AMD Radeon RX 7700S vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How close are the AMD Radeon RX 7700S and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 in overall benchmark performance?

A: The aggregate data shows they are nearly identical. The RX 7700S has an average benchmark score of 52,505, while the RTX 4080 scores 52,085. In the nearest rivals listing, the RTX 4080 trails the RX 7700S by only 0.8%.

Q: Which GPU wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, and by how much?

A: The RTX 4080 dominates this test with a score of 6,567, while the RX 7700S manages 2,185. That is a 66.7% deficit for the AMD part, making this the largest single-test gap between the two.

Q: Does the RX 7700S have an advantage in any benchmark category?

A: In the head-to-head comparisons provided, the RX 7700S does not win a single test. The RTX 4080 claims all three wins: 3DMark Steel Nomad, Geekbench OpenCL, and Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in Geekbench OpenCL performance?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 240,854, versus 69,728 for the RX 7700S. The delta is 71%, meaning the NVIDIA part delivers more than three times the compute throughput in this particular workload.

Q: What do the percentile rankings indicate about these GPUs?

A: The RX 7700S sits at the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 4080 is at the 87th percentile. Despite the massive differences in individual tests, their overall positions among all GPUs are essentially adjacent.

Q: Is the RTX 4080's nearest rival the RX 7700S?

A: According to the nearest rivals data, the RTX 4080's closest match is the RTX 5070 Ti, with a 0% delta. The RX 7700S is the second-closest at -0.8% relative to the 4080, indicating they occupy the same performance tier in aggregate.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD RX 7700S is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 33 chip, codenamed Hotpink Bonefish, and belongs to the Navi Mobile (RX 7000M) generation. It uses a 6 nm process at TSMC, packing 13,300 million transistors into a 204 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 65.2 million per mm². The NVIDIA RTX 4080, by contrast, uses the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip, is part of the GeForce 40 generation, and employs a 5 nm process. It contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, achieving a much higher transistor density of 121.1 million per mm².

The shading resources differ dramatically. The RX 7700S has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The RTX 4080 has 9,728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. Ray tracing hardware also diverges: AMD integrates 32 ray accelerators, while NVIDIA includes 76 RT cores. Notably, the RTX 4080 also has 304 tensor cores, which the RX 7700S lacks entirely. This points to NVIDIA's focus on AI-accelerated workloads and DLSS-style features, whereas AMD's part appears more stripped down for mobile efficiency.

Clock behavior also tells a story. The RX 7700S runs at a base clock of 1500 MHz, a boost of 2500 MHz, and a game clock of 2200 MHz. The RTX 4080 has a higher base of 2205 MHz and boost of 2505 MHz, but no listed game clock. Memory clocks differ as well: AMD's memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while NVIDIA's memory is at 1400 MHz but with 22.4 Gbps effective speed due to GDDR6X technology.

The compute output is where the gap widens. The RX 7700S delivers 20.48 TFLOPS FP32 and 40.96 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). The RTX 4080 produces 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 and 48.74 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio). Pixel rate for the AMD part is 160.0 GPixel/s versus 280.6 GPixel/s for NVIDIA; texture rate is 320.0 GTexel/s versus 761.5 GTexel/s. The RTX 4080 clearly has more raw throughput, but the aggregate benchmark scores suggest other factors balance the scales.

Power and physical differences are stark. The RX 7700S is rated at 100 W TDP, is an IGP (integrated graphics processor), has no power connectors, and is described as portable device dependent for display outputs. The RTX 4080 draws 320 W, occupies a triple-slot design, requires a single 16-pin connector, and lists a suggested PSU of 700 W. Its dimensions are 310 mm in length, 140 mm in height, and 61 mm in width. The AMD part has no listed dimensions, reinforcing its mobile orientation.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data is lopsided, but the aggregate numbers tell a more nuanced story. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 4080 scores 6,567 against the RX 7700S's 2,185, a 66.7% delta. This is a DirectX 12 workload that likely stresses raw rasterization and geometry throughput, where NVIDIA's larger die and higher shading unit count provide a massive advantage. The RX 7700S appears to be at a severe disadvantage in this particular synthetic test.

Geekbench OpenCL shows a similar pattern. The RTX 4080 achieves 240,854, while the RX 7700S posts 69,728, a 71% gap. OpenCL tends to scale with compute unit count and memory bandwidth, and the RTX 4080's 304 TMUs, 76 RT cores, and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth dwarf the RX 7700S's 128 TMUs, 32 RT cores, and 288.0 GB/s. The data suggests that in compute-heavy, non-gaming workloads, the RTX 4080 is in a different league.

Geekbench Vulkan narrows the gap slightly but still favors NVIDIA heavily. The RTX 4080 scores 216,045 versus 85,603 for the RX 7700S, a 60.4% delta. Vulkan performance is often more sensitive to driver efficiency and architecture-specific optimizations, so the fact that the gap shrinks from 71% to 60.4% hints that AMD's RDNA 3.0 handles Vulkan relatively better than OpenCL, though it still trails by a wide margin.

Despite winning all three head-to-head tests, the RTX 4080's aggregate average score (52,085) is actually lower than the RX 7700S's average (52,505). This is counterintuitive and worth questioning. The RX 7700S has only three benchmark entries in its list, all of which are relatively low scores (2,185, 69,728, and 85,603). The RTX 4080 has ten entries, including several Passmark tests with very low scores (132 to 370) that drag its average down. The average benchmark score metric appears to weight these differently, or the RX 7700S benefits from having fewer low-scoring tests. The data doesn't fully explain this discrepancy, but it highlights that aggregate scores can obscure per-test realities.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every specification category. Memory capacity is 8 GB for the RX 7700S versus 16 GB for the RTX 4080. The type differs: GDDR6 versus GDDR6X. Bus width is 128-bit versus 256-bit, and bandwidth is 288.0 GB/s versus 716.8 GB/s. The RTX 4080 has four times the memory bus width and nearly 2.5 times the bandwidth, which explains its advantage in memory-intensive workloads.

Shading units: 2,048 versus 9,728. TMUs: 128 versus 304. ROPs: 64 versus 112. RT cores: 32 versus 76. Tensor cores: none versus 304. FP32 compute: 20.48 TFLOPS versus 48.74 TFLOPS. FP16 compute: 40.96 versus 48.74 TFLOPS. The RTX 4080 has 4.75 times the shading units and 2.38 times the FP32 throughput, yet its aggregate benchmark score is nearly identical to the RX 7700S. This suggests either the RX 7700S benefits from better driver optimization per-unit, or the benchmark suite favors the AMD part in ways not captured by the head-to-head tests.

Process node differs: 6 nm versus 5 nm, both from TSMC. Transistor count is 13,300 million versus 45,900 million. Die size is 204 mm² versus 379 mm². Transistor density is 65.2M/mm² versus 121.1M/mm². The RTX 4080 packs 3.45 times the transistors into 1.86 times the die area, indicating a much denser design.

Power: 100 W versus 320 W. The RX 7700S is an IGP with no power connectors and no suggested PSU. The RTX 4080 is triple-slot, requires a 16-pin connector, and suggests a 700 W PSU. Release dates differ: January 2023 for the RX 7700S versus September 2022 for the RTX 4080. Production status: Active versus End-of-life. The RTX 4080 has a launch MSRP of 1,199 USD; the RX 7700S has no listed launch MSRP.

The Verdict

The benchmark data presents a paradox. The RTX 4080 wins every head-to-head test with deltas ranging from 60.4% to 71%. Its raw specifications are overwhelmingly superior: more shading units, more memory, higher bandwidth, and more compute throughput. Yet the aggregate average benchmark score places the RX 7700S slightly ahead (52,505 versus 52,085), and the nearest rivals data shows a delta of only 0.8% between them.

What does this mean? The RTX 4080 is clearly the more powerful GPU in absolute terms, but the RX 7700S appears to be a remarkably efficient design that achieves comparable aggregate performance at one-third the TDP (100 W versus 320 W). The RX 7700S is an IGP with no power connectors, suited for portable devices, while the RTX 4080 is a triple-slot desktop behemoth requiring a 700 W PSU. The data implies that if you need absolute peak performance in a desktop or high-end laptop, the RTX 4080 is the choice. If you need near-equivalent overall benchmark standing in a mobile, low-power form factor, the RX 7700S is designed for that niche. The RTX 4080's end-of-life status and the RX 7700S's active production status also suggest different lifecycles.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4080 wins decisively in every measured head-to-head test. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it is 66.7% ahead, indicating superiority in heavy DirectX 12 rasterization. In Geekbench OpenCL, it is 71% ahead, pointing to dominance in compute and general-purpose GPU workloads. In Geekbench Vulkan, it is 60.4% ahead, showing strength in cross-API compute tasks. Users who prioritize raw gaming performance at high resolutions, content creation, or GPU-accelerated compute should look to the RTX 4080. Its 16 GB of memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for large datasets and high-texture workloads.

The RX 7700S, despite losing all head-to-head tests, has its own domain. Its 100 W TDP, IGP classification, and lack of power connectors indicate a design for thin-and-light laptops or portable devices. Its aggregate benchmark score is actually higher than the RTX 4080's, which suggests that in the specific mix of tests that form the average, it performs comparably. For users who need a GPU that fits in a portable chassis without external power, the RX 7700S is the only viable option between the two. Its active production status also means ongoing availability, whereas the RTX 4080 is end-of-life. The data does not show the RX 7700S winning any single test, but its overall standing implies it is optimized for a different class of workloads or usage patterns than the head-to-head tests capture.