Radeon RX 7900 XT(X): AMD lays out the RTX 4080 as the first RDNA 3 opponent

AMD has again underlined which graphics card the Nvidia Radeon RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX are targeting: the 16GB GeForce RTX 4080, which will be released on Wednesday. In a presentation, the manufacturer unsurprisingly puts its own advantages in the limelight, but continues to ignore tangible benchmarks.

The RTX 4080 is the opponent

At the official launch of the Radeon RX 7900 XT and 7900 XTX as the first and at least initially fastest representatives of the new GPU generation with RDNA 3 architecture, AMD's Frank Azor made it clear that you were competing with the GeForce RTX 4080 and not the GeForce RTX 4090 wants – and in all likelihood also can't in terms of performance.

In a further briefing, AMD has now emphasized what it sees as its own advantages over the RTX 4080, but has still not provided a direct benchmark comparison. Instead, AMD's marketing department focuses on other key data such as the larger number of shader units with more FLOPS (which does not necessarily result in higher FPS) or the larger memory expansion of 20 GB (RX 7900 XT) and 24 GB (RX 7900 XTX) versus Nvidia's 16GB.

In addition, there is the more compact format of the reference designs with a maximum length of 28.7 cm Depth of 2.5 slots, while the 12″ long RTX 4080 occupies 3 slots. On current occasion, the dig at the power connections should not be missing again: While there are potential problems with the adapter cables for the new 12VHPWR plug for Nvidia's newcomers, AMD avoids this connection and relies on two conventional 8-pin -Jacks.

AMD's new generation of connections offers indisputable advantages, because DisplayPort 2.1, the latest version of the video interface, is already being used. In the supported UHBR13.5 mode with a combined speed of up to 54 Gbit/s, 8K monitors can be operated at 165 Hz. Since Nvidia is sticking with DisplayPort 1.4a, 8K monitors would be limited to 60 Hz.

Samsung has promised the first “8K” monitor with DisplayPort 2.1 with a new version of the Odyssey Neo G9. However, this will probably not offer the full 8K resolution as an UltraWide model.

A view of the circuit board of the RX 7900 XTX

AMD is showing the bare circuit board of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX for the first time, which can therefore boast 20 phases in the voltage regulators.

Other images show the cooler design of the RX 7900 XTX, its top and bottom with a Aluminum sheet awaits. The vapor chamber is said to have been enlarged by 10 percent (compared to its predecessor?). In addition, new thermal interface material (TIM), a generic term for thermal paste or thermal pads, is used for the GPU as well as for the GDDR6 memory.