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If you want to game in 4K without going all out then you’ll need to weigh up the RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XT. Nvidia will be launching its latest refresh to the Ada series later today which sees the 80-class card come under the $1000 for the first time. With that said, AMD has been making moves of its own, as the upper-end RX 7900 XT is no slouch either.
We’re comparing the RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7800 XT based on their performance capabilities, price, specs, and release date to help you figure out which GPU is right for you. For more, we’re showing you where to buy RTX 4080 Super graphics cards ahead of its launch today, as well as our buying guides for the best CPU for RTX 4080 Super, best PSU for RTX 4080 Super, and best case for RTX 4080 Super, too.
RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XT price comparison
ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4080 Super OC
Base Clock
2.024 gigahertz
Boost Clock
2.505 gigahertz
VRAM
16GB
TDP
320
A crucial aspect in deciding between the RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XT comes down to their respective pricing. Starting with the newer of the two, Team Green has made the wise decision to drop the MSRP down a full $200 as the RTX 4080 Super price starts at $999 / £959. That’s in direct contrast to the original RTX 4080 and its eye-watering retail price of $1,199. Turning our attention to Team Red, the RX 7900 XT features the far more palatable price tag of $899. At a base line, you’re saving a full $100 minimum buying from the red brand instead of green, but we’ll get onto performance differences later.
RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XT release date comparison
The RTX 4080 Super is the far newer of the two with its launch date coming today, January 31. In comparison, the AMD RX 7900 XT debuted back in December 2022 making it well over a year old. It’s the second most-powerful in the RDNA 3 lineup, just behind the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX flagship.
RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XT specs comparison
Another crucial difference between the RTX 4080 Super and the RX 7900 XT comes down to how they were built, and there’s a lot that separates them but also some surprising similarities. Starting with the RTX 4080 Super, Nvidia’s brand new refresh is once again built on the AD103 die and features a total of 10,240 CUDA cores with 16GB GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit memory bus. Very little has changed from the original iteration, and the full differences can be found in our RTX 4080 Super vs RTX 4080 feature.
It’s a bit of a different approach with the RX 7900 XT, though. AMD’s high-end GPU is built on RDNA 3 architecture on the Navi 31 graphics processor with 5,376 stream processors and 20GB GDDR6 VRAM on a 320-bit memory bus. Yes, there’s 4GB extra memory here to play with, however, it’s considerably slower than its GDDR6X-enabled counterpart. With that said, the larger memory bus means higher bandwidth as AMD’s card has a bandwidth of 800 GB/s compared to Nvidia’s 736.3 GB/s. Both cards are made with TMSC’s 5nm process.
Lastly, there’s the physical sizes of both to take into account as well. Taking the RX 7900 XT reference design into consideration, it’s a two-slot GPU and requires 2x 8-pin PCIe connectors. If you’re after a sleeker and more conventional graphics card then it takes the win here. In comparison, the RTX 4080 Super is a 3-slot GPU and takes a 16-pin power connector, or uses 3x 8-pin PCIe connectors with an adapter. Keep in mind that this will vary depending on if you opt for a partner card or not, too.
RTX 4080 Super vs RX 7900 XT performance comparison
With the RTX 4080 Super still yet to be officially released, we can turn our attention to the performance of the RTX 4080 to see how it stacks up against the RX 7900 XT. According to Nvidia, this card has around a 2-3% percentage lead over the original model, with its USP being the price point. This will give us a good indication of the prowess of the Super variant against AMD’s heavyweight offering.
According to Testing Games on YouTube, the RTX 4080 and RX 7900 XT perform similarly in 4K in well-optimized titles. In Hitman 3, Nvidia’s GPU averages 160fps with AMD’s edging ahead with 163fps. Cyberpunk 2077 provides a similar level of performance with Nvidia’s GPU pulling ahead slightly with an average of 62fps to AMD’s 58fps. One of the biggest differences is evidenced with Red Dead Redemption 2 with the 7900 XT averaging 86fps to the RTX 4080’s 100fps. A gap that widens with Forza Horizon 5 with Team Green coming out on top with an average of 123fps to Team Red’s 98fps.
We’ll be updating you once we’ve gotten the RTX 4080 Super in house and have tested the card for ourselves. Based on this knowledge, it looks as though the RTX 4080 Super will be the more powerful of the two and perhaps that’s to be expected given its more expensive price point. Not to say that the 7900 XT is a poor performer by any means, producing more than playable framerates above 60fps barring a couple exceptions.
Should you buy an RTX 4080 Super or an RX 7900 XT?
The decision of whether you should buy an RTX 4080 Super or RX 7900 XT ultimately comes down to your use case. If you want uncompromised 4K gaming and want to benefit from technologies such as DLSS 3 Frame Generation with a heavier emphasis on ray tracing then Nvidia’s card for under the $1000 mark is the way to go. However, if you’re after a smaller GPU for 1440p and 4K as more of a value buy then there’s no faulting what the RX 7900 XT can do for its MSRP of $899, especially when considering the fact it’s often on sale for around the $750 at retailers such as Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy.
PowerColor Hellhound AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Stream Processors
5,376
VRAM
20GB GDDR6
Game Clock Speed
2130 MHz
Memory bus width
320-bit
ASUS TUF RTX 4080 OC Edition
Base clock
2625MHz
Boost clock
2595MHz
VRAM
16GB
Dimensions
348.2 x 150 x 72.6mm
Recommended PSU
750W
Is the RX 7900 XT better than the RTX 4080 Super?
From what we’ve seen the RX 7900 XT looks to be slightly worse than the RTX 4080 Super and the older RTX 4080. This is due to less GPU cores and slower GDDR6 memory, however, depending on the game, the performance gap isn’t too great.
Is 750W enough for RX 7900 XT?
Technically yes. While AMD recommends a minimum PSU of 750W for the RX 7900 XT, we think you should opt for an 850W or 1000W power supply instead. This is to ensure overclocking potential and futureproofing your machine for new component upgrades.
