AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile Comparison

AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile split their 10 head-to-head benchmark comparisons exactly evenly, but the nature of those wins reveals a clear division of labor. The AMD card dominates legacy DirectX and 2D workloads, while the NVIDIA mobile part takes every modern 3D and compute test that matters for current gaming. The data shows the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is the stronger choice for contemporary DX12 and Vulkan titles, while the RX 6700 XT remains competitive in older APIs and general desktop acceleration.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile wins where it counts for modern gaming: DirectX 12, Vulkan, and raw compute. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2869 beats the RX 6700 XT's 2435 by 15.1%, and its Geekbench Vulkan result of 107502 tops the AMD card's 93500 by 13%. The NVIDIA part also crushes the OpenCL test with 117866 versus 44152, a 62.5% margin that signals far superior general-purpose compute throughput. In PassMark DirectX 12, the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile leads 88 to 77 (12.5% ahead), and it edges out the AMD card in DirectX 10 by 5.3% (131 vs 124).

The RX 6700 XT wins in legacy and 2D workloads. Its PassMark DirectX 9 score of 242 beats the NVIDIA part's 201 by 20.4%, and it takes DirectX 11 by 5.5% (173 vs 164). The AMD card also leads in PassMark G2D (951 vs 818, a 16.3% margin) and PassMark G3D (19786 vs 19288, 2.6% ahead). Its PassMark GPU Compute score of 9336 is 10.2% higher than the NVIDIA part's 8471, though this contrasts sharply with the OpenCL result. The pattern is unmistakable: NVIDIA wins forward-looking APIs, AMD wins backward-looking ones.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU performs better in DirectX 12 workloads?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is clearly ahead. It scores 2869 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 versus 2435 for the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, a 15.1% advantage. PassMark DirectX 12 confirms this with 88 vs 77, a 12.5% lead for NVIDIA.

Q: How do the two compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with 107502 against the RX 6700 XT's 93500, a 13% difference. This makes the NVIDIA part the better option for Vulkan-based games and applications.

Q: Which card is better for older DirectX 9 games?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT dominates here. Its PassMark DirectX 9 score of 242 is 20.4% higher than the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile's 201. The AMD card also wins DirectX 11 by 5.5%, making it the stronger legacy API performer.

Q: Is there a significant difference in compute performance?

A: Yes, but the direction depends on the test. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile wins Geekbench OpenCL massively with 117866 versus 44152, a 62.5% margin. However, the RX 6700 XT wins PassMark GPU Compute with 9336 vs 8471, a 10.2% edge. The OpenCL result is far more decisive.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT has a higher average benchmark score of 27425 compared to the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile's 25740. This places the AMD part at the 72nd percentile versus the NVIDIA part's 71st percentile. The AMD card's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile at 27435, essentially tied.

Q: What about 2D and general desktop performance?

A: The RX 6700 XT wins PassMark G2D clearly with 951 versus 818, a 16.3% advantage. This suggests better 2D acceleration and desktop compositing performance for the AMD card.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single largest victory in the entire comparison belongs to the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile in Geekbench OpenCL. Its 117866 score is 62.5% higher than the RX 6700 XT's 44152, an enormous gap that reflects the NVIDIA part's 7424 shading units versus 2560 for AMD. This is not a marginal win but a generational-class difference in raw compute throughput.

The RX 6700 XT's biggest win is in PassMark DirectX 9, where its 242 score beats the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile's 201 by 20.4%. This is followed by its 16.3% lead in PassMark G2D (951 vs 818) and a 10.2% win in PassMark GPU Compute (9336 vs 8471). The AMD card also takes PassMark DirectX 11 by 5.5% (173 vs 164) and PassMark G3D by 2.6% (19786 vs 19288).

Beyond OpenCL, the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile's wins are more moderate but consistent. Its 15.1% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (2869 vs 2435) is the second-largest margin in the matchup, followed by 13% in Geekbench Vulkan (107502 vs 93500), 12.5% in PassMark DirectX 12 (88 vs 77), and 5.3% in PassMark DirectX 10 (131 vs 124). The NVIDIA part wins every test that uses a modern graphics API, while AMD sweeps the legacy and 2D categories.

The overall win count is exactly 5-5, but the quality of wins differs. NVIDIA's victories include the two most important modern benchmarks (3DMark Steel Nomad and Vulkan), while AMD's wins are concentrated in older DirectX versions and 2D. For a gamer running current titles, the NVIDIA part's modern API dominance matters far more than AMD's legacy strengths.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge sharply on memory and core configuration. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 6700 XT has 12 GB on a 192-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA part offers 33% more memory capacity and 33% more bandwidth, which matters for high-resolution textures and future game requirements.

Core counts also favor NVIDIA decisively. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile has 7424 shading units, 232 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 58 RT cores, and 232 tensor cores. The RX 6700 XT has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 40 RT cores, with no tensor cores listed. NVIDIA's shading unit count is 2.9 times higher, and it brings tensor cores that AMD lacks entirely.

Clock speeds tell the opposite story. The RX 6700 XT runs at a 2321 MHz base and 2581 MHz boost, while the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile sits at 810 MHz base and 1260 MHz boost. AMD's much higher clocks help it close the gap in certain workloads despite far fewer cores. The AMD card also has a higher pixel rate (165.2 GPixel/s vs 121.0) and texture rate (413.0 GTexel/s vs 292.3), while NVIDIA leads in FP32 (18.71 TFLOPS vs 13.21) and matches FP16 at 18.71 TFLOPS with 1:1 ratio versus AMD's 26.43 TFLOPS with 2:1 ratio.

Power and physical specs differ substantially. The RX 6700 XT is a 230 W dual-slot desktop card requiring a 550 W PSU and 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connectors. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is a 115 W mobile part with no power connectors listed, making it far more power-efficient on paper. The AMD card measures 267 mm long, 110 mm tall, and 40 mm wide, while the NVIDIA part has no dimensions listed as it is portable-device dependent.

Architecture Differences

The RX 6700 XT uses AMD's RDNA 2.0 architecture on a 7 nm TSMC process, packing 17,200 million transistors into a 335 mm² die with a density of 51.3M per mm². The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile uses NVIDIA's Ampere architecture on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 22,000 million transistors in a 496 mm² die at 44.4M per mm² density. NVIDIA's chip is 27.9% larger in transistor count and 48.1% larger in die area, but AMD's denser process allows 15.5% higher transistor density.

Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and both use PCIe 4.0 x16. The RX 6700 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile's display outputs are listed as portable-device dependent, reflecting its laptop orientation. The AMD card belongs to the Radeon RX 6000 series with the Navi 22 chip, released March 2021, while the NVIDIA part is from the GeForce 30-series with the GA103 chip, released January 2022. Both are end-of-life products.

The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile's tensor cores (232) enable features the AMD card cannot match, and its 58 RT cores versus 40 gives it a hardware ray tracing advantage. AMD's architecture compensates with much higher clock speeds and a lower power draw when normalized for performance, but the raw compute capacity favors NVIDIA.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear choice for modern gaming: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile wins every contemporary API benchmark, including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 by 15.1% and Geekbench Vulkan by 13%. Its 16 GB memory and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth provide a substantial buffer over the RX 6700 XT's 12 GB and 384.0 GB/s for future titles. The NVIDIA part's 18.71 TFLOPS FP32 and 232 tensor cores make it the stronger compute platform, despite its lower clock speeds.

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT should be chosen by users prioritizing legacy compatibility and 2D performance. Its 20.4% DirectX 9 lead, 16.3% G2D advantage, and 10.2% GPU Compute win demonstrate real strengths, and its higher average benchmark score (27425 vs 25740) and percentile ranking (72nd vs 71st) show it is no slouch overall. The AMD card's 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 and higher clock speeds (2581 MHz boost) serve it well in older APIs.

For a gamer playing current DX12 or Vulkan titles, the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is the superior choice by every relevant metric. For users with extensive legacy game libraries or 2D-heavy workloads, the RX 6700 XT offers genuine advantages. The 5-5 win split is misleading; NVIDIA's wins are in the tests that matter most for future-proofing, while AMD's are in categories that are diminishing in importance. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile's 62.5% OpenCL victory alone outweighs several of AMD's narrow legacy wins, making it the more versatile and future-ready GPU.