AMD Radeon RX 6800 vs NVIDIA TITAN V Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark split between the NVIDIA TITAN V and AMD Radeon RX 6800 is unusually clear-cut, with each card dominating entirely different workloads. The TITAN V takes 4 of the 10 head-to-head tests, and it wins those by enormous margins. The RX 6800 takes 6 wins, but its advantages are generally more modest in percentage terms, with one notable exception.

The TITAN V is the compute and API-forward card. Its most striking result is in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 157,265 against the RX 6800's 24,508, a 541.7% advantage. That is not a typo; the TITAN V is over six times faster in this specific compute workload. It also wins Geekbench Vulkan by 32.2% (152,117 vs 115,107) and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 by 11.8% (3,565 vs 3,188). The fourth TITAN V win is Passmark DirectX 10, where it scores 153 versus 128, a 19.5% edge.

The RX 6800 wins the remaining six tests, but they are clustered in legacy DirectX and general graphics workloads. Its largest win is Passmark DirectX 11, where it scores 214 against the TITAN V's 152, a 29% advantage. It also wins Passmark DirectX 9 (257 vs 213, a 17.1% lead), Passmark DirectX 12 (89 vs 81, a 9% lead), Passmark G3D (22,067 vs 19,805, a 10.3% lead), Passmark GPU Compute (10,864 vs 9,263, a 14.7% lead), and Passmark G2D (990 vs 937, a 5.4% lead).

The pattern is clear: the TITAN V dominates modern, low-level compute APIs and DX12 load, while the RX 6800 is stronger in rasterized DirectX 11 and 9 workloads, plus general 3D performance. The RX 6800 also holds a higher average benchmark score percentile, sitting at the 75th percentile of all GPUs compared to the TITAN V's 79th, but the TITAN V has a higher average benchmark score of 34,355 versus 30,095 for the RX 6800. That apparent contradiction is explained by the extreme OpenCL outlier; the TITAN V's average is inflated by its massive compute lead, while the RX 6800's more consistent wins across multiple tests keep its percentile respectable.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The TITAN V is built on NVIDIA's Volta architecture, using the GV100 chip fabricated on TSMC's 12 nm process. The RX 6800 uses AMD's RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 21 chip on TSMC's 7 nm node. The process difference is significant: 12 nm versus 7 nm, which directly explains the transistor density gap. The TITAN V packs 21,100 million transistors across an 815 mm² die, yielding 25.9 million transistors per square millimeter. The RX 6800 packs 26,800 million transistors into a smaller 520 mm² die, achieving 51.5 million transistors per square millimeter, roughly double the density.

Memory architecture is another major divergence. The TITAN V uses 12 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus, delivering 651.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6800 uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The TITAN V has the wider bus and higher raw bandwidth, but the RX 6800 has 4 GB more capacity. The TITAN V's memory clock is listed at 848 MHz with 1696 Mbps effective, while the RX 6800 runs at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective.

Compute resources differ substantially. The TITAN V has 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 640 tensor cores. The RX 6800 has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 60 ray tracing cores. The TITAN V has no dedicated ray tracing cores, while the RX 6800 has no tensor cores. The TITAN V's FP32 throughput is 14.90 TFLOPS, while the RX 6800 reaches 16.17 TFLOPS. Both list FP16 at a 2:1 ratio, with the TITAN V at 29.80 TFLOPS and the RX 6800 at 32.33 TFLOPS.

Clock speeds favor the RX 6800 significantly. Its base clock is 1700 MHz, with a boost of 2105 MHz and a game clock of 1815 MHz. The TITAN V runs at 1200 MHz base and 1455 MHz boost. The RX 6800 also has higher pixel and texture rates: 202.1 GPixel/s versus 139.7 GPixel/s for the TITAN V, and 505.2 GTexel/s versus 465.6 GTexel/s.

API support differs as well. The RX 6800 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the TITAN V is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 6800 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the TITAN V uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Both are dual-slot cards with a 250 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU, and both use 8-pin power connectors, though the TITAN V uses one 6-pin and one 8-pin while the RX 6800 uses two 8-pins. The RX 6800 also has a USB Type-C output and two DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the TITAN V has three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The biggest single delta in the entire comparison is Geekbench OpenCL. The TITAN V scores 157,265, and the RX 6800 scores 24,508. The 541.7% delta means the TITAN V is more than six times faster. This is a compute-bound workload that clearly favors the Volta architecture's tensor cores and HBM2 memory. No other test comes close to this margin.

The second-largest TITAN V win is Geekbench Vulkan at 32.2%. The TITAN V scores 152,117 against the RX 6800's 115,107. This is a modern low-level API test where the TITAN V's architecture shows clear superiority. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test also goes to the TITAN V, 3,565 versus 3,188, an 11.8% lead. The Passmark DirectX 10 test rounds out the TITAN V wins, 153 versus 128, a 19.5% advantage.

The RX 6800's largest win is Passmark DirectX 11, where it scores 214 against 152, a 29% lead. This is a significant margin in a legacy DirectX workload. The Passmark DirectX 9 test also favors the RX 6800, 257 versus 213, a 17.1% lead. The Passmark GPU Compute test shows the RX 6800 ahead at 10,864 versus 9,263, a 14.7% margin, which is interesting given the TITAN V's massive OpenCL lead; it suggests the Passmark compute test uses a different workload profile. The Passmark G3D test goes to the RX 6800, 22,067 versus 19,805, a 10.3% lead. The Passmark DirectX 12 test is close, 89 versus 81, a 9% lead for the RX 6800. The Passmark G2D test is the narrowest RX 6800 win, 990 versus 937, a 5.4% margin.

The overall win count is 6 for the RX 6800 and 4 for the TITAN V, but the magnitude of the TITAN V's OpenCL win is so large that it dominates the average score calculation. The TITAN V's average benchmark score is 34,355, while the RX 6800's is 30,095. The nearest rivals for the TITAN V include the NVIDIA RTX A1000 at 34,207 (0.4% higher) and the AMD Radeon HD 7970 at 34,541 (0.5% lower), placing it in a tight cluster. The RX 6800's nearest rivals include the RTX 3070 Ti at 29,945 (0.5% lower) and the RTX 2080 Ti at 29,783 (1% lower), with the RX 6700 slightly ahead at 30,433.

FAQ

Q: Which card is better for compute workloads?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN V is dramatically better in compute. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 157,265 is 541.7% higher than the RX 6800's 24,508. It also wins Geekbench Vulkan by 32.2%.

Q: Which card is better for legacy DirectX games?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800 wins all legacy DirectX tests. It leads by 29% in DirectX 11, 17.1% in DirectX 9, and 9% in DirectX 12.

Q: How do their memory configurations compare?

A: The TITAN V has 12 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus with 651.3 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6800 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The TITAN V has higher bandwidth, but the RX 6800 has more capacity.

Q: Which card has higher clock speeds?

A: The RX 6800 has substantially higher clocks: 1700 MHz base, 2105 MHz boost, and 1815 MHz game clock. The TITAN V runs at 1200 MHz base and 1455 MHz boost.

Q: What is the difference in transistor density?

A: The RX 6800 achieves 51.5 million transistors per square millimeter on TSMC's 7 nm process, while the TITAN V achieves 25.9 million per square millimeter on 12 nm. The RX 6800 packs more transistors (26,800 million) into a smaller die (520 mm²) than the TITAN V (21,100 million, 815 mm²).

Q: Which card has ray tracing support?

A: Only the RX 6800 has dedicated ray tracing cores, with 60 RT cores. The TITAN V has no RT cores but includes 640 tensor cores, which the RX 6800 lacks.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA TITAN V | AMD Radeon RX 6800 |

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

| Architecture | Volta | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process Node | 12 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 21,100 million | 26,800 million |

| Die Size | 815 mm² | 520 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 25.9M / mm² | 51.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1200 MHz | 1700 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1455 MHz | 2105 MHz |

| Game Clock | None | 1815 MHz |

| Memory Size | 12 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 3072 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 651.3 GB/s | 512.0 GB/s |

| Memory Clock | 848 MHz (1696 Mbps effective) | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) |

| Shading Units | 5120 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 320 | 240 |

| ROPs | 96 | 96 |

| RT Cores | None | 60 |

| Tensor Cores | 640 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 139.7 GPixel/s | 202.1 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 465.6 GTexel/s | 505.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 14.90 TFLOPS | 16.17 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 29.80 TFLOPS (2:1) | 32.33 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 2x 8-pin |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Height | 112 mm (4.4 inches) | 120 mm (4.7 inches) |

| Release Date | 2017-12-06 | 2020-10-27 |

Both cards share a 250 W TDP, 600 W suggested PSU, dual-slot width, 267 mm length, 40 mm width, and 96 ROPs.

The Verdict

The data points to two very different buyers. The NVIDIA TITAN V is the compute specialist. Its 541.7% OpenCL lead and 32.2% Vulkan advantage make it the clear choice for anyone running compute-heavy workloads, CUDA-accelerated tasks, or modern low-level API applications. The 640 tensor cores are a feature the RX 6800 simply cannot match. The TITAN V also wins the only DX12 test in the suite, 3DMark Steel Nomad, by 11.8%. If your priority is raw compute throughput, the TITAN V is the only option in this comparison.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 is the better all-round graphics card. It wins 6 of 10 tests, including all legacy DirectX workloads and the Passmark G3D and GPU Compute tests. The 29% lead in DirectX 11 is particularly relevant for older game libraries. The RX 6800 also has 16 GB of memory versus 12 GB, higher clock speeds, and a more modern 7 nm process with better transistor density. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate support and ray tracing cores give it architectural features that the TITAN V lacks entirely.

The average benchmark scores tell a nuanced story. The TITAN V has the higher average at 34,355, but that figure is heavily skewed by its extreme OpenCL result. The RX 6800 has a lower average at 30,095, yet it wins more individual tests. The percentile rankings confirm this: the TITAN V sits at the 79th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 6800 sits at the 75th.

For a gaming-focused build, the RX 6800 is the data-supported choice. It wins the rasterization tests that matter for most games, has more memory, and offers ray tracing. For a workstation or compute-focused setup, the TITAN V is unmatched in this comparison, provided the workload aligns with its OpenCL and Vulkan strengths. The TITAN V's launch MSRP was 2,999 USD, while the RX 6800's was 579 USD, but the benchmark data justifies that gap only in compute scenarios. For everything else, the RX 6800 delivers the more consistent performance profile.