AMD Radeon R7 M340 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB Comparison

# AMD Radeon R7 M340 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB

This is a comparison between two GPUs separated by nearly seven years of silicon progress. The R7 M340 is a 2015 entry-level mobile chip built for basic computing, while the RTX 3080 12 GB is a 2022 desktop flagship aimed at high-resolution gaming and professional workloads. The benchmark data, however, tells an unusual story: the RTX 3080 12 GB scores 4791 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, while the R7 M340 scores 4932 in Geekbench OpenCL and 5193 in Geekbench Vulkan. These are different tests, so direct comparison is limited, but the percentile rankings are surprisingly close — the R7 M340 sits at the 30th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3080 12 GB sits at the 28th. That near-parity in percentile is misleading; the tests measure vastly different workloads, and the architectural gulf between the two is enormous.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head benchmark table between these two GPUs is empty, meaning no single test was run on both cards under identical conditions. What exists are separate benchmark entries: the R7 M340 has two Geekbench scores, and the RTX 3080 12 GB has one 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score. The R7 M340’s Geekbench OpenCL score of 4932 and Vulkan score of 5193 both exceed the RTX 3080 12 GB’s 3DMark score of 4791 numerically. But that does not mean the R7 M340 is faster — Geekbench and 3DMark measure entirely different things, with different driver optimizations, shading workloads, and memory access patterns. The RTX 3080 12 GB's 3DMark Steel Nomad test is a modern DirectX 12 Ultimate workload, while Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests are more synthetic and less graphics-heavy.

Looking at the nearest rivals, the R7 M340’s average benchmark score is 5063, identical to the AMD Radeon R7 240 (deltaPct 0%), 0.6% ahead of the AMD FirePro W4170M (5034), and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon R5 M430 (5018). The RTX 3080 12 GB’s average score of 4791 places it 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon R5 M255 (4788), 0.8% behind the AMD Radeon R5 M335 (4752), and 1.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX (4844). These rival sets are revealing: the R7 M340 competes with other low-end mobile parts, while the RTX 3080 12 GB, despite its flagship positioning, is being compared against old mid-range and entry-level laptop GPUs in this database’s scoring. That suggests the RTX 3080 12 GB’s single 3DMark score is not representative of its real-world capability in standard benchmarks — it is likely an outlier or a driver-constrained run.

The takeaway: there is no head-to-head data, and the available scores are not apples-to-apples. What the numbers do show is that the R7 M340’s Geekbench results are internally consistent (4932 OpenCL vs 5193 Vulkan, a 5.3% gap favoring Vulkan), while the RTX 3080 12 GB’s sole 3DMark result is far below what its hardware specifications would suggest in typical gaming benchmarks. If you are making a purchase decision based on these numbers alone, you would be misled — the percentile rankings of 30th and 28th are within noise of each other, but the underlying silicon capabilities are not remotely comparable.

Architecture Differences

The R7 M340 is built on AMD’s GCN 3.0 architecture, using the Meso chip fabricated on a 28 nm TSMC process. It packs 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.4 million per square millimeter. The RTX 3080 12 GB uses NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, made on Samsung’s 8 nm process. That chip contains 28,300 million transistors across a 628 mm² die, at a density of 45.1 million per square millimeter. The RTX 3080 12 GB has roughly 18 times more transistors and five times the die area, with over 3.6 times the transistor density — a clear generational leap in manufacturing and design.

The R7 M340 has 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 render output units. It has no dedicated ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 3080 12 GB has 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, plus 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores. That is 28 times more shading units, 14 times more TMUs, and 12 times more ROPs. The memory subsystems are equally divergent: the R7 M340 uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 16.00 GB/s of bandwidth, while the RTX 3080 12 GB uses 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 912.4 GB/s — a 57-fold increase in memory bandwidth.

Clock speeds differ as well. The R7 M340 runs at 943 MHz base and 1021 MHz boost, with memory at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective). The RTX 3080 12 GB runs at 1260 MHz base and 1710 MHz boost, with memory at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The RTX 3080 12 GB’s boost clock is 67% higher than the R7 M340’s, but the real story is the parallel width: the RTX 3080 12 GB has 28 times more shaders running at higher clocks. The pixel rate is 8.168 GPixel/s for the R7 M340 versus 164.2 GPixel/s for the RTX 3080 12 GB, and texture rate is 20.42 GTexel/s versus 478.8 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 653.4 GFLOPS versus 30.64 TFLOPS — a 47-fold difference. Both have FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, but the absolute numbers are 653.4 GFLOPS versus 30.64 TFLOPS.

The R7 M340 uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, while the RTX 3080 12 GB uses PCIe 4.0 x16 — doubling both the generation and lane count. The R7 M340 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RTX 3080 12 GB supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 3080 12 GB also has a 350 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, a single 12-pin power connector, and a suggested 750 W power supply. The R7 M340 has no listed TDP, slot width, or power connector requirements — it is a low-power mobile part. The RTX 3080 12 GB measures 285 mm by 112 mm by 40 mm, while the R7 M340 has no listed dimensions.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in raw compute?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB delivers 30.64 TFLOPS FP32 versus the R7 M340’s 653.4 GFLOPS, a 47-fold advantage. The RTX 3080 12 GB also has a 164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate versus 8.168 GPixel/s, and 478.8 GTexel/s versus 20.42 GTexel/s.

Q: Why does the R7 M340 have a higher average benchmark score than the RTX 3080 12 GB?

A: The R7 M340’s average benchmark score is 5063, while the RTX 3080 12 GB’s is 4791. However, these come from different tests: the R7 M340 has Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores, while the RTX 3080 12 GB has a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score. The tests are not directly comparable, and the RTX 3080 12 GB’s score is likely not indicative of its performance in standard gaming workloads.

Q: What are the memory differences?

A: The R7 M340 has 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus with 16.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3080 12 GB has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth — 6 times more capacity and 57 times more bandwidth.

Q: Does the RTX 3080 12 GB support ray tracing?

A: Yes, it has 70 dedicated ray tracing cores. The R7 M340 has no ray tracing cores at all. The RTX 3080 12 GB also has 280 tensor cores for AI workloads, which the R7 M340 lacks.

Q: What is the manufacturing node difference?

A: The R7 M340 uses a 28 nm TSMC process, while the RTX 3080 12 GB uses Samsung’s 8 nm process. The RTX 3080 12 GB has a transistor density of 45.1M / mm² versus 12.4M / mm² for the R7 M340.

Q: Which card is newer?

A: The R7 M340 was released on May 4, 2015. The RTX 3080 12 GB was released on January 10, 2022 — nearly seven years later. Both are now end-of-life products.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon R7 M340 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB |

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

| Architecture | GCN 3.0 | Ampere |

| Process node | 28 nm | 8 nm |

| Transistors | 1,550 million | 28,300 million |

| Die size | 125 mm² | 628 mm² |

| Transistor density | 12.4M / mm² | 45.1M / mm² |

| Base clock | 943 MHz | 1260 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1021 MHz | 1710 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) | 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) |

| Memory size | 2 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory type | DDR3 | GDDR6X |

| Memory bus width | 64 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 16.00 GB/s | 912.4 GB/s |

| Shading units | 320 | 8960 |

| TMUs | 20 | 280 |

| ROPs | 8 | 96 |

| RT cores | None | 70 |

| Tensor cores | None | 280 |

| Pixel rate | 8.168 GPixel/s | 164.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 20.42 GTexel/s | 478.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 653.4 GFLOPS | 30.64 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 653.4 GFLOPS | 30.64 TFLOPS |

| TDP | Not listed | 350 W |

| Slot width | Not listed | Dual-slot |

| Power connectors | Not listed | 1x 12-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not listed | 750 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display outputs | Not listed | 1x HDMI 2.13x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Dimensions | Not listed | 285 mm x 112 mm x 40 mm |

| Release date | May 4, 2015 | January 10, 2022 |

| Launch MSRP | Not listed | 799 USD |

Where Each One Wins

The R7 M340 wins in the category of legacy compatibility and low-power operation. Its 28 nm GCN 3.0 architecture supports DirectX 12 (12_0), which covers most older games and applications. It has no power connector requirement and no listed TDP, making it suitable for slim laptops where space and cooling are minimal. Its Geekbench scores — 4932 OpenCL and 5193 Vulkan — are consistent and respectable for a 2015 entry-level part, and it sits at the 30th percentile of all GPUs, matching the R7 240 exactly and beating the R7 Graphics by 1.3%. If you are running legacy software from its era, or need a GPU that sips power and fits in a thin chassis, the R7 M340 is the pragmatic choice.

The RTX 3080 12 GB wins decisively in every compute-heavy category. It has 28 times more shading units, 70 ray tracing cores, 280 tensor cores, and 912.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate support enables hardware ray tracing, mesh shaders, and variable rate shading — none of which the R7 M340 can handle. The RTX 3080 12 GB’s FP32 throughput of 30.64 TFLOPS is enough for professional rendering, AI inference, and high-refresh-rate 4K gaming. Its PCIe 4.0 x16 interface doubles the bandwidth of the R7 M340’s PCIe 3.0 x8. The suggested 750 W power supply and 350 W TDP indicate a desktop part that expects a robust PSU and cooling solution. For anyone running modern AAA titles, creative workloads, or machine learning, the RTX 3080 12 GB is the only viable option.

The R7 M340 also wins on release-date availability — it launched in May 2015, which means it has had a longer period of driver maturity for older operating systems. However, both are end-of-life, so neither will receive future feature updates. The RTX 3080 12 GB’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is 6 times larger than the R7 M340’s 2 GB of DDR3, which matters for modern texture-heavy games that routinely exceed 4 GB. The R7 M340’s 16.00 GB/s bandwidth is a hard bottleneck for any modern workload, while the RTX 3080 12 GB’s 912.4 GB/s is sufficient for 4K texture streaming and compute offload.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the RTX 3080 12 GB is a vastly more capable GPU in every measurable hardware specification. The only reason the R7 M340 appears competitive in benchmark scores is that the two cards are measured by different tests, and the RTX 3080 12 GB’s single 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 4791 is anomalously low for its hardware class — it sits at the 28th percentile, near the R7 M340’s 30th, but that is a quirk of the database’s scoring methodology, not a reflection of real-world performance. If you are building a system today and need to run modern software, the RTX 3080 12 GB is the only choice. Its 30.64 TFLOPS FP32, 70 RT cores, 280 tensor cores, and 12 GB GDDR6X are in a different universe from the R7 M340’s 653.4 GFLOPS and 2 GB DDR3.

The R7 M340 is only appropriate if you are restoring a legacy laptop from 2015, need a drop-in replacement for an old AMD part, or are running software that predates 2016 and requires no more than 2 GB of VRAM. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 5193 is higher than its OpenCL score of 4932, suggesting decent driver optimization for that era, but the hardware ceiling is low. The RTX 3080 12 GB, despite its end-of-life status, supports the latest DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 APIs, ensuring compatibility with current and near-future titles. The launch MSRP of 799 USD for the RTX 3080 12 GB reflects its flagship positioning at release, while the R7 M340 had no listed MSRP, indicating it was an OEM-only part never sold at retail.

For any practical purpose in 2025 or beyond, the RTX 3080 12 GB is the GPU to pick. The R7 M340 is a historical artifact. The percentile rankings being close (30th vs 28th) should not mislead anyone — those numbers are artifacts of incompatible benchmark suites. The hardware specifications tell the real story: 28,300 million transistors versus 1,550 million, 912.4 GB/s versus 16.00 GB/s, and a 47-fold FP32 advantage. There is no scenario where the R7 M340 outperforms the RTX 3080 12 GB in a modern workload, and the data supports that conclusion unequivocally.