AMD Radeon RX 460 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data draws a very clear line between these two cards. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti wins every single head-to-head test in the database, and it wins by substantial margins. There are no workloads in the measured results where the AMD Radeon RX 460 comes out ahead. The RX 460's best showing is in Geekbench Metal, where it trails by 44.3%, while its worst result is in Geekbench OpenCL, where it falls behind by 73.7%. The Vulkan test sits in between at a 50.1% deficit.

This is not a close contest by any metric. The GTX 1080 Ti is designed for high-end desktop gaming and compute, while the RX 460 is an entry-level part. The data reflects that positioning. In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 1080 Ti scores 67,929 against the RX 460's 17,855. That is a 3.8x advantage in raw compute throughput. The Vulkan result shows 40,511 versus 20,198, a 2x gap. Even in the closest test, Metal, the GTX 1080 Ti's 30,624 is roughly 79% higher than the RX 460's 17,065.

If there is any area where the RX 460 looks comparatively less disadvantaged, it is in the Metal API, where the delta is the smallest. But a 44.3% deficit is still a decisive loss. The GTX 1080 Ti also carries a higher percentile ranking versus all GPUs at 58, although the RX 460 sits slightly higher at 62 in that particular metric, which reflects the different distribution of benchmark scores in the database. The average benchmark scores tell a similar story: the RX 460 averages 18,373, while the GTX 1080 Ti averages 15,548. The lower average for the GTX 1080 Ti is explained by its inclusion of PassMark tests, which drag down the mean, but the head-to-head Geekbench results are unambiguous.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations and manufacturing approaches. The AMD Radeon RX 460 uses the Baffin chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, part of the Arctic Islands (RX 400) generation. It is fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The die is 123 mm² with 3,000 million transistors, resulting in a transistor density of 24.4 million per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti uses the GP102 chip on the Pascal architecture, part of the GeForce 10 series. It is built on a 16 nm process at TSMC with a much larger 471 mm² die containing 11,800 million transistors, for a density of 25.1 million per mm².

The compute resources differ enormously. The RX 460 has 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The GTX 1080 Ti has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 88 ROPs. That is exactly four times the shading units, four times the TMUs, and 5.5 times the ROPs. Pixel rate for the RX 460 is 19.20 GPixel/s, while the GTX 1080 Ti reaches 139.2 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 67.20 GTexel/s versus 354.4 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 2.150 TFLOPS for the AMD card and 11.34 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA card, a 5.3x difference. The FP16 rates also differ in direction: the RX 460 runs FP16 at 2.150 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio to FP32, while the GTX 1080 Ti runs FP16 at only 177.2 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio.

Memory architecture is another major split. The RX 460 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 1080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR5X on a 352-bit bus, delivering 484.4 GB/s. That is 5.5x the memory capacity and 4.3x the bandwidth. Clock speeds also differ: the RX 460 runs at 1090 MHz base and 1200 MHz boost, while the GTX 1080 Ti runs at 1481 MHz base and 1582 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) for the AMD card and 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective) for the NVIDIA card.

Power and interface specs follow the same pattern. The RX 460 has a 75 W TDP, no power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 250 W. It uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface. The GTX 1080 Ti has a 250 W TDP, requires 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors, and suggests a 600 W PSU. It uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The RX 460 is shorter at 170 mm (6.7 inches) and offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX 1080 Ti is 267 mm (10.5 inches) long, 112 mm tall, and 40 mm wide, with 1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. Both are dual-slot cards.

The Verdict

The data leaves no room for ambiguity. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 460 in every measured benchmark. In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 1080 Ti is 73.7% ahead. In Vulkan, it is 50.1% ahead. In Metal, it is 44.3% ahead. Anyone choosing between these two for raw performance should select the GTX 1080 Ti without hesitation.

The RX 460 does have a role, but it is defined by constraints rather than performance. It consumes only 75 W, draws power entirely from the PCIe slot with no external connectors, and fits in a 170 mm length. It also supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The GTX 1080 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, giving it a slightly newer API level. The RX 460 was released on 2016-08-07, and the GTX 1080 Ti followed on 2017-03-09. Both are end-of-life products.

For a system with a small power budget, a limited PSU, or a compact chassis, the RX 460 is the only viable option between the two. For any workload that values compute throughput, memory bandwidth, or raw frame rates, the GTX 1080 Ti dominates. The RX 460's nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Arc A770M at 18,383 average score (0.1% difference), the AMD FirePro D500 at 18,533 (0.9% difference), the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 at 18,189 (1% difference), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile at 18,159 (1.2% difference). The GTX 1080 Ti's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R9 M380 at 15,521 (0.2% difference), the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 at 15,679 (0.8% difference), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 at 15,290 (1.7% difference), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 at 15,283 (1.7% difference). These groupings show that the two cards compete in entirely different performance tiers.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti scores 67,929 versus the AMD Radeon RX 460's 17,855, a 73.7% advantage for NVIDIA.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 460 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR5X on a 352-bit bus.

Q: What power connectors does each card require?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 460 requires no power connectors and has a 75 W TDP. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti requires 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connectors and has a 250 W TDP.

Q: Which card supports a newer DirectX version?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The AMD Radeon RX 460 supports DirectX 12 (12_0).

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 460 delivers 112.0 GB/s, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti delivers 484.4 GB/s.

Q: Which card is longer?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is 267 mm (10.5 inches) long. The AMD Radeon RX 460 is 170 mm (6.7 inches) long.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records three direct comparisons between these two cards, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti wins all three. The largest margin appears in Geekbench OpenCL. The GTX 1080 Ti scores 67,929 against the RX 460's 17,855. The delta is 73.7% in NVIDIA's favor. This test measures general-purpose compute performance, and the GTX 1080 Ti's 3,584 shading units and 11.34 TFLOPS FP32 throughput overwhelm the RX 460's 896 shading units and 2.150 TFLOPS.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a smaller but still decisive gap. The GTX 1080 Ti scores 40,511, while the RX 460 scores 20,198. The delta is 50.1%. Both cards support Vulkan, with the GTX 1080 Ti at version 1.4 and the RX 460 at version 1.3. The NVIDIA card's higher bandwidth (484.4 GB/s versus 112.0 GB/s) and larger memory pool (11 GB versus 2 GB) likely contribute to this result, though the recorded data does not isolate those factors.

The Geekbench Metal test is the closest of the three, but it is still not competitive. The GTX 1080 Ti scores 30,624, and the RX 460 scores 17,065. The delta is 44.3%. Metal is a macOS API, and both cards show lower scores here than in Vulkan or OpenCL, but the relative ordering remains unchanged. The GTX 1080 Ti's pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s dwarf the RX 460's 19.20 GPixel/s and 67.20 GTexel/s, which may explain the consistent advantage across APIs.

The average benchmark scores in the database add context. The RX 460 has an average of 18,373 across its three recorded tests. The GTX 1080 Ti has an average of 15,548 across eleven recorded tests. This average is lower than the GTX 1080 Ti's head-to-head scores because the PassMark tests (DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, DirectX 12, G2D, G3D, and GPU compute) use a different scoring scale. The PassMark G3D score of 18,600 and GPU compute score of 9,632 are on different scales from Geekbench, pulling the overall average down. The RX 460's average is based solely on Geekbench tests, which are more consistent in scale. The nearest rivals for each card confirm they occupy different tiers: the RX 460 sits within 1.2% of the AMD Radeon Pro 5700, while the GTX 1080 Ti sits within 1.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060.

Specification Differences

The table below lists only the fields where the two cards differ.

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 460 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti |

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

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | Pascal |

| Process node | 14 nm | 16 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 3,000 million | 11,800 million |

| Die size | 123 mm² | 471 mm² |

| Transistor density | 24.4M / mm² | 25.1M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1090 MHz | 1481 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1200 MHz | 1582 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1750 MHz, 7 Gbps effective | 1376 MHz, 11 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 2 GB | 11 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR5X |

| Memory bus | 128 bit | 352 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 112.0 GB/s | 484.4 GB/s |

| Shading units | 896 | 3584 |

| TMUs | 56 | 224 |

| ROPs | 16 | 88 |

| Pixel rate | 19.20 GPixel/s | 139.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 67.20 GTexel/s | 354.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.150 TFLOPS | 11.34 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 2.150 TFLOPS (1:1) | 177.2 GFLOPS (1:64) |

| TDP | 75 W | 250 W |

| Power connectors | None | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 600 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Dimensions | 170 mm (6.7 inches) long | 267 mm (10.5 inches) long, 112 mm (4.4 inches) tall, 40 mm (1.6 inches) wide |

| Release date | 2016-08-07 | 2017-03-09 |

| Launch MSRP | Not recorded | 699 USD |

The two cards share a dual-slot form factor, OpenGL 4.6 support, no ray tracing cores, no tensor cores, and end-of-life production status. The GTX 1080 Ti's launch MSRP is recorded as 699 USD. The RX 460's launch MSRP is not recorded in the database. The GTX 1080 Ti uses the larger GP102 chip with a 16 nm TSMC process, while the RX 460 uses the smaller Baffin chip on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process. The transistor density is nearly identical (25.1M versus 24.4M per mm²), meaning the performance difference comes primarily from the GTX 1080 Ti's much larger die area and correspondingly higher resource counts. The RX 460's predecessor is Pirate Islands and its successor is Polaris; the GTX 1080 Ti's predecessor is GeForce 900 and its successor is GeForce 20.