AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT compare to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 in overall average benchmark score?

A: The recorded data shows the RX 9070 XT has an average benchmark score of 13543, while the GTX 1080 sits at 11960. The RX 9070 XT also holds a 55th percentile ranking versus the GTX 1080's 51st percentile among all GPUs.

Q: Which GPU wins the majority of head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head tests. The only victory for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 51204 against the RX 9070 XT's 17428, a delta of -66%.

Q: What is the biggest performance margin in either direction?

A: The largest single-test win belongs to the RX 9070 XT in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, scoring 7260 versus 1560 for the GTX 1080, a 365.4% advantage. The largest win for the GTX 1080 is the OpenCL result mentioned above.

Q: How do the memory configurations differ?

A: The RX 9070 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 1080 has 8 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus with 320.3 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RX 9070 XT has a TDP of 304 W and requires a 700 W suggested PSU with 2x 8-pin connectors. The GTX 1080 has a TDP of 180 W, a 450 W suggested PSU, and uses a single 8-pin connector.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing hardware?

A: The RX 9070 XT includes 64 ray tracing cores. The GTX 1080 has no rtCores listed in the database, meaning it lacks dedicated ray tracing hardware.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark split is heavily lopsided, but the one NVIDIA win is notable and defines a specific use case. The GTX 1080 dominates in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 51204 versus 17428 for the RX 9070 XT. This is a 66% deficit for the AMD card, and it suggests workloads that rely heavily on OpenCL compute acceleration may favor the older Pascal architecture. For users running OpenCL-based applications, the GTX 1080 remains the better choice according to the recorded data.

Every other recorded test goes to the RX 9070 XT. The AMD card wins across all DirectX versions tested, from DirectX 9 through DirectX 12, plus Vulkan. It also wins in 2D and 3D graphics tests and in GPU compute benchmarks other than OpenCL. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result is the standout, showing a 365.4% lead, which points to modern DX12 gaming and ray-traced workloads as a clear strength for the RX 9070 XT.

For general gaming, the PassMark G3D score of 26795 for the RX 9070 XT versus 15586 for the GTX 1080 (71.9% higher) indicates a substantial advantage in rasterized graphics performance. The Vulkan score of 65879 versus 30398 (116.7% higher) further cements the AMD card as the pick for Vulkan-based titles. In short, the RX 9070 XT owns nearly every gaming and compute scenario, while the GTX 1080 retains a niche in OpenCL-heavy applications.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent vastly different eras of design. The RX 9070 XT uses the Navi 48 chip built on RDNA 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It packs 53,900 million transistors into a 357 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 151.0M per mm². The GTX 1080 uses the GP104 chip on the older Pascal architecture, built on a 16 nm process, also at TSMC. It holds 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, with a much lower density of 22.9M per mm².

The RDNA 4.0 architecture brings hardware ray tracing via 64 dedicated rtCores, which Pascal does not have. The RX 9070 XT also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX 1080 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the feature sets diverge significantly on modern APIs.

The RX 9070 XT's RDNA 4.0 also delivers a 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratio, with both at 48.66 TFLOPS. The GTX 1080's Pascal architecture has a 1:64 FP16 ratio, meaning FP16 performance is just 138.6 GFLOPS versus 8.873 TFLOPS FP32. This architectural choice makes the RX 9070 XT far more capable for mixed-precision workloads.

Memory architecture also reflects the generational gap. The RX 9070 XT uses GDDR6 with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, while the GTX 1080 uses GDDR5X with 320.3 GB/s. The bus width is the same at 256-bit, but the newer memory technology doubles the bandwidth.

Specification Differences

The RX 9070 XT has 4096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 128 ROPs. The GTX 1080 has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The AMD card doubles the ROP count and adds 60% more shading units and TMUs.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The RX 9070 XT has a base clock of 1660 MHz, a boost clock of 2970 MHz, and a game clock of 2400 MHz. The GTX 1080 has a base clock of 1607 MHz and a boost clock of 1733 MHz, with no game clock listed. The AMD card's boost clock is 71% higher.

Memory clock speeds also differ: the RX 9070 XT runs at 2518 MHz with 20.1 Gbps effective, while the GTX 1080 runs at 1251 MHz with 10 Gbps effective. Pixel and texture rates reflect the hardware differences: the RX 9070 XT delivers 380.2 GPixel/s and 760.3 GTexel/s, while the GTX 1080 delivers 110.9 GPixel/s and 277.3 GTexel/s.

Power and connectivity specs diverge. The RX 9070 XT uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the GTX 1080 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs differ: the RX 9070 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a, while the GTX 1080 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX 1080 has listed dimensions of 267 mm length, 112 mm height, and 40 mm width, while the RX 9070 XT has no dimensions recorded.

The GTX 1080 is marked as end-of-life, released on 2016-05-26, with a successor in the GeForce 20 series. The RX 9070 XT is active, released on 2025-03-05, with no successor listed. Both cards have a launch MSRP of 599 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test is the most decisive result. The RX 9070 XT scores 7260 against the GTX 1080's 1560, a 365.4% lead. This is the largest delta in the entire comparison and shows a massive gap in modern DX12 rasterization and ray-tracing performance.

Vulkan benchmarks also favor the AMD card heavily. The RX 9070 XT scores 65879 versus 30398, a 116.7% advantage. This result aligns with RDNA 4.0's improved Vulkan driver and hardware capabilities.

The PassMark suite shows consistent wins for the RX 9070 XT across all DirectX versions. DirectX 11 scores 292 versus 124 (135.5% higher), DirectX 9 scores 353 versus 211 (67.3% higher), DirectX 10 scores 154 versus 93 (65.6% higher), and DirectX 12 scores 78 versus 55 (41.8% higher). These results indicate the AMD card is faster in both legacy and current API paths.

The PassMark G3D test, which measures overall 3D graphics performance, shows the RX 9070 XT at 26795 versus 15586, a 71.9% lead. The G2D test shows 1328 versus 888, a 49.5% advantage for the AMD card. GPU compute results are also lopsided, with the RX 9070 XT scoring 15864 versus 7614, a 108.4% margin.

The sole NVIDIA win is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the GTX 1080 scores 51204 versus 17428 for the RX 9070 XT, a -66% delta. This is a curious result given the RX 9070 XT's superior compute specifications, but the recorded data is clear: OpenCL workloads on this benchmark favor Pascal.

The GTX 1080 also has a Geekbench Metal score of 23824, but the RX 9070 XT has no Metal score listed, so no direct comparison is possible in that API.

The Verdict

The data points to one straightforward conclusion for most users: the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the superior GPU in nearly every measurable scenario. It wins 9 of 10 head-to-head benchmarks, including all DirectX tests, Vulkan, 3DMark Steel Nomad, and PassMark 3D and compute tests. Its average benchmark score of 13543 is 13.2% higher than the GTX 1080's 11960, and its 55th percentile ranking beats the GTX 1080's 51st.

The RX 9070 XT's architecture advantages are clear: 4 nm process versus 16 nm, 4096 shading units versus 2560, 16 GB memory versus 8 GB, and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth versus 320.3 GB/s. It also brings hardware ray tracing and DirectX 12 Ultimate support, which the GTX 1080 lacks. For modern gaming, DX12 titles, and Vulkan-based applications, the RX 9070 XT is the unambiguous pick.

The only reason to choose the GTX 1080 is if OpenCL compute performance is the primary workload. The GTX 1080's 51204 OpenCL score is nearly triple the RX 9070 XT's 17428, and that niche advantage may matter for specific professional or scientific applications. The GTX 1080 also has lower power requirements at 180 W versus 304 W, and it is a smaller card at 267 mm length, which could suit compact builds.

However, for gaming, content creation, and general GPU compute, the RX 9070 XT's margins are too large to ignore. The 365.4% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad and the 116.7% lead in Vulkan are not incremental improvements; they represent a generational leap. The GTX 1080, while still capable for its age, is end-of-life and lacks the feature set and raw performance of the RX 9070 XT. Users seeking maximum performance today should choose the RX 9070 XT. Users with OpenCL-specific needs may still find the GTX 1080 relevant, but that is the only scenario where the older card wins.