AMD Radeon Pro W5700X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Comparison

The benchmark data presents a clear hierarchy between these two GPUs, but it is not a simple one. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the overwhelmingly faster card in raw compute, yet the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X holds its own in the specific metrics available, creating a nuanced picture for different professional workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head comparisons available are in Geekbench compute tests, and they show a decisive victory for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 219,065, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X manages 43,810. This represents an 80% delta in favor of NVIDIA, a massive gap that highlights the generational and architectural gulf between the two cards. The Vulkan results tell a similar story, with the RTX 4080 SUPER posting 260,075 against the W5700X’s 45,246, an 82.6% advantage for NVIDIA. These are not marginal differences; they are outright sweeps in the two tests where both cards were measured.

However, the broader average benchmark score paints a more complex picture. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has an average benchmark score of 54,828, which is actually 1.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 54,209. This is a remarkable result, considering the NVIDIA card’s dominance in the head-to-head tests. The discrepancy is explained by the different benchmark suites each card was subjected to. The W5700X’s average is derived from Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan scores, including its strong 75,427 Metal result, a test the RTX 4080 SUPER does not appear in. The NVIDIA card’s average pulls from a wider range of tests, including Passmark DirectX variants and 3DMark Steel Nomad, where its 34,245 Passmark G3D score and 6,600 3DMark result reflect its gaming and DirectX-oriented strengths. The data shows that while NVIDIA wins the shared compute tests, the AMD card’s specialized performance in the Apple-centric Metal API keeps its overall average competitive.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the clear winner in any scenario that relies on raw compute throughput and modern graphics APIs. Its 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 performance is five times higher than the W5700X’s 10.44 TFLOPS, and it carries 10,240 shading units versus 2,560. This translates directly to its dominance in OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, where the data shows an 80% and 82.6% lead respectively. The RTX 4080 SUPER also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the W5700X is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1), giving NVIDIA an edge in the latest gaming and DXR-enabled applications. Its higher pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s further underscore its capability in graphics-intensive tasks.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, despite its older architecture, wins in a very specific but critical niche: Apple ecosystem compatibility. Its bus interface is Apple MPX, and its display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.0b and 4x Thunderbolt. This is a card designed for Mac Pro systems, and its Geekbench Metal score of 75,427 is the single highest benchmark recorded for it, suggesting strong optimization for Apple’s graphics framework. While the NVIDIA card posts higher raw scores elsewhere, the W5700X’s average benchmark score of 54,828 actually edges out the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209, indicating that in its intended environment, it remains a capable contender. The W5700X’s lower TDP of 205W versus 320W for the RTX 4080 SUPER also makes it a more power-efficient choice, with a suggested PSU of 550W compared to NVIDIA’s 700W.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast, reflecting a five-year generational leap. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is built on the Navi 10 chip using the RDNA 1.0 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 41.0M per mm². It features 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with no dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores. Its memory configuration is 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the AD103 chip using the Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, achieving a far higher transistor density of 121.1M per mm². The RTX 4080 SUPER has 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, plus 80 dedicated ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores. Its memory is 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, offering a much higher 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s FP16 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS (1:1) is also notably higher and matches its FP32, whereas the W5700X’s FP16 of 20.89 TFLOPS is achieved via a 2:1 ratio.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has an average benchmark score of 54,828, which is 1.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER scores 260,075 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 82.6% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X’s 45,246.

Q: Does the AMD card support hardware ray tracing?

A: No, the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has no dedicated ray tracing cores, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER includes 80 RT cores.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth between the two cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s, which is significantly higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X’s 448.0 GB/s.

Q: Which card requires a more powerful power supply?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has a suggested PSU of 700 W and a TDP of 320 W, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X’s suggested PSU of 550 W and TDP of 205 W.

Q: Are both cards end-of-life products?

A: Yes, both the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER are listed with a production status of "End-of-life."

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: for any user prioritizing raw compute power, modern API support, or ray tracing performance, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the only choice. Its 80% and 82.6% leads in OpenCL and Vulkan tests, combined with its 80 RT cores, 320 tensor cores, and DirectX 12 Ultimate support, make it an overwhelmingly superior card for compute-heavy and graphics-intensive tasks. The 5x advantage in FP32 TFLOPS (52.22 vs 10.44) and the doubled memory bandwidth (736.3 GB/s vs 448.0 GB/s) underscore this verdict. The RTX 4080 SUPER is the definitive performer.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, however, is not without merit. Its higher average benchmark score of 54,828 versus 54,209, driven by its strong Geekbench Metal performance of 75,427, indicates it is a specialized tool for a specific platform. Its Apple MPX bus interface and Thunderbolt display outputs make it the appropriate choice for a Mac Pro environment where NVIDIA cards are not an option. The W5700X’s lower power draw of 205W is also a point in its favor. For a user locked into the Apple ecosystem, this card offers a competent computing experience, but for anyone else, the RTX 4080 SUPER is the clear winner based on raw numbers.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro W5700X | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER |

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

| Chip | Navi 10 | AD103 |

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | Ada Lovelace |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 10,300 million | 45,900 million |

| Die Size | 251 mm² | 379 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 41.0M / mm² | 121.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1243 MHz | 2295 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2040 MHz | 2550 MHz |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6X |

| Memory Bandwidth | 448.0 GB/s | 736.3 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2560 | 10240 |

| TMUs | 160 | 320 |

| ROPs | 64 | 112 |

| RT Cores | None | 80 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 320 |

| Pixel Rate | 130.6 GPixel/s | 285.6 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 326.4 GTexel/s | 816.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 10.44 TFLOPS | 52.22 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 20.89 TFLOPS (2:1) | 52.22 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 205 W | 320 W |

| Slot Width | Quad-slot | Triple-slot |

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

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | 700 W |

| Bus Interface | Apple MPX | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 4x Thunderbolt | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| Release Date | 2019-12-10 | 2024-01-30 |