AMD Radeon R5 M330 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB and the AMD Radeon R5 M330 occupy entirely different segments of the graphics hardware spectrum. The RTX 3080 12 GB is a high-end desktop discrete GPU built on the Ampere architecture, while the R5 M330 is a low-power mobile integrated part based on GCN 1.0. The database records a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score for the RTX 3080 12 GB at 4791 points, placing it in the 28th percentile of all GPUs. The R5 M330 has two recorded benchmarks, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 4302 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 4037, with an average benchmark score of 4170 and a 25th percentile ranking. Their nearest rivals reveal the performance context: the RTX 3080 12 GB sits within 1.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX and the AMD Radeon R5 M335, while the R5 M330 competes closely with the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB. No direct head-to-head benchmark results exist between these two cards, so the analysis relies on their individual recorded scores, architectural specifications, and comparative positions within the database.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head test results between the RTX 3080 12 GB and the R5 M330. However, the recorded benchmark scores provide a clear numerical picture. The RTX 3080 12 GB achieves 4791 points in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is its sole benchmark entry. The R5 M330 delivers a Geekbench OpenCL score of 4302 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 4037, with an average benchmark score of 4170 across those two tests. The RTX 3080 12 GB’s single score of 4791 is 14.9% higher than the R5 M330’s average of 4170, a substantial gap that reflects the fundamental differences in their design targets.

The RTX 3080 12 GB’s nearest rivals in the database underscore its position. The AMD Radeon R5 M255 scores 4788, a 0.1% delta from the RTX 3080 12 GB, essentially identical in recorded performance. The AMD Radeon R5 M335 scores 4752, 0.8% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce 940MX scores 4844, 1.1% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M scores 4855, 1.3% higher. This cluster of scores within a 2.2% band suggests that the RTX 3080 12 GB’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result places it among older or lower-tier mobile and entry-level discrete GPUs in this particular benchmark, despite its advanced architecture and high-end specifications.

The R5 M330’s nearest rivals show a similar clustering. The NVIDIA Quadro K2100M scores 4151, a 0.4% delta from the R5 M330’s average of 4170. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti scores 4193, 0.5% higher, while the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M scores 4241, 1.7% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB scores 4093, 1.9% lower. The R5 M330’s average sits nearly in the middle of this group, with a spread of 3.6% from the lowest to the highest rival score. This indicates that the R5 M330’s recorded performance is comparable to a mix of workstation mobile GPUs and a modern mid-range desktop card, at least in the Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan workloads.

Interpreting these numbers requires caution. The RTX 3080 12 GB’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is a modern DirectX 12 test, while the R5 M330’s Geekbench results are compute-oriented. The percentage gap between the two, 14.9% in favor of the RTX 3080 12 GB, is meaningful but does not capture the full scope of their capability differences, which become evident in architectural specifications rather than raw benchmark deltas alone.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 12 GB wins decisively in every measurable performance category from the database. Its pixel rate is 164.2 GPixel/s compared to 8.240 GPixel/s for the R5 M330, a 19.9x advantage. Its texture rate is 478.8 GTexel/s versus 20.60 GTexel/s, a 23.2x advantage. The FP32 compute is 30.64 TFLOPS against 659.2 GFLOPS, a 46.5x advantage. Memory bandwidth reaches 912.4 GB/s on the RTX 3080 12 GB versus 14.40 GB/s on the R5 M330, a 63.4x difference. These figures show that the RTX 3080 12 GB is designed for high-resolution gaming, ray tracing, and compute-heavy workloads, while the R5 M330 targets basic display output and light tasks.

The R5 M330 wins in power efficiency and physical footprint. Its TDP is 18 W, while the RTX 3080 12 GB has a TDP of 350 W. The R5 M330 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connectors and no suggested PSU, making it suitable for slim laptops and low-power systems. The RTX 3080 12 GB requires a 750 W suggested PSU and a 1x 12-pin power connector, fitting a dual-slot 285 mm long, 112 mm tall, and 40 mm wide card. The R5 M330 has no recorded dimensions, as it is a portable device dependent IGP, whereas the RTX 3080 12 GB is a large discrete card.

In terms of API support, the RTX 3080 12 GB supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The R5 M330 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RTX 3080 12 GB’s higher DirectX and Vulkan versions enable modern rendering features, including ray tracing via its 70 RT cores and DLSS via its 280 tensor cores. The R5 M330 has no RT cores or tensor cores, limiting it to conventional rasterization. For gaming, the RTX 3080 12 GB is the clear choice. For basic office work, video playback, or legacy applications, the R5 M330’s low power draw and integrated nature make it practical for ultraportable devices.

Architecture Differences

The RTX 3080 12 GB uses the GA102 chip on an 8 nm process from Samsung, containing 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.1M per mm². The R5 M330 uses the Exo chip on a 28 nm process from TSMC, with 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die, giving a density of 12.3M per mm². The process node difference, 8 nm versus 28 nm, is three generations apart, explaining the massive transistor count disparity: the RTX 3080 12 GB has 41x more transistors.

The RTX 3080 12 GB features 8960 shading units, 280 texture mapping units, 96 raster output units, 70 RT cores, and 280 tensor cores. The R5 M330 has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores. This means the RTX 3080 12 GB has 28x more shading units, 14x more TMUs, and 12x more ROPs. The memory subsystem also diverges completely. The RTX 3080 12 GB uses 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, achieving 912.4 GB/s bandwidth. The R5 M330 uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, achieving 14.40 GB/s. The bus width difference, 384-bit versus 64-bit, is a 6x gap, and the memory type, GDDR6X versus DDR3, represents a generational leap in speed.

Clock speeds show a narrower gap. The RTX 3080 12 GB has a base clock of 1260 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, with a memory clock of 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The R5 M330 has a base clock of 955 MHz and a boost clock of 1030 MHz, with a memory clock of 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective). The boost clock difference is 66% in favor of the RTX 3080 12 GB, but the architectural compute advantages dominate.

The bus interface differs as well. The RTX 3080 12 GB uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the R5 M330 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs on the RTX 3080 12 GB include 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the R5 M330’s outputs are portable device dependent. The RTX 3080 12 GB was released on January 10, 2022, with the R5 M330 released on May 4, 2015. The RTX 3080 12 GB is part of the GeForce 30-series, succeeding the GeForce 20 and preceding the GeForce 40. The R5 M330 belongs to the Gem System generation (R5 M300), succeeding the Solar System and preceding the Polaris Mobile. Both are end-of-life products.

FAQ

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB has an average benchmark score of 4791 based on its single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result. The AMD Radeon R5 M330 has an average benchmark score of 4170, derived from its Geekbench OpenCL score of 4302 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 4037.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 12 GB compare to its closest rivals in the database?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB scores 4791, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon R5 M255 (4788) and 0.8% higher than the AMD Radeon R5 M335 (4752). It is 1.1% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX (4844) and 1.3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M (4855).

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth. The R5 M330 has 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus with 14.40 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the R5 M330 support ray tracing or tensor operations?

A: No. The R5 M330 has no RT cores and no tensor cores in its specifications. The RTX 3080 12 GB, by contrast, has 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores.

Q: Which GPU has a higher FP32 compute performance?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB delivers 30.64 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the R5 M330 delivers 659.2 GFLOPS. The RTX 3080 12 GB is approximately 46.5 times faster in this metric.

Q: What are the power requirements for each GPU?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB has a TDP of 350 W and requires a 750 W suggested PSU with a 1x 12-pin power connector. The R5 M330 has a TDP of 18 W, uses no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU rating.

The Verdict

The data points to an unambiguous conclusion. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB is a high-performance desktop GPU with 30.64 TFLOPS FP32 compute, 912.4 GB/s memory bandwidth, and 70 RT cores, built for demanding gaming and professional workloads. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4791 places it among a cluster of older mobile and entry-level discrete GPUs, which is a quirk of the benchmark’s selection rather than a reflection of its true capability. The AMD Radeon R5 M330 is an ultra-low-power integrated GPU with 659.2 GFLOPS, 14.40 GB/s bandwidth, and no ray tracing support, suitable only for basic display tasks in portable devices.

For a user selecting a GPU for modern gaming, high-resolution rendering, or compute-intensive applications, the RTX 3080 12 GB is the only viable option from this pair. Its 46.5x advantage in FP32 compute and 63.4x advantage in memory bandwidth translate directly into playable frame rates and fast content creation. For a user building or buying a low-power laptop for web browsing, office work, or media playback, the R5 M330’s 18 W TDP and integrated nature are appropriate, but its performance is a fraction of the RTX 3080 12 GB.

The percentile rankings reinforce the gap. The RTX 3080 12 GB sits in the 28th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the R5 M330 sits in the 25th percentile. The difference is small in percentile terms because the database includes many higher-performing cards, but the absolute benchmark scores and architectural specifications show that the RTX 3080 12 GB is in a completely different performance class. The R5 M330’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB, both modern or mid-range parts, yet the R5 M330’s score is within 1.9% of them, suggesting its benchmark results are competitive in compute tests despite its weak gaming hardware. The RTX 3080 12 GB’s nearest rivals, by contrast, are the 940MX and GTX 560M, which are older parts, indicating that its single recorded benchmark does not reflect its architectural superiority.

In practical terms, choose the RTX 3080 12 GB for any task requiring graphics acceleration, gaming, or GPU compute. Choose the R5 M330 only if the system must operate within an 18 W power envelope and has no discrete GPU slot, accepting that its performance will be minimal by modern standards. The database records no direct head-to-head wins for either card, but the recorded scores and specifications make the hierarchy clear: the RTX 3080 12 GB outperforms the R5 M330 by an order of magnitude in every compute and memory metric, and the R5 M330 wins only in power efficiency and physical integration.