Graphics cards/Comparison
13 specifications
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB vs AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT
On paper, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT carries more memory (16 GB against 12 GB), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB has a wider memory bus. Shading-unit counts are not directly comparable across different architectures, so read that row as context rather than a verdict. Specifications describe what each card is designed to do; how much of that either one holds under continuous load is a separate question.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB
NVIDIA · GeForce RTX 30 · Desktop
AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT
AMD · Radeon RX 7000 · Desktop
Compute
Memory
Power and platform
A check marks the higher figure only on rows where higher is unambiguously better. Rows without one are not ties; they are specifications where “better” has no meaning.
Reading the table
What the difference means.
Video memory
The RX 7600 XT has 16 GB of video memory against 12 GB. Memory does not make a card faster until it runs out, and then the drop is sharp: textures spill into system memory and frame times stutter. High resolutions, high texture settings, heavy mods and running AI models locally are what fill it.
Memory bus
The RTX 3080 12GB moves data over a 384-bit bus of GDDR6X; the RX 7600 XT uses 128-bit GDDR6. The bus width and the memory type together set how fast the chip can reach its own memory, which shows at high resolutions where every frame moves more data. A narrow bus with fast memory can match a wide one with slow memory, so neither figure settles it alone.
Board power
The RTX 3080 12GB draws up to 350 W against 190 W. That is heat the case has to exhaust and current the power supply has to deliver: allow a supply of about 800 W for the RTX 3080 12GB with a typical processor, and check the card's power connectors against the supply's. A card that cannot shed its heat does not fail. It lowers its clocks after a few minutes, which is the frame rate that falls the longer you play.
Which to pick, on paper
- High resolutions, heavy textures, local AI
- RX 7600 XT
- 16 GB against 12 GB. Memory is the wall these workloads hit first.
- A small case or a modest power supply
- RX 7600 XT
- 190 W against 350 W: less heat, fewer power connectors, quieter fans.
What no table says
How much of its speed a graphics card keeps after the first minute depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in. If you own one of these, measure it: the test is free and runs in this browser.
Questions
- Is the RTX 3080 12GB better than the RX 7600 XT?
- By need, on the specifications: high resolutions, heavy textures, local ai: the RX 7600 XT; a small case or a modest power supply: the RX 7600 XT. They are different designs, so the raw counts cannot rank them. Frame rates depend on the game and its settings, and how much speed either card keeps after ten minutes depends on its cooling, which is what a sustained test measures.
- Is 12 GB of video memory enough?
- For 1080p at sensible settings, yes in most games. At 1440p and above, with high texture settings, or for running AI models, 16 GB gives real headroom. When memory runs out the symptom is stutter, not a lower average.
- What power supply does the RTX 3080 12GB need?
- Allow about 800 W with a typical processor, and make sure the supply has the power connectors the card uses. The RX 7600 XT at 190 W is easier on both.
More comparisons
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB vs AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB vs AMD Radeon RX 9070
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
- AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
- AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 9070
- AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
- AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
- AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER
Every figure on this table is a design target. None of it is a measurement.
Nothing above describes how a graphics card behaves twenty minutes into a sustained workload, which is where two chips with nearly identical specifications routinely diverge. A boost clock is a ceiling the vendor permits, not a rate the chip sustains, and whether it holds depends on the cooling, the case, the power profile and the room. None of those appear on a specification sheet.
We deliberately do not reduce these figures to a single score. A composite invented from specifications would look authoritative and measure nothing, and choosing the weights would be choosing the winner.