AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT holds the higher average benchmark score at 13745, compared to 11627 for the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. The RX 7900 XT also sits at the 55th percentile among all GPUs, while the RX 7800 XT sits at the 51st percentile.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RX 7900 XT scores 5623, which is 35.3% ahead of the RX 7800 XT's 4157 in the 3dmark_3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 benchmark. This is one of the largest deltas between the two cards.

Q: Is there any benchmark where the RX 7800 XT wins?

A: Yes, the RX 7800 XT wins the geekbench_opencl test with a score of 18290, beating the RX 7900 XT's 12756 by 30.3%. This is the only benchmark win for the RX 7800 XT out of the ten head-to-head tests recorded.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: The RX 7900 XT has 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: How do the power requirements differ?

A: The RX 7900 XT has a TDP of 300 W and a suggested PSU of 700 W. The RX 7800 XT has a TDP of 263 W and a suggested PSU of 600 W. Both cards use dual-slot cooling and two 8-pin power connectors.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The RX 7900 XT is listed as end-of-life, while the RX 7800 XT is listed as active. The RX 7900 XT launched on 2022-11-02, and the RX 7800 XT launched on 2023-09-05.

The Verdict

The benchmark data presents a clear hierarchy. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the stronger card in nearly every recorded test, winning 9 of the 10 head-to-head benchmarks. Its average score of 13745 puts it 18.2% above the RX 7800 XT's 11627. The RX 7900 XT is the choice for users who want maximum rasterization and compute throughput, particularly in DX12 and Vulkan workloads where its lead is substantial.

The RX 7800 XT is not without merit, but its single win is significant. It dominates the RX 7900 XT in OpenCL compute by 30.3%, a reversal that suggests different driver or architectural behavior in that specific API workload. Users running OpenCL-based applications should take note. However, for gaming and general GPU compute, the RX 7900 XT is the superior pick.

The RX 7900 XT also carries a higher launch MSRP of 899 USD compared to 499 USD for the RX 7800 XT. The RX 7800 XT is the more sensible choice for builders who prioritize the OpenCL workload or who want a lower power draw card at 263 W versus 300 W. The RX 7900 XT is for those who need the extra memory capacity, bandwidth, and raw shader throughput.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows the RX 7900 XT scoring 5623 against 4157 for the RX 7800 XT, a 35.3% advantage. This is the largest delta in the entire head-to-head set, indicating that modern DX12 gaming workloads heavily favor the larger Navi 31 chip. The PassMark DirectX 11 test tells a similar story: the RX 7900 XT scores 340 versus 249, a 36.5% lead, the biggest percentage gap of any test. DirectX 11 remains relevant in many older titles, and the RX 7900 XT's advantage here is pronounced.

The Vulkan test also favors the RX 7900 XT, with a score of 71068 versus 54228, a 31.1% gap. Vulkan is increasingly common in modern game engines, so this result matters for current and upcoming titles. The PassMark DirectX 10 test shows a 30.6% lead for the RX 7900 XT (158 versus 121), while DirectX 12 shows an 18.3% lead (110 versus 93). The RX 7900 XT wins the PassMark G3D test with 29009 versus 24176, a 20% margin, and the GPU compute test with 16828 versus 13473, a 24.9% margin.

The smaller wins are worth noting too. The RX 7900 XT leads in PassMark DirectX 9 by 5.9% (322 versus 304) and in PassMark G2D by 4.7% (1232 versus 1177). These are modest gaps, suggesting that in legacy DirectX 9 workloads and 2D operations, the two cards perform similarly. The RX 7800 XT's only win is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where it scores 18290 against 12756, a 30.3% advantage. This is a substantial reversal and the single data point that prevents the RX 7900 XT from a clean sweep.

Specification Differences

The RX 7900 XT uses the Navi 31 chip, while the RX 7800 XT uses Navi 32. Both are built on TSMC's 5 nm process. The RX 7900 XT packs 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 109.1M per mm². The RX 7800 XT has 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, with a density of 81.2M per mm². The RX 7900 XT's die is 52.9% larger and holds more than double the transistor count.

Shader resources differ significantly. The RX 7900 XT has 5376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 192 ROPs, with 84 ray tracing cores. The RX 7800 XT has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 60 ray tracing cores. This means the RX 7900 XT has 40% more shading units and 33% more TMUs, but double the ROP count. The pixel rate of the RX 7900 XT is 459.6 GPixel/s versus 233.3 GPixel/s for the RX 7800 XT, and the texture rate is 804.4 GTexel/s versus 583.2 GTexel/s.

Compute throughput follows the same pattern. The RX 7900 XT delivers 51.48 TFLOPS FP32, while the RX 7800 XT delivers 37.32 TFLOPS FP32. The FP16 figures differ more dramatically: the RX 7900 XT reaches 103.0 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the RX 7800 XT stays at 37.32 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio. This means the RX 7900 XT has a distinct advantage in FP16 workloads, while the RX 7800 XT offers no such acceleration.

Memory is another differentiator. The RX 7900 XT has 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus with 800.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7900 XT offers 28% more bandwidth and 25% more capacity. Clock speeds are close, with the RX 7900 XT boosting to 2394 MHz and the RX 7800 XT boosting higher to 2430 MHz, but the RX 7900 XT has a higher base clock at 1387 MHz versus 1295 MHz.

Physical specifications are similar. Both are dual-slot cards with two 8-pin power connectors and a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The RX 7900 XT is 276 mm long, 110 mm tall, and 51 mm wide. The RX 7800 XT is 267 mm long, 111 mm tall, and 50 mm wide. Display outputs differ: the RX 7900 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C, while the RX 7800 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1. The RX 7900 XT requires a 700 W PSU, while the RX 7800 XT needs 600 W.

Architecture Differences

Both cards are RDNA 3.0 architecture from the Radeon RX 7000 series, manufactured by AMD at TSMC on a 5 nm process. The RX 7900 XT has the codename Plum Bonito, while the RX 7800 XT has the codename Wheat Nas. They share the same generation designation of Navi III (RX 7000), and both have a predecessor of Navi II and a successor of Navi IV.

The core difference is chip size and configuration. The Navi 31 chip in the RX 7900 XT is a larger, more fully featured implementation with 57,700 million transistors. The Navi 32 chip in the RX 7800 XT is a smaller implementation with 28,100 million transistors. This is not just a matter of scale, it changes the compute profile. The RX 7900 XT has 84 ray tracing cores versus 60 on the RX 7800 XT, which affects ray-traced workload performance. The RX 7900 XT also has double the ROPs, which explains its higher pixel rate.

The FP16 capability is a notable architectural split. The RX 7900 XT doubles its FP32 rate in FP16 workloads, reaching 103.0 TFLOPS, while the RX 7800 XT runs FP16 at the same rate as FP32, 37.32 TFLOPS. This suggests the RX 7900 XT has dedicated FP16 hardware support that the RX 7800 XT lacks. Both cards report the same API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Neither card has tensor cores listed.

The memory architecture differs in bus width and capacity, which affects how the GPUs handle large datasets. The RX 7900 XT's 320-bit bus and 20 GB capacity make it better suited for high-resolution textures and large compute buffers. The RX 7800 XT's 256-bit bus and 16 GB capacity is still generous but more constrained. The RX 7900 XT also has a higher memory clock at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) versus 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective).

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7900 XT wins in the majority of gaming and compute scenarios. Its 35.3% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 31.1% lead in Vulkan make it the clear pick for modern DX12 and Vulkan titles. The 36.5% lead in DirectX 11 means older games that still rely on that API also run significantly faster. The 24.9% advantage in PassMark GPU compute indicates general-purpose compute tasks, such as rendering or physics simulations, favor the RX 7900 XT. The 20% lead in PassMark G3D reinforces this as an overall gaming and 3D workload winner.

The RX 7900 XT is also the better choice for memory-heavy workloads. Its 20 GB capacity and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth provide more headroom for large textures, high-resolution assets, and compute buffers. The 4.7% lead in G2D shows it is slightly faster in 2D operations, though the difference is small. For users running ray-traced games, the higher ray tracing core count of 84 versus 60 gives the RX 7900 XT an advantage, even if the specific benchmark data does not isolate this workload.

The RX 7800 XT wins in one distinct area: OpenCL compute. Its 30.3% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is not marginal, it is a decisive reversal. Applications built on OpenCL, such as certain video encoding tools, scientific computing packages, or cryptocurrency miners, may run faster on the RX 7800 XT. This is the single reason to choose the RX 7800 XT over the RX 7900 XT based on the recorded data.

The RX 7800 XT also has practical advantages outside raw performance. It has a lower TDP of 263 W versus 300 W, and it requires a 600 W PSU instead of 700 W. It is also a shorter card at 267 mm versus 276 mm, which may fit in tighter cases. Its active production status means it remains available, while the RX 7900 XT is end-of-life. For builders who prioritize OpenCL performance, lower power draw, or ongoing availability, the RX 7800 XT is the rational pick. For everyone else, the RX 7900 XT's benchmark dominance makes it the stronger choice.