AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 records an average benchmark score of 22,895, while the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT averages 20,713. The RTX 2080 also sits at the 68th percentile of all GPUs, two points above the RX 5600 XT's 66th percentile.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the head-to-head results?

A: The RTX 2080 wins all 10 recorded head-to-head tests. The largest single delta is 91.7% in Geekbench Vulkan, and the smallest is 4.3% in Passmark G2D. The RX 5600 XT does not win a single comparison.

Q: What are the memory configurations of each card?

A: The RTX 2080 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5600 XT has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU supports hardware ray tracing and tensor cores?

A: Only the RTX 2080 includes 46 ray tracing cores and 368 tensor cores. The RX 5600 XT lists no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores in the database.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two chips?

A: The RTX 2080's TU104 chip has a density of 25.0M per mm², while the RX 5600 XT's Navi 10 reaches 41.0M per mm². The RX 5600 XT uses a 7 nm process; the RTX 2080 uses 12 nm.

Q: Which card has the higher DirectX feature level?

A: The RTX 2080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the RX 5600 XT is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1).

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 is built on the Turing architecture using the TU104 chip, manufactured by TSMC on a 12 nm process. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT uses the RDNA 1.0 architecture with the Navi 10 chip, also from TSMC but on a 7 nm process. This process difference is significant: the Navi 10 die measures 251 mm² and contains 10,300 million transistors, resulting in a density of 41.0M per mm². The TU104 is much larger at 545 mm² with 13,600 million transistors, but its density drops to 25.0M per mm².

The RTX 2080 includes hardware features absent from the RX 5600 XT: 46 ray tracing cores and 368 tensor cores. These enable dedicated ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads, which the RDNA 1.0 part lacks entirely. The RX 5600 XT compensates with a higher game clock ratio relative to its boost clock, but the raw compute resources are smaller: 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 64 ROPs versus the RTX 2080's 2,944 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs.

Memory architecture also diverges. The RTX 2080 uses a 256-bit bus with 8 GB of GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective, yielding 448.0 GB/s. The RX 5600 XT uses a narrower 192-bit bus with 6 GB at 12 Gbps effective, yielding 288.0 GB/s. The RTX 2080 also carries a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, while the RX 5600 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16, though the practical impact of that newer bus is not reflected in the recorded benchmark deltas.

Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the RTX 2080 reaches DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) while the RX 5600 XT stops at DirectX 12 (12_1). In terms of power, the RTX 2080 has a 215 W TDP and requires a 550 W suggested PSU with 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connectors. The RX 5600 XT is rated at 150 W TDP, needs a 450 W suggested PSU, and uses a single 8-pin connector.

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data shows a clean sweep: the RTX 2080 wins all 10 head-to-head benchmarks, and the RX 5600 XT wins none. That said, the margins vary widely, and those variations point to different strengths.

The RTX 2080 dominates in compute-heavy and API-specific workloads. Its largest advantage is 91.7% in Geekbench Vulkan, followed by 86.3% in Passmark DirectX 10 and 64.6% in Passmark DirectX 11. These are not marginal leads; they indicate a substantial architectural advantage in driver-optimized and legacy API paths. The 25% lead in Passmark GPU Compute and 39.1% lead in Passmark G3D further reinforce that the RTX 2080 is the stronger compute and general 3D performer.

The RX 5600 XT's best relative showing is in Passmark G2D, where it trails by only 4.3%. It also comes closest in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, with a 5% delta, and in Passmark DirectX 9, with a 10.4% delta. These are still losses, but the narrow margins suggest that in lighter or older DirectX 9 workloads and in 2D-centric tasks, the RX 5600 XT is competitive. The 3DMark result, which is a modern DX12 test, shows a much smaller gap than the API-specific Passmark tests, indicating that the RX 5600 XT's RDNA 1.0 architecture scales reasonably in current-generation DX12 titles, even if it cannot overcome the RTX 2080's raw resources.

For users who prioritize legacy DirectX 9/10/11 compatibility or Vulkan performance, the RTX 2080 is the clear choice. For those who mostly run modern DX12 games and 2D desktop workloads, the RX 5600 XT's deficits shrink to single-digit percentages, making it a more palatable alternative despite losing every recorded test.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every core specification:

• Process node: RTX 2080 on 12 nm, RX 5600 XT on 7 nm
• Transistors: 13,600 million (RTX 2080) vs 10,300 million (RX 5600 XT)
• Die size: 545 mm² (RTX 2080) vs 251 mm² (RX 5600 XT)
• Transistor density: 25.0M / mm² (RTX 2080) vs 41.0M / mm² (RX 5600 XT)
• Base clock: 1515 MHz (RTX 2080) vs 1130 MHz (RX 5600 XT)
• Boost clock: 1710 MHz (RTX 2080) vs 1560 MHz (RX 5600 XT)
• Game clock: not applicable (RTX 2080) vs 1375 MHz (RX 5600 XT)
• Memory clock: 1750 MHz, 14 Gbps effective (RTX 2080) vs 1500 MHz, 12 Gbps effective (RX 5600 XT)
• Memory size: 8 GB (RTX 2080) vs 6 GB (RX 5600 XT)
• Memory bus: 256 bit (RTX 2080) vs 192 bit (RX 5600 XT)
• Memory bandwidth: 448.0 GB/s (RTX 2080) vs 288.0 GB/s (RX 5600 XT)
• Shading units: 2,944 (RTX 2080) vs 2,304 (RX 5600 XT)
• TMUs: 184 (RTX 2080) vs 144 (RX 5600 XT)
• ROPs: 64 (both)
• Ray tracing cores: 46 (RTX 2080) vs none (RX 5600 XT)
• Tensor cores: 368 (RTX 2080) vs none (RX 5600 XT)
• Pixel rate: 109.4 GPixel/s (RTX 2080) vs 99.84 GPixel/s (RX 5600 XT)
• Texture rate: 314.6 GTexel/s (RTX 2080) vs 224.6 GTexel/s (RX 5600 XT)
• FP32: 10.07 TFLOPS (RTX 2080) vs 7.188 TFLOPS (RX 5600 XT)
• FP16: 20.14 TFLOPS (RTX 2080) vs 14.38 TFLOPS (RX 5600 XT), both at 2:1 ratio
• TDP: 215 W (RTX 2080) vs 150 W (RX 5600 XT)
• Power connectors: 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin (RTX 2080) vs 1x 8-pin (RX 5600 XT)
• Suggested PSU: 550 W (RTX 2080) vs 450 W (RX 5600 XT)
• Bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 (RTX 2080) vs PCIe 4.0 x16 (RX 5600 XT)
• Display outputs: RTX 2080 adds 1x USB Type-C; RX 5600 XT has 1x HDMI 2.0b instead of HDMI 2.0
• DirectX support: 12 Ultimate (12_2) (RTX 2080) vs 12 (12_1) (RX 5600 XT)
• Release date: 2018-09-19 (RTX 2080) vs 2020-01-20 (RX 5600 XT)

The RX 5600 XT matches the RTX 2080 on ROP count (64), dual-slot width, length (267 mm, 10.5 inches), and OpenGL/Vulkan versions.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 2080 wins every recorded comparison, but the magnitude of each win tells a different story.

The largest margin appears in Geekbench Vulkan: the RTX 2080 scores 107,797 against 56,218, a 91.7% advantage. This is nearly double the RX 5600 XT's result and indicates a profound gap in Vulkan driver efficiency or hardware scheduling. In Passmark DirectX 10, the RTX 2080 scores 136 versus 73, an 86.3% lead. Passmark DirectX 11 shows a 64.6% gap, with 158 versus 96. These legacy API results suggest that the Turing architecture retains much stronger performance in older DirectX paths than RDNA 1.0.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows the closest modern-game delta: 1,752 versus 1,669, only 5% apart. This is a rare bright spot for the RX 5600 XT, as it demonstrates that in a current DX12 workload, the two cards are nearly equivalent. Passmark DirectX 12 also shows a relatively modest gap of 38.5%, with 72 versus 52. The smaller DX12 deltas contrast sharply with the legacy API results, implying that the RX 5600 XT's newer architecture is better optimized for modern APIs.

In Passmark G3D, the RTX 2080 records 18,720 versus 13,457, a 39.1% lead. Passmark GPU Compute shows 7,872 versus 6,296, a 25% advantage. Geekbench OpenCL yields 91,313 versus 68,537, a 33.2% gap. These compute and general 3D results confirm that the RTX 2080 is not just faster in absolute terms; it is consistently faster across every category, with the smallest lead being 4.3% in Passmark G2D (907 versus 870) and the next smallest being the 5% 3DMark result.

The RX 5600 XT's best losses are all in 2D or modern DX12 settings, which points to a card that is competitive in specific niches but cannot match the RTX 2080's overall throughput.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 is the faster GPU by every recorded benchmark, winning all 10 head-to-head tests and averaging 22,895 versus 20,713. Its percentile ranking of 68 against 66 for the RX 5600 XT reinforces the same conclusion.

Choose the RTX 2080 if you need maximum performance in legacy DirectX 9, 10, or 11 titles, where it leads by 10.4%, 86.3%, and 64.6% respectively. It is also the only option with ray tracing cores and tensor cores, which makes it suitable for workloads that use those features. The 8 GB memory allocation and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth further support high-resolution textures and heavier compute loads. The RTX 2080's nearest rivals in the database include the RTX 3080 and Intel Arc B580, with deltas of -1.2% and -0.5% respectively, meaning it sits in a competitive performance tier.

Choose the RX 5600 XT if you are strictly focused on modern DX12 gaming and 2D desktop tasks. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it trails by only 5%, and in Passmark G2D by just 4.3%. Its 7 nm process yields a smaller die and lower TDP (150 W versus 215 W), which could matter for compact builds or systems with a 450 W suggested PSU. It also supports PCIe 4.0 x16 and has a higher transistor density, though these advantages do not translate into benchmark wins. The RX 5600 XT's nearest rivals include the RTX 3070 Mobile and Intel Arc A750, with deltas of 0.9% and 0.6%, placing it in a lower overall tier.

The verdict is straightforward for raw performance: the RTX 2080 wins. The RX 5600 XT is only a reasonable pick for users who prioritize efficiency, modern API workloads, and do not need ray tracing or tensor core support. The recorded data offers no scenario where the RX 5600 XT takes a single benchmark win, so any choice favoring it must rest on power draw or process technology rather than measured performance.