Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX NITRO+ 24GB GDDR6 Silver
ASUS GeForce RTX 5080 ROG Astral 16GB GDDR7 Black
Buy the Sapphire if you want proven 4K gaming performance, a massive 24GB VRAM buffer for longevity, and a card that owners consistently praise for quiet, cool operation.
The ASUS ROG Astral might appeal to someone chasing the newest architecture and GDDR7, but with zero real-world validation from buyers, you're essentially beta testing a $2,000+ card.
Key Differences
- VRAM is the headline: 24GB GDDR6 on the Sapphire versus 16GB GDDR7 on the ASUS. The ASUS has faster memory, but 16GB is already tight for 4K textures in some titles, and that gap will only widen.
- Raw compute favors the Sapphire hard. FP16 comes in at 122.8 TFLOPS versus 56.3 on the ASUS, and FP32 is 61.4 versus 56.3. The Sapphire's 96 RT cores also beat the ASUS's 84.
- The ASUS wins on PassMark G3D (35,666 vs 31,427) and GPU Compute (19,602 vs 17,736), so it's not a total wash. But synthetic benchmarks don't tell the whole story when the card has a single 1-star review.
- Power draw is 339W on the Sapphire versus 360W on the ASUS. Neither is efficient, but the Sapphire gives you more performance per watt while still demanding a solid 850W+ PSU.
- Customer sentiment is the real kicker. The Sapphire sits at 4.4/5 from 688 reviews with owners raving about quiet operation and cool temps. The ASUS has one review and it's a 1.0. That's not a sample size, that's a warning sign.
What Buyers Say
Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX NITRO+ 24GB GDDR6 Silver
The Sapphire Nitro+ RX 7900 XTX earns strong praise for its blistering 4K performance, quiet operation, and reliable cooling. Most verified buyers highlight its compact size relative to competing high-end cards, the generous 24GB VRAM, and the absence of coil whine as major pluses. A few reviewers note that coil whine can occasionally occur, and the card demands a robust 850W+ PSU, but overall sentiment is overwhelmingly positive.
Pros
- Excellent 4K gaming performance
- Very quiet operation
- Efficient cooling with low temperatures
- Compact size for a high-end card
- 24GB VRAM for longevity
Cons
- High power consumption
- Occasional coil whine
- Requires 850W+ PSU minimum
- Large 4-slot design
ASUS GeForce RTX 5080 ROG Astral 16GB GDDR7 Black
No customer feedback yet
Scores
Specifications
| Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX NITRO+ | ASUS GeForce RTX 5080 ROG Astral | |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | ||
| GPU Chipset | Radeon RX 7900 XTX | GeForce RTX 5080 |
| Brand | AMD | NVIDIA |
| Architecture | RDNA 3 | Blackwell |
| Class | consumer | consumer |
| Process | 5 | 5 |
| Memory | ||
| VRAM | 24 GB★ | 16 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR7★ |
| Memory Bus | ||
| Bandwidth | ||
| Compute | ||
| CUDA Cores | No data | |
| Stream Processors | No data | |
| Tensor Cores | ||
| RT Cores | 96★ | 84 |
| Base Clock | ||
| Boost Clock | ||
| FP16 TFLOPS | ||
| FP32 TFLOPS | 61.38999938964844★ | 56.279998779296875 |
| Performance | ||
| PassMark G3D | ||
| GPU Compute | ||
| Power & Cooling | ||
| TDP | 339★ | 360 |
| Recommended PSU | 800★ | 850 |
| Power Connectors | 3 x 8-Pin | 1 x 16-pin |
| Cooler | Triple Fan | Triple Fan |
| Fans | 3 | 4★ |
| Connectivity | ||
| Interface | PCI Express 4.0 x16 | PCI Express 5.0 x16 |
| DisplayPort | 2 | 3★ |
| HDMI | 2 | 2 |
| USB-C | 1★ | — |
| Max Displays | 4 | 4 |
| Max Resolution | 7680 x 4320 | 8K |
| Physical | ||
| Length | 320 | 300★ |
| Slot Width | 4 | 4 |
| Form Factor | ATX | Full Height |
| Weight | 1.00 kg★ | 4.88 kg |
| Features | ||
| Ray Tracing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Upscaling | FSR 3.1 | DLSS 4 |
| AV1 Encode | ✓★ | ✗ |
| VR Ready | — | ✓★ |
| DirectX | 12 Ultimate | 12 |
| RGB | ✓ | ✓ |
Pros & Cons
Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX NITRO+ 24GB GDDR6 Silver
- Strong connectivity (99th percentile)99th %ile
- Strong rt (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong compute (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong ai (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Below average affordability (18th percentile)18th %ile
ASUS GeForce RTX 5080 ROG Astral 16GB GDDR7 Black
- Strong rt (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong raster (94th percentile)94th %ile
- Strong compute (93rd percentile)93rd %ile
- Strong connectivity (89th percentile)89th %ile
- Below average social proof (0th percentile)0th %ile
- Below average affordability (4th percentile)4th %ile
Pricing
Verdict
Scores 96 overall, wins 8 of 8 usage categories and 12 of 40 specs.
