1.1% lead in average benchmark score (54828 vs 54247), the direct head-to-head results show a different story, with the RTX 4080 dominating in both available tests. The data shows two cards that are close in aggregate but radically different in raw compute capability.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X edges out the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 with an average benchmark score of 54828 compared to 54247, a difference of 1.1%. This places the W5700X at the 87th percentile versus the RTX 4080's 86th percentile.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 wins decisively with a score of 214739 against the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X's 43810. This represents a 79.6% advantage for the RTX 4080, making it nearly five times faster in this compute workload.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: Both cards have 16 GB of memory on a 256-bit bus, but the type and bandwidth differ. The W5700X uses GDDR6 with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 4080 uses GDDR6X with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, giving the NVIDIA card a 60% bandwidth advantage.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 packs 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X's 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die. This translates to a transistor density of 121.1M per mm² for the RTX 4080 versus 41.0M per mm² for the W5700X.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has a TDP of 205 W with a suggested PSU of 550 W, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has a TDP of 320 W and requires a 700 W suggested PSU. The RTX 4080 draws 115 W more power under load.

Q: How do the nearest rivals compare for each card?

A: For the W5700X, the closest rival is the RTX 4080 itself with a 1.1% delta, followed by the RTX 4080 SUPER at 1.1%. For the RTX 4080, the RTX 4080 SUPER is nearly identical at 0.1% delta, with the W5700X trailing by 1.1%.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is substantial and explains most performance differences. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X uses the Navi 10 chip built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7nm TSMC process. It features 10,300 million transistors packed into a 251 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 41.0M per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 employs the AD103 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5nm TSMC process, containing 45,900 million transistors across a 379 mm² die. This gives the RTX 4080 a density of 121.1M per mm², nearly three times higher.

The compute resources differ dramatically. The W5700X has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The RTX 4080 more than triples the shader count with 9728 shading units, alongside 304 TMUs and 112 ROPs. Critically, the RTX 4080 includes 76 dedicated ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores, while the W5700X has none of either. This makes the NVIDIA card fundamentally more capable in ray-traced workloads and AI-accelerated tasks.

Clock speeds also favor the newer card. The W5700X runs at a base of 1243 MHz with a boost of 2040 MHz, while the RTX 4080 operates at 2205 MHz base and 2505 MHz boost. Memory architecture differs as well: the W5700X uses GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective, while the RTX 4080 uses faster GDDR6X at 22.4 Gbps effective. Both share a 256-bit bus, but the RTX 4080's higher memory clock yields 716.8 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct comparison data shows a clear winner in both available tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 scores 214739 against the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X's 43810, a delta of -79.6% from the AMD card's perspective. This means the RTX 4080 is roughly 4.9 times faster in this compute benchmark. The result is consistent with the massive difference in FP32 throughput: 48.74 TFLOPS for the RTX 4080 versus 10.44 TFLOPS for the W5700X.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows an even wider gap. The RTX 4080 achieves 263779, while the W5700X manages 45246, representing an 82.8% difference. This near-fivefold advantage in Vulkan suggests the RTX 4080's architecture handles modern graphics APIs far more efficiently. The W5700X's FP16 performance of 20.89 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) is also dwarfed by the RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, meaning the NVIDIA card maintains full throughput even in half-precision workloads.

Despite these crushing benchmark defeats, the aggregate average scores tell a different story. The W5700X's average of 54828 slightly beats the RTX 4080's 54247, likely because the AMD card's benchmark suite includes Metal-heavy workloads that favor its Mac-centric design. The delta of 1.1% is within noise, but it does place the W5700X in a higher percentile bracket.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal stark contrasts beyond raw performance. The W5700X uses an Apple MPX bus interface, while the RTX 4080 uses standard PCIe 4.0 x16. This reflects the W5700X's intended audience: Mac Pro users needing Thunderbolt connectivity. The display outputs confirm this: the W5700X offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 4x Thunderbolt, while the RTX 4080 provides 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Physical dimensions differ notably. The W5700X is 305 mm long (12 inches) and occupies a quad-slot form factor with no listed height or width. The RTX 4080 is slightly longer at 310 mm (12.2 inches) but only triple-slot, with defined dimensions of 140 mm height and 61 mm width. The RTX 4080 requires a single 16-pin power connector, while the W5700X lists none, likely drawing power through the Apple MPX interface.

The W5700X supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RTX 4080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 4080's feature set includes hardware ray tracing and tensor cores, which the W5700X lacks entirely. Pixel rate tells the story: 280.6 GPixel/s for the RTX 4080 versus 130.6 GPixel/s for the W5700X, and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s versus 326.4 GTexel/s.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X wins in aggregate benchmark standing, holding a 1.1% higher average score and a higher percentile ranking (87 vs 86). It also wins on power efficiency, with a 205 W TDP versus the RTX 4080's 320 W, and a lower suggested PSU of 550 W versus 700 W. The W5700X's quad-slot cooler and Apple MPX interface make it the obvious choice for Mac Pro systems where Thunderbolt output and slot compatibility matter more than raw compute.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 wins decisively in every direct compute benchmark available. Its OpenCL score of 214739 is 4.9x higher, and its Vulkan score of 263779 is 5.8x higher. The RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 performance, 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth, and hardware ray tracing cores make it the superior choice for gaming, 3D rendering, and any workload that can leverage its tensor cores. The RTX 4080 also has a more modern feature set with DirectX 12 Ultimate and 76 RT cores.

The Verdict

Choose the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X if you need a professional card for a Mac Pro environment with Thunderbolt connectivity, quad-slot cooling, and lower power requirements. Its 1.1% higher average benchmark score and 87th percentile ranking show it holds its own in aggregate testing, and its 205 W TDP makes it far easier to cool and power. The 16 GB GDDR6 memory is ample for professional workloads, and the 4x Thunderbolt outputs are a unique advantage for Mac users.

Choose the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 if you need maximum compute performance in OpenCL and Vulkan workloads. Its 79.6% advantage in OpenCL and 82.8% advantage in Vulkan are not marginal differences but generational leaps. The 9728 shading units, 76 RT cores, and 304 tensor cores provide capabilities the W5700X simply does not offer. The 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth and 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance make it the clear choice for gaming, ray tracing, and AI-accelerated tasks. The RTX 4080's higher TDP and power connector requirement are acceptable trade-offs for its massive performance advantage.

The data does not support a close contest in direct comparison. The W5700X's aggregate score advantage appears to be an artifact of benchmark selection, not real-world capability. If your work uses OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX 4080 is the only rational choice. If you are locked into the Apple MPX ecosystem, the W5700X is your sole option, but know that you are sacrificing roughly 80% of compute performance versus a modern mid-generation NVIDIA card.