AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data presents a strikingly one-sided contest. Across the two shared tests recorded in the database, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile takes every win, leaving the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 without a single head-to-head victory. The wins are not narrow, either: the NVIDIA part leads by 74.6% in both Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan tests, a margin that places the two GPUs in entirely different performance strata.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 does hold one distinction, however. Its average benchmark score of 27839 across all recorded tests places it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, which is actually higher than the RTX 3080 Mobile's 69th percentile ranking. This apparent contradiction stems from the different benchmark suites each GPU was tested with. The AMD part's average is built from Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan results, while the NVIDIA part's average includes a broader mix of Passmark tests, several of which score very low (Passmark DirectX 12 at 72, DirectX 10 at 120). The RTX 3080 Mobile's average of 23628 is dragged down by these synthetic legacy tests, even though its compute-oriented scores are far higher.

For raw compute throughput, the RTX 3080 Mobile is the clear choice. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 104831 is roughly four times the AMD part's 26679. In Vulkan, the NVIDIA GPU scores 104066 versus 26410. These are not marginal differences; they represent a generational leap in shader throughput and API efficiency. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, by contrast, was designed for a different purpose: professional Mac workflows where its Metal API performance (Geekbench Metal score of 30427) is the relevant metric. The database shows no direct Metal comparison between the two, so the AMD part's strength in that specific API remains unquantified against the NVIDIA rival.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses the Vega 12 chip built on GCN 5.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile uses the GA104 chip with Ampere architecture, built on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The process node difference alone, 14 nm versus 8 nm, explains much of the performance gap: the newer node allows the NVIDIA chip to pack 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 44.4 million per square millimeter.

The compute configurations diverge sharply. The AMD part has 1280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The NVIDIA part has 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, which is 4.8 times more shaders, 2.4 times more TMUs, and 3 times more ROPs. These are not incremental differences; they are structural advantages that manifest in every compute-heavy workload.

Memory architecture presents another fundamental split. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses 4 GB of HBM2 memory on a 1024-bit bus, delivering 189.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA GPU uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s. The AMD part's HBM2 gives it a wider bus but lower total bandwidth and half the capacity. For modern workloads with large datasets, the NVIDIA part's extra 4 GB and 2.4 times higher bandwidth are decisive.

Clock behavior also differs. The AMD GPU has a base clock of 815 MHz and boost clock of 1283 MHz. The NVIDIA GPU runs at 1110 MHz base and 1545 MHz boost. Despite the higher clocks, the NVIDIA part also has a higher TDP of 115 W versus the AMD part's 100 W. The AMD part is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connectors, while the NVIDIA part also lists no power connectors, both being mobile solutions.

Feature support shows NVIDIA's newer architecture. The RTX 3080 Mobile includes 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores, which the AMD Vega 20 does not have at all. The NVIDIA part supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD part supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 4.0 x16 on the NVIDIA side versus PCIe 3.0 x16 on the AMD side, though both are portable-device dependent for display outputs.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 has an average benchmark score of 27839, which is higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile's 23628. However, the NVIDIA part's average is lowered by several low-scoring Passmark legacy tests, while its modern compute scores are dramatically higher.

Q: How large is the performance gap in shared workloads?

A: In both Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile leads by 74.6%. The OpenCL scores are 104831 versus 26679, and the Vulkan scores are 104066 versus 26410.

Q: Does the AMD GPU have any ray tracing capability?

A: No. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 has no ray tracing cores. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile includes 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads.

Q: What are the memory capacity and bandwidth differences?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 has 4 GB of HBM2 memory on a 1024-bit bus with 189.4 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor count?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile has 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20's transistor count is not recorded in the database.

Q: How do the TDPs compare?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 has a TDP of 100 W, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile has a TDP of 115 W. Both are end-of-life products, with the AMD part releasing in November 2018 and the NVIDIA part in January 2021.

Specification Differences

The database records several specification fields where the two GPUs differ. The manufacturing process is 14 nm for AMD versus 8 nm for NVIDIA. The foundry is GlobalFoundries for AMD and Samsung for NVIDIA. The NVIDIA chip has 17,400 million transistors, a 392 mm² die size, and a transistor density of 44.4M per mm²; none of these are recorded for the AMD chip.

Clock speeds differ across all ranges. The AMD base clock is 815 MHz versus 1110 MHz for NVIDIA. Boost clocks are 1283 MHz for AMD and 1545 MHz for NVIDIA. Memory clocks are 740 MHz (1480 Mbps effective) for AMD and 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA.

Compute unit counts are substantially different. AMD has 1280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. NVIDIA has 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. NVIDIA uniquely has 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores. Pixel rate is 41.06 GPixel/s for AMD versus 148.3 GPixel/s for NVIDIA. Texture rate is 102.6 GTexel/s for AMD versus 296.6 GTexel/s for NVIDIA. FP32 throughput is 3.284 TFLOPS for AMD versus 18.98 TFLOPS for NVIDIA. FP16 is 6.569 TFLOPS (2:1) for AMD versus 18.98 TFLOPS (1:1) for NVIDIA, meaning the NVIDIA part does not halve its throughput for FP16.

Memory configuration differs: 4 GB HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus with 189.4 GB/s bandwidth for AMD, versus 8 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth for NVIDIA. TDP is 100 W for AMD and 115 W for NVIDIA. The AMD part is an IGP; the NVIDIA part has no slot width recorded. Bus interfaces are PCIe 3.0 x16 for AMD and PCIe 4.0 x16 for NVIDIA. DirectX support is 12 (12_1) for AMD and 12 Ultimate (12_2) for NVIDIA. Vulkan support is 1.3 for AMD and 1.4 for NVIDIA. The NVIDIA part has a predecessor, GeForce 20 Mobile, while the AMD part has none recorded.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains exactly two shared benchmark tests between these GPUs, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile wins both by identical margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 scores 26679 points, while the NVIDIA part scores 104831 points, a delta of 74.6% in NVIDIA's favor. In Geekbench Vulkan, the AMD part scores 26410 points, the NVIDIA part scores 104066 points, again a 74.6% delta.

The consistency of the margin across two different APIs is notable. OpenCL and Vulkan stress different parts of the GPU pipeline, yet the relative performance gap is nearly identical. This suggests the difference is not API-specific optimization but rather fundamental throughput: the NVIDIA part has 4.8 times more shading units, 2.4 times more TMUs, 3 times more ROPs, and 2.4 times more memory bandwidth. The FP32 compute gap is even larger, with NVIDIA delivering 18.98 TFLOPS versus AMD's 3.284 TFLOPS, a 5.8 times difference.

The average benchmark scores paint a different picture at first glance. The AMD part's average of 27839 exceeds the NVIDIA part's 23628. But the NVIDIA average includes Passmark DirectX 9 (170), DirectX 10 (120), DirectX 11 (146), and DirectX 12 (72) scores that are all extremely low, alongside a Passmark G3D score of 16321 and a GPU compute score of 7276. These legacy API tests likely do not exercise the modern architecture efficiently. The AMD part's average comes from only three Geekbench tests, all with scores in the 26410 to 30427 range. The percentile rankings reflect this: AMD is in the 73rd percentile versus NVIDIA's 69th, meaning the AMD GPU outperforms a slightly larger share of the overall GPU population despite losing decisively in the shared tests.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile is the superior GPU for compute-intensive and modern API workloads. Its 74.6% lead in both OpenCL and Vulkan, combined with 5.8 times higher FP32 throughput, 4.8 times more shading units, and 2.4 times more memory bandwidth, makes it the obvious choice for anyone running general-purpose compute, modern games, or ray-traced workloads. The presence of 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores means it can handle features the AMD part cannot accelerate at all.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 retains relevance in a narrower context. Its Geekbench Metal score of 30427 is the highest recorded score for this GPU across any test, and Metal is the primary graphics API on Apple platforms. The database shows no direct Metal comparison with the NVIDIA part, so its Metal performance relative to the RTX 3080 Mobile remains unknown. For users constrained to the AMD part's ecosystem, particularly Mac-based workflows, the Vega 20's 73rd percentile ranking indicates it outperforms a majority of all GPUs. Its lower TDP of 100 W versus 115 W also makes it the more power-efficient choice on paper.

The RTX 3080 Mobile's average benchmark score is misleadingly low at 23628, dragged down by Passmark legacy tests like DirectX 9 (170) and DirectX 12 (72). Its nearest rivals, including the GTX TITAN Z at 23736 and the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile at 23518, are all within 1.3% of its average, but none of those averages include the same mix of modern compute tests that show the RTX 3080 Mobile's true capabilities. The AMD Vega 20's nearest rivals, including the RX 7800M at 27883 and the Pro W5500X at 27973, sit within 0.6% of its average, suggesting the Vega 20 is competitive within its own performance tier.

For users prioritizing maximum compute throughput, modern API support, ray tracing, and larger memory capacity, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile is the clear pick from the recorded data. For users in Apple-centric environments where Metal performance and a 100 W power envelope matter more, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 remains a viable option, though its 2018 release date and end-of-life status mean it offers no path forward for next-generation workloads. The NVIDIA part, despite also being end-of-life, delivers the kind of headroom that keeps it relevant for years after its January 2021 release.