GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design
Radeon RX Vega 56
GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design vs Radeon RX Vega 56 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 RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design vs Radeon RX Vega 56 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 RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design vs Radeon RX Vega 56: 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 RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design
2019Why buy it
- ✅3.6% 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 210W, a 130W reduction.
Trade-offs
- ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 32.6 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
Radeon RX Vega 56
2017Why buy it
- ✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 32.6 vs 0 G3D/$ ($399 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).
Trade-offs
- ❌Lower average FPS than GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
- ❌No DLSS support; it relies on FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead.
- ❌2017 hardware with 8 GB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.
- ❌162.5% higher power demand at 210W vs 80W.
Quick Answers
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GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design vs Radeon RX Vega 56 Technical Specifications
Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.
GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design
The GeForce RTX 2080 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 735 MHz to 1095 MHz. It has 2944 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 80W. Manufactured using 12 nm process technology. It features 46 dedicated ray tracing cores for enhanced lighting effects. G3D Mark benchmark score: 12,766 points.
Radeon RX Vega 56
The Radeon RX Vega 56 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in August 14 2017. It features the GCN 5.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1156 MHz to 1471 MHz. It has 3584 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 210W. Manufactured using 14 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 13,026 points. Launch price was $399.
Graphics Performance
The GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design scores 12,766 and the Radeon RX Vega 56 reaches 13,026 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 2% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design is built on Turing while the Radeon RX Vega 56 uses GCN 5.0, both on 12 nm vs 14 nm. Shader units: 2,944 (GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design) vs 3,584 (Radeon RX Vega 56). Raw compute: 6.447 TFLOPS (GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design) vs 10.54 TFLOPS (Radeon RX Vega 56). Boost clocks: 1095 MHz vs 1471 MHz.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon RX Vega 56 |
|---|---|---|
| G3D Mark Score | 12,766 | 13,026+2% |
| Architecture | Turing | GCN 5.0 |
| Process Node | 12 nm | 14 nm |
| Shading Units | 2944 | 3584+22% |
| Compute (TFLOPS) | 6.447 TFLOPS | 10.54 TFLOPS+63% |
| Boost Clock | 1095 MHz | 1471 MHz+34% |
| ROPs | 64 | 64 |
| TMUs | 184 | 224+22% |
| L1 Cache | 2.9 MB+230% | 0.88 MB |
| L2 Cache | 4 MB | 4 MB |
Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)
The GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon RX Vega 56 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon RX Vega 56 |
|---|---|---|
| Upscaling Tech | DLSS 2 Super Resolution | 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 bandwidth: 384 GB/s (GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design) vs 410 GB/s (Radeon RX Vega 56) — a 6.8% advantage for the Radeon RX Vega 56. Memory bus width is 256-bit on the GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design and 2048-bit on the Radeon RX Vega 56.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon RX Vega 56 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | HBM2 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 384 GB/s | 410 GB/s+7% |
| Bus Width | 256-bit | 2048-bit+700% |
| L2 Cache | 4 MB | 4 MB |
Display & API Support
DirectX support: 12 (12_2) (GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design) vs 12 (12_1) (Radeon RX Vega 56). Vulkan: 1.3 vs 1.3. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 4.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon RX Vega 56 |
|---|---|---|
| DirectX | 12 (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |
| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| Max Displays | 4 | 4 |
Media & Encoding
Hardware encoder: NVENC 6 (GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design) vs VCE 4.0 (Radeon RX Vega 56). Decoder: NVDEC 4 vs UVD 7.0. Supported codecs: H.264,H.265,VP9,AV1 (GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design) vs H.264,H.265,VP9 (Radeon RX Vega 56).
| Feature | GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon RX Vega 56 |
|---|---|---|
| Encoder | NVENC 6 | VCE 4.0 |
| Decoder | NVDEC 4 | UVD 7.0 |
| Codecs | H.264,H.265,VP9,AV1 | H.264,H.265,VP9 |
Power & Dimensions
The GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design draws 80W versus the Radeon RX Vega 56's 210W — a 89.7% difference. The GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 0W (GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design) vs 650W (Radeon RX Vega 56). Power connectors: None vs 2x 8-pin. Card length: 0mm vs 280mm, occupying 0 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 80 vs 75.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon RX Vega 56 |
|---|---|---|
| TDP | 80W-62% | 210W |
| Recommended PSU | 0W-100% | 650W |
| Power Connector | None | 2x 8-pin |
| Length | 0mm | 280mm |
| Height | 0mm | 111mm |
| Slots | 0-100% | 2 |
| Temp (Load) | 80 | 75-6% |
| Perf/Watt | 159.6+157% | 62.0 |
Value Analysis
The newer card here is GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design (2019 vs 2017).
| Feature | GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design | Radeon RX Vega 56 |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | — | $399 |
| Codename | TU104B | Vega 10 |
| Release | January 29 2019 | August 14 2017 |
| Ranking | #174 | #199 |
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