RTX 4080 vs RX 7900 XT – which graphics card should I buy?

Consider the eye-watering price of Nvidia’s RTX 4080 – which GPU really comes out on top between RTX 4080 vs RX 7900 XT?

Nvidia released the latest card in their 40-series line up in November 2022. It’s now the talk of the town as gamers, graphic designers and more, consider whether it’s worth the investment.

Committing to a GPU has been doubly as hard after the RTX 4080 dropped in price in December to compete with AMD’s better value graphics card – the competition is heated to say the least.

AMD’s release of their flagship RDNA 3 graphics cards in December 2022 has gone swimmingly well with notably far less issues than Nvidia faced (did someone say melting pin connectors?).

We can’t help admire AMD for its commitment to a more affordable range of graphics cards especially when Nvidia has done itself no favours by releasing its flagship RTX 4090 for over $2000. In comparison, AMD’s RX 7900 XTX can be found for significantly less.

The main points of difference which we’ll discuss in greater depth are as follows: price, specs & overall performance.

If you want to cut to the chase, and get the RTX 4080 now, we’ve listed a few popular cards from US / UK. If you are looking to purchase the RTX 4090 though, make sure you’re sure that you’re equipped with an adequate PSU and large enough PC case to house this monster.

1. ASUS ROG Strix OC GeForce RTX 4080
2. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Trinity OC
3. Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Eagle 16GB

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RTX 4080 vs RX 7900 XT

AMD’s new RDNA 3 architecture which boasts a 54% performance increase ahead of RDNA 2. From what we’ve learned so far, there’s every reason to be excited about AMD’s 7000 series if we’re going off energy efficiency and overall price.

Black Friday has also not helped people make a decision. Nvidia’s 3000 series graphics cards like the RTX 3070, 3080 and 3090 much cheaper alternatives whose running costs will be lower overall.

Indeed, those buying the 4080 are spending an upwards amount of $1600 / £1500 on the graphics card alone. Plus the sheer horsepower of the 4080 means that a new PSU might be required to meet the demands. You also need to factor in a new PC case to accommodate the RTX 4080’s 4.2″ girth and 12″ length. Know that we’ve got you covered though with handy guides for both these issues.

AMD has challenged Nvidia on price – which has been a pretty sound tactic. The RX 7900 XT starts from $899, whilst the RX 7900 XTX only climbs up to a $999 starting price (in practise they’re selling for just over a grand)

Now that the 4070 Ti is on the scene, users are also considering how the latest graphics card shapes up against the 4080, something we’ve considered in our RTX 4070 Ti vs 4080 piece.

Compatibility

CPU

Choosing the right CPU is an important factor to consider before committing to a new graphics card. If you want to look after your GPU, consider either Ryzen 7000-series CPU or Intel 13th Gen CPU. For the RTX 40-Series, you’ll need to make sure your CPU is compatible with PCIe 5.0 because of Nvidia’s new Lovelace architecture.

Luckily we’ve got you covered ahead of AMD’s release with the best CPUs for RX 7900 XTX & RX 7900 XT.

Is Nvidia’s RTX 4080 good value for money?

We’d like to give you a straight and honest answer here – at the moment we think not, though this is starting to change.

From another angle, if you can afford to purchase the RTX 4080, why wouldn’t you get the very best graphics card for slightly more?

Expert’s View on RTX 4080 vs RX 7900 XT

We’ve contacted WePC’s graphics card specialist for their thoughts on the RX 7900 XT vs RTX 4080, and this is what Seb had to say:

“Ultimately, the RX 7900 XT is the much better graphics card, especially if you’re gaming on a tighter budget. When you’re receiving far better performance under stress-testing and benchmarks while also paying far less, there should really be no question about it.”

With that in mind we can head into our final word where we make a conclusive decision on which graphics card is better between the RTX 4080 and RX 7900 XT.

Final Word

Overall, it’s a tricky decision.

The RTX 4080 graphics card is certainly the more powerful and impressive choice if we’re going by specs. However, we think AMD’s RX 7900 XT has proved itself the people’s graphics card, offering an incredible performance and with lower overall running costs than the 4080. The story might be different with the RTX 4070 Ti though.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is RDNA 3?

RDNA 3 is AMD’s latest GPU architecture supporting next-gen gaming and will be released with AMD’s new RX 7900 XT and 7900 XTX graphics card in December. 

Is it worth buying the RTX 4080?

The RTX 4080 boasts about a 75% performance gain on the RTX 3080, so there is a valid reason for its steep price.

is XT better than RTX?

It depends on the graphics card. For example, the RTX 4080 is the better graphics card than the RX 6950 XT, but this is less to do with the suffix. A closer call would be between the XTX and RTX since both refer to some of the top graphics card currently available.

Is the price of the RTX 4080 dropping?

Yes – potentially in competition with AMD, Nvidia is dropping the price of the RTX 4080 by a couple hundred dollars.