AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive sweep for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER across all three shared benchmark tests. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 6600 against 2257 for the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, a delta of -65.8% when measured from the NVIDIA card's perspective. This is the largest performance gap in the head-to-head set, indicating the NVIDIA part holds a substantial lead in modern DirectX 12 rendering workloads.

The gap narrows only slightly in compute-oriented tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4080 SUPER posts 219065 versus 85040 for the AMD part, a -61.2% delta. The Vulkan result follows the same pattern: 260075 for NVIDIA, 99483 for AMD, a -61.7% delta. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT does not claim a single victory in any of the three head-to-head tests, while the NVIDIA card wins all three. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is consistently ahead by roughly 60% or more in every measured workload, with the largest margin appearing in the DX12 3DMark test.

Looking at the broader database averages, the picture becomes more nuanced. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT has an average benchmark score of 78940 across all recorded tests, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, placing it in the 86th percentile. This is a notable inversion: the AMD part scores higher on average across its full benchmark suite, even though it loses decisively in the direct head-to-head tests. The explanation lies in the different test sets. The AMD card has only four recorded benchmarks, including a Geekbench Metal score of 128981, which is not present in the NVIDIA card's test list. The NVIDIA card has ten recorded benchmarks, including several Passmark tests with relatively low scores such as 193 for DirectX 10 and 134 for DirectX 12, which drag down its average. The head-to-head tests are the more reliable comparison because they use identical workloads for both cards.

The nearest rival data reinforces the divergent positioning. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT sits within 1.6% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, and within 1.1% of the RTX 5090, with delta values of 1.6% and -1.1% respectively. This means the AMD part trades blows with NVIDIA's flagship desktop GPU in the database's average scoring, a remarkable result for a mobile chip. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, by contrast, sits within 2.8% of the AMD Radeon 8060S and within 2.7% of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, with both rivals scoring slightly higher. The RTX 4080 SUPER is also within 0.1% of the RTX 4080, its direct predecessor, indicating the SUPER variant offers only a marginal average-score improvement.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different manufacturing generations and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT uses the Navi 22 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER uses the AD103 chip built on Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The process node difference is significant: 7 nm versus 5 nm, which partially explains the NVIDIA card's ability to pack far more transistors into a similar die area. The AMD chip contains 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 51.3 million per mm². The NVIDIA chip contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, giving a density of 121.1 million per mm². The RTX 4080 SUPER holds more than 2.5 times the transistor count on a die that is only 44 mm² larger.

The execution resources differ even more dramatically. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The NVIDIA card has exactly four times the shading units and exactly two times the TMUs. Ray tracing hardware follows the same trend: the AMD card has 40 RT cores, while the NVIDIA card has 80 RT cores. The NVIDIA card also includes 320 tensor cores, a feature completely absent from the AMD chip, which has no tensor core count listed. These resource differences translate directly into raw throughput figures. The AMD card delivers 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 and 26.43 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). The NVIDIA card delivers 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 and 52.22 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio), meaning its FP16 throughput is exactly double its FP32 throughput rather than half.

Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT uses 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, with memory clocked at 2250 MHz or 18 Gbps effective, producing 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER uses 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, with memory at 1438 MHz or 23 Gbps effective, producing 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 4 GB more capacity and roughly 70% more bandwidth. Pixel and texture rates follow the resource counts: the AMD card produces 165.2 GPixel/s and 413.0 GTexel/s, while the NVIDIA card produces 285.6 GPixel/s and 816.0 GTexel/s. Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API-level feature parity is complete.

Power and physical design are fundamentally different due to form factor. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with a 165 W TDP, no power connectors, and display outputs described as portable device dependent. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a triple-slot desktop card with a 320 W TDP, a single 16-pin power connector, a suggested PSU of 700 W, and physical dimensions of 310 mm length, 140 mm height, and 61 mm width. The NVIDIA card draws nearly double the power but delivers roughly four times the shading throughput. The AMD card is end-of-life with a release date of January 2022, while the NVIDIA card is also end-of-life but released in January 2024, two years later.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head data does not give the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT a single win in the three tests where both cards were measured. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER wins all three, with margins ranging from -61.2% to -65.8%. This makes the NVIDIA card the clear choice for any workload represented by these tests: modern DX12 gaming via 3DMark Steel Nomad, OpenCL compute, and Vulkan rendering.

However, the database's average benchmark scores tell a different story about overall positioning. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT achieves an average score of 78940 across its four recorded benchmarks, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. It scores 128981 in Geekbench Metal, a test not available for the NVIDIA card, and this high Metal score contributes substantially to its average. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER averages 54209 across its ten recorded benchmarks, placing it in the 86th percentile. The NVIDIA card's Passmark results are notably low, with scores of 193 in DirectX 10, 301 in DirectX 11, 134 in DirectX 12, and 381 in DirectX 9, alongside a Passmark G2D score of 1270 and a Passmark G3D score of 34245. These Passmark numbers are not directly comparable to the head-to-head tests, but they do drag the NVIDIA card's average down relative to its strong 3DMark and Geekbench results.

For use-case analysis, the data suggests the NVIDIA card wins all measured gaming and rendering scenarios where both cards appear in the same test. The AMD card's advantage is confined to its unique benchmark set, particularly Geekbench Metal, where it scores 128981. This makes the AMD part competitive in Apple-centric or Metal-based workflows, assuming the portable device form factor supports such workloads. The AMD card also holds a higher percentile ranking (92nd versus 86th), which reflects its strong average across its smaller test suite. In raw head-to-head terms, the RTX 4080 SUPER is the faster GPU by a wide margin, but the RX 6850M XT's average score and percentile indicate it punches well above its mobile-class positioning in the broader database context.

The Verdict

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the faster GPU in every direct comparison recorded in the database. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6600 is 65.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT's 2257. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 219065 is 61.2% ahead of 85040. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 260075 is 61.7% ahead of 99483. For users selecting a GPU based on these measured workloads, the RTX 4080 SUPER is the unambiguous choice.

The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT should be considered by users who value its specific strengths: a 92nd percentile ranking versus the NVIDIA card's 86th, a higher average benchmark score of 78940 versus 54209, and a strong Geekbench Metal result of 128981. These metrics suggest the AMD part performs exceptionally well within its own test suite, particularly in Metal-based scenarios. The AMD card is also a mobile IGP with a 165 W TDP, compared to the NVIDIA card's triple-slot desktop design with a 320 W TDP and a 700 W suggested PSU. For portable or low-power systems, the AMD part is the only viable option of the two. For desktop systems with adequate power delivery and physical space, the RTX 4080 SUPER offers roughly 2.5 to 3 times the performance in shared tests, four times the shading units, and double the ray tracing cores. The data does not support choosing the AMD card for raw performance in any shared workload.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER wins with a score of 6600, while the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 2257, a delta of -65.8%.

Q: How does the average benchmark score compare between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT has an average benchmark score of 78940 across four tests, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has an average of 54209 across ten tests.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT ranks in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks in the 86th percentile.

Q: Which GPU has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus with 736.3 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the transistor count for each chip?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (Navi 22) contains 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER (AD103) contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT win any head-to-head benchmark?

A: No. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER wins all three head-to-head tests: 3DMark Steel Nomad, Geekbench OpenCL, and Geekbench Vulkan.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | Ada Lovelace |

| Process node | 7 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 17,200 million | 45,900 million |

| Die size | 335 mm² | 379 mm² |

| Transistor density | 51.3M / mm² | 121.1M / mm² |

| Base clock | 2321 MHz | 2295 MHz |

| Boost clock | 2581 MHz | 2550 MHz |

| Memory size | 12 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR6 | GDDR6X |

| Memory bus | 192 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 432.0 GB/s | 736.3 GB/s |

| Shading units | 2560 | 10240 |

| TMUs | 160 | 320 |

| ROPs | 64 | 112 |

| RT cores | 40 | 80 |

| Tensor cores | None listed | 320 |

| FP32 performance | 13.21 TFLOPS | 52.22 TFLOPS |

| FP16 performance | 26.43 TFLOPS (2:1) | 52.22 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| Pixel rate | 165.2 GPixel/s | 285.6 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 413.0 GTexel/s | 816.0 GTexel/s |

| TDP | 165 W | 320 W |

| Slot width | IGP | Triple-slot |

| Power connectors | None | 1x 16-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not listed | 700 W |

| Display outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI 2.13x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| Dimensions | Not listed | 310 mm x 140 mm x 61 mm |

| Release date | January 2022 | January 2024 |

| Predecessor | Polaris Mobile | GeForce 30 |

| Successor | None listed | GeForce 50 |

| Launch MSRP | Not listed | 999 USD |