AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 occupy opposite ends of the graphics spectrum, one serving as an integrated solution for ultra-portable systems and the other as a once-flagship discrete board for high-performance desktops. The recorded data shows a decisive performance gulf across all shared benchmarks, with the GTX 1080 winning every head-to-head test. However, the RX Vega 11 remains a distinct entity with its own strengths in efficiency and integration, making the comparison less about direct competition and more about contrasting design philosophies.

Where Each One Wins

The data reveals a clear split in use-case scenarios. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 is the undisputed winner in raw computational throughput, taking all three recorded benchmark victories. Its dominance in compute workloads is staggering, particularly in OpenCL where it scores 51,204 against the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11's 12,525. This makes the GTX 1080 the obvious choice for demanding applications such as 3D rendering, video editing, and high-end gaming at high resolutions and detail settings. Its 8 GB of dedicated GDDR5X memory and 320.3 GB/s bandwidth provide the resources needed for large textures and complex scenes, a capability the integrated Vega 11 cannot offer.

Conversely, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 has no benchmark wins to its name, but its advantages lie outside of raw speed. With a 15 W TDP and no power connectors, it is designed for systems where power consumption and physical space are at a premium. The "System Shared" memory configuration means it uses the host system's RAM, eliminating the need for a separate VRAM pool. This makes it suitable for basic productivity, light media consumption, and casual gaming on laptops or compact desktops where installing a discrete GPU is impractical. Its 56th percentile rank among all GPUs, compared to the GTX 1080's 51st, is an anomaly explained by the benchmark pool, but it does not offset the massive performance deficit in the head-to-head tests.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures, nodes, and design goals. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 is a GCN 5.0 part based on the Picasso chip, manufactured on a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 4,940 million transistors into a 210 mm² die, which includes the CPU cores in an APU design. Its 704 shading units, 44 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs are modest by discrete standards, and its FP32 compute is rated at 1.971 TFLOPS. The memory interface is entirely dependent on the host system, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent."

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 uses the Pascal architecture on the GP104 chip, built on a 16 nm process at TSMC. It contains 7,200 million transistors on a larger 314 mm² die. The GPU is a dedicated discrete part with 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, leading to a peak FP32 performance of 8.873 TFLOPS. Its memory subsystem is a dedicated 8 GB GDDR5X pool on a 256-bit bus, delivering 320.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 1080 also supports Vulkan 1.4, while the RX Vega 11 is limited to Vulkan 1.3, though both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6. The GTX 1080's 16 nm process is older than the Vega 11's 12 nm node, but the dedicated hardware and far larger shader count provide the overwhelming performance advantage.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark results are one-sided, with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 winning all three recorded tests. The largest margin is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the GTX 1080's score of 51,204 is 75.5% higher than the RX Vega 11's 12,525. This reflects the massive difference in raw compute throughput, as the GTX 1080's 8.873 TFLOPS FP32 capability dwarfs the Vega 11's 1.971 TFLOPS.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the GTX 1080 again dominates, scoring 30,398 against the Vega 11's 13,543, a 55.4% advantage. This test highlights the discrete GPU's superior ability to handle modern graphics APIs, likely due to its dedicated memory and higher fill rates. The smallest relative gap is in Geekbench Metal, where the GTX 1080 scores 23,824 versus the Vega 11's 17,086, a 28.3% difference. Even here, the NVIDIA part maintains a clear lead, though the margin is less extreme than in the compute-oriented tests.

The data also shows the GTX 1080's average benchmark score of 11,960 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (11,842) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (11,680), indicating its performance class relative to modern entry-level and mid-range parts. The RX Vega 11's average score of 14,385 is deceptive, as it is inflated by a limited benchmark set that does not include the demanding tests where the GTX 1080 excels.

Specification Differences

The most significant differences between the two parts are in their core configurations and memory subsystems. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, compared to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11's 704 shading units, 44 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. This translates to a pixel rate of 110.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 277.3 GTexel/s for the GTX 1080, versus 11.20 GPixel/s and 61.60 GTexel/s for the Vega 11.

Memory is another major differentiator. The GTX 1080 features 8 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus with 320.3 GB/s bandwidth, while the Vega 11 relies on system-shared memory with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." Clock speeds also differ substantially: the GTX 1080 runs at a base of 1607 MHz and boosts to 1733 MHz, whereas the Vega 11 operates at a 300 MHz base and 1400 MHz boost.

Power and physical requirements are starkly opposed. The GTX 1080 has a 180 W TDP, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length. The Vega 11 is an IGP with a 15 W TDP, no power connectors, and no dedicated card dimensions, as it is integrated into the motherboard. The GTX 1080 also has a dedicated set of display outputs (1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), while the Vega 11's outputs are motherboard-dependent. Finally, the GTX 1080 has a launch MSRP of 599 USD, while the Vega 11 has no listed price, as it is not sold as a standalone product.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 has a higher average benchmark score of 14,385 compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080's 11,960, but this is based on different benchmark sets and does not reflect the GTX 1080's dominance in the head-to-head tests.

Q: How much faster is the GTX 1080 in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 scores 51,204 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 75.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11's 12,525.

Q: What is the memory configuration of the RX Vega 11?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 uses system-shared memory with no dedicated VRAM, meaning its memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared" and bandwidth is system-dependent.

Q: Does the GTX 1080 support more recent graphics APIs?

A: Both GPUs support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6, but the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 is limited to Vulkan 1.3.

Q: What are the power requirements for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 has a 15 W TDP and requires no power connectors, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 has a 180 W TDP and needs a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 450 W.

Q: Which GPU has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 has a pixel rate of 110.9 GPixel/s, which is nearly ten times higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11's 11.20 GPixel/s.