AMD Radeon 780M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile Comparison

The AMD Radeon 780M and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile occupy very different positions in the mobile graphics landscape. The 780M is an integrated graphics processor built into AMD's Phoenix chips, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile is a discrete laptop GPU from NVIDIA's Ampere generation. The recorded benchmark data shows a clear overall winner, but the underlying specifications reveal why these parts serve different purposes. This analysis uses only the database measurements and specification records to compare the two.

The Verdict

The benchmark results indicate that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile is the faster GPU in raw compute workloads. In the single head-to-head test recorded, Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3050 A Mobile scored 52998 against the 780M's 18602, a margin of 64.9% in NVIDIA's favor. The average benchmark score across all recorded tests reinforces this: the RTX 3050 A Mobile averages 8746 points, while the 780M averages 17588 points. That difference is substantial, but the averages are skewed by the different test suites each GPU was subjected to.

The 780M sits in the 61st percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile sits in the 44th percentile. This means the 780M outperforms more of the overall GPU population despite losing to the RTX 3050 A Mobile in the direct comparison. The 780M's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (average score 17551, within 0.2%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (17639, 0.3% higher), and the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666, 0.4% higher). The RTX 3050 A Mobile's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 (8743, exactly 0% delta), the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8686, 0.7% lower), and the AMD Radeon R9 M265X (8851, 1.2% higher).

For a buyer choosing between these two, the RTX 3050 A Mobile is the choice when dedicated compute performance matters most, particularly in OpenCL-based applications. The 780M is the choice when the GPU must share the system's power budget with the CPU, as it draws only 15 W compared to the RTX 3050 A Mobile's 45 W. The data does not support the RTX 3050 A Mobile as a universally better part; its lower percentile rank and the 780M's higher average score suggest the 780M handles a broader range of tasks well, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile excels at specific compute-heavy workloads.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and foundries. The AMD Radeon 780M uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. Its chip, codenamed Phoenix, contains 25,390 million transistors on a 178 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 142.6 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile uses the Ampere architecture, built on an 8 nm process at Samsung. Its GA106 chip contains 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 43.5 million per square millimeter.

The transistor counts and die sizes reveal a fundamental design philosophy difference. The 780M packs more than twice the transistors into a smaller die, which is possible because of the denser 4 nm process. The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses a larger, older, and less dense process. The 780M's higher transistor density allows it to achieve higher clock speeds: its boost clock is 2900 MHz, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile boosts to 1343 MHz. The base clocks differ similarly, with the 780M at 800 MHz and the RTX 3050 A Mobile at 1065 MHz, though the RTX 3050 A Mobile's base clock is higher.

The memory architecture differs completely. The 780M uses system-shared memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM and its bandwidth is system dependent. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a fixed bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s and a memory clock of 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). This dedicated memory gives the RTX 3050 A Mobile predictable memory performance, whereas the 780M's memory performance depends entirely on the host system's RAM configuration.

The compute resources also diverge. The 780M has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, 32 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 1792 shading units, 56 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 14 ray tracing cores, and 56 tensor cores. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has more than double the shading units and a dedicated tensor core array, which the 780M lacks entirely. The 780M compensates with much higher clock speeds, as noted above.

The power envelopes are starkly different. The 780M has a TDP of 15 W, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has a TDP of 45 W. The 780M is an integrated GPU with no power connectors and a slot width of IGP. The RTX 3050 A Mobile is also listed with a slot width of IGP and no power connectors, but its 45 W TDP is typical of a discrete mobile GPU. Both use a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface, and both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The production statuses differ: the 780M is listed as Active, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile is End-of-life. The 780M's release date is January 30, 2024, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile's release date is December 31, 2023. The 780M lists a predecessor (Navi II IGP) and a successor (Navi III IGP), while the RTX 3050 A Mobile lists a predecessor (GeForce 20 Mobile) but no successor in the records.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records only one direct head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. In that test, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile scored 52998, while the AMD Radeon 780M scored 18602. The delta percentage is 64.9% in NVIDIA's favor. This is a massive margin, indicating that in OpenCL compute workloads, the RTX 3050 A Mobile delivers roughly three times the performance of the 780M.

Beyond that single head-to-head, the individual benchmark records show different strengths. The 780M has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 33683, which is not directly comparable to the RTX 3050 A Mobile because no Vulkan test was recorded for the latter. The 780M also has a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 480. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has a Passmark G3D score of 11664, a Passmark G2D score of 526, and Passmark DirectX scores of 152 (DX9), 94 (DX11), 61 (DX10), and 55 (DX12). Its Passmark GPU compute score is 4419.

The average benchmark scores tell a different story. The 780M's average is 17588, which is nearly double the RTX 3050 A Mobile's average of 8746. This discrepancy exists because the two GPUs were tested with different benchmark suites. The 780M was tested with modern, high-scoring tests like Geekbench Vulkan and 3DMark Steel Nomad, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile was tested with Passmark's legacy DirectX tests, which produce lower raw numbers. The averages are not directly comparable across different test sets.

The percentile ranks provide the most balanced comparison. The 780M at the 61st percentile means it outperforms 61% of all GPUs in the database. The RTX 3050 A Mobile at the 44th percentile outperforms only 44%. This suggests that the 780M, despite losing the OpenCL head-to-head, is the better-rounded GPU when compared against the full range of GPUs, including desktop parts and other integrated solutions.

The nearest rival data confirms each GPU's positioning. The 780M's closest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 560 with an average score of 17551, just 0.2% behind. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 with an average score of 8743, exactly 0% delta. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's rivals are all older or lower-tier parts, while the 780M's rivals include the RTX 4060, a much more modern discrete GPU. This indicates the 780M competes at a higher performance tier than the RTX 3050 A Mobile in the database's overall rankings.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two GPUs, based on the database records:

| Specification | AMD Radeon 780M | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile |

|----------------|-----------------|----------------------------------|

| Architecture | RDNA 3.0 | Ampere |

| Process node | 4 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 25,390 million | 12,000 million |

| Die size | 178 mm² | 276 mm² |

| Transistor density | 142.6M / mm² | 43.5M / mm² |

| Base clock | 800 MHz | 1065 MHz |

| Boost clock | 2900 MHz | 1343 MHz |

| Memory size | System Shared | 4 GB GDDR6 |

| Memory type | System Shared | GDDR6 |

| Memory bus width | System Shared | 128 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | System Dependent | 192.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 768 | 1792 |

| TMUs | 48 | 56 |

| RT cores | 12 | 14 |

| Tensor cores | None | 56 |

| Pixel rate | 92.80 GPixel/s | 42.98 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 139.2 GTexel/s | 75.21 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 8.909 TFLOPS | 4.813 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 8.909 TFLOPS (1:1) | 4.813 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 15 W | 45 W |

| Production status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release date | 2024-01-30 | 2023-12-31 |

Both GPUs share the same ROP count (32), bus interface (PCIe 4.0 x8), slot width (IGP), power connector requirement (None), and API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4).

The specification differences show that the 780M achieves higher pixel and texture rates (92.80 GPixel/s and 139.2 GTexel/s versus 42.98 and 75.21) because of its much higher boost clock, despite having fewer TMUs. Its FP32 throughput of 8.909 TFLOPS is nearly double the RTX 3050 A Mobile's 4.813 TFLOPS. The RTX 3050 A Mobile counters with more shading units, more RT cores, and a dedicated tensor core array, plus dedicated VRAM.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance in the recorded head-to-head test?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile scored 52998 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon 780M scored 18602, a 64.9% difference in NVIDIA's favor.

Q: Why does the 780M have a higher average benchmark score despite losing the head-to-head?

A: The 780M's average score of 17588 comes from different tests (Geekbench Vulkan, 3DMark Steel Nomad) than the RTX 3050 A Mobile's average of 8746 (Passmark suite). The 780M also ranks in the 61st percentile versus the RTX 3050 A Mobile's 44th percentile, indicating it outperforms a larger share of the overall GPU population.

Q: What memory configuration does each GPU use?

A: The 780M uses system-shared memory with no dedicated VRAM, and its bandwidth is system dependent. The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with a fixed bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The 780M has a TDP of 15 W, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has a TDP of 45 W. Neither requires external power connectors, and both have a slot width of IGP.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and ray tracing cores?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 1792 shading units and 14 RT cores. The 780M has 768 shading units and 12 RT cores. The RTX 3050 A Mobile also has 56 tensor cores, which the 780M lacks.

Q: What are the production status and release dates?

A: The 780M is listed as Active with a release date of January 30, 2024. The RTX 3050 A Mobile is listed as End-of-life with a release date of December 31, 2023.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon 780M wins in scenarios that favor high clock speeds and efficient use of system memory. Its 2900 MHz boost clock drives pixel and texture rates of 92.80 GPixel/s and 139.2 GTexel/s, both roughly double the RTX 3050 A Mobile's figures of 42.98 GPixel/s and 75.21 GTexel/s. Its FP32 throughput of 8.909 TFLOPS is also nearly double the RTX 3050 A Mobile's 4.813 TFLOPS. These metrics indicate the 780M excels at fill-rate-bound and shader-heavy workloads that do not require large dedicated VRAM pools. Its 15 W TDP makes it suitable for thin-and-light laptops where the GPU must share a limited power budget with the CPU. The 780M's 61st percentile rank and higher average score (17588) suggest it performs well across a wide range of modern benchmarks, including Vulkan and DirectX 12.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile wins in compute-heavy applications that leverage its larger shading unit count (1792 versus 768) and dedicated tensor cores (56). The Geekbench OpenCL result of 52998 versus 18602 is the clearest evidence: the RTX 3050 A Mobile delivers 64.9% more OpenCL performance. Its 4 GB of GDDR6 memory with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth provides consistent, dedicated memory access that the 780M cannot match because its memory bandwidth is system dependent. The RTX 3050 A Mobile also has more ray tracing cores (14 versus 12), which may help in ray-traced workloads, though no ray tracing benchmark is recorded in the database. Its 45 W TDP indicates it is designed for laptops with more substantial cooling and power delivery.

The production statuses reinforce this split. The 780M is Active, meaning it is still being manufactured and shipped in current products. The RTX 3050 A Mobile is End-of-life, so it is no longer in production. For new system designs, the 780M is the available option, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile would only be found in older or clearance laptops. The database records show the 780M has a successor (Navi III IGP), while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has none listed.

In practical terms, the 780M wins for integrated graphics users who need a capable GPU for everyday tasks, light gaming, and modern API support without adding a discrete GPU's power draw. The RTX 3050 A Mobile wins for users who prioritize raw OpenCL compute, dedicated VRAM, and tensor core functionality, accepting a higher power draw and an end-of-life status. The single head-to-head benchmark does not tell the whole story; the percentile ranks and average scores show the 780M is the better-rounded part, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile is specialized for compute throughput.