AMD Radeon RX 590 GME vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Comparison

# AMD Radeon RX 590 GME vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is the decisive winner in this comparison, taking both head-to-head benchmark victories with massive margins. The RX 590 GME trails by 71.7% in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and by 54.5% in Geekbench Vulkan, making the performance gap categorical rather than marginal. Despite both cards holding the 74th percentile among all GPUs, their average benchmark scores are nearly identical — 30,755 for the RX 590 GME versus 30,459 for the RTX 2080 Ti — yet this parity is misleading because the RTX 2080 Ti's score comes from a much broader test suite, while the RX 590 GME's average is built from just two benchmarks.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 590 GME posts an average benchmark score of 30,755, which is 1% higher than the RTX 2080 Ti's 30,459. However, the RTX 2080 Ti's nearestRivals list shows the RX 590 GME at a -1% delta, meaning the two cards are effectively tied in aggregate performance.

Q: How large is the RTX 2080 Ti's lead in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti scores 3,537 versus the RX 590 GME's 1,001, a delta of -71.7% for the AMD card. This is the single largest performance gap between the two in any shared benchmark.

Q: Does the RX 590 GME win any head-to-head benchmark?

A: No. The data shows the RX 590 GME wins zero head-to-head benchmarks, while the RTX 2080 Ti wins both. The Geekbench Vulkan result is 132,930 for NVIDIA versus 60,508 for AMD, a -54.5% delta.

Q: What are the transistor counts and die sizes of these two GPUs?

A: The RX 590 GME packs 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, while the RTX 2080 Ti contains 18,600 million transistors on a 754 mm² die. Transistor density is nearly identical at 24.6M per mm² for AMD and 24.7M per mm² for NVIDIA.

Q: Which card supports hardware ray tracing?

A: Only the RTX 2080 Ti does, with 68 RT cores and 544 tensor cores. The RX 590 GME has no RT cores or tensor cores listed in its specifications.

Q: How do the memory subsystems differ?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti uses 11 GB of GDDR6 on a 352-bit bus with 616.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 590 GME has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card's memory clock runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) for AMD.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the RTX 2080 Ti is the superior product for anyone prioritizing raw performance. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 71.7% and 54.5%, respectively, and its specification sheet dominates across nearly every measurable parameter — 4352 shading units versus 2304, 272 TMUs versus 144, 88 ROPs versus 32, and more than double the FP32 throughput at 13.45 TFLOPS versus 6.543 TFLOPS. The RTX 2080 Ti also brings hardware ray tracing and tensor cores, which the RX 590 GME lacks entirely.

However, the story is not entirely one-sided. The RX 590 GME matches the RTX 2080 Ti's 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score (30,755) actually edges out the RTX 2080 Ti (30,459) by 1%. This suggests that in certain workloads — particularly those that do not stress the RTX 2080 Ti's specialized hardware — the AMD card can hold its own. The RX 590 GME also requires less power (175 W versus 250 W), uses a single 8-pin connector instead of two, and has a shorter physical footprint at 241 mm versus 267 mm.

For users who need maximum frame rates, ray tracing, and compute features, the RTX 2080 Ti is the only rational choice. For users with modest power delivery or space constraints who do not need ray tracing, the RX 590 GME offers comparable aggregate performance at lower system requirements. But the benchmark data makes clear that the RTX 2080 Ti is the stronger GPU in every shared test.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two shared benchmarks paint a stark picture. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 2080 Ti scores 3,537 against the RX 590 GME's 1,001 — a 71.7% deficit for AMD. This test appears to favor the NVIDIA card's architectural strengths: its 13.45 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, 420.2 GTexel/s texture rate, and 136.0 GPixel/s pixel rate dwarf the RX 590 GME's 6.543 TFLOPS, 204.5 GTexel/s, and 45.44 GPixel/s.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap narrows but remains decisive. The RTX 2080 Ti posts 132,930 versus 60,508 for the RX 590 GME, a 54.5% delta. This benchmark is more balanced across architectures, yet the NVIDIA card still more than doubles the AMD card's score. The RX 590 GME's Vulkan 1.3 API support is newer than the RTX 2080 Ti's Vulkan 1.4, but API version alone cannot compensate for the hardware disparity.

The RTX 2080 Ti's nearestRivals list places the RX 590 GME at a -1% delta in average score, while the RX 590 GME's nearestRivals list shows the RTX 2080 Ti at +1%. This reciprocal relationship confirms that, on aggregate benchmarks, the two cards are near-identical — yet this is a statistical artifact of the RTX 2080 Ti being tested across ten benchmarks (including Passmark DirectX 9/10/11/12, G2D, G3D, and GPU Compute) while the RX 590 GME has only two benchmark results. The head-to-head data, which isolates shared tests, is far more reliable and shows a consistent NVIDIA advantage.

Specification Differences

The specification gap between these two cards is enormous and consistent. The RTX 2080 Ti uses the TU102 chip on a 12 nm TSMC process, while the RX 590 GME uses Polaris 20 on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process. Transistor counts differ by more than threefold: 18,600 million versus 5,700 million, with die sizes of 754 mm² versus 232 mm². Transistor density is nearly identical (24.7M vs 24.6M per mm²), meaning the RTX 2080 Ti's advantage comes from sheer physical scale.

Clock speeds favor the RTX 2080 Ti: 1350 MHz base and 1545 MHz boost versus 1257 MHz base and 1420 MHz boost for AMD. The memory subsystem is similarly lopsided — 11 GB GDDR6 on a 352-bit bus with 616.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 8 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 2080 Ti's memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) for the RX 590 GME.

Compute resources show the same pattern. The RTX 2080 Ti has 4352 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 88 ROPs, producing 420.2 GTexel/s and 136.0 GPixel/s. The RX 590 GME has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, producing 204.5 GTexel/s and 45.44 GPixel/s. FP32 throughput is 13.45 TFLOPS versus 6.543 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 26.90 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 6.543 TFLOPS (1:1). Power draw is 250 W versus 175 W, with the RTX 2080 Ti requiring dual 8-pin connectors and a 600 W PSU versus a single 8-pin and 450 W PSU for AMD.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is fundamental. The RX 590 GME is built on GCN 4.0, a mature design from the Polaris generation, while the RTX 2080 Ti uses Turing, NVIDIA's architecture that introduced dedicated ray tracing and AI acceleration. The RTX 2080 Ti's 68 RT cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature entirely absent from the RX 590 GME. Its 544 tensor cores provide AI-accelerated compute for tasks like deep learning inference and DLSS-style upscaling — again, absent on the AMD card.

The API support differs meaningfully. The RTX 2080 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 590 GME only reaches DirectX 12 (12_0). Vulkan support is 1.4 on the NVIDIA card versus 1.3 on AMD. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6. The RTX 2080 Ti's newer API compliance positions it better for future titles that leverage DirectX 12 Ultimate features.

Physical and interface differences also exist. The RTX 2080 Ti is longer (267 mm vs 241 mm), taller (116 mm vs unspecified height), and wider (35 mm vs unspecified width), though both are dual-slot cards. The RTX 2080 Ti adds a USB Type-C display output alongside its HDMI 2.0 and three DisplayPort 1.4a ports; the RX 590 GME has HDMI 2.0b and three DisplayPort 1.4a ports without USB-C. Both use PCIe 3.0 x16.

The RTX 2080 Ti launched on 2018-09-19 with a launch MSRP of 999 USD; the RX 590 GME launched on 2020-03-08 with no MSRP listed. Both are end-of-life products, with the RX 590 GME's predecessor being Arctic Islands and its successor Vega, while the RTX 2080 Ti's predecessor is GeForce 10 and its successor GeForce 30.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 2080 Ti wins in every shared benchmark category, making its case straightforward: it is the superior choice for any workload that appears in the head-to-head data. Its 71.7% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 indicates dominance in modern DirectX 12 gaming workloads, and its 54.5% lead in Geekbench Vulkan shows strength in Vulkan-based applications and games. Users seeking maximum performance in these areas have no reason to consider the RX 590 GME.

The RTX 2080 Ti also wins on features that the RX 590 GME cannot match: hardware ray tracing, tensor cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and 11 GB of GDDR6 memory with 616.0 GB/s bandwidth. These capabilities make it the only choice for ray-traced gaming, AI-assisted rendering, or memory-intensive workloads.

The RX 590 GME's wins are more subtle. Its average benchmark score of 30,755 is 1% higher than the RTX 2080 Ti's 30,459, suggesting that in certain aggregate workloads — possibly those not represented in the two shared benchmarks — the AMD card can match or slightly exceed the NVIDIA card. Its lower 175 W TDP and single 8-pin power connector make it easier to integrate into systems with smaller power supplies or limited cabling. Its 241 mm length fits in more compact cases than the RTX 2080 Ti's 267 mm footprint.

The RX 590 GME also holds its own in the nearestRivals comparison: it sits within 1.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 6700 and within 0.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti in average score. For users who do not need ray tracing or tensor cores, and who prioritize power efficiency and physical compatibility, the RX 590 GME offers a viable alternative. But for anyone measuring performance by the benchmarks that matter most — DirectX 12 and Vulkan rendering — the RTX 2080 Ti is the definitive winner, and by a wide margin.