GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design vs GeForce RTX 2070 wi...

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design vs GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design vs GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design

2017

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌No DLSS support; it relies on Upscaling support instead.
❌2017 hardware with 8 GB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.
❌87.5% higher power demand at 150W vs 80W.

GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design

2019

Why buy it

✅5.6% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Access to DLSS 2 Super Resolution (2020).
✅Better long-term bet: Turing (2018−2022) on 12nm gives it a newer hardware base for upcoming games.
✅Draws 80W instead of 150W, a 70W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 5.6% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. PassMark G3D leans toward GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design instead at 11,566 vs 11,461, so for this question the real-game FPS result matters more than the synthetic split.

Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?

GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: the newer upscaling stack, DLSS 2 Super Resolution (2020) instead of no meaningful modern upscaling stack, a 12nm process instead of 16nm, 36 vs 0 ray-tracing units, and a newer 2019 generation instead of 2017. That gives it the more rounded hardware package for newer games.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup.

GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design vs GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design

The GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in June 27 2017. It features the Pascal architecture. The core clock ranges from 1290 MHz to 1468 MHz. It has 2560 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 150W. Manufactured using 16 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 11,566 points.

GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design

The GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in January 29 2019. It features the Turing architecture. The core clock ranges from 885 MHz to 1185 MHz. It has 2304 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 80W. Manufactured using 12 nm process technology. It features 36 dedicated ray tracing cores for enhanced lighting effects. G3D Mark benchmark score: 11,461 points.

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Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design scores 11,566 and the GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design reaches 11,461 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.9% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design is built on Pascal while the GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design uses Turing, both on 16 nm vs 12 nm. Shader units: 2,560 (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 2,304 (GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design). Raw compute: 7.516 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 5.46 TFLOPS (GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design). Boost clocks: 1468 MHz vs 1185 MHz.

Feature	GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design	GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design
G3D Mark Score	11,566	11,461
Architecture	Pascal	Turing
Process Node	16 nm	12 nm
Shading Units	2560+11%	2304
Compute (TFLOPS)	7.516 TFLOPS+38%	5.46 TFLOPS
Boost Clock	1468 MHz+24%	1185 MHz
ROPs	64	64
TMUs	160+11%	144
L1 Cache	0.94 MB	2.3 MB+145%
L2 Cache	2 MB	4 MB+100%

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design supports the newer DLSS 2 Super Resolution, whereas the GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design is capped at Upscaling support.

Feature	GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design	GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	DLSS 2 Super Resolution
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	NVIDIA Reflex	NVIDIA Reflex

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Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 8 GB of video memory. Memory bandwidth: 256 GB/s (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 384 GB/s (GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design) — a 50% advantage for the GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design. Memory bus width is 256-bit on the GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design and 256-bit on the GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design. L2 Cache: 2 MB (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 4 MB (GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design) — the GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design	GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design
VRAM Capacity	8 GB	8 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5X	GDDR6
Memory Bandwidth	256 GB/s	384 GB/s+50%
Bus Width	256-bit	256-bit
L2 Cache	2 MB	4 MB+100%

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Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12.1 (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 12.2 (GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design). Vulkan: 1.1 vs 1.1. OpenGL: 4.5 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 4.

Feature	GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design	GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design
DirectX	12.1	12.2
Vulkan	1.1	1.1
OpenGL	4.5	4.6+2%
Max Displays	4	4

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Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 4.0 (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 7th Gen NVENC (GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP6 vs 5th Gen NVDEC. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9 (GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design).

Feature	GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design	GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design
Encoder	NVENC 4.0	7th Gen NVENC
Decoder	PureVideo HD VP6	5th Gen NVDEC
Codecs	MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC	MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9

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Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design draws 150W versus the GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design's 80W — a 60.9% difference. The GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 500W (GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 0mm vs 0mm, occupying 0 vs 0 slots. Typical load temperature: 80°C vs 85°C.

Feature	GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design	GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design
TDP	150W	80W-47%
Recommended PSU	500W	500W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	PCIe-powered
Length	0mm	0mm
Height	0mm	0mm
Slots	0	0
Temp (Load)	80°C-6%	85°C
Perf/Watt	77.1	143.3+86%