NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 29,783, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 scores 26,331. The 2080 Ti sits at the 75th percentile of all GPUs, versus the 72nd percentile for the 5060.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to the RTX 2080 Ti in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RTX 5060 wins that test with a score of 3,628 versus 3,537 for the 2080 Ti, a delta of 2.5% in favor of the newer card.

Q: Which card has more VRAM?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 352-bit bus, while the RTX 5060 has 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus. The 2080 Ti also offers higher memory bandwidth at 616.0 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each card according to the database?

A: For the RTX 2080 Ti, the nearest rivals are the RTX 5070 Mobile (0.5% lower score), RTX 3070 Ti (0.5% lower), RX 6800 (1% lower), and FirePro W8000 (2% higher). For the RTX 5060, the closest are the Radeon 860M (0.3% lower), MX550 (0.3% lower), RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (0.8% lower), and RX 6750 XT (1.2% higher).

Q: Which card wins more individual benchmark tests?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti wins 6 of the 10 head-to-head tests, while the RTX 5060 wins 4. The 2080 Ti's wins include Geekbench OpenCL, Vulkan, DirectX 10, DirectX 12, DirectX 9, and PassMark G3D.

Q: What is the power requirement difference?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti has a TDP of 250 W with a suggested PSU of 600 W and uses two 8-pin connectors. The RTX 5060 has a TDP of 145 W, a suggested PSU of 300 W, and uses a single 8-pin connector.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from completely different architectural generations. The RTX 2080 Ti uses the Turing architecture on a 12 nm process from TSMC, built around the TU102 chip. The RTX 5060 uses the Blackwell 2.0 architecture on a 5 nm process, also from TSMC, built around the GB206 chip. This process shrink is substantial: the 2080 Ti packs 18,600 million transistors on a 754 mm² die, while the 5060 crams 21,900 million transistors into just 181 mm². The transistor density tells the story clearly, 24.7 million transistors per mm² for Turing versus 121.0 million per mm² for Blackwell.

The 2080 Ti has more raw execution resources: 4,352 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 88 ROPs, compared to 3,840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs on the 5060. The ray tracing and tensor core counts also differ dramatically, 68 RT cores and 544 tensor cores on the older card versus 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores on the newer one. However, the newer architecture is more efficient per core, as the FP32 throughput shows: 13.45 TFLOPS for the 2080 Ti versus 19.18 TFLOPS for the 5060, despite the latter having fewer shading units.

Clock speeds are a major differentiator. The 2080 Ti runs at a 1350 MHz base and 1545 MHz boost, while the 5060 runs at 2280 MHz base and 2497 MHz boost. The memory subsystem also diverges: the 2080 Ti uses GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective across a 352-bit bus, while the 5060 uses GDDR7 at 28 Gbps effective across a 128-bit bus. The newer card's memory clock is double the effective rate, but the narrower bus limits bandwidth to 448.0 GB/s versus 616.0 GB/s for the older card.

The bus interface differs as well: PCIe 3.0 x16 for the 2080 Ti versus PCIe 5.0 x8 for the 5060. Display outputs also changed generationally, with the 2080 Ti offering 1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a plus a USB Type-C port, while the 5060 offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The Verdict

The data points to a split decision based on workload type. The RTX 2080 Ti retains the overall average benchmark advantage, 29,783 versus 26,331, and wins a majority of the head-to-head tests at 6 to 4. Its strongest leads come in compute and API-specific tests, particularly Geekbench Vulkan where it leads by 17.3% and OpenCL by 13.6%. For users running legacy DirectX workloads or compute-heavy applications, the older card is the better choice despite being an end-of-life product.

The RTX 5060, however, wins the modern 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test by 2.5% and shows clear strengths in newer workloads. It leads by 19.7% in PassMark G2D, which measures 2D graphics performance, and by 7.7% in GPU compute. It also wins DirectX 11 by 5%. The 5060 achieves this with lower power draw, 145 W versus 250 W, and a much smaller physical footprint at 241 mm length versus 267 mm. For a new build targeting current games and future titles, the RTX 5060 is the more sensible pick. The 2080 Ti makes sense only if the use case heavily favors the specific tests where it leads, particularly Vulkan and OpenCL compute.

Specification Differences

| Specification | RTX 2080 Ti | RTX 5060 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Turing | Blackwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 12 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 18,600 million | 21,900 million |

| Die Size | 754 mm² | 181 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.7M / mm² | 121.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1350 MHz | 2280 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1545 MHz | 2497 MHz |

| Memory Size | 11 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR7 |

| Memory Bus Width | 352 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 616.0 GB/s | 448.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 4352 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 272 | 120 |

| ROPs | 88 | 48 |

| RT Cores | 68 | 30 |

| Tensor Cores | 544 | 120 |

| Pixel Rate | 136.0 GPixel/s | 119.9 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 420.2 GTexel/s | 299.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 13.45 TFLOPS | 19.18 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 26.90 TFLOPS (2:1) | 19.18 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 145 W |

| Power Connectors | 2x 8-pin | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DP 1.4a, 1x USB-C | 1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DP 2.1b |

| Dimensions | 267 mm x 116 mm x 35 mm | 241 mm x 111 mm x 40 mm |

| Release Date | 2018-09-19 | 2025-05-18 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Launch MSRP | 999 USD | 299 USD |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 2080 Ti's largest victory comes in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 132,930 against the 5060's 113,321, a lead of 17.3%. That is a decisive margin in a modern graphics API test. The OpenCL result is nearly as dominant: 128,171 versus 112,787, a 13.6% advantage. These two tests alone demonstrate that the older Turing card retains significant compute muscle despite its age.

In DirectX 10, the 2080 Ti wins 153 to 127, a 20.5% lead, though the absolute scores are low and this API is largely legacy. The DirectX 12 test shows a 9.1% win for the 2080 Ti at 84 versus 77, and DirectX 9 goes to the older card by 4.4% at 235 versus 225. The PassMark G3D result is closer, 21,548 versus 20,891, a 3.1% edge for the 2080 Ti.

The RTX 5060's wins are concentrated in different areas. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result is its most notable, 3,628 versus 3,537, a 2.5% margin. This is the most modern test in the suite and the one most likely to reflect current game performance. The PassMark G2D score shows a 19.7% lead at 1,154 versus 927, which is a huge gap in 2D workloads. The GPU compute test goes to the 5060 by 7.7%, 10,899 versus 10,056. Finally, DirectX 11 shows a 5% win for the newer card at 200 versus 190.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 2080 Ti is the clear choice for Vulkan-based applications and OpenCL compute workloads. Its 17.3% Vulkan lead and 13.6% OpenCL lead are the biggest margins in the entire comparison. It also holds advantages across the DirectX spectrum, winning DirectX 9, 10, and 12 tests. Users running older games, compute kernels, or Vulkan titles will see measurably better performance from the Turing card. The 2080 Ti also wins the overall PassMark G3D test, which is a general 3D performance aggregate.

The RTX 5060 wins where modern workloads matter most. Its 2.5% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the newest test in the database, suggests it is better tuned for contemporary game engines. The 7.7% GPU compute win shows the Blackwell architecture handles compute tasks more efficiently per watt. The 19.7% G2D lead is enormous and matters for desktop compositing and 2D rendering workloads. The DirectX 11 win by 5% covers a wide range of current games that still use that API.

The efficiency argument also favors the 5060. It delivers competitive or better modern performance at 145 W versus 250 W, with a suggested PSU of 300 W versus 600 W. That means lower system power draw and less heat, which matters for small form factor builds. The 5060 is also shorter at 241 mm versus 267 mm, making it easier to fit in compact cases. The 2080 Ti is end-of-life while the 5060 is active production, so availability and driver support going forward favor the newer card.