AMD Radeon RX 7900M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M scores 4201, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER scores 3075. The AMD part wins this benchmark by 36.6%.

Q: How do the two cards compare in memory capacity and type?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER uses 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What are the transistor counts for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M has 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER has 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER boosts to 2617 MHz, which is higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7900M's 2090 MHz boost clock.

Q: What is the FP32 performance difference?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER delivers 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900M delivers 38.52 TFLOPS. The NVIDIA part has roughly 46% higher FP32 throughput.

Q: How do the two cards rank among all GPUs in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M sits at the 94th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER sits at the 19th percentile. The AMD card's average benchmark score is 97487, versus 3075 for the NVIDIA card.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, codenamed Plum Bonito. It belongs to the Navi Mobile (RX 7000M) generation. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER uses the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB203 chip and belongs to the GeForce 50 series. Both are manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC, but the silicon characteristics diverge significantly.

The AMD chip is larger and denser in absolute terms: 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 109.1M per mm². The NVIDIA chip packs 45,600 million transistors into a 378 mm² die, achieving a higher density of 120.6M per mm². Despite having fewer transistors, the NVIDIA die is more tightly packed per square millimeter.

The compute and geometry pipelines differ markedly. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M carries 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 192 raster operators. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER carries 10752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The NVIDIA card has more than double the shader count but fewer ROPs.

Ray tracing and AI acceleration hardware also differ. The AMD card includes 72 ray accelerators and no dedicated tensor cores. The NVIDIA card includes 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, giving it a dedicated path for AI workloads that the AMD part lacks.

FP16 execution reveals a key architectural split. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M reaches 77.05 TFLOPS of FP16 via a 2:1 ratio to FP32, meaning it doubles throughput by packing two FP16 operations per FP32 cycle. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER runs FP16 at 56.28 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, the same rate as its FP32 output. Clock behavior also differs: the NVIDIA part has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost of 2617 MHz, while the AMD part runs at 1825 MHz base and 2090 MHz boost.

The power and physical envelopes are not comparable. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with a 180 W TDP, no power connectors, and portable-device-dependent display outputs. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER is a dual-slot discrete card with a 415 W TDP, a single 16-pin power connector, and fixed display outputs including 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. The NVIDIA card measures 304 mm in length, 137 mm in height, and 40 mm in width.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The bus interfaces differ: the AMD part uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the NVIDIA part uses PCIe 5.0 x16.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M scores 4201, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER scores 3075. The AMD card wins by 36.6%. This is the only direct comparison recorded, and it favors AMD decisively.

The broader benchmark picture reinforces the AMD advantage. The Radeon RX 7900M also records a Geekbench OpenCL score of 129499 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 158760. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER has no Geekbench entries in the database, so its compute performance outside 3DMark cannot be compared directly.

The average benchmark scores tell a similar story. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M averages 97487 across all recorded tests, placing it at the 94th percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER averages 3075, placing it at the 19th percentile. The gap in aggregate performance is large, but it should be read with the caveat that the NVIDIA card has only one benchmark entry in the database.

Rival positioning in the database also differs sharply. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro VII (avg score 97131, delta 0.4%), the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 (avg score 101872, delta -4.3%), the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 (avg score 92466, delta 5.4%), and the NVIDIA RTX A4500 (avg score 91671, delta 6.3%). These are all high-end workstation and compute cards, and the RX 7900M sits within a few percent of each.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER's nearest rivals are very different. They include the NVIDIA Quadro P1000 (avg score 3163, delta -2.8%), the NVIDIA GeForce 820A (avg score 2983, delta 3.1%), the Intel Arc Pro B60 (avg score 3182, delta -3.4%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M (avg score 2967, delta 3.6%). These are low-end and legacy parts, and the RTX 5080 SUPER is clustered with them based on its single recorded score.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across almost every measured specification.

• Chip and architecture: Navi 31 with RDNA 3.0 versus GB203 with Blackwell 2.0.
• Generation: Navi Mobile (RX 7000M) versus GeForce 50.
• Transistors: 57,700 million versus 45,600 million.
• Die size: 529 mm² versus 378 mm².
• Transistor density: 109.1M per mm² versus 120.6M per mm².
• Base clock: 1825 MHz versus 2295 MHz.
• Boost clock: 2090 MHz versus 2617 MHz.
• Memory clock: 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective versus 2000 MHz with 32 Gbps effective.
• Memory size: 16 GB GDDR6 versus 24 GB GDDR7.
• Memory bandwidth: 576.0 GB/s versus 1.02 TB/s.
• Shading units: 4608 versus 10752.
• TMUs: 288 versus 336.
• ROPs: 192 versus 112.
• RT cores: 72 versus 84.
• Tensor cores: none versus 336.
• Pixel rate: 401.3 GPixel/s versus 293.1 GPixel/s.
• Texture rate: 601.9 GTexel/s versus 879.3 GTexel/s.
• FP32: 38.52 TFLOPS versus 56.28 TFLOPS.
• FP16: 77.05 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 56.28 TFLOPS (1:1).
• TDP: 180 W versus 415 W.
• Slot width: IGP versus dual-slot.
• Power connectors: none versus 1x 16-pin.
• Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 5.0 x16.
• Display outputs: portable device dependent versus 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b.
• Dimensions: not recorded versus 304 mm length, 137 mm height, 40 mm width.
• Release date: 2023-10-18 versus 2025-12-31.
• Launch MSRP: not recorded for AMD; the NVIDIA card lists at 999 USD.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M wins in rasterization throughput and the single recorded 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. Its pixel rate of 401.3 GPixel/s is higher than the NVIDIA card's 293.1 GPixel/s, and its 192 ROPs outnumber the NVIDIA card's 112. The 36.6% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, combined with the 94th percentile ranking and an average benchmark score of 97487, positions it as the stronger choice for DirectX 12 raster workloads.

The AMD card also wins on power efficiency in absolute terms. Its 180 W TDP is far lower than the NVIDIA card's 415 W, and it requires no external power connectors. It is packaged as an IGP, so it fits into portable devices without a discrete slot.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER wins on raw compute density and memory bandwidth. Its FP32 output of 56.28 TFLOPS is higher than the AMD card's 38.52 TFLOPS, and its texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s exceeds the AMD card's 601.9 GTexel/s. The 24 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth is a clear advantage for large datasets and high-resolution texture streaming. The 336 tensor cores provide dedicated AI acceleration hardware that the AMD card lacks entirely.

The NVIDIA card also wins on connectivity and modern interface support. It uses PCIe 5.0 x16, has fixed display outputs with HDMI 2.1b and DisplayPort 2.1b, and comes as a standard dual-slot card with a 16-pin power connector. Its boost clock of 2617 MHz is the highest clock speed recorded between the two.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear split by workload type. For DirectX 12 rasterization performance, the AMD Radeon RX 7900M is the stronger part. It leads the only head-to-head benchmark by 36.6%, holds a 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs, and averages 97487 across its recorded tests. Its higher pixel rate and ROP count align with that rasterization advantage. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER, by contrast, sits at the 19th percentile with an average score of 3075, based on its single 3DMark Steel Nomad result.

For compute-heavy and memory-intensive workloads, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER has the structural advantages. It delivers 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32, 1.02 TB/s of memory bandwidth, 24 GB of GDDR7, and 336 tensor cores. These specifications point to strengths in FP32 compute, AI acceleration, and large memory footprints, even though the recorded benchmark data does not currently demonstrate a direct win for the NVIDIA card.

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is the appropriate choice for scenarios that prioritize raster performance per watt and per unit of physical space. Its 180 W TDP, IGP form factor, and superior 3DMark result make it suited to portable devices where DirectX 12 gaming performance is the priority. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER is the appropriate choice for scenarios that need maximum memory bandwidth, tensor core throughput, and FP32 compute in a discrete dual-slot card, provided the system can support its 415 W TDP and 16-pin power requirement.

The benchmark record currently favors AMD by a wide margin in the one test where both are measured. The NVIDIA card's specification sheet suggests capabilities that the recorded data does not yet confirm. Until additional benchmark entries for the RTX 5080 SUPER appear in the database, the measured performance verdict belongs to the AMD Radeon RX 7900M.