Nvidia RTX 4080 Vs. AMD RX 7900 XTX/XT: Which One To Buy?

Nvidia and AMD have both revealed their next-gen GPUs. In a recent event, AMD announced the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT, their first cards powered by the new RDNA 3 architecture. So let’s compare the Nvidia RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 Vs. AMD RX 7900 XTX and XT.

All of these flagship GPUs are powerhouses in their own regard. However, for buyers, the main difference comes down to performance per dollar spent. Fortunately, it seems that AMD is also aiming heavily for the performance-per-watt segment.

Whereas the RTX 4090 and 4080 are already way more expensive than the RX 7900 XTX and XT. So take a closer look at the specs of the upcoming next-gen GPUs by AMD and Nvidia.

RTX 4090 Vs. RTX 4080 Vs. RX 7900 XTX Vs. XT [Specs]

Specifications	Nvidia RTX 4090	Nvidia RTX 4080	AMD RX 7900 XTX	AMD RX 7900 XT
Release Date	12th October 2022	16th November 2022	December 13th, 2022	December 13th, 2022
Price	$1,599	$1,199	$999	$899
Cores	16,384 CUDA cores	9,728 CUDA cores	12,288	10,752
Single Precision Compute Performance	83 TFLOPs	49 TFLOPs	61 TFLOPs	52 TFLOPs
Process Node	4nm node	4nm node	5nm node	5nm node
Transistor Count	76 Billion	45.9 Billion	58 Billion	58 Billion
Ray Tracing Cores/ Ray Accelerators	128	76	96	84
Compute Units	83	76	96	84
ROP	176	112	192	192
Clock Speed	Boost: 2.52 GHz Base: 2.23 GHz	Boost: 2.51 GHz Base: 2.21 GHz	Boost: 2.50 GHz Base: 2.30 GHz	Boost: 2.40 GHz Base: 1.50 GHz
Memory	24GB GDDR6X	16GB GDDR6X	24GB GDDR6	20 GB GDDR6
Memory Speed	21Gbps	23Gbps	20 Gbps	20 Gbps
Memory Bandwidth	1,008GB/s	736GB/s	960 GB/s	800 GB/s
Memory Interface Width	384-bit	256-bit	384-bit	320-bit
Architecture	Ada Lovelace	Ada Lovelace	RDNA 3	RDNA 3
Upscaling technology	DLSS 3.0	DLSS 3.0	AMD FSR	AMD FSR
Graphics Card Power	450W	320W	355 W	300 W
Required System Power	850W	750W	800 W	750 W
Required Power Connectors	3x PCIe 4.0 8-pin cables	3x PCIe 4.0 8-pin cables	2x 8 PCIe 5.0 8-pin cables	2x 8 PCIe 5.0 8-pin cables
Outputs	1x HDMI 2.1 3x DisplayPort 1.4a	1x HDMI 2.1 3x DisplayPort 1.4a	HDMI 2.1 DisplayPort 2.1 USB Type-C	HDMI 2.1 DisplayPort 2.1 USB Type-C

Which flagship GPU should you buy?

The most significant difference between AMD and Nvidia GPUs is that the latter is way more expensive. The RTX 4090 founders edition also costs up to $1,599 if you can get one. However, the cost rises near the $2000 mark if the RTX 4090 is made by Nvidia partners such as MSI, Gigabyte, and Asus. Considering the $600 price difference between the RTX 4090 and the RX 7900 XTX, the latter is a better choice.

In terms of specs, both RTX 4090 and RX 7900 XTX introduce new technologies and architectures. Both high-end GPUs also have the same 24GB VRAM. However, AMD is using GDDR6 memory instead of GDDR6X as it requires less power. On the other hand, the RTX 4080 only has 16 GB of VRAM compared to the RX 7900 XT, which has 20 GB of VRAM.

However, when it comes to GPUs, performance matters more than specs. According to the benchmarks claimed by AMD, the RX 7900 XTX shows higher FPS compared to the RTX 4090 hen running games in 1440p. On the other hand, the RTX 4090 shows better performance than RX 7900 XTX in 4k. However, these benchmarks should be taken with a grain of salt.

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So these claims will have to be tested by independent reviewers when the GPUs are released later in December 2022. The RTX 4090 and 4080 also provide supreme ray tracing and the latest DLSS 3. These features alone make these GPUs an excellent option, as Nvidia has been historically better at ray tracing than AMD.

So which GPU is better? Is it the RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX?

Since only the RTX 4090 has been properly tested till now, it is too early to say which GPU is better. However, one thing to be noted is that the new AMD GPUs are definitely a great choice due to their price point and performance. Ultimately, the AMD RX 7900 XTX and XT sound like great GPUs capable of satisfying most gamers.

Let us know which GPU you would prefer in the comment section below.