With the discharge of AMD’s RDNA 3 RX 7900 XTX, Nvidia has some critical competitors!
The GPU panorama has been a tricky one to navigate the previous few years, with perpetual “out of stock” points and more and more excessive costs.
Looking to place the final technology behind them, Nvidia launched first, with the RTX 4090. Almost universally praised for its efficiency, its excessive beginning worth nonetheless left many avid gamers out.
The $1,199 RTX 4080 got here subsequent, and hit some bitter notes with its pricing. AMD lastly responded with the $899 RX 7900 XT and $999 RX 7900 XTX, the latter of which is geared to go head-to-head with the RTX 4080.
We’ll talk about pricing, availability, efficiency, and essential issues to concentrate on. Which of those two graphical powerhouses deserve your consideration? Let’s discover out!
The Nvidia RTX 4080 is way bigger than the most recent Radeon fashions.
Thiago Trevisan
Nvidia RTX 4080 vs. AMD 7900 XTX: Price and availability
$1,199 is what it takes to get the most affordable RTX 4080, a worth our very personal Brad Chacos was not very keen on in his review—and he’s proper!
The market has spoken, and the supply of the RTX 4080 is the very best we’ve seen of any not too long ago launched GPU. RTX 4090? Sold out shortly and stays elusive. The RTX 4080 has been extra constantly obtainable, however it could actually typically be sold-out, too, relying on the retailer that you just’re visiting.
That’s the place AMD hopes to steal a few of Nvidia’s thunder, with the $999 7900 XTX. A financial savings of $200 is nothing to scoff at, particularly if efficiency can be shut. The one downside is availability, nevertheless. The 7900 XTX has been way more troublesome to seek out than the RTX 4080, because it’s possible extra interesting at its worth level and maybe much less had been shipped.
The $899 7900 XT is extra readily discovered, nevertheless – however $100 extra for the XTX is a no brainer with the elevated efficiency.
Who wins this spherical? So far, the nod goes to the 7900 XTX – whereas the RTX 4080 will not be an excellent purchase at $1199, it’s simpler to seek out – even whether it is typically barely greater than that MSRP for some AIB fashions. The $999 7900 XTX is a a lot better worth however stays troublesome to seek out throughout the first few weeks of its launch.
If the state of affairs modifications and each can be found at their MSRP costs, nevertheless, the clear winner would be the 7900 XTX in the event you can snag one.
Nvidia RTX 4080 vs. AMD 7900 XTX: Performance
Thiago Trevisan
Please ignore the RTX 4090’s lead in (nearly) each graph the place it isn’t CPU bottlenecked. The RTX 4080 and 7900 XTX have fairly the battle occurring beneath. Looking at a preferred title equivalent to Call of Duty: MW2, the 7900 XTX will get a whopping 121fps at 4K, demolishing the RTX 4080’s 98fps. It even beats that RTX 4090 we informed you to disregard earlier! The story continues no matter decision, and it’s clear this recreation has an apparent liking for the AMD GPUs.
Keep in thoughts that AMD provides us 24GB of GDDR6 VRAM versus 16GB of GDDR6X (quicker) VRAM within the RTX 4080. Not an enormous deal at present, however finally it might begin to matter extra as resolutions improve.
Thiago Trevisan
With ray tracing off, in Cyberpunk 2077, the 7900 XTX as soon as once more does effectively: 70.4fps versus the RTX 4080’s 59.7fps. Even the RTX 4090 isn’t fully secure right here, both. AMD appears to typically do higher at 1440p, and Nvidia at 4K—however It can travel. It’s clear that the 7900 XTX has the chops to each meet, and beat, the RTX 4080 in the case of rasterized gaming prowess.
Brad Chacos
With a time period that AMD most likely doesn’t like to listen to on the dinner desk—ray tracing—how do these GPUs stack up? Here is the place the desk turns, and Nvidia pulls forward confidently.
Brad Chacos
Once once more Cyberpunk 2077—however now with ray tracing on—the RTX 4080 now will get 29.1fps at 4K, and the 7900 XTX an unplayable 20.7fps. Even the RTX 4090 can barely push past 42fps. Only when turning on DLSS or FSR will we see playable body charges from each GPUs—and the efficiency between each tightens.
When DLSS 3 and body technology enter the chat, the Nvidia RTX 4080 pulls forward additional in video games that assist this. For instance, in testing Flight Simulator 2020 at Ultrawide 5120x1440p, the RTX 4080 jumped from 69fps to 151fps with DLSS 3. By comparability, the 7900 XTX solely had minimal good points and stayed underneath 100fps even with FSR balanced, displaying the good thing about Nvidia’s DLSS 3. We’ll want FSR 3 earlier than making a greater comparability.
Who wins the efficiency spherical? It should go to the AMD 7900 XTX, which on common was capable of finest the RTX 4080 throughout all kinds of video games, even at 4K. The RTX 4080 remains to be forward in ray-tracing efficiency, particularly with its superior DLSS 3—so in case your video games make heavy use of ray tracing or reap the benefits of DLSS 3, the winner right here will be the RTX 4080 for you. Overall, particularly at $999, the 7900 XTX places up a profitable effort.
Nvidia RTX 4080 vs. AMD 7900 XTX: Power and different issues to know
Nvidia’s RTX 4080 has a TDP of 320W, which total lands it because the extra environment friendly GPU versus the 7900 XTX at 355W. This has some clear advantages—equivalent to in quieter efficiency and decrease thermals. Those large RTX 4080 coolers have it simple in comparison with the RTX 4090!
The RTX 4080 does have the 12VHPWR adapter, and no, we’re not conscious of any points equivalent to had been skilled on a small variety of RTX 4090s. AMD’s 7900 XTX nonetheless has both twin 8-pin or triple 8-pin commonplace energy, which could be a plus if you wish to keep away from the adapter.
On common, the RTX 4080 ought to be bigger when it comes to its cooler than most 7900 XTX playing cards, particularly when evaluating AMD Reference vs. Nvidia Founders version. The PowerColoration 7900 XTX Red Devil pictured is thicker than the RTX 4080 right here, so take into accout some fashions could be simply as giant!
Nvidia’s drivers are sometimes very steady and bugs get squashed shortly—whereas AMD’s new RDNA 3 might have just a few extra rising pains. Brad Chacos factors out he encountered quite a lot of (minimal) bugs, which appeared barely larger than regular. It’s a brand new GPU structure, so it’s anticipated—however AMD should keep in mind that Nvidia is praised by avid gamers for its drivers, so it higher act shortly!
Radeon RX 7900 XT.
Thiago Trevisan
Nvidia RTX 4080 vs. AMD 7900 XTX: The Verdict
Who takes residence the cake? The AMD 7900 XTX. First, the pricing is a large plus—$999 makes it not less than a a lot better worth than the RTX 4080’s $1,199. To sweeten the deal, the 7900 XTX is quicker on common too—in every little thing however ray tracing.
AMD additionally has some competing applied sciences equivalent to FSR that look to convey much more efficiency parity with Nvidia’s DLSS, alongside numerous perks present in AMD’s software program. Nvidia nonetheless maintains the lead on the software program facet and with ray tracing, nevertheless.
The present GPU market isn’t nice proper now, and availability remains to be a problem. Not to say that it’s arduous to categorise a $999 GPU as a “good value,” however that’s the place we’re at present. At least comparatively, it appears like a a lot better buy than the RTX 4080 at this level. Don’t be seduced by the $899 7900 XT, both—that $100 extra for the XTX provides you considerably higher efficiency. That’s our winner: AMD 7900 XTX!