NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (12 GB) vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (12 GB) is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q1 2022 with a MSRP of $799. It is built on the Ampere GPU microarchitecture (codename GA102) and is manufactured on a 8 nm process.

Memory

The RTX 3080 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, with a 1,188 MHz memory clock and a 384 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 912.4 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The RTX 3080 includes 8,960 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,260 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,710 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 280 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 96 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing. Additionally, the GPU features 280 tensor cores optimized for AI-accelerated workloads and 70 RT cores dedicated to real-time ray tracing calculations.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RTX 3080 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a display connections. NVIDIA recommends a power supply of at least 750 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 350 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RTX 3080 has the 21st best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 54.14% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 56,634 score and $799 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 70.88. This is the 44th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.