AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Comparison

# AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080

The data paints a clear picture of two GPUs separated by a full generation and a fundamental architectural shift. The RTX 2080 wins every head-to-head benchmark in the fact pack, often by dramatic margins, yet both cards land at the same 68th percentile among all GPUs, with average benchmark scores within 0.7% of each other. This paradox—where one card dominates individual tests yet the aggregate scores nearly match—suggests the benchmark suite measures very different workloads than the head-to-head tests do. The RX 580 2048SP is a 2018 Polaris part built on a mature 14nm process, while the RTX 2080 is NVIDIA's Turing flagship from the same year, packing dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores. The question is not whether one is faster—the data answers that decisively—but what each card's strengths imply for different use cases.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 580 2048SP does not win a single benchmark in the head-to-head comparison. Across all three tests—3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, Geekbench OpenCL, and Geekbench Vulkan—the RTX 2080 takes every victory. The AMD card's wins are entirely absent from the direct comparison data.

However, the aggregate benchmark picture tells a different story. The RX 580 2048SP posts an average benchmark score of 23061, slightly higher than the RTX 2080's 22895. This places the AMD card 0.2% ahead of the Intel Arc B580 and 0.7% ahead of the RTX 2080 in the rival comparison, while the RTX 2080 sits 0.5% behind the Intel card and 0.7% behind the RX 580. These deltas are within noise, but they suggest the RX 580 2048SP holds its own in the broader benchmark pool—likely due to its strong showing in compute-oriented tests like Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 29668, and Geekbench Vulkan, where it reaches 38666. The RTX 2080's advantage appears concentrated in the specific head-to-head tests, particularly the DX12 Steel Nomad workload, where it more than doubles the AMD card's score.

For users prioritizing raw compute throughput across a wide range of legacy and modern APIs, the RX 580 2048SP's aggregate performance is competitive. For anyone targeting DX12 gaming or the specific workloads captured in Steel Nomad, the RTX 2080 is the clear choice.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from opposite architectural philosophies. The RX 580 2048SP uses AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture on a Polaris 20 chip, built on a 14nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 5,700 million transistors into a 232 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. The RTX 2080 uses NVIDIA's Turing architecture on the TU104 chip, fabricated on a 12nm process at TSMC, with 13,600 million transistors across a 545 mm² die—a density of 25.0 million per square millimeter.

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The RX 580 2048SP carries 4GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective). The RTX 2080 doubles capacity to 8GB of GDDR6, also on a 256-bit bus, but achieves 448.0 GB/s—exactly double the bandwidth—at the same 1750 MHz memory clock with 14 Gbps effective speed.

Compute resources tell a similar story of scale. The RX 580 2048SP has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 2080 counters with 2944 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also adds 46 RT cores and 368 tensor cores—hardware the AMD card lacks entirely. Pixel rate jumps from 41.09 GPixel/s to 109.4 GPixel/s, texture rate from 164.4 GTexel/s to 314.6 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance from 5.259 TFLOPS to 10.07 TFLOPS. The RTX 2080 even doubles FP16 throughput with a 2:1 ratio (20.14 TFLOPS) versus the RX 580's 1:1 ratio (5.259 TFLOPS).

API support also differs: the RX 580 offers DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, while the RTX 2080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. Both cards are end-of-life products, with the RX 580 releasing on 2018-10-14 and the RTX 2080 on 2018-09-19.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three head-to-head tests reveal the RTX 2080's dominance, but the margins vary significantly by workload. The smallest gap appears in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the RTX 2080 scores 1752 against the RX 580's 849—a 51.5% deficit for the AMD card. This test likely stresses the RTX 2080's superior pixel rate and DX12 Ultimate feature set, though the RX 580's 2048 shading units still manage to produce a respectable result.

Geekbench Vulkan shows a larger divide: 107797 for the RTX 2080 versus 38666 for the RX 580, a 64.1% gap. Vulkan workloads often scale with shading unit count and memory bandwidth, and the RTX 2080's 2944 units and 448 GB/s bandwidth provide a substantial advantage. The RX 580's 38666 score, while far behind, still represents a solid showing for a GCN part with only 4GB of memory.

The widest margin comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 2080 scores 91313 against the RX 580's 29668—a 67.5% deficit. OpenCL compute frequently leverages tensor cores and the RTX 2080's higher FP32 throughput, making this the most lopsided result in the comparison. Notably, the RX 580's OpenCL score of 29668 is actually lower than its Vulkan score of 38666, while the RTX 2080's OpenCL score of 91313 trails its Vulkan score of 107797—suggesting both cards perform relatively better under Vulkan than OpenCL.

The RTX 2080 also holds significant wins in PassMark tests not available for the RX 580: DirectX 9 (223), DirectX 11 (158), and DirectX 10 (136), plus G3D (18720) and GPU compute (7872). These scores, while not directly comparable, indicate the RTX 2080's versatility across legacy APIs.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP edges out the RTX 2080 with an average score of 23061 versus 22895, a 0.7% difference in the AMD card's favor.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 2080 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RTX 2080 scores 1752 compared to the RX 580's 849, representing a 51.5% advantage for the NVIDIA card.

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

A: The RTX 2080 offers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus the RX 580's 224.0 GB/s—exactly double the throughput.

Q: Does the RX 580 2048SP have any ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The RX 580 2048SP has no RT cores or tensor cores, while the RTX 2080 includes 46 RT cores and 368 tensor cores.

Q: What is the transistor density of each chip?

A: The RX 580's Polaris 20 has 24.6 million transistors per square millimeter, while the RTX 2080's TU104 achieves 25.0 million per square millimeter.

Q: Which card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Only the RTX 2080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2); the RX 580 2048SP is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0).

The Verdict

The data leaves little room for debate in raw performance: the RTX 2080 wins all three head-to-head benchmarks by margins ranging from 51.5% to 67.5%. Its 10.07 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, 448 GB/s of memory bandwidth, and dedicated RT/tensor cores make it the superior choice for any workload captured in these tests. The 3DMark Steel Nomad result—more than double the RX 580's score—indicates a decisive advantage in modern DX12 rendering.

Yet the aggregate benchmark scores complicate the narrative. The RX 580 2048SP's average of 23061 slightly exceeds the RTX 2080's 22895, and both cards share the same 68th percentile among all GPUs. This suggests the RX 580 performs admirably in the broader benchmark pool, likely due to its efficiency in specific compute tasks where its GCN architecture remains competitive. For users running legacy applications or Vulkan-based workloads that don't leverage Turing's specialized hardware, the RX 580 2048SP may offer comparable aggregate performance.

The RTX 2080's advantages are systematic: double the memory capacity, double the bandwidth, 44% more shading units, and a 2:1 FP16 ratio that the AMD card cannot match. Its 215W TDP and dual power connectors (1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin) reflect the additional power delivery needed for this performance, versus the RX 580's 150W and single 8-pin connector. The RTX 2080 also supports Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 Ultimate, future-proofing it for newer API features.

For buyers prioritizing maximum performance in DX12 and compute-heavy workloads, the RTX 2080 is the data-backed choice. For those whose applications align with the RX 580's strengths—or who require lower power consumption and a smaller footprint (241mm length versus 267mm)—the AMD card's aggregate scores show it remains a viable option. The RTX 2080 launched at 699 USD MSRP, a figure that reflects its flagship positioning at release.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 |

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

| Process Node | 14 nm | 12 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 5,700 million | 13,600 million |

| Die Size | 232 mm² | 545 mm² |

| Shading Units | 2048 | 2944 |

| TMUs | 128 | 184 |

| ROPs | 32 | 64 |

| RT Cores | None | 46 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 368 |

| Pixel Rate | 41.09 GPixel/s | 109.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 164.4 GTexel/s | 314.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 5.259 TFLOPS | 10.07 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 5.259 TFLOPS (1:1) | 20.14 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| Memory Size | 4 GB GDDR5 | 8 GB GDDR6 |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 448.0 GB/s |

| TDP | 150 W | 215 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 550 W |

| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C |

| Dimensions | 241 mm length | 267 mm length, 116 mm height, 35 mm width |

| Release Date | 2018-10-14 | 2018-09-19 |

| Launch MSRP | Not provided | 699 USD |