Today we’re revisiting the battle between essentially the most cheap previous-gen high-end GPUs, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 10GB, and we’ll be doing so in 50 video games at 1440p and 4K.
Before we get into the blue bar graphs, a fast refresher on this GPU battle:
Back in early 2021, we in contrast them in a 30 recreation benchmark and located that the Radeon 6800 XT was on common 5% sooner at 1080p, we noticed an identical efficiency at 1440p, after which the Radeon was 6% slower at 4K. Then in 2022 we re-tested with 50 video games and located the GeForce RTX 3080 was 3% slower at 1080p, 1% sooner at 1440p and seven% sooner at 4K – so pretty related margins to the 2021 check between the 2 GPUs.
However, each comparisons have include just a few caveats. For instance, in the event you’re curious about ray tracing efficiency, then the RTX 3080 is usually a lot sooner than the averages would recommend. The Nvidia GPU additionally enjoys help for superior upscaling tech in DLSS.
But the Radeon 6800 XT packs extra VRAM, although so far the RTX 3080 has gotten away nearly unscathed with its 10GB buffer.
This 2023 comparability will nonetheless embody 50 video games, however this time there are extra ray tracing configurations included, so that ought to swing issues extra in favor of the GeForce RTX 3080, although we’ll additionally make a comparability utilizing simply the rasterized knowledge, for these of you not curious about ray tracing efficiency. We’ve additionally finished some exploration into VRAM utilization on the RTX 3080 and we’ll get into that in the direction of the top of this overview.
We also needs to word that this overview is not supposed to be a shopping for information. Rather the purpose of the revisit is to see how nicely every product has aged.
If you have been out there for both of those merchandise, the Radeon 6800 XT is nonetheless out there new at round $530, whereas the RTX 3080 is usually out of inventory or inexplicably costly new, and solely nearer to the Radeon’s pricing when shopping for second hand.
As a basic reference, the MSRP for the RTX 3080 was $700, whereas the Radeon 6800 XT’s MSRP was $650. It’s loopy to notice that after we final in contrast these two GPUs in early 2022, each have been priced round $1,200, so issues have actually improved for the reason that cryptocurrency growth – although you may additionally argue that the GPU market by no means absolutely recovered and if AMD and Nvidia get their manner, it by no means will, so hold that in thoughts players.
For testing right now, we used a Ryzen 9 7950X3D however with the second CCD disabled to make sure most efficiency in all video games. This CPU has been examined on the Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master utilizing 32GB of DDR5-6000 CL30 reminiscence.
As typical we’ll go over the information for round a dozen titles earlier than leaping into the large breakdown graphs. The resolutions of curiosity are 1440p and 4K, so let’s get into it…
Benchmarks
First up we’ve Cyberpunk 2077 utilizing the excessive preset with ray tracing disabled and as you possibly can see efficiency between these two GPUs is principally an identical. The RTX 3080 is 2% sooner at 1440p and 5% sooner at 4K, principally we’re taking a look at just some frames at every examined decision.
If we allow ray tracing, the RTX 3080 finds itself comfortably forward, rendering 47% extra frames at 1440p and 57% extra at 4K, each large wins. However we would solely take into account the 1440p knowledge as related contemplating the RTX 3080 was good for 66 fps on common which is extremely playable. Also please word that whereas FSR 2 was used right here, scaling with DLSS is an identical utilizing the RTX 3080.
Dying Light 2 is one other title that has been examined with and with out ray tracing enabled, and first up we’ve the prime quality preset which does not use ray tracing and forces the DX11 API. Here we discover that efficiency between these two GPUs is an identical, the 6800 XT was simply 2% sooner at 1440p after which each rendered 49 fps at 4K.
Then as we present in Cyberpunk 2077, enabling ray tracing fingers the RTX 3080 an enormous efficiency benefit because of its extra mature RT help. The RTX 3080 was 48% sooner at 1440p after which 52% sooner at 4K.
Only the 1440p knowledge is price noting in our opinion because the RTX 3080 was good for 68 fps which is a playable body fee in comparison with 38 fps at 4K. Also, you would not allow RT on the Radeon 6800 XT on this title.
Next up we’ve Call of Duty Modern Warfare II and this title favors the Radeon GPU, permitting the 6800 XT to ship 17% extra frames at 1440p and eight% extra at 4K when utilizing the extremely excessive preset, and as we have discovered up to now scaling is far the identical utilizing the decrease high quality presets.
A Plague Tale: Requiem was additionally examined utilizing the extremely high quality preset and efficiency is far the identical between these two GPUs, the RTX 3080 was just a few frames sooner at every examined decision, however total efficiency and the gaming expertise was the identical.
We went again and checked out ray tracing efficiency to see if it labored on the RTX 3080’s 10GB VRAM buffer and located the sport used 9.6 GB at 1440p and performed at 60-70 fps, however 4K was an excessive amount of requiring 13 GB and this resulted in stuttering on the 3080.
That mentioned, this was of no actual consequence for this matchup because the Radeon 6800 XT did not have sufficient energy to render playable body charges anyway, regardless of having sufficient VRAM.
Next up we’ve Total War: Warhammer III and this has by no means been a very good title for Radeon GPUs. Here the GeForce RTX 3080 was 14% sooner at 1440p and 23% sooner at 4K, each of that are substantial margins and clear wins for the Nvidia GPU.
The 4K efficiency will likely be notably noticeable because the RTX 3080 delivers an affordable expertise right here, whereas the 44 fps on common from the Radeon 6800 XT will really feel very laggy.
The Callisto Protocol at 1440p sees the GeForce RTX 3080 performing 7% sooner than the Radeon 6800 XT and 9% sooner at 4K. Not a large margin, however the GeForce was clearly sooner at each examined resolutions.
One of the most recent video games included in our 50 recreation benchmark is Atomic Heart and right here the Radeon 6800 XT and GeForce RTX 3080 are evenly matched, with the GeForce nudging forward by only a body or two.
Next we’ve Fortnite and we’ll begin with the DirectX 11 mode, which usually delivers one of the best outcomes in the event you’re not closely CPU restricted, the sport’s efficiency mode additionally makes use of the DX11 API.
Under these situations the Radeon 6800 XT was 10% sooner at 1440p after which 6% sooner at 4K, although 1% lows have been nearly 30% higher.
Switching to DX12 reduces efficiency and now the GeForce RTX 3080 is 10% sooner at 1440p and 15% sooner at 4K.
Using {hardware} ray tracing, Nanite and Lumen enabled, the GeForce RTX 3080 was 9% sooner at 1440p and 38% sooner at 4K. Both have been cheap at 1440p, whereas solely the GeForce is usable at 4K.
Moving on to Hogwarts Legacy we discover related efficiency between the 2 GPUs at 1440p utilizing the extremely high quality preset. The GeForce RTX 3080 was persistently just a few frames sooner when evaluating the common body fee, however slower when wanting on the 1% lows.
Then with ray tracing enabled, the GeForce RTX 3080 was 32% sooner on common and but regardless of that the 6800 XT delivered a smoother expertise with much less body stutters, whereas at 4K the RTX 3080 was fully damaged and though the 6800 XT did undergo from body stuttering, efficiency total was poor, resulting in an unplayable gaming expertise with sub-30 fps.
The GeForce RTX 3080 managed to return out comfortably on high in our Halo Infinite testing, delivering 12% sooner efficiency at 1440p and 16% at 4K.
To be honest, each GPUs are exceptionally quick on this title utilizing extremely settings, however in the event you’re after most efficiency then the 3080 has it over the 6800 XT on this title.
Forza Horizon 5 offers the nod to the 6800 XT at 1440p, the place the Radeon was 15% sooner, although the 1% lows have been very related. Then at 4K we’re taking a look at very comparable efficiency, 5% higher common body fee for the 6800 XT, whereas 1% lows have been 3% higher for the RTX 3080.
AMD enjoys a win in Death Stranding, however like Halo, body charges are excessively excessive utilizing both of those two GPUs, so the Radeon 6800 XT’s 9% victory at 1440p is not as vital. Then at 4K we discover the 6800 XT to be simply 3% sooner, so you may say efficiency is an identical.
In War Thunder the RTX 3080 was 6% sooner at 1440p however then oddly 10% slower at 4K. Some unusual scaling right here, however total with each GPUs pushing nicely previous 200 fps, it does not actually matter.
Finally, we’ve the ever widespread Counter-Strike the place each GPUs delivered close to an identical efficiency at each resolutions. Do word we’re not utilizing the workshop benchmark for this testing, as a substitute we’re utilizing a replay from knowledgeable match because it represents precise gameplay efficiency extra precisely.
Performance Summary
That was a preliminary take a look at 14 of the 50 video games we examined, some with ray tracing results enabled and a few with out. Now it is time to see how these two GPUs evaluate throughout all of the video games examined. Starting with the 1440p knowledge…
In earlier checks we have discovered efficiency between these two GPUs to be comparatively the identical, and that actually nonetheless holds true, however with extra ray tracing checks in our 50 recreation suite, the Radeon 6800 XT is now 6% slower on common at 1440p.
You can see the 8 worst titles for AMD all had ray tracing enabled. Meanwhile, there have been simply 4 video games the place the 6800 XT was sooner than the RTX 3080 by a ten% margin or extra.
As you’ll anticipate primarily based on the earlier knowledge, growing the decision to 4K additional favors the GeForce RTX 3080, and now the Radeon 6800 XT is 8% slower on common. The solely actual outlier right here is Hogwarts Legacy the place the RTX 3080 runs out of VRAM, however the 6800 XT wasn’t in a position to present playable efficiency right here both, so technically that result’s void, and if we take away it the 6800 XT turns into 10% slower on common.
Now, if we take away the ray tracing knowledge from our 1440p outcomes we see that the Radeon 6800 XT is simply 2% slower than the RTX 3080, lowering the variety of check configurations from 57 to 42.
Then at 4K, we discover that the Radeon 6800 XT is 6% slower than the RTX 3080 with the one actual outlier being Fortnite DX12. This aligns completely with our 2021 knowledge which additionally discovered the Radeon 6800 XT to be 6% slower at 4K and that knowledge set included only a few ray tracing enabled configurations.
What We Learned
So there you might have it. For normal rasterization efficiency, the Radeon RX 6800 XT and GeForce RTX 3080 hold buying and selling blows. However, as we have additionally concluded since day one, in the event you care in any respect about ray tracing efficiency, then the RTX 3080 stays the plain alternative.
As issues stand right now, the 10GB buffer of the RTX 3080 continues to be simply sufficient to get away with enabling ray tracing in the entire newest video games, you possibly can probably break efficiency in some situations, however some small tweaks can get it working.
Games the place the 8GB RTX 3070 is totally damaged equivalent to The Callisto Protocol at 1440p with ray tracing enabled labored simply effective with the RTX 3080 as simply shy of 9GB is required, and we discovered all textures loaded in Forspoken, even at 4K utilizing the extremely excessive preset which permits ray tracing by default. So the 10GB buffer is at the moment proper on the sting with right now’s video games.
That means the RTX 3080 stays a better option for ray tracing, and in that sense it is aged fairly nicely and it is actually worlds higher than the 3070/3070 Ti.
Another function that has aged nicely, very well in reality, is DLSS. The present state of DLSS help and high quality is great, this actually is the important thing good thing about GeForce GPUs and we have been certain to make this identified for a while now – principally ever since DLSS obtained good with its second iteration.
Thus, not quite a bit has modified from our earlier two revisits. Last time we concluded that we felt it was very straightforward to argue in favor of the RTX 3080 given these options. We’d solely go for the Radeon 6800 XT if we weren’t curious about ray tracing and if it was extra reasonably priced.
As it occurs to be the case now although, if you’d like a brand new graphics card, the Radeon RX 6800 XT continues to be out there in some areas at round $530, whereas the GeForce RTX 3080 is usually out of inventory or promoting for absurdly excessive pricing new. Looking on the second hand market, the RTX 3080 10GB is at the moment round $500 on eBay, however that comes with all of the caveats of an used GPU.
With the launch of the same performing GeForce RTX 4070 (take a look at our full overview), it brings attention-grabbing worth at $600 in comparison with different launches this technology that have been all very costly as compared, plus it additionally provides a 12GB VRAM buffer, so it is at the least worthy of consideration if you have not upgraded your GPU within the final two generations.
