AMD and Nvidia have been at it with each other, trying to one-up each other. This competition between the only two GPU manufacturers in the world is good news for Gamers as this means better performance at lower prices.
I have been comparing many Nvidia and AMD cards on this website. The comparison will be fascinating today as I will do a 6900 XT vs 3080, both flagship-level GPUs from AMD and Nvidia, respectively.
Let us look at how both of these compare, and if you are in the market looking to buy any of these, which one should you consider purchasing?
Technical Specifications
| GPU Name | GeForce RTX 3080 (12GB) | Radeon RX 6900 XT |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Cores | 8960 Units | 5120 Units |
| Base Clock | 1260 MHz | 1825 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1710 MHz | 2250 MHz |
| Video Memory | 12GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 512.0 GB/s |
| Bus Width | 384-bit | 256-bit |
| RT Cores | 70 | 80 |
| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 2.0 |
| Process Size | 8 nm | 7 nm |
| TMUS | 280 | 320 |
| ROPS | 96 | 128 |
| Power Draw | 350W | 300W |
| Recommended PSU | 750W | 700W |
6900 XT vs 3080: Game Benchmarks (4K Ultra)
Let us now get our head-to-head comparison between these two powerhouses of graphics cards. All the games that will be tested are played in 4K at Ultra settings, so these cards can be pushed to their extreme limit.
Testing Setup
- CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K
- CPU Cooler: Corsair iCue H150i RGB PRO
- MOBO: Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero
- GPU 1: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming 12GB
- GPU 2: PowerColor Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB
- RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 5200 MHz
- Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB
- PSU: Corsair RM850x White 80PLUS Gold 850W
Related comparison articles:
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- Rtx 3080 ti vs 2070 super (6 games tested)
- Rtx 3060 vs 3060 ti in 2022 (benchmarks)
- Gtx 1660 ti vs rtx 2060 (5 games tested)
- Lhr vs. non-LHR GPUs (all the differences)
#1: Far Cry 6
The first game on my list today is one of the latest from Ubisoft, Far Cry 6. Walking around the main hubs in this game, the RX 6900 XT gave me an average frame rate of 76 frames per second. The 1% low on this card was 59 frames.
Team green’s offering, the RTX 3080, also held its own in this game at 4K Ultra settings, averaging around 70 frames per second with a 1% low of 56. Both these cards performed very well in this game and held their own very well.
#2: Cyberpunk 2077
The next game on my list is one of the most love-to-be-hate video games, Cyberpunk 2077. It is not a bad game per se, but it was more of a no-man-sky situation here at play.
No man sky did redeem itself in the long run, but let us hope Cyberpunk does so. Anyways testing this game on AMD’s RX 6900 XT, I get an average frame rate of 49 frames per second with a 1% low of 41.
On the other hand, the RTX 3080 performs just within the margin of error better than the 6900 XT, as it gave me an average frame rate of 50 with a 1% low of 42 frames. In Cyberpunk 2077, these cards performed almost identically.
#3: Resident Evil Village
Next up is Resident Evil Village, which scored an average of 115 frames per second on the 6900 XT, while the 1% low here in this game was 110 frames.
The RTX 3080 also performs a little better, averaging around 117 frames per second with a 1% low of 111 frames per second. The performance difference observed here can also be attributed to the margin of error.
#4: Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn was one of those games I waited a long time for its release on the PC but put it immediately back down after release as it was in an unplayable state back then with severe micro stuttering and crash issues being rampant. But the developers did get on top of it, and most of the problems have been resolved here.
Putting my RX 6900 XT through its paces by running this game at the highest settings available to me, I got an average frame rate of 67 with a 1% low of 60 frames per second.
The RTX 3080 remains within the margin of error with an average frame rate of 68, with the 1% low sitting at 68 frames per second.
#5: Red Dead Redemption 2
The final game on my list today is arguably one of the best games ever made, Red Dead Redemption 2. The RX 6900 XT gave me an average frame rate of 86 frames per second with a 1% low of 70 frames.
The RTX 3080, on the other hand, was only shy by one frame with an average frame rate of 82 frames per second. The 1% low observed here was 82 fps.
6900 XT vs 3080: Pricing And Availability
The Ethereum blockchain recently switched from the “proof of work” authentication to the “proof of stake,” which effectively killed GPU mining for at least the time being. Used graphics cards are flooding the markets from AMD and Nvidia, and the prices have gone down significantly.
The RX 6900 XT has an MSRP of $999, and the RTX 3080 is $699 new; however, if you scour the internet, especially in the used market places like eBay and craigslist, you are going to find many cards that are now selling below MSRP as of September 2022.
One thing that I would like to mention before you go in and buy the first card is that many cards available on the 2nd hand marketplaces are those used for cryptocurrency mining, making them a risky purchase. Therefore you should do your due diligence before pulling the trigger on a GPU.
6900 XT vs 3080: Ray Tracing Performance
The RX 6900 XT and the RTX 3080 are both GPUs which can play games with Ray Tracing enabled. However, this is a giant resource hog and can tank your frame rates significantly, so you must manage your expectations while gaming with that setting enabled.
This, however, does not mean that both these cards cannot do Ray Tracing, and both of them can do it and can do it surprisingly well. The 6900 XT has 80 RT cores, while the 3080 has 68 RT cores.
Most of the games I played on these cards with Ray tracing enabled gave me a playable experience, with many games hitting the coveted 60 frames per second target at 1080p. However, both cards are extremely powerful and can hit triple-digit frame rates with identical settings with RTX off.
6900 XT vs 3080: DLSS And FSR
One of the best features I have seen in the latest GPUs from both Nvidia and AMD is DLSS and FSR, respectively. They have different names, but effectively both do almost the same thing.
The game’s resolution is reduced to make it less of a burden on the graphics card but then upscaled using AI, making that game look almost as good as the native resolution.
I would give props to AMD for making FSR available to all GPUs, irrespective of Nvidia or AMD, while Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0 is not even available to other Nvidia GPUs except the 30 series.
DLSS and FSR worked as they should in many games, the most notable being Red Dead Redemption 2, where I got a 20 percent boost in frame rate with either of them enabled.
6900 XT vs 3080: Features And Architecture
The RX 6900 XT belongs to the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process size. It has all the latest features from AMD, including FSR and FreeSync. It supports the Direct X 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3, and Shader Model 6.5.
The RTX 3080, on the other hand, comes from the Ampere lineup of Nvidia GPUs, which were built on the 8 nm process.
It has all the bells and whistles available from Nvidia, like GSync, Shadowplay, Geforce Experience, DLSS 2.0, and many more. It supports Direct X 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 3.0, Vulkan 1.3, CUDA 8.6, and Shader Model 6.6.
6900 XT vs 3080: Video Output And Ports
In this section, I will look into how many ports both the cards have and how many monitors I can run on one of these graphics cards.
The 6900 XT has a single HDMI 2.1 port, two DisplayPort 1.4a, and one USB Type-C port. This makes it so that it can run four monitors simultaneously with no issues at all.
If you are gaming at 1080p, this graphics card will give you great performance with all the monitors running simultaneously.
The RTX 3080 can also run four monitors simultaneously, as here we have the same single HDMI 2.1 output but three instead of two DisplayPort 1.4a. There is no USB-C port available on this card
6900 XT vs 3080: Clock Rate, VRAM, TDP
Now let us get into some technical details about these cards. The 6900 XT is a beefy and power-hungry card with a TDP of 300 watts, and AMD suggests that you run it off a 700-watt power supply.
The 6900 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, which runs on a 256-bit bus at 512 GB/s. The memory clock here is 2000 Mhz, and this GPU is clocked at 1825 Mhz as the base clock, which boosts to 2015 Mhz while gaming and boosts to over 2250 while performing more intensive tasks.
The RTX 3080 is a flagship-level card which means it also needs a lot of juice to power it, with its TDP being 320 watts, and Nvidia suggests a PSU of at least 700 watts to run it properly.
The 3080 has 10 GB GDDR6X VRAM, which runs on a 320 Bit bus at 760.3 GB/s. The memory clock of this card is 1188 MHz. Moving on to the clock speeds, the 3080 has a base clock speed of 1440 Mhz which boosts up to 1710 Mhz while doing intensive tasks.
My Final Thoughts On It!
The 6900 XT, when it is compared to the 3080, becomes a fascinating comparison. Just a few months ago, when both of these cards were unavailable in the market due to crypto miners swooping them, I would have had no problem recommending any of these cards whenever you can get a hand on them.
However, things have significantly changed, and the 6900 XT at 999$ no longer makes sense in a world where the 3080 is available at 699$.
The performance is almost identical in both cards, and the only thing you get from AMD here is a larger frame buffer. So If you are in the market for any of these, I would have no problem recommending the 3080 to you.
