AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits these two cards into very different roles. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 dominates the head-to-head results, winning 9 out of 10 recorded tests. Its victories span nearly every category, from legacy DirectX workloads to modern compute tasks. The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT takes a single win, but that win is significant because it occurs in a modern graphics API.

For the RTX 3080, the most decisive victory comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 152,423 against the RX 6650 XT's 10,111, a delta of 1407.5%. This is not a close contest; it reflects the RTX 3080's much larger compute pipeline. The card also leads heavily in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 with 4,407 points versus 1,859, a 137.1% advantage. In PassMark G3D, the RTX 3080 posts 25,086 against 17,166, a 46.1% lead. PassMark GPU Compute shows 14,397 versus 7,532, a 91.1% gap. These are the kinds of margins that separate a high-end part from a mid-range one.

The RX 6650 XT's single win is in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 81,306 against the RTX 3080's 33,620, a delta of -58.7% from the NVIDIA card's perspective. This is a substantial reversal. The AMD card outperforms by a wide margin in this specific API, suggesting its driver and hardware implementation for Vulkan workloads is particularly strong. It is a meaningful result, but it stands alone in an otherwise one-sided comparison.

Looking at the overall averages, the RTX 3080 records an average benchmark score of 23,172, placing it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The RX 6650 XT averages 19,765, placing it in the 65th percentile. The RTX 3080's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA P106-100 at 23,249 (-0.3%) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600M at 23,273 (-0.4%). The RX 6650 XT's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 at 19,602 (+0.8%) and the AMD FirePro D300 at 19,637 (+0.7%). These figures frame the two cards as occupying different performance tiers, with the RTX 3080 sitting higher in the distribution.

The Verdict

The data points to the RTX 3080 as the stronger overall card. It wins 9 of 10 benchmarks, with particularly large margins in compute-heavy and DirectX 12 workloads. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result of 4,407 versus 1,859 is a 137.1% lead, and the PassMark G3D score of 25,086 versus 17,166 is a 46.1% lead. For users whose workloads rely on DirectX 12, OpenCL, or general 3D rendering, the RTX 3080 is the clear choice based on recorded measurements.

The RX 6650 XT is not without merit. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 81,306 versus 33,620 shows a 58.7% advantage in that API. This is a large enough margin that Vulkan-centric applications could favor the AMD card. The RX 6650 XT also has a lower power draw, with a 176 W TDP versus 320 W, and a smaller die size at 237 mm² versus 628 mm². But the benchmark data does not show these translating into broad performance wins.

For a user deciding between these two, the choice depends on API usage. If the primary applications are Vulkan-based, the RX 6650 XT's 81,306 score is compelling. For everything else in the recorded tests, the RTX 3080 leads, often by large margins. The RTX 3080 also has more memory at 10 GB versus 8 GB, and a wider 320-bit bus versus 128-bit. The RTX 3080 carries a launch MSRP of 699 USD, while the RX 6650 XT carries a launch MSRP of 399 USD. The price difference is notable, but the performance difference in the database is also substantial.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single margin in the entire comparison is Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX 3080 scores 152,423, and the RX 6650 XT scores 10,111, resulting in a 1407.5% delta. This is an order-of-magnitude difference and indicates a fundamental gap in raw compute throughput. The RTX 3080's FP32 rating of 29.77 TFLOPS versus 10.79 TFLOPS for the RX 6650 XT supports this interpretation.

The second largest margin is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The RTX 3080 scores 4,407, and the RX 6650 XT scores 1,859, a 137.1% delta. This is a modern DirectX 12 test, and the NVIDIA card more than doubles the AMD card's score. This suggests the RTX 3080 handles DX12 rendering workloads much more efficiently, likely due to its 8,704 shading units versus 2,048, and its 272 TMUs versus 128.

PassMark GPU Compute shows a 91.1% delta, with the RTX 3080 at 14,397 and the RX 6650 XT at 7,532. This is another compute-heavy test where the RTX 3080 nearly doubles the AMD card. PassMark DirectX 12 shows a 61.3% delta, with scores of 100 and 62. PassMark DirectX 10 shows a 56% delta, with 170 versus 109. PassMark G3D shows a 46.1% delta, with 25,086 versus 17,166. PassMark DirectX 11 shows a 22.5% delta, with 207 versus 169. PassMark DirectX 9 shows a 20% delta, with 258 versus 215. PassMark G2D shows a 14.8% delta, with 1,054 versus 918.

The only win for the RX 6650 XT is Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 81,306 against 33,620. The delta is -58.7% from the RTX 3080's perspective, meaning the AMD card is ahead by roughly 59%. This is a substantial margin in the opposite direction. It is the single benchmark where the AMD architecture, RDNA 2.0, clearly outperforms the NVIDIA Ampere architecture.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the most benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head tests. The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT wins 1.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two cards?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3080 scores 152,423 and the RX 6650 XT scores 10,111, a 1407.5% delta in favor of NVIDIA.

Q: In which test does the RX 6650 XT beat the RTX 3080?

A: The RX 6650 XT wins Geekbench Vulkan with 81,306 points versus 33,620, a 58.7% advantage.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23,172. The RX 6650 XT has an average of 19,765.

Q: What are their percentile ranks in the database?

A: The RTX 3080 sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. The RX 6650 XT sits in the 65th percentile.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: The RTX 3080 has 10 GB of GDDR6X on a 320-bit bus with 760.3 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6650 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different manufacturers and different architecture generations. The RTX 3080 uses the GA102 chip, built on the Ampere architecture, fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm process. The RX 6650 XT uses the Navi 23 chip, built on RDNA 2.0, fabricated by TSMC on a 7 nm process. The process node difference is one full step, with AMD using a smaller node.

The transistor counts differ significantly. The RTX 3080 has 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 45.1M per mm². The RX 6650 XT has 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, with a density of 46.7M per mm². The AMD chip actually has a slightly higher transistor density, but the NVIDIA chip is much larger overall.

The compute resources are heavily skewed toward NVIDIA. The RTX 3080 has 8,704 shading units, 272 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 68 RT cores, and 272 tensor cores. The RX 6650 XT has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 32 RT cores, with no tensor cores listed. The FP32 throughput reflects this: 29.77 TFLOPS for the RTX 3080 versus 10.79 TFLOPS for the RX 6650 XT. The FP16 numbers also differ in approach, with the RTX 3080 at 29.77 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio) and the RX 6650 XT at 21.59 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio).

The memory subsystems are also different. The RTX 3080 uses 10 GB of GDDR6X with a 320-bit bus and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6650 XT uses 8 GB of GDDR6 with a 128-bit bus and 280.3 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3080 has more than double the memory bandwidth, which contributes to its large leads in memory-sensitive workloads.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The display outputs are identical in count and type: 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both are dual-slot cards.

Specification Differences

The RTX 3080 has a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz. The RX 6650 XT has a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. The AMD card runs at higher clock speeds, but the NVIDIA card compensates with far more execution units.

Memory speed differs: the RTX 3080 uses 1188 MHz memory with 19 Gbps effective, while the RX 6650 XT uses 2190 MHz memory with 17.5 Gbps effective. The RTX 3080 has the higher effective speed and the wider bus.

Power consumption is a major differentiator. The RTX 3080 has a TDP of 320 W and requires a 700 W suggested PSU with a 1x 12-pin power connector. The RX 6650 XT has a TDP of 176 W and requires a 450 W suggested PSU with a 1x 8-pin connector. The RX 6650 XT is much more power-efficient in terms of rated draw.

Physical dimensions are only listed for the RTX 3080: 285 mm length, 112 mm height, and 40 mm width. The RX 6650 XT has no recorded dimensions in the database.

The bus interface also differs. The RTX 3080 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RX 6650 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x8. This means the RTX 3080 has twice the PCIe lane width.

The release dates are about 20 months apart. The RTX 3080 was released on 2020-08-31, and the RX 6650 XT was released on 2022-05-09. Both are marked as end-of-life in production status. The RTX 3080 has a launch MSRP of 699 USD, and the RX 6650 XT has a launch MSRP of 399 USD.