AMD Radeon RX 6800M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6800M, a 2021 RDNA 2.0 mobile part, faces the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, a 2025 Blackwell 2.0 entry, and the benchmark data shows a decisive generational shift. Across the ten head-to-head tests, the RTX 5060 wins every single contest, with the RX 6800M trailing by margins ranging from 15.6% to 53.8%. While the RX 6800M holds a higher percentile rank (74th vs. 72nd) and a better average benchmark score (28874 vs. 26331), the per-test deltas reveal the RTX 5060's raw performance edge in modern workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, a demanding modern API test. The RTX 5060 scores 3628, against the RX 6800M's 2238, a 38.3% advantage. This is not a marginal win; it indicates the NVIDIA architecture handles the latest DirectX 12 rendering paths with far greater efficiency. Similarly, in Passmark's GPU Compute test, the RTX 5060 posts 10899 versus 5032, a massive 53.8% lead. This suggests the RTX 5060's compute throughput, likely aided by its dedicated tensor cores, is in a different class for general-purpose GPU workloads.

The gap narrows somewhat in API-specific legacy tests. In Passmark DirectX 12, the RTX 5060 leads by only 15.6% (77 vs. 65), and in Passmark DirectX 10, the delta is 20.5% (127 vs. 101). However, the NVIDIA part extends its lead in DirectX 11 and DirectX 9, winning by 36.5% (200 vs. 127) and 34.7% (225 vs. 147) respectively. This pattern suggests the RTX 5060 maintains its advantage even in older APIs, whereas the RX 6800M's performance degrades more significantly in these scenarios.

The 2D performance gap is the second-largest of the entire suite. In Passmark G2D, the RTX 5060 scores 1154, dwarfing the RX 6800M's 538, a 53.4% difference. This is likely tied to the newer memory subsystem and display controller capabilities of the Blackwell chip. In Geekbench tests, the RTX 5060 wins OpenCL by 22.3% (112787 vs. 87621) and Vulkan by 16.4% (113321 vs. 94766), showing a consistent lead in cross-platform compute APIs. The data shows zero wins for the RX 6800M; the RTX 5060 is the outright winner in all ten categories.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 wins decisively, scoring 3628 against the AMD Radeon RX 6800M's 2238, a 38.3% advantage.

Q: How does the RX 6800M compare in compute performance?

A: The RTX 5060 is significantly faster. In Passmark GPU Compute, it scores 10899 versus 5032, a 53.8% lead, and in Geekbench OpenCL, it leads by 22.3% (112787 vs. 87621).

Q: Is the RX 6800M better in any benchmark?

A: No. The head-to-head data shows the RTX 5060 winning all ten tests, with the RX 6800M's smallest deficit being 15.6% in Passmark DirectX 12.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference?

A: The RX 6800M has a higher average benchmark score of 28874, compared to the RTX 5060's 26331, despite losing every head-to-head test. This is due to the different benchmark suites used in the aggregate.

Q: How does the RTX 5060's nearest rival compare to its score?

A: The RTX 5060's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon 860M, which has an average score of 26401, a 0.3% delta below the RTX 5060. Its closest competitor above it is the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT at 26011, a 1.2% delta.

Q: What is the RTX 5060's standing among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 5060 sits at the 72nd percentile among all GPUs, while the RX 6800M sits at the 74th percentile.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The AMD RX 6800M uses the Navi 22 chip, based on RDNA 2.0, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. In contrast, the NVIDIA RTX 5060 uses the GB206 chip, based on Blackwell 2.0, fabricated on a more advanced TSMC 5 nm node. This process shrink is a major factor in the performance delta, allowing the RTX 5060 to pack 21,900 million transistors into a 181 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.0M / mm². The RX 6800M has 17,200 million transistors on a much larger 335 mm² die, resulting in a density of only 51.3M / mm².

The core configurations differ significantly. The RTX 5060 has more shading units (3840 vs. 2560) but fewer texture mapping units (120 vs. 160) and ROPs (48 vs. 64). In ray tracing, the RTX 5060 has 30 RT cores, while the RX 6800M has 40. Critically, the RTX 5060 includes 120 tensor cores, a feature entirely absent from the RX 6800M, which explains its dominance in compute benchmarks. The NVIDIA part also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (19.18 TFLOPS), whereas the AMD part uses a 2:1 ratio (24.47 TFLOPS FP16 vs. 12.24 TFLOPS FP32). The RTX 5060's FP32 throughput is 19.18 TFLOPS, significantly higher than the RX 6800M's 12.24 TFLOPS.

Memory architecture also diverges. The RX 6800M uses 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s. The RTX 5060 uses 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus, but achieves higher bandwidth at 448.0 GB/s due to faster memory clocks (28 Gbps effective vs. 16 Gbps). The RTX 5060 also supports PCIe 5.0 x8, while the RX 6800M is limited to PCIe 4.0 x16. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every core specification. The RTX 5060 has a higher base clock (2280 MHz vs. 2116 MHz) and boost clock (2497 MHz vs. 2390 MHz). The RX 6800M has a defined game clock of 2300 MHz, while the RTX 5060 has no game clock listed. Memory capacity favors the AMD part (12 GB vs. 8 GB), but the NVIDIA part has a wider bandwidth advantage (448.0 GB/s vs. 384.0 GB/s) despite a narrower 128-bit bus versus 192-bit.

Pixel and texture fill rates favor the RX 6800M: it achieves 153.0 GPixel/s and 382.4 GTexel/s, compared to the RTX 5060's 119.9 GPixel/s and 299.6 GTexel/s. Power consumption is identical at 145 W TDP, but the physical design differs. The RX 6800M is an IGP with no power connectors and is "Portable Device Dependent" for display outputs. The RTX 5060 is a dual-slot card measuring 241 mm x 111 mm x 40 mm, requires a 1x 8-pin power connector, and has a suggested PSU of 300 W. Its display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. The RTX 5060 is currently active in production, while the RX 6800M is end-of-life.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear picture: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is the superior performer in every head-to-head benchmark, despite the AMD RX 6800M's higher overall percentile ranking and average score. If the priority is raw frame rates in modern DirectX 12 titles, the 3DMark Steel Nomad result (38.3% ahead) makes the RTX 5060 the obvious choice. For compute-heavy tasks, the RTX 5060's 53.8% lead in Passmark GPU Compute and its dedicated tensor cores provide a categorical advantage that the RX 6800M cannot counter.

The RX 6800M's only advantages are its larger 12 GB memory pool and higher fill rates, but these do not translate into benchmark wins. Its higher average score and percentile are artifacts of the specific test suite, but the head-to-head data is unambiguous. Users focused on legacy DirectX 9/10/11 titles will still find the RTX 5060 significantly faster, with leads of 34.7%, 20.5%, and 36.5% respectively. The RTX 5060 is the pick for gamers and professionals who want maximum performance in current and future software, especially given its active production status and modern features. The RX 6800M may still be found in older systems, but on the evidence, it is outclassed in every measurable way by the newer NVIDIA part.