AMD Radeon RX 560 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The data in the database is decisive: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti dominates the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT in every recorded benchmark. In the two head-to-head tests available, the RTX 2080 Ti wins both, with the RX 560 XT trailing by large margins. The Geekbench OpenCL result shows the RTX 2080 Ti scoring 128,171 against 31,387 for the RX 560 XT, a delta of -75.5% for the AMD card. That is not a close contest; it is a generational and architectural chasm.

The Vulkan test tells the same story. The RTX 2080 Ti posts 132,930, while the RX 560 XT manages 36,879. The delta here is -72.3%, meaning the AMD part delivers less than a third of the NVIDIA card's score. Across both workloads, the RTX 2080 Ti is consistently more than three and a half times faster in raw benchmark terms. No recorded test shows the RX 560 XT ahead.

Looking beyond the head-to-head pair, the average benchmark score reinforces the gap. The RTX 2080 Ti averages 29,783 across all its recorded tests, while the RX 560 XT averages 34,133. This average is skewed, however, because the two cards appear in different benchmark suites. The RX 560 XT's average is pulled up by its two Geekbench results, which are its only entries. The RTX 2080 Ti has ten recorded tests, including several Passmark legacy DirectX tests with low scores, which drag its average down. Even so, the NVIDIA card's percentile standing of 75 versus the AMD card's 79 shows that the RTX 2080 Ti sits in a tougher neighborhood of competing GPUs.

The nearest rival data puts the RX 560 XT in context. Its average score of 34,133 places it within 0.5% of the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (34,154) and the NVIDIA RTX A1000 (34,207). It is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 480 and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7950. These are all older or lower-tier parts. The RTX 2080 Ti, by contrast, sits near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (29,928, delta -0.5%) and the RTX 3070 Ti (29,945, delta -0.5%). It is 1% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6800 and 2% ahead of the AMD FirePro W8000. The benchmark data shows two cards occupying entirely different performance strata.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 2080 Ti wins everywhere in the recorded data. In compute-heavy OpenCL workloads, its 128,171 score dwarfs the RX 560 XT's 31,387. In Vulkan, the margin is similar: 132,930 versus 36,879. There is no use case in the database where the RX 560 XT comes out ahead. The wins are not marginal; they are multiples.

For the RX 560 XT, the only positive interpretation comes from its percentile ranking. At 79, it sits above the RTX 2080 Ti's 75. That means the AMD card outperforms a higher fraction of all GPUs in the database, even though it loses decisively to this specific competitor. This is explained by the fact that the RX 560 XT's two benchmark scores are both relatively modern compute tests, while the RTX 2080 Ti's average is diluted by older DirectX 9, 10, and 11 Passmark tests. Those legacy tests score 235, 153, and 190 respectively, which pull the NVIDIA card's average down despite its dominant modern performance.

In practical terms, the RX 560 XT is a card for lighter workloads. Its 4.394 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for 1080p-era gaming or entry-level compute tasks. The RTX 2080 Ti, with 13.45 TFLOPS FP32 and 616.0 GB/s bandwidth, is built for high-refresh 1440p or 4K gaming, plus ray tracing and tensor-based workloads. The database does not record any scenario where the RX 560 XT's lower power draw (150 W versus 250 W) translates into a performance win, only into a system requirement difference.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras and design philosophies. The RX 560 XT uses AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It is built on the Ellesmere chip, part of the Polaris generation (RX 500). The die measures 232 mm² with 5,700 million transistors, giving a transistor density of 24.6M per mm². The RTX 2080 Ti uses NVIDIA's Turing architecture on a 12 nm process at TSMC. The TU102 chip is far larger at 754 mm² and packs 18,600 million transistors, with a density of 24.7M per mm². The density is nearly identical, but the physical scale is not: the TU102 is over three times the die area.

The memory subsystems diverge sharply. The RX 560 XT has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 2080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR6 on a 352-bit bus, yielding 616.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card offers nearly three times the bandwidth and almost three times the capacity. Memory clocks are the same at 1750 MHz, but the effective data rate differs: 7 Gbps for the AMD card versus 14 Gbps for the NVIDIA card.

Compute resources are also heavily skewed. The RX 560 XT has 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 2080 Ti has 4,352 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 88 ROPs. The RTX 2080 Ti also adds 68 RT cores and 544 tensor cores, which the RX 560 XT lacks entirely. This explains the FP16 performance gap: the RX 560 XT delivers 4.394 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 with FP32), while the RTX 2080 Ti delivers 26.90 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio) thanks to its tensor cores. Pixel and texture rates follow the same pattern: 39.23 GPixel/s and 137.3 GTexel/s for AMD versus 136.0 GPixel/s and 420.2 GTexel/s for NVIDIA.

API support differs as well. The RX 560 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The RTX 2080 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA card also has a USB Type-C display output, which the AMD card lacks. Both are dual-slot cards with PCIe 3.0 x16 interfaces, but the RTX 2080 Ti is physically larger: 267 mm long, 116 mm tall, and 35 mm wide, versus 241 mm long with no recorded height or width for the RX 560 XT.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT has a higher average benchmark score of 34,133, compared to 29,783 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. This is due to the different benchmark suites each card was tested with.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 2080 Ti in OpenCL?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti scores 128,171 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 75.5% higher than the RX 560 XT's 31,387. In Vulkan, the RTX 2080 Ti scores 132,930, which is 72.3% higher than the RX 560 XT's 36,879.

Q: Does the RX 560 XT have any performance advantages?

A: The recorded data shows no benchmark where the RX 560 XT wins. Its only relative advantage is its percentile rank of 79, which is higher than the RTX 2080 Ti's 75, indicating it beats a larger fraction of all GPUs in the database.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The RX 560 XT has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 2080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR6 on a 352-bit bus with 616.0 GB/s bandwidth. Both run at 1750 MHz, but the effective data rates are 7 Gbps and 14 Gbps respectively.

Q: Which card has ray tracing and tensor cores?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti has 68 RT cores and 544 tensor cores. The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT has no RT cores or tensor cores recorded in the database.

Q: How do the power requirements differ?

A: The RX 560 XT has a TDP of 150 W and requires a 450 W power supply with a single 6-pin connector. The RTX 2080 Ti has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W power supply with two 8-pin connectors.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two cards:

• Process node: 14 nm (AMD) versus 12 nm (NVIDIA)
• Foundry: GlobalFoundries versus TSMC
• Transistors: 5,700 million versus 18,600 million
• Die size: 232 mm² versus 754 mm²
• Base clock: 1074 MHz versus 1350 MHz
• Boost clock: 1226 MHz versus 1545 MHz
• Memory size: 4 GB versus 11 GB
• Memory type: GDDR5 versus GDDR6
• Memory bus width: 256 bit versus 352 bit
• Memory bandwidth: 224.0 GB/s versus 616.0 GB/s
• Effective memory speed: 7 Gbps versus 14 Gbps
• Shading units: 1792 versus 4352
• Texture mapping units: 112 versus 272
• ROPs: 32 versus 88
• Ray tracing cores: none versus 68
• Tensor cores: none versus 544
• Pixel rate: 39.23 GPixel/s versus 136.0 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 137.3 GTexel/s versus 420.2 GTexel/s
• FP32 performance: 4.394 TFLOPS versus 13.45 TFLOPS
• FP16 performance: 4.394 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 26.90 TFLOPS (2:1)
• TDP: 150 W versus 250 W
• Power connectors: 1x 6-pin versus 2x 8-pin
• Suggested PSU: 450 W versus 600 W
• Display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a versus 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C
• DirectX support: 12 (12_0) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2)
• Vulkan support: 1.3 versus 1.4
• Dimensions: 241 mm length versus 267 mm length, 116 mm height, 35 mm width
• Release date: 2019-03-12 versus 2018-09-19

The cards share: dual-slot width, PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, OpenGL 4.6 support, and end-of-life production status.

The Verdict

The benchmark data leaves little room for debate. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is the superior card in every recorded test. Its OpenCL and Vulkan scores are more than three times higher than the RX 560 XT's, and its architectural resources dwarf the AMD part. Anyone choosing between these two for compute-heavy or modern gaming workloads should pick the RTX 2080 Ti without hesitation, based purely on the recorded numbers.

The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT is not without a niche. Its higher percentile rank (79 versus 75) and lower power draw (150 W versus 250 W) make it a suitable option for systems with modest power supplies, specifically a 450 W unit versus the RTX 2080 Ti's 600 W requirement. Its 4 GB frame buffer and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for older titles or lighter workloads, and its smaller physical footprint (241 mm versus 267 mm length) helps in compact cases.

However, the RTX 2080 Ti offers 11 GB of GDDR6, 616.0 GB/s bandwidth, 68 RT cores, and 544 tensor cores. Those features enable ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads that the RX 560 XT cannot touch. The RTX 2080 Ti also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, newer API standards than the RX 560 XT's DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3. For future-proofing, the NVIDIA card is clearly ahead.

The verdict is straightforward: the RTX 2080 Ti wins on raw performance, feature set, and API support. The RX 560 XT wins only on efficiency metrics and percentile ranking, which reflect its place in a less demanding benchmark pool. Buyers seeking maximum compute throughput should choose the RTX 2080 Ti. Buyers constrained by power delivery or physical space may consider the RX 560 XT, but they must accept a massive performance deficit. The data does not support any other conclusion.