NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 vs AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 is a high-end desktop graphics card utilizing the GB203 chip based on the Blackwell architecture. The model offers 10,752 CUDA cores (84 SMs), and 16 GB GDDR7 graphics memory with a 256-bit memory bus (960 GB/s). The base clock of the GPU (reference model) is specified at 2.30 GHz, while the boost clock can reach 2.62 GHz.

Architecture

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 features new Tensor (336, 5th Gen) and RT-cores (84, 4th Gen), with 1801 AI TOPS and 171 TFLOPS performance respectively. Blackwell architecture is the first to feature the new DLSS 4 Multi Frame generation, which, thanks to enhanced AI capabilities can generate more frames per second while using less memory and delivering better picture quality. Nvidia also managed to improve the performance and output quality of DLSS, Frame Generation, and Ray Reconstruction features (also available for the previous RTX 4000 series). Additionally, the new models now support Reflex 2 low latency mode and Frame Warp.

Performance

Thanks to the new Tensor and RT-cores, as well as some bump in CUDA cores, the card is promised (by Nvidia) to offer as much as 2x better performance compared to the previous RTX 4080 (thanks to the new DLSS 4 MFG feature). The RTX 5080 is expected to be one of the fastest graphics cards of 2025 and, presumably will deliver good performance in games even at 8K.

Our tests have shown that RTX 5080 is 6% faster than the closest Radeon RX 7900 XTX in synthetic benchmarks and outshines the previous 4080 by 19%. The same result can be seen in professional applications. In games, RTX 5080 is 33% faster than the previous RTX 4080.   

Power consumption

According to Nvidia, the GB203 chip is manufactured using the modern 4N FinFET process at TSMC and is specified with a TGP (Total Graphics Power) of 360 watts (40 W higher than RTX 4080). Nvidia now also specifies maximum GPU temperature, which is stated at 88 ℃ for RTX 5080. The model also requires at least 850W PSU.

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is a high-end graphics card based on AMD's Navi 48 (N48 XTX) chip, featuring 64 CUs (32 WGP). The model will feature 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM with a 256-bit bus and 64 MB of total cache.

Performance

Our tests show that the card is 6% to 11% faster overall than the smaller-grade RX 9070 in professional applications and benchmarks. The gaming performance of the RX 9070 XT is 11% higher than that of the smaller model overall. Quite interestingly, the RTX 4080 Super fits right between two Radeon sister models (9% slower than the 9070 XT and 3% faster than the 9070). With that said, the standard RTX 4080 is 13% slower than the RX 9070.

Power consumption

The Radeon RX 9070 XT requires 304 watts; however, custom versions of the card can feature up to 330 watts of power.