AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has a higher average benchmark score of 23,172 compared to the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX's 19,410. This places the RTX 3080 at the 68th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 7900 XTX sits at the 64th percentile.

Q: Which card wins the most head-to-head benchmark comparisons?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX wins 8 of the 10 head-to-head tests, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 wins only 2. The RX 7900 XTX dominates in DirectX 11, DirectX 12, DirectX 9, 3DMark Steel Nomad, Vulkan, G2D, G3D, and GPU compute tests.

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX scores 6,841, which is 35.6% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080's 4,407. This is a decisive victory for the newer AMD card in this modern DirectX 12 workload.

Q: Which card has more video memory?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, providing 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What is the difference in FP32 compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers 61.39 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is more than double the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080's 29.77 TFLOPS. The RX 7900 XTX also offers 122.8 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (2:1 ratio), while the RTX 3080 provides 29.77 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio).

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, has a transistor density of 109.1M per mm², compared to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080's 45.1M per mm² on Samsung's 8 nm process. The RX 7900 XTX packs 57,700 million transistors into a 529 mm² die, while the RTX 3080 has 28,300 million transistors on a larger 628 mm² die.

The Verdict

The benchmark data presents a clear split in strengths. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the superior choice for modern gaming and compute-heavy DirectX workloads. It wins 8 of 10 head-to-head tests, including decisive victories in DirectX 11 (41.9% ahead), 3DMark Steel Nomad (35.6% ahead), and Vulkan (60.7% ahead). Its 24 GB memory buffer and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth make it better suited for high-resolution textures and large datasets, while its 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 compute is a massive step up from the RTX 3080's 29.77 TFLOPS.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, however, remains the pick for OpenCL workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 152,423 is 202% higher than the RX 7900 XTX's 50,465, an extraordinary margin that suggests specific compute optimizations. It also edges out the RX 7900 XTX in PassMark DirectX 10 (170 vs 166, a 2.4% advantage), though this is a minor win in an older API.

For most users, the data favors the RX 7900 XTX. Its launch MSRP was 999 USD, while the RTX 3080 launched at 699 USD. The RX 7900 XTX's higher average score in modern API benchmarks, its larger memory pool, and its superior pixel and texture rates (479.6 GPixel/s and 959.2 GTexel/s vs 164.2 GPixel/s and 465.1 GTexel/s) point to a card that handles current and near-future titles with more headroom.

The RTX 3080 is the choice for those prioritizing OpenCL compute performance or working with applications that rely on that API. Its 68th percentile ranking versus the RX 7900 XTX's 64th percentile is driven almost entirely by that one massive OpenCL win and its strong DirectX 10 showing.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX dominates the modern API tests. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 6,841 against 4,407, a 35.6% advantage. In Vulkan, the gap widens further: 85,612 vs 33,620, a 60.7% lead for AMD. These are the two most relevant tests for contemporary gaming, and the RX 7900 XTX wins both decisively.

DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 results follow the same pattern. The RX 7900 XTX scores 356 in PassMark DirectX 11, which is 41.9% higher than the RTX 3080's 207. In DirectX 12, the RX 7900 XTX scores 131 versus 100, a 23.7% lead. Even in the older DirectX 9 test, AMD wins 330 vs 258, a 21.8% advantage.

The RX 7900 XTX also wins in PassMark G3D (31,238 vs 25,086, a 19.7% lead), GPU compute (17,689 vs 14,397, an 18.6% lead), and G2D (1,267 vs 1,054, a 16.8% lead). Its pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s explain these wins; both figures are roughly triple the RTX 3080's rates.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080's two wins are notable for their specificity. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 152,423 versus 50,465, a 202% advantage. This is the largest delta in any test, and it shows that the RTX 3080's Ampere architecture has a particular strength in OpenCL compute that the RDNA 3.0 architecture lacks. In PassMark DirectX 10, the RTX 3080 wins narrowly: 170 vs 166, a 2.4% margin. This is a small victory in an older API, but it does indicate that the RTX 3080 retains some legacy API competence.

The overall win count is 8-2 in favor of the RX 7900 XTX, but the OpenCL result is so lopsided that it overshadows the RTX 3080's other performance characteristics in the average score calculation.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ substantially in memory configuration. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has 10 GB of GDDR6X on a 320-bit bus with 760.3 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7900 XTX offers 140% more memory capacity and 26% more bandwidth.

Compute units and shading units differ. The RTX 3080 has 8,704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The RX 7900 XTX has 6,144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. While the RX 7900 XTX has fewer shading units, it has more TMUs and double the ROPs.

Clock speeds favor AMD. The RX 7900 XTX has a base clock of 1,929 MHz and a boost clock of 2,498 MHz, with a game clock of 2,365 MHz. The RTX 3080 has a base clock of 1,440 MHz and a boost clock of 1,710 MHz. Memory clocks also differ: 2,500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) for AMD versus 1,188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA.

Power and connectivity specifications differ. The RTX 3080 has a TDP of 320 W with a single 12-pin connector and a suggested PSU of 700 W. The RX 7900 XTX has a TDP of 355 W with two 8-pin connectors and a suggested PSU of 750 W. The RTX 3080 measures 285 mm by 112 mm by 40 mm, while the RX 7900 XTX is 287 mm by 110 mm by 51 mm, making it slightly longer and notably thicker.

Display outputs differ. The RTX 3080 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 7900 XTX offers 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 uses the GA102 chip built on Ampere architecture, manufactured by Samsung on an 8 nm process. It packs 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.1M per mm². The card includes 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores, enabling hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration. Its FP32 and FP16 performance are identical at 29.77 TFLOPS, indicating a 1:1 ratio for these workloads.

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX uses the Navi 31 chip built on RDNA 3.0 architecture, codenamed "Plum Bonito," manufactured by TSMC on a 5 nm process. It contains 57,700 million transistors in a 529 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 109.1M per mm², more than double the RTX 3080's density. The RX 7900 XTX has 96 RT cores but no tensor cores. Its FP32 performance is 61.39 TFLOPS, and FP16 performance is 122.8 TFLOPS, representing a 2:1 ratio.

The process node difference is significant: 5 nm for AMD versus 8 nm for NVIDIA. This allows the RX 7900 XTX to pack more than twice the transistors into a smaller die. The RX 7900 XTX's FP16 capability is four times higher than the RTX 3080's in raw TFLOPS, and its FP32 is more than double. The RTX 3080's tensor cores provide dedicated AI processing hardware, a feature the RX 7900 XTX lacks entirely.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API feature sets are identical. The fundamental architectural differences lie in process technology, transistor budget, and the presence of tensor cores on the NVIDIA side versus higher raw compute throughput on the AMD side.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX wins across nearly all gaming and general compute scenarios. Its 24 GB memory buffer is better suited for 4K textures and large scene data, and its 960.0 GB/s bandwidth supports high-resolution rendering without bottlenecks. The RX 7900 XTX's wins in DirectX 11, DirectX 12, DirectX 9, Vulkan, and 3DMark Steel Nomad indicate broad compatibility with both older and modern game engines. Its 479.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 959.2 GTexel/s texture rate give it a substantial edge in fill-rate-bound scenarios. For GPU compute workloads, its 17,689 PassMark score versus 14,397 shows a 18.6% advantage, making it the better choice for general-purpose compute tasks.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 wins in OpenCL compute, where its 152,423 Geekbench score is 202% higher than the RX 7900 XTX's 50,465. This is the clear domain where the RTX 3080 excels. Applications that rely heavily on OpenCL, such as certain scientific simulations, video encoding pipelines, or professional rendering tools, would see a massive performance benefit from the RTX 3080. Its tensor cores, while not directly benchmarked here, provide dedicated AI acceleration that the RX 7900 XTX lacks, which may benefit workloads that use tensor-core-optimized libraries. The RTX 3080 also wins in DirectX 10, though the 2.4% margin is so small that it is unlikely to matter in practice. For users running legacy DirectX 10 applications, the RTX 3080 holds a marginal edge.

The data supports a straightforward conclusion: the RX 7900 XTX is the stronger card for modern gaming and general compute, while the RTX 3080 is the specialist choice for OpenCL-centric workloads.