NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Side-by-side benchmark comparison, specs, pricing, and value analysis.
Benchmark Comparison
Gaming figures are average frames per second, measured by Tom's Hardware GPU hierarchy. Geometric mean of 15 games, ultra settings, no upscaling. Ray tracing figures are DXR-enabled at 1440p. A dash means the card was not tested at that resolution. Productivity and Steel Nomad are synthetic scores on their own scales and are not comparable to the fps columns.
Specifications
| Spec | GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB | Radeon RX 7900 XT |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB GDDR6X | 20GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 800 GB/s |
| Shaders | 8960 | 5376 |
| Boost Clock | 1845 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| TDP | 350W | 300W |
| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 3.0 |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 4,797 | 5,616 |
| Best Price | $799 | $680 |
| Value Score | 38/100 | 56/100 |
Verdict
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the clear winner — it offers both better performance and better value.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT: Which Should You Buy?
This is not a close race. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers 125.9 fps at 1440p ultra to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB's 102.3 fps, a 23% gap. Only pick the slower card if it is dramatically cheaper or you need it for a lower resolution.
Pricing settles it: the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is both faster and 18% cheaper at $680 versus $799. There is no scenario in this pairing where the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB is the better buy at these prices.
Two things beyond raw speed: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT carries 20GB against 12GB — the deciding factor at 1440p and above with ray tracing or texture packs, and the reason 12GB cards age badly; and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT draws 50W less (300W versus 350W), which can mean a smaller PSU and a quieter case.