AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT
Rated: 8.5/10
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080
Rated: 8/10
Pros & Cons
GPU | Pros | Cons |
Nvidia RTX 2080 | ✅ Lower price ✅ Good ray tracing performance | ❌Very high power consumption |
AMD RX 7700 XT | ✅Significantly better performance ✅Significantly better power-efficiency | ❌Higher price |
- The difference in performance between the RX 7700 XT and the RTX 2080 was around 27% in our gaming tests, which is a significant difference.
- Despite having a lower performance than the RX 7700 XT, the RTX 2080 consumed around 10% more power, making it significantly less power-efficient.
- If you buy the RTX 2080 used, you can find it for around $380, around 31% cheaper than the RX 7700 XT.
- The difference in price of these cards scales almost linearly to the difference in performance, so the decision on which graphics card to get is solely based on your budget.
Comparison Table
Technical Specs | NVIDIA RTX 2080 | Radeon RX 7700 XT |
Architecture | Turing | RDNA 3.0 |
CUDA Cores | 2944 | 3456 |
Tensor Cores | 368 | NA |
RT Cores | 46 | 54 |
TMUs | 184 | 216 |
ROPs | 64 | 96 |
Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
Memory Speed | 432.0 GB/s | 448.0 GB/s |
MSRP | $699 | $449 |
Best Variants | - | Best RX 7700 XT Graphics Cards |
Architectural Differences
- Clock Speed: The RX 7700 XT boasts a boost clock speed of 2544MHz, much higher than the 1815MHz base clock of the RTX 2080. The base clock of the RX 7700 XT is 1700MHz, while the RTX 2080 idles at 1650MHz.
- VRAM: The Radeon card has a big advantage in terms of memory, with the card having a 12GB VRAM buffer, substantially more the size of the RTX 2080’s 8GB VRAM buffer.
- Process Node: The RX 7700 XT uses a more advanced 5nm processing node, while the RTX 2080 reflects its age with the use of 12nm processing nodes.
- TDP: The RTX 2080 has a lower 250-watt TDP, whereas the RX 7700 XT has a TDP of 263 watts.
- Other Features: The RX 7700 XT and the RTX 2080 are more or less identical in terms of features, as AMD’s open-source approach to developing gaming software lets the RTX card use any feature you could ask for.
The parallels between the graphics cards of Nvidia’s RTX 20 series of cards and the graphics cards released these days are uncanny. In this comparison, we will take a look at the performance of the RX 7800 XT vs RTX 2080 to see if the modern cards fare better than the older cards.
Gaming Benchmarks – 1440p
Now that we know what makes these graphics cards tick, this part of the RX 7700 XT vs RTX 2080 comparison will test both of these cards in various modern titles. We will do this atop a specially designed test bench, the specifications of which you can see below:
Test Bench
- CPU – Core i7-12700KF
- OS – Windows 11
- RAM – XPG Lancer RGB 32GB 7200MT/s DDR5
- Mobo – MSI MAG Z790 Tomohawk DDR5
- SSD – XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 2TB NVMe
- CPU Cooler – Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420 – AIO Water Cooler
- PSU – ENERMAX REVOLUTION D.F. X 1050W
Resident Evil 4
- In our Resident Evil 4 test with maxed settings, the RTX 2080 averaged 70 FPS, significantly lagging behind the RX 7700 XT’s impressive 118 FPS. The RX 7700 XT outperformed by approximately 68% in this scenario.
- The 1% lows of the RTX 2080 were also pretty low at around 58 FPS, while the RX 7700 XT managed minimum framerates of around 101 FPS.
Starfield
- With the high settings and no upscaling applied, the RTX 2080 managed an average framerate of 41 FPS in Starfield, whereas the RX 7700 XT was once again around 60% faster with an average framerate of around 66 FPS.
- The 1% lows of the older graphics card hovered around 32 FPS, while the RX 7700 XT had lows closer to 47 FPS.
Baldur’s Gate
- Using the Ultra preset in Baldur’s Gate gave the RX 7700 XT an average framerate of around 91 FPS, while the RTX 2080 was slowly catching up to it with an average framerate of around 73 FPS, around 24% slower than the AMD card.
- The RTX 2080 managed to maintain 1% lows of around 40 FPS in our performance testing, while the RX 7700 XT had lows of around 65 FPS.
Dying Light 2
- The RTX 2080 had an even 60 FPS average in this game, with most settings set to high, while the RX 7700 XT had an average of 87 FPS, 45% higher than the older graphics card.
- The 1% lows hung around 50 FPS on the RTX card, while the Radeon had lows of around 73 FPS.
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
- The RTX 2080 once again managed to break 60 FPS in Shadow Of The Tomb Raider with all the settings turned up to max, while the RX 7700 XT had an average performance of 68 FPS, only 13% higher than the 2080.
- As for the 1% lows, the RTX 2080 fell down to around 54 FPS in the hard-to-render sections of the game, while the RX 7700 XT had lows of around 63 FPS.
F1 2022
- In our high-settings test of F1 2022, the RTX 2080 averaged around 109 FPS, while the RX 7700 XT outperformed with an average of 139 FPS, showcasing a significant 27% performance difference between the two cards.
- The framerate of the RTX 2080 dropped to around 79 FPS in the 1% lows, whereas the RX 7700 XT had lows of around 109 FPS.
Rainbow Six Siege
- The framerate of the RTX 2080 was around 180 FPS on average in Rainbow Six Siege, whereas the RX 7700 XT had an average framerate of around 193 FPS, only around 7% faster than the RTX 2080.
- Our tests showed the 1% lows of the RX 7700 XT to hover around 153 FPS, while the RTX 2080 had lows closer to around 141 FPS.
Final Fantasy XIV
- Testing out Endwalker at the maximum settings, the RTX 2080 had an average framerate of around 122 FPS, which was around 17% less smooth than the 144 FPS average framerate of the RX 7700 XT.
- The 1% lows of the RTX 2080 fell to around 75 FPS in our tests, whereas the RX 7700 XT had a performance of around 86 FPS.
Overall Gaming Performance
Featured | RTX 2080 | RX 7700 XT |
Average FPS | 89 📈 | 113 📈 |
%1 lows | 66 📉 | 87 📉 |
Winner: AMD's RX 7700 XT |
The RX 7700 XT outperformed the aging RTX 2080 in overall average framerate during our 1440p testing. With a substantial 27% performance advantage, as anticipated due to the RTX 2080’s age. The performance of both cards can be increased by using upscaling and frame interpolation, though the performance delta will remain the same if done.
If your focus is on synthetic benchmarks resembling the usage scenarios these cards are designed for, you’ll be pleased to discover that the RX 7700 XT outperforms the GeForce RTX 2080 by approximately 55.5% in the widely recognized 3DMark synthetic benchmark.
– Shehryar Khan
Power Consumption
Game | RTX 2080 (W) | RX 7700 XT (W) |
Apex Legends | 281 | 267 |
God Of War | 237 | 233 |
Cyberpunk 2077 | 276 | 255 |
Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 264 | 250 |
Horizon Zero Dawn | 287 | 253 |
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider | 276 | 244 |
GTA V | 299 | 264 |
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 | 278 | 229 |
Average Power Consumption | 274 | 249 |
Winner: AMD's RX 7700 XT |
Despite exhibiting significantly improved performance, the RX 7700 XT also demonstrated an impressive feat by consuming approximately 10% less power than its rival, the RTX 2080. There is no doubt that the power efficiency of GPUs has drastically increased in recent years.
Price And Availability
GPU | MSRP | Current Price |
RX 7700 XT | 💲449 | 💲449 |
RTX 2080 | 💲699 | 💲380 |
Difference | 40% | 31% |
On the used market, you can find the RTX 2080 for around $380, even less if you try to find a good deal. The RX 7700 XT, however, is rarely at or below its MSRP because specific card models are a bit more expensive than AMD’s suggested price. The price-to-performance ratio of both cards is quite similar.
What We Recommend
RTX 2080: Despite its age, the RTX 2080 still performs well in 2024, with its main limitation being the modest VRAM buffer for demanding games. Excelling in 1440p gaming, it offers good value on the used market, slightly affecting our final verdict. Overall, the RTX 2080 remains a solid choice for budget gamers.
RX 7700 XT: In the current graphics card landscape, the RX 7700 XT stands out as a well-balanced option, avoiding common scrutiny upon release. With an appealing price-to-performance ratio, manageable power consumption, and robust features, it emerges as a compelling midrange choice in 2024.
To summarize, the decision between the RX 7700 XT vs RTX 2080 lies solely on your budget, as both cards offer the same ratio of price-to-performance at different sides of the spectrum.
FAQs
Because of the recent AI boom, the only way for graphics card prices to go is up.
No, the RTX 2080 has fewer cores in the junction and a lower base performance, meaning it should not board as well in ray-traced gaming.
Yes, AMD’s Fluid Motion Frames Software enables any graphics card to utilize AI frame generation technology.
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