AMD Radeon RX 6800M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Comparison

The data presents a clear picture: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, a desktop flagship from the Turing generation, decisively outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, a mobile RDNA 2 part, across every benchmark in the comparison. The RTX 2080 Ti wins all 10 head-to-head tests, with deltas ranging from 29.2% to a massive 99.8%. While the RX 6800M is no slouch, holding a 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs, the RTX 2080 Ti edges it out in overall standing with a 75th percentile, and its average benchmark score of 29,783 is 3.1% higher than the RX 6800M's 28,874. This analysis breaks down where each card excels, the architectural reasons behind the gap, and what the numbers mean for potential use cases.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark results are unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti wins in every single metric recorded. There is no workload category where the AMD Radeon RX 6800M manages to pull ahead. The RTX 2080 Ti’s dominance spans across DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 APIs, as well as in OpenCL, Vulkan, and even 2D graphics tests. This suggests a fundamental performance advantage that is not tied to any specific software path or API optimization.

For the RX 6800M, its value proposition is not about winning benchmark shootouts but about delivering competitive performance in a mobile form factor. Its 74th percentile ranking and average score of 28,874 place it in the same performance tier as the RTX 2080 Ti, but with a significantly lower power envelope. The data shows the RX 6800M is a capable high-end mobile solution, yet it cannot match the raw output of the desktop-class RTX 2080 Ti. For users prioritizing raw frame rates and compute throughput, the RTX 2080 Ti is the only choice; for those needing a high-performance GPU in a laptop, the RX 6800M represents the mobile interpretation of that tier.

Architecture Differences

The performance disparity is rooted in starkly different design philosophies and physical characteristics. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is built on the Turing architecture using the TU102 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 12 nm process. This is a massive die, measuring 754 mm² and housing 18,600 million transistors, with a transistor density of 24.7 million per mm². It features 4,352 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 88 ROPs, alongside 68 RT cores and 544 tensor cores. Its memory subsystem consists of 11 GB of GDDR6 on a 352-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 616.0 GB/s.

In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M uses the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 22 chip, built on a more advanced TSMC 7 nm process. This results in a much smaller die at 335 mm², containing 17,200 million transistors, but with a significantly higher transistor density of 51.3 million per mm². The RX 6800M has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 40 RT cores and no tensor cores. Its memory is 12 GB of GDDR6 on a narrower 192-bit bus, yielding 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The core clock speeds also favor the AMD part. The RX 6800M has a base clock of 2116 MHz and a boost clock of 2390 MHz, with a game clock of 2300 MHz. The RTX 2080 Ti, by comparison, has a base clock of 1350 MHz and a boost clock of 1545 MHz. Despite the higher clocks, the RX 6800M's lower shading unit count and reduced memory bandwidth contribute to its lower overall throughput. The RTX 2080 Ti’s higher pixel rate of 136.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 420.2 GTexel/s, compared to the RX 6800M's 153.0 GPixel/s and 382.4 GTexel/s, further illustrate the NVIDIA card's raw processing advantage. The TDP difference is also notable, with the RTX 2080 Ti rated at 250 W versus the RX 6800M's 145 W.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most significant victory for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti comes in the Passmark GPU Compute test, where it scores 10,056 against the RX 6800M's 5,032. This is a 99.8% delta, meaning the RTX 2080 Ti is nearly twice as fast in this compute-heavy workload. This result highlights the substantial difference in raw processing power, likely stemming from the NVIDIA card's higher shading unit count and the presence of tensor cores.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), a modern gaming benchmark, the RTX 2080 Ti scores 3,537, which is 58% higher than the RX 6800M's 2,238. This is a decisive win for gaming performance under the latest DirectX 12 API. Similarly, in the Passmark G3D test, the RTX 2080 Ti achieves 21,548 versus 13,261, a 62.5% advantage. These gaming-centric benchmarks confirm that the desktop card delivers a substantially higher level of graphics performance.

The gap is also pronounced in API-specific tests. In Passmark DirectX 9, the RTX 2080 Ti leads by 59.9% (235 vs. 147). In DirectX 10, it wins by 51.5% (153 vs. 101), and in DirectX 11, by 49.6% (190 vs. 127). Even in DirectX 12, where the delta is the smallest, the RTX 2080 Ti still holds a 29.2% lead (84 vs. 65). This consistent lead across all API generations suggests a fundamental performance advantage that is independent of driver optimizations for specific APIs.

Compute and general-purpose workloads show a similar trend. In GeekBench OpenCL, the RTX 2080 Ti scores 128,171, which is 46.3% higher than the RX 6800M's 87,621. In GeekBench Vulkan, the lead is 40.3%, with scores of 132,930 and 94,766 respectively. The Passmark G2D test, which measures 2D graphics performance, shows the RTX 2080 Ti ahead by 72.3% (927 vs. 538), indicating even basic desktop rendering is significantly faster.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the benchmark data, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is the superior performer in every measurable way. It offers higher scores in all 10 head-to-head tests, with advantages ranging from 29.2% to 99.8%. Its average benchmark score of 29,783 is higher than the RX 6800M's 28,874, and it holds a slightly better percentile ranking at 75 versus 74. For any user whose primary concern is maximum raw performance—be it in gaming, compute, or professional applications—the RTX 2080 Ti is the clear choice.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800M, however, is not without its merits. Its 74th percentile ranking indicates it is a high-performance GPU in its own right, and its data is impressive for a mobile part. Its lower TDP of 145 W, versus the RTX 2080 Ti's 250 W, makes it suitable for laptops where power and thermal constraints are paramount. The RX 6800M also offers more memory at 12 GB, though on a narrower bus. Users should select the RX 6800M if they require high-end performance in a portable form factor and cannot accommodate a desktop-class card. The data clearly shows, however, that no performance metric favors the AMD part when compared directly to the RTX 2080 Ti.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is significantly faster, scoring 3,537 compared to the AMD Radeon RX 6800M's 2,238, a 58% advantage.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in the Passmark GPU Compute test, where the RTX 2080 Ti's score of 10,056 is 99.8% higher than the RX 6800M's 5,032, meaning it is nearly twice as fast.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 6800M win in any benchmark?

A: No. In the data provided, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M does not win any of the 10 head-to-head benchmark comparisons.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 29,783, which is 3.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800M's average of 28,874.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 352-bit bus with 616.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6800M has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do their power requirements differ?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W power supply, while the RX 6800M has a TDP of 145 W and has no specified power connector requirements.