GeForce GTX 1080 Ti vs Radeon RX 590
The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti pulls ahead here — in a different league, about 143% ahead of the Radeon RX 590. It also wins on performance-per-dollar, making it the cleaner choice when you can afford it.
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Comparable or lower specs
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti vs Radeon RX 590: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: GeForce GTX 1080 Ti vs Radeon RX 590
The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is dramatically faster, around 143% ahead of the Radeon RX 590. That gap is enough to move it up a tier: the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is comfortable at 1080p, while the Radeon RX 590 is better matched to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
Pricing has the Radeon RX 590 at $120 USD, $65 USD under the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti's $185 USD. Because it's both faster and competitively priced, the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti wins on performance-per-dollar by about 58%. The Radeon RX 590 is trading below its $279 USD MSRP — a genuine deal. The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is trading below its $699 USD MSRP — a genuine deal.
Power & Efficiency
At 225W vs 250W, the Radeon RX 590 is the gentler load on your system. The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti's extra power draw buys more performance per watt, not just more heat — worth it if your PSU has the headroom.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti carries 11GB versus 8GB on the Radeon RX 590. The extra 3GB helps at 4K, with high-resolution texture packs, and for content-creation or local-AI workloads that exhaust smaller buffers.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti brings NVIDIA DLSS upscaling/frame generation and stronger ray tracing, while the Radeon RX 590 offers AMD FSR upscaling and strong rasterization value. If you lean on upscaling or ray tracing, that ecosystem difference can matter as much as the frame-rate gap.
Which should you buy: GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or Radeon RX 590?
The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the all-round winner here — it's faster and the better value, so buy it if it fits your budget. Only consider the Radeon RX 590 if you find it at a steep discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti better than the Radeon RX 590?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or the Radeon RX 590?
Is the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti worth the extra $65 USD over the Radeon RX 590?
Does the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or Radeon RX 590?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Pascal | GCN 4.0 (Polaris) |
| Process Node | TSMC 16nm | GloFo 12nm |
| CUDA Cores (CUDA Cores / Stream Processors) | 3,584✓ | 2,304 |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,480 MHz✓ | 1,469 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1,582 MHz✓ | 1,545 MHz |
Memory
| Specification | GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 11 GB✓ | 8 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5X | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 352-bit✓ | 256-bit |
| Memory Speed | 11 Gbps✓ | 8 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 484 GB/s✓ | 256 GB/s |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| TDP | 250 W | 225 W✓ |
| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin + 1x 6-pin | 1x 8-pin |
| Released | Mar 2017 | Nov 2018 |