AMD Radeon RX 590 GME vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile Comparison

The Verdict

The database comparison between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile and the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME is decisively one-sided. The RTX 4080 Mobile wins both recorded head-to-head benchmarks, with a 339.7% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL and a 141% advantage in Geekbench Vulkan. The average benchmark score for the RTX 4080 Mobile is 38,135, compared to 32,601 for the RX 590 GME, a difference of roughly 17%.

The RTX 4080 Mobile sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 590 GME sits in the 77th percentile. The RTX 4080 Mobile's nearest rival by average score is the NVIDIA GeForce MX570, which is only 0.4% lower, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, which is 0.6% higher. The RX 590 GME's closest competitor is the AMD FirePro S9300 X2, which trails by 0.2%, while the NVIDIA T600 Mobile is 0.8% ahead.

Who should pick which? The data points to the RTX 4080 Mobile for any workload involving OpenCL or Vulkan compute, where its scores are multiples of the RX 590 GME's. The RX 590 GME, being an end-of-life desktop part from 2020, may still be relevant for legacy DirectX 12 (12_0) applications, but its only recorded benchmarks are the two where it loses heavily. The RTX 4080 Mobile is the clear choice for modern graphics workloads, while the RX 590 GME offers no recorded benchmark win to justify a selection based on performance.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design eras. The RTX 4080 Mobile uses the AD104 chip on NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.8 million per mm². The RX 590 GME uses the Polaris 20 chip on AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It contains 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, with a density of 24.6 million per mm².

The RTX 4080 Mobile features 7,424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, 80 raster output units, 58 ray tracing cores, and 232 tensor cores. The RX 590 GME has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor cores at all. The RTX 4080 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 590 GME is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the RTX 4080 Mobile supports Vulkan 1.4 versus Vulkan 1.3 for the RX 590 GME.

Memory configurations differ sharply. The RTX 4080 Mobile has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 590 GME has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s. The RTX 4080 Mobile's memory clock is 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the RX 590 GME runs at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The RTX 4080 Mobile is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with no power connectors and a 110 W TDP, while the RX 590 GME is a dual-slot card with a 1x 8-pin connector and a 175 W TDP.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 38,135, compared to 32,601 for the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two in any single benchmark?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4080 Mobile scores 159,575 versus 36,294 for the RX 590 GME, a 339.7% advantage.

Q: Does the RX 590 GME win any recorded benchmark?

A: No. The database records two head-to-head benchmarks, and the RTX 4080 Mobile wins both. The wins count is 2 for the RTX 4080 Mobile and 0 for the RX 590 GME.

Q: How do the transistor counts compare?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, while the RX 590 GME has 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing cores?

A: Only the RTX 4080 Mobile has ray tracing cores, with 58 of them. The RX 590 GME has no ray tracing cores listed.

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the RX 590 GME is built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile | AMD Radeon RX 590 GME |

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

| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | GCN 4.0 |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 35,800 million | 5,700 million |

| Die Size | 294 mm² | 232 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 121.8M / mm² | 24.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1290 MHz | 1257 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1665 MHz | 1420 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) | 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 12 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 432.0 GB/s | 256.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 7424 | 2304 |

| TMUs | 232 | 144 |

| ROPs | 80 | 32 |

| RT Cores | 58 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 232 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 133.2 GPixel/s | 45.44 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 386.3 GTexel/s | 204.5 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 24.72 TFLOPS | 6.543 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 24.72 TFLOPS (1:1) | 6.543 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 110 W | 175 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | None | 450 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Production Status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release Date | 2023-01-02 | 2020-03-08 |

| Predecessor | GeForce 30 Mobile | Arctic Islands |

| Successor | GeForce 50 Mobile | Vega |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the largest divide. The RTX 4080 Mobile scores 159,575, while the RX 590 GME scores 36,294. This 339.7% delta means the RTX 4080 Mobile delivers more than four times the OpenCL compute performance. The gap is so wide that it dwarfs any other comparison between the two parts.

The Geekbench Vulkan test narrows the gap somewhat but still favors the RTX 4080 Mobile decisively. The RTX 4080 Mobile scores 145,807 versus 60,508 for the RX 590 GME, a 141% advantage. In absolute terms, the RTX 4080 Mobile's Vulkan score is more than double the RX 590 GME's.

Looking at the broader benchmark record, the RTX 4080 Mobile has nine recorded benchmark scores across multiple APIs, including PassMark DirectX 10 (157), DirectX 11 (244), DirectX 12 (96), DirectX 9 (286), G2D (929), G3D (24,926), and GPU Compute (11,191). The RX 590 GME only has three recorded scores, and none of them are PassMark tests. This makes a full cross-API comparison impossible, but the two shared tests tell a consistent story: the RTX 4080 Mobile is overwhelmingly faster.

The average score difference is also instructive. The RTX 4080 Mobile averages 38,135, placing it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (37,648, 1.3% lower) and the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37,628, 1.3% lower). The RX 590 GME averages 32,601, sitting near the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (32,456, 0.4% lower) and the AMD FirePro S10000 (32,388, 0.7% lower).

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4080 Mobile wins in every recorded category. Its 339.7% lead in OpenCL makes it the choice for any compute workload that leverages that API. Its 141% lead in Vulkan extends that dominance to Vulkan-based applications. With 24.72 TFLOPS of FP32 and FP16 performance, the RTX 4080 Mobile offers roughly 3.8 times the raw floating-point throughput of the RX 590 GME's 6.543 TFLOPS. Its 432.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth is 68.75% higher than the RX 590 GME's 256.0 GB/s, which benefits texture-heavy and large-data workloads.

The RTX 4080 Mobile also wins on features. Its 58 ray tracing cores and 232 tensor cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads, neither of which the RX 590 GME can perform. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate support covers features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading, which the RX 590 GME's DirectX 12 (12_0) cannot access. The RTX 4080 Mobile's newer Vulkan 1.4 support also provides a more modern API surface than the RX 590 GME's Vulkan 1.3.

The RX 590 GME has no recorded benchmark win. Its only potential advantages lie in its form factor and interface: it is a dual-slot desktop card with a 1x 8-pin power connector, a 450 W suggested PSU, and a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface. The RTX 4080 Mobile is an integrated graphics package with no power connectors and a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. For a desktop system with an existing Polaris-era platform, the RX 590 GME's PCIe 3.0 compatibility is a match, but that is a system compatibility consideration, not a performance one.

The data shows no scenario where the RX 590 GME outperforms the RTX 4080 Mobile. The RTX 4080 Mobile is the superior part across compute, graphics, and feature support. The RX 590 GME, as an end-of-life part from 2020, is simply outclassed by the 2023 mobile flagship.