AMD Radeon RX 7800M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile Comparison

AMD Radeon RX 7800M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile represent two distinct approaches to high-performance mobile graphics. The RX 7800M, built on RDNA 3.0, is the newer and more efficient part, while the RTX 3080 Mobile is a previous-generation Ampere design. The database shows a clear overall winner, with the AMD part taking 9 of 10 head-to-head benchmark comparisons, but the single NVIDIA win reveals a specific area of strength for the older GPU.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7800M establishes dominance in nearly every modern workload category. Its most significant victories come in compute-heavy and API-modern scenarios. In PassMark’s GPU Compute test, the RX 7800M scores 9342 against the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 7276, a 28.4% advantage that indicates substantially better raw throughput for non-graphics tasks. The Geekbench Vulkan result reinforces this, with the RX 7800M achieving 126668 versus 104066, a 21.7% lead. These results suggest the RDNA 3.0 architecture scales better with parallel workloads and modern driver overhead.

The RX 7800M also wins decisively in DirectX 12 and DirectX 11 scenarios. Its PassMark DirectX 12 score of 89 is 23.6% higher than the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 72, and its DirectX 11 score of 176 beats the rival’s 146 by 20.5%. This indicates that the AMD GPU delivers stronger performance in current-generation game APIs, which are the most relevant for recent titles.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile wins exactly one comparison: PassMark DirectX 10. Here, the NVIDIA part scores 120 against the RX 7800M’s 99, a 17.5% margin. This is a legacy API test, and the result suggests that the older NVIDIA architecture retains some efficiency in older rendering paths, or that the driver optimization for this specific workload favors Ampere. It is a narrow win, however, and does not translate into broader DirectX 9 or DirectX 11 success. In DirectX 9, the RX 7800M edges ahead with 174 versus 170, a slim 2.4% margin.

For overall 3D performance, the PassMark G3D score places the RX 7800M at 17613, which is 7.9% ahead of the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 16321. The AMD part also dominates the 2D test, scoring 892 versus 637, a 40% lead. The overall average benchmark score reinforces the hierarchy: the RX 7800M averages 27883, while the RTX 3080 Mobile averages 23628. This places the RX 7800M in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, compared to the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 69th percentile.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800M has a significantly higher average score of 27883, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile’s 23628.

Q: In which test does the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile outperform the AMD Radeon RX 7800M?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile wins the PassMark DirectX 10 test, scoring 120 against the RX 7800M’s 99, a 17.5% advantage.

Q: How large is the AMD Radeon RX 7800M’s lead in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The RX 7800M scores 126668, which is 21.7% higher than the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 104066.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth between the two GPUs?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile has a slightly higher bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, while the RX 7800M provides 432.0 GB/s.

Q: Which GPU has more RT cores?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800M has 60 RT cores, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile has 48 RT cores.

Q: What is the production status of each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800M is listed as Active, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile is End-of-life.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive single-test victory for the AMD Radeon RX 7800M comes in the PassMark G2D test. The RX 7800M scores 892, which is 40% higher than the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 637. This is a substantial margin that highlights a major difference in 2D acceleration and basic desktop compositing performance.

In compute-oriented workloads, the RX 7800M’s advantage is also pronounced. The PassMark GPU Compute test shows a 28.4% lead for the AMD part (9342 versus 7276). This is consistent with its higher FP32 throughput of 35.87 TFLOPS, compared to the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 18.98 TFLOPS. The Geekbench OpenCL result follows the same pattern, with the RX 7800M scoring 120778 versus 104831, a 15.2% difference.

Moving to graphics APIs, the RX 7800M wins the PassMark DirectX 12 test by 23.6% (89 versus 72) and the DirectX 11 test by 20.5% (176 versus 146). The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test also favors the AMD GPU, with a score of 2994 against 2644, a 13.2% lead. This specific test is a modern, demanding workload, and the RX 7800M’s victory there is a strong indicator of its current-generation gaming performance.

The NVIDIA GPU’s only win is in the PassMark DirectX 10 test, where it scores 120 versus the RX 7800M’s 99. The delta is 17.5% in favor of NVIDIA. This is the only instance where the RTX 3080 Mobile leads, and it is an outlier compared to the rest of the data. In the legacy DirectX 9 test, the two GPUs are nearly tied, with the RX 7800M winning by a narrow 2.4% (174 versus 170). The overall PassMark G3D score, which is a composite of 3D performance, gives the RX 7800M a 7.9% lead (17613 versus 16321).

Specification Differences

The memory configuration is one of the most notable differences. The AMD Radeon RX 7800M features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, resulting in 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a wider 256-bit bus, which yields a slightly higher 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7800M thus offers more capacity, while the RTX 3080 Mobile has a small bandwidth advantage.

The clock speeds differ significantly. The RX 7800M has a base clock of 1295 MHz and a boost clock of 2335 MHz, with a defined game clock of 2145 MHz. The RTX 3080 Mobile has a lower base clock of 1110 MHz and a boost clock of 1545 MHz. The memory clock also differs, with the RX 7800M running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) and the RTX 3080 Mobile at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

The compute unit counts are also different. The RX 7800M has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The RTX 3080 Mobile has 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The NVIDIA part has more shading units, but the AMD part has more texture mapping units. The pixel rate and texture rate reflect these differences: the RX 7800M achieves 224.2 GPixel/s and 560.4 GTexel/s, while the RTX 3080 Mobile achieves 148.3 GPixel/s and 296.6 GTexel/s.

Power consumption is another key differentiator. The RX 7800M has a TDP of 180 W, while the RTX 3080 Mobile has a TDP of 115 W. This means the AMD GPU consumes more power, which is likely a trade-off for its higher performance in most tests. Both are mobile parts with no external power connectors listed, and neither has a launch MSRP in the database.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on different architectures and process nodes. The AMD Radeon RX 7800M uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture, with the Navi 32 chip, and is manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture, with the GA104 chip, and is manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The process node difference is significant, as the 5 nm process allows for a much higher transistor density.

The RX 7800M packs 28,100 million transistors into a 346 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 81.2M per mm². The RTX 3080 Mobile has 17,400 million transistors on a larger 392 mm² die, resulting in a density of 44.4M per mm². This means the AMD chip is much denser, and despite having fewer total transistors, it delivers higher FP32 performance.

The architectures differ in their approach to ray tracing and compute. The RX 7800M has 60 RT cores, while the RTX 3080 Mobile has 48 RT cores. The NVIDIA part also has 192 tensor cores, which the AMD part does not have at all. The RX 7800M compensates with a much higher FP32 throughput of 35.87 TFLOPS, double the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 18.98 TFLOPS. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The release dates are far apart, with the RTX 3080 Mobile launching on January 11, 2021, and the RX 7800M launching on September 10, 2024. The RX 7800M is part of the Navi Mobile (RX 7000M) generation, succeeding Polaris Mobile, while the RTX 3080 Mobile is part of the GeForce 30 Mobile generation, succeeding GeForce 20 Mobile. The RX 7800M is still in active production, whereas the RTX 3080 Mobile is end-of-life.