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Thursday, August 31, 2023

GPU Efficiency and Value Compared

I've done a lot of testing of graphics cards, and I wanted to present some interesting data. I've got nearly all of the latest generation Nvidia RTX 40-series, AMD RX 7000-series, and Intel Arc A-series GPUs tested. One of the cool things about my testing is that I get power data for every benchmark. I've then split all of the results into two separate tables, which are sortable by clicking on the top column: Rasterization Performance and Ray Tracing Performance.

There are 1080p, 1440p, and 4K results for most of the cards, though slower cards aren't tested at 1440p and 4K with ray tracing enabled as it's rather pointless. I'm not sure exactly what this will look like on my blog, but let's give it a shot. We'll start with the rasterization table.

GPU Rasterization Performance and Efficiency Table

GPUPrice1080p FPS1080p Power1080p FPS/$1080p FPS/W1440p FPS1440p Power1440p FPS/$1440p FPS/W4K FPS4K Power4K FPS/$4K FPS/W
GeForce RTX 4090$1,599186.9265.90.1170.703166.8314.60.1040.530116.1385.20.0730.301
GeForce RTX 4080$1,100170.0222.20.1550.765142.7256.40.1300.55787.1286.50.0790.304
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti$774153.0224.20.1980.682121.2242.60.1570.50069.5260.80.0900.267
GeForce RTX 4070$590141.2199.40.2390.708109.2214.30.1850.50962.0226.40.1050.274
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB$500104.3147.80.2090.70674.7153.10.1490.48840.7157.10.0810.259
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti$374104.4142.60.2790.73274.8148.80.2000.50240.2152.00.1080.264
GeForce RTX 4060$28097.6136.40.3490.71669.8141.30.2490.49437.3143.40.1330.260
Radeon RX 7900 XTX$940166.5324.90.1770.513142.3348.10.1510.40990.1351.80.0960.256
Radeon RX 7900 XT$750160.6310.10.2140.518134.9327.10.1800.41282.6328.90.1100.251
Radeon RX 7600$25881.7153.10.3170.53456.7153.30.2200.37029.2153.20.1130.190
GeForce RTX 3090 Ti$1,456148.0399.30.1020.371119.8433.00.0820.27774.6457.30.0510.163
GeForce RTX 3090$1,177146.1370.40.1240.395118.0392.10.1000.30172.8405.60.0620.180
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti$914134.6344.60.1470.391107.5356.20.1180.30265.2360.00.0710.181
GeForce RTX 3080$690130.3327.90.1890.397102.8337.80.1490.30461.9341.30.0900.181
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti$480109.9270.00.2290.40782.2278.70.1710.29547.4282.40.0990.168
GeForce RTX 3070$380106.8241.10.2810.44379.5246.80.2090.32245.7248.40.1200.184
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti$33592.9200.70.2770.46368.7204.40.2050.33638.8204.40.1160.190
GeForce RTX 3060$28080.6178.50.2880.45259.3183.30.2120.32433.6185.70.1200.181
GeForce RTX 3050$22551.1122.40.2270.41737.0126.30.1640.29320.3127.50.0900.159
Radeon RX 6950 XT$599143.9297.70.2400.483114.2324.90.1910.35265.1326.50.1090.199
Radeon RX 6900 XT$750138.1282.30.1840.489108.3299.10.1440.36261.6300.10.0820.205
Radeon RX 6800 XT$520131.2275.20.2520.477101.2293.00.1950.34657.4298.70.1100.192
Radeon RX 6800$440123.1241.50.2800.51094.0256.70.2140.36653.4266.10.1210.201
Radeon RX 6750 XT$350102.0237.30.2910.43074.6249.00.2130.29940.7256.60.1160.158
Radeon RX 6700 XT$32095.6205.10.2990.46669.8213.60.2180.32738.0219.40.1190.173
Radeon RX 6700 10GB$27084.3181.00.3120.46660.5185.30.2240.32731.8185.50.1180.172
Radeon RX 6650 XT$23578.4171.50.3330.45755.5176.40.2360.31528.3173.40.1200.163
Radeon RX 6600 XT$27076.0152.30.2810.49953.3156.80.1970.34026.7152.70.0990.175
Radeon RX 6600$20070.1143.80.3500.48748.9145.90.2440.33524.6143.60.1230.171
Intel Arc A770 16GB$33077.9204.40.2360.38159.2214.10.1790.27734.6222.30.1050.155
Intel Arc A770 8GB$29073.0216.50.2520.33755.7231.70.1920.24031.5238.80.1090.132
Intel Arc A750$22067.4185.30.3060.36450.0194.00.2270.25827.9201.00.1270.139
Intel Arc A380$12027.470.30.2280.39019.472.10.1620.269

Okay, click away and have fun. Key points, though: AMD has some good value propositions, often from its previous generation RX 6000-series. However, the RTX 4060 is right up near the top for rasterization performance, trading blows with the RX 6600 and RX 6650 XT. Nvidia's GPU costs more but performs better, in other words.

As for efficiency... it's not even close. Nvidia RTX 40-series cards claim the top seven spots, with the RX 7600 landing in eighth and followed by the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX. What's sort of funny is that, after the 7000-series GPUs, AMD's 6000-series comes next. So Nvidia really leapfrogged AMD when going from RTX 30-series to RTX 40-series in efficiency.

GPU Ray Tracing Performance and Efficiency Table

GPUPrice1080p FPS1080p Power1080p FPS/$1080p FPS/W1440p FPS1440p Power1440p FPS/$1440p FPS/W4K FPS4K Power4K FPS/$4K FPS/W
GeForce RTX 4090$1,599144.4320.10.0900.451106.7369.00.0670.28957.9408.00.0360.142
GeForce RTX 4080$1,100115.9251.70.1050.46179.3273.10.0720.29041.1287.00.0370.143
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti$77496.1236.00.1240.40763.8252.40.0820.25332.7263.40.0420.124
GeForce RTX 4070$59088.1210.00.1490.41957.5219.60.0970.26228.8223.90.0490.129
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB$50060.3152.70.1210.39538.6155.70.0770.24818.6157.10.0370.119
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti$37460.4149.70.1620.40438.5152.50.1030.25217.8149.20.0480.119
GeForce RTX 4060$28056.2142.20.2010.39535.3143.60.1260.24616.3140.20.0580.116
Radeon RX 7900 XT$75083.3327.30.1110.25455.7326.40.0740.17127.8329.10.0370.085
Radeon RX 7900 XTX$94088.2350.70.0940.25159.3346.60.0630.17130.0350.50.0320.086
Radeon RX 7600$25830.3150.60.1170.20117.6148.00.0680.119
GeForce RTX 3090 Ti$1,45695.0418.00.0650.22765.2437.70.0450.14934.5449.20.0240.077
GeForce RTX 3090$1,17791.4380.90.0780.24062.5392.40.0530.15932.6395.40.0280.082
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti$91483.5345.00.0910.24257.8351.60.0630.16429.4347.90.0320.085
GeForce RTX 3080$69080.6330.30.1170.24455.2336.30.0800.16427.0328.20.0390.082
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti$48063.9272.40.1330.23440.6271.50.0840.14917.2249.30.0360.069
GeForce RTX 3070$38062.0242.20.1630.25639.4243.00.1040.16216.6224.00.0440.074
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti$33553.5201.20.1600.26634.1201.20.1020.16914.0183.80.0420.076
GeForce RTX 3060$28045.6177.20.1630.25729.0178.10.1040.16313.0171.80.0470.076
GeForce RTX 3050$22527.4119.10.1220.23017.1121.20.0760.141
Radeon RX 6900 XT$75060.3299.50.0800.20140.0301.60.0530.13219.6300.60.0260.065
Radeon RX 6950 XT$59964.4321.90.1080.20042.7323.60.0710.13221.0328.20.0350.064
Radeon RX 6800 XT$52057.6290.20.1110.19937.8296.40.0730.12718.2297.10.0350.061
Radeon RX 6800$44053.3257.10.1210.20734.9265.00.0790.13216.8267.20.0380.063
Radeon RX 6750 XT$35041.4250.00.1180.16526.0256.30.0740.10212.2259.00.0350.047
Radeon RX 6700 XT$32038.0208.40.1190.18224.1214.00.0750.11311.5216.60.0360.053
Radeon RX 6700 10GB$27034.3186.10.1270.18421.0188.20.0780.112
Radeon RX 6650 XT$23529.2163.70.1240.17917.6167.80.0750.105
Radeon RX 6600 XT$27027.8145.60.1030.19116.6145.20.0610.114
Radeon RX 6600$20025.4139.30.1270.18215.0138.60.0750.108
Intel Arc A770 16GB$33042.4209.60.1290.20229.8220.60.0900.135
Intel Arc A770 8GB$29040.8224.90.1410.18124.4226.60.0840.108
Intel Arc A750$22042.6196.90.1940.21625.9210.00.1180.123
Intel Arc A380$12012.168.60.1010.177

Ray tracing as usual greatly favors Nvidia GPUs. In terms of value, the lower tier RTX 40-series and 30-series parts rank near the top, with the Arc A750 also making a name for itself. The best AMD GPU for ray tracing value goes to the RX 6700 10GB, sitting in eleventh place overall and followed closely by the RX 6600. Naturally, the most expensive cards are pretty poor in terms of value.

Efficiency meanwhile hugely favors Nvidia's RTX 40-series, with a relatively huge gap between the RTX 3060 Ti and the RTX 4060. The latter does 0.395 FPS/W at 1080p while the former is only 0.266 FPS/W. AMD's top option ends up as the RX 7900 XT, with just 0.254 FPS/W at 1080p, though the 7900 cards do slightly better at 1440p and 4K. Intel's Arc might offer up some decent performance, but it also uses more power and generally ends up near the bottom of the efficiency charts.