NVIDIA’s new RTX 4080 Super GPU is finally here. In our RTX 4080 Super review, we learned that it’s not really “super” in performance. It performed similarly to the discontinued RTX 4080 (non-Super). But, what’s “super” about the RTX 4080 Super, aside from its branding, is its starting retail price of $999, a $200 price reduction from the vanilla 4080. With a starting price of $999, this puts the RTX 4080 Super in the same starting price as AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX. So, in this article, let’s compare the RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XTX and find out which GPU offers the better value.
GeForce RTX 4080 Super vs Radeon RX 7900 XTX
The RTX 4080 Super GPU
The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER uses an AD104 GPU, like the non-Super, with a slightly higher CUDA core count of 10,240 cores. It provides 52 FP32 Shader-TFLOPS of power for rendering traditional rasterized graphics. It also has 320 4th generation Tensor cores offering 836 AI TOPS with sparsity for AI processing and DLSS, 80 3rd generation Ada RT Cores capable of 121 RT-TFLOPS for powering next-generation ray-traced graphics. Like most of its improvements, the 4080 Super also got a minor bump on its boost clock speed.
It still features 16GB of GDDR6X for its VRAM, but the clock speed, texture rate, data rate, and memory bandwidth also got a tiny bump. The increase is so minor it looks like the RTX 4080 Super is just an overclocked RTX 4080.
The RX 7900 XTX GPU
On the other hand, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX is based on AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture and uses a chiplet design. AMD uses a 5nm fab process for the Graphics Compute Die and a 6nm for the Memory Cache Die. It has a Navi 31 GPU with 6,144 Stream processors and 24GB of GDDR6 memory. We can’t directly compare the GPU’s specs, one to one, but they are comparable in some areas.
AMD’s RX 7900 XTX GPU features second-generation ray tracing technology, a dual media engine that can decode and encode 8K60 for HEVC, and supports AV1 encoding. Meanwhile, NVIDIA is already using 3rd generation RT cores for ray tracing, 8th gen NVIDIA encoder (NVENC) with dual AV1 video encoders, features DLSS 3 AI frame generation technology, and more.
NVIDIA has DLSS 3 AI Frame Generation and DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction, aside from the DLSS upscaling technology. Conversely, AMD has FSR upscaling technology and the newly released AMD Fluid Frame Motions (AFMF), a driver-level frame generation technology. It’s still very new, and NVIDIA is still in the lead when it comes to these graphics enhancement technologies.
Below are the specifications of the RTX 4080 Super and RX 7900 XTX GPUs. After that, let’s get straight to the benchmark results.
RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XTX Specs Comparison
| Specs | GeForce RTX 4080 Super | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Process | TSMC 4N NVIDIA Custom Process | GCD: TSMC 5nm MCD: TSMC 6nm |
| Transistor Count | 45.9 billion | 58 billion |
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | RDNA 3 |
| GPU | AD103 | Navi 31 |
| CUDA Cores / Stream Processors | 10240 | 6144 |
| RT Cores / Ray Accelerators | 80 (3rd Gen) | 96 |
| Texture Units | 320 | 384 |
| ROPs | 112 | 192 |
| Boost Clock | 2550 MHz | 2500 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 11500 MHz | 2500 MHz |
| Effective Memory | 23 Gbps | 20 Gbps |
| L2 / Infinity Cache | 65.5 MB | 96MB |
| VRAM Size/Type | 16 GB GDDR6X | 24 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Interface | 256-bit | 384-bit |
| Total Memory Bandwidth | 736 GB/s | 960 GB/s |
| Texture Rate | 816 Gigatexels/sec | 959.6 Gigatexels/sec |
| Connectors | 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI | 2x DisplayPort, USB-C, HDMI |
| Minimum Power Supply | 750 Watts | 750 Watts |
| TGP / TDP | 320 Watts | 355 Watts |
| PCI Express Interface | Gen 4 | Gen 4 |
| Release Date | January 2024 | December 2022 |
| Launch Price | $999 | $999 |
Check the latest pricing and availability: (#ad)
GeForce RTX 4080 Super graphics cards check at Amazon here.
Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards on Amazon here.
GeForce RTX 4080 Super vs Radeon RX 7900 XTX Benchmarks
RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XTX – Synthetic Benchmarks
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX outperformed the RTX 4080 Super on the Fire Strike benchmark suite. However, its lead diminished during Time Spy benchmarks. And finally, the RTX 4080 Super was faster than the RX 7900 XTX on Port Royal and Speed Way benchmarks. It was expected since Port Royal and Speed Way benchmarks involve ray tracing, and AMD’s GPUs are still weak when it comes to ray tracing.
Next, let’s see how the two GPUs compare with actual games.
RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XTX – Game Benchmarks
I only tested the RTX 4080 Super and RX 7900 XTX in 1400p and 4K 2160p resolutions. These graphics cards will perform better at higher resolutions. Most of the games are benchmarked using traditional rasterization. But there are a few games where I enabled ray tracing with upscaling technology set to quality. Below are the results I got:
In game titles that run using traditional rasterization, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX is either on par with the RTX 4080 Super or performs a bit better than the latter. Call of Duty loves AMD GPUs, and as seen from the results above, the RX 7900 XTX is substantially faster than the RTX 4080 Super in this game.
However, the RX 7900 XTX is noticeably slower when ray tracing is involved than the RTX 4080 Super. For example, in Cyberpunk 2077 and the Witcher 3 Next Gen, the RTX 4080 Super performed faster than the RX 7900 XTX.
Benchmark Summary
Combining these results shows us that the RX 7900 XTX and the RTX 4080 Super performed similarly. Note that I didn’t include the results of the Witcher 3 running with ray tracing enabled. Instead, I used the rasterization results. However, I did include the Cyberpunk 2077 result with ray tracing to balance AMD’s lead in Call of Duty Modern Warfare II.
Depending on the games tested, one GPU may perform slightly faster than the other. But generally speaking, they are both in a 1% to 3% difference, with the RX 7900 XTX being generally slightly faster in pure rasterization only.
But when ray tracing is involved, AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX can’t keep up with the RTX 4080 Super. Not only can the RX 7900 XTX not keep up in terms of frame rate, but the quality of its upscaling solution and frame generation still needs to catch up to NVIDIA’s. The difference in image quality is very noticeable.
Price Difference and Availability
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX and GeForce RTX 4080 Super come with a starting price of $999. However, the RTX 4080 Super was just released a couple of days ago, and I don’t see a lot of 4080 Super cards selling at MSRP yet. I think retailers want to get rid of the old RTX 4080 stocks first. Either way, do not buy an RTX 4080 Super if it is above $1,200 USD.
On the other hand, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX has been in the market for quite some time now. There are plenty of 7900 XTX cards in the market, and we can even see some models selling slightly below the starting price, around $930 to $950 (discounted price).
Check the latest pricing and availability: (#ad)
GeForce RTX 4080 Super graphics cards check at Amazon here.
Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards on Amazon here.
NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super vs AMD RX 7900 XTX Conclusion
With NVIDIA releasing the RTX 4080 Super at a lower starting price, matching the RX 7900 XTX, this will be a tough decision for would-be buyers. Both are equally matched when it comes to rasterization performance and retail price. The RX 7900 XTX has a slight lead in rasterized games but only by a few percent on average.
Since both GPUs match performance and price equally, I’ll highlight their advantages instead. From there, depending on your needs or applications, it’s up to you which would benefit you most.
Advantages of the RTX 4080 Super over the RX 7900 XTX:
- The RTX 4080 Super has far better ray tracing, upscaling, and frame generation technology.
- It is more power efficient than the RX 7900 XTX.
- It also has a better video encoder, with dual NVENC and support for AV1.
- NVIDIA GPUs perform better and faster in AI, ML, or DL applications.
Advantages of the RX 7900 XTX over the RTX 4080 Super:
- The RX 7900 XTX is slightly faster than the RTX 4080 Super in pure rasterization.
- Some RX 7900 XTX cards are selling below MSRP or are discounted.
- It doesn’t use the new 16-pin 12VHPWR connector.
So far, these are the things I can think of. Between the two GPUs, I’d pick the RTX 4080 Super, provided that it is selling at MSRP or close to it. Some would still prefer the RX 7900 XTX since some cards are slightly discounted, and it performs better in pure rasterization.
AMD should also start to discount or mark down the price of the RX 7900 XTX to make it more attractive. NVIDIA’s added technology or features are simply superior to AMD’s. And it is pretty hard to justify the RX 7900 XTX with its current price if their gaming performance is similar overall.
Sure, some gamers do not care about ray tracing, upscaling, or even fake frames. But fake frames aside, more and more games are adopting ray tracing or path tracing. And I don’t think it is going away. Think of it like PhysX back in the day. Some gamers don’t like it because it’s heavy on the GPU. But now, can you imagine a game without PhysX?
At the end of the day, if you still want to get an AMD card, you can check out some of the best RX 7900 XTX cards here.
