NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB
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 9060 XT 8 GB |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB GDDR6X | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 320 GB/s |
| Shaders | 8960 | 2048 |
| Boost Clock | 1845 MHz | 3130 MHz |
| TDP | 350W | 160W |
| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 4.0 |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 4,797 | 3,719 |
| Best Price | $799 | $299 |
| Value Score | 38/100 | 87/100 |
Verdict
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB is faster but costs more. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB offers better value for money. Your choice depends on budget vs. performance priority.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB: Which Should You Buy?
This is not a close race. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB delivers 102.3 fps at 1440p ultra to the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB's 77.9 fps, a 31% gap. Only pick the slower card if it is dramatically cheaper or you need it for a lower resolution.
You pay a 167% premium for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB ($799 against $299) to get 31% more frames. The extra frames do not keep up with the extra cost — the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is the better value here.
Two things beyond raw speed: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB carries 12GB against 8GB — the deciding factor at 1440p and above with ray tracing or texture packs, and the reason 8GB cards age badly; and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB draws 190W less (160W versus 350W), which can mean a smaller PSU and a quieter case; and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is 3 years newer (2025 versus 2022), so it gets longer driver support and newer upscaling and frame generation features.