GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design
Radeon Instinct MI60
GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design vs Radeon Instinct MI60 Performance Spectrum
About G3D Mark
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 Radeon Instinct MI60 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.
Path of Exile 2
Counter-Strike 2
League of Legends
Valorant
Among Us
Apex Legends
ARC Raiders
Baldur's Gate 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design vs Radeon Instinct MI60: 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
2017Why buy it
- ✅Draws 150W instead of 300W, a 150W reduction.
Trade-offs
- ❌Lower average FPS than Radeon Instinct MI60 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
- ❌2017 hardware with 8 GB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.
- ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 1.9 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $6,000 MSRP).
Radeon Instinct MI60
2018Why buy it
- ✅15.0% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
- ✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 1.9 vs 0 G3D/$ ($6,000 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).
- ✅GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design is already legacy-tier future-proofing, so Radeon Instinct MI60 is the less risky modern option long term.
Trade-offs
- ❌Older hardware, 8 GB of VRAM, and weaker feature support mean it will age faster in newer AAA releases.
- ❌100% higher power demand at 300W vs 150W.
Quick Answers
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GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design vs Radeon Instinct MI60 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.
Radeon Instinct MI60
The Radeon Instinct MI60 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in November 18 2018. It features the GCN 5.1 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1200 MHz to 1800 MHz. It has 4096 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 300W. Manufactured using 7 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 11,638 points.
Graphics Performance
The GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design scores 11,566 and the Radeon Instinct MI60 reaches 11,638 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.6% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design is built on Pascal while the Radeon Instinct MI60 uses GCN 5.1, both on 16 nm vs 7 nm. Shader units: 2,560 (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 4,096 (Radeon Instinct MI60). Raw compute: 7.516 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 14.75 TFLOPS (Radeon Instinct MI60). Boost clocks: 1468 MHz vs 1800 MHz.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon Instinct MI60 |
|---|---|---|
| G3D Mark Score | 11,566 | 11,638 |
| Architecture | Pascal | GCN 5.1 |
| Process Node | 16 nm | 7 nm |
| Shading Units | 2560 | 4096+60% |
| Compute (TFLOPS) | 7.516 TFLOPS | 14.75 TFLOPS+96% |
| Boost Clock | 1468 MHz | 1800 MHz+23% |
| ROPs | 64 | 64 |
| TMUs | 160 | 256+60% |
| L1 Cache | 0.94 MB | 1 MB+6% |
| L2 Cache | 2 MB | 4 MB+100% |
Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)
The GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon Instinct MI60 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon Instinct MI60 |
|---|---|---|
| Upscaling Tech | Upscaling support | FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 |
| Frame Generation | Not Supported | Not Supported |
| Ray Reconstruction | No | No |
| Low Latency | NVIDIA Reflex | AMD Anti-Lag |
Video Memory (VRAM)
Both cards ship with 8 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 256-bit on the GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design and 128-bit on the Radeon Instinct MI60. L2 Cache: 2 MB (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 4 MB (Radeon Instinct MI60) — the Radeon Instinct MI60 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon Instinct MI60 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5X | GDDR6 |
| Bus Width | 256-bit+100% | 128-bit |
| L2 Cache | 2 MB | 4 MB+100% |
Display & API Support
DirectX support: 12.1 (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 12.1 (Radeon Instinct MI60). Vulkan: 1.1 vs 1.3. OpenGL: 4.5 vs 4.5. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 1.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon Instinct MI60 |
|---|---|---|
| DirectX | 12.1 | 12.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.1 | 1.3+18% |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Max Displays | 4+300% | 1 |
Media & Encoding
Hardware encoder: NVENC 4.0 (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs VCE 4.1 (Radeon Instinct MI60). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP6 vs UVD 7.2. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9 (Radeon Instinct MI60).
| Feature | GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon Instinct MI60 |
|---|---|---|
| Encoder | NVENC 4.0 | VCE 4.1 |
| Decoder | PureVideo HD VP6 | UVD 7.2 |
| Codecs | MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC | MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9 |
Power & Dimensions
The GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design draws 150W versus the Radeon Instinct MI60's 300W — a 66.7% difference. The GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design) vs 500W (Radeon Instinct MI60). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 0mm vs 267mm, occupying 0 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 80°C vs 85°C.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon Instinct MI60 |
|---|---|---|
| TDP | 150W-50% | 300W |
| Recommended PSU | 500W | 500W |
| Power Connector | PCIe-powered | PCIe-powered |
| Length | 0mm | 267mm |
| Height | 0mm | 111mm |
| Slots | 0-100% | 2 |
| Temp (Load) | 80°C-6% | 85°C |
| Perf/Watt | 77.1+99% | 38.8 |
Value Analysis
The newer card here is Radeon Instinct MI60 (2018 vs 2017).
| Feature | GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon Instinct MI60 |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | — | $6000 |
| Codename | GP104 | Vega 20 |
| Release | June 27 2017 | November 18 2018 |
| Ranking | #257 | #232 |
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