AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 and AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL occupy opposite ends of the GPU spectrum, both in time and intent. The RTX 3080 is a high-end desktop part built for maximum throughput, while the RX Vega M GL is a mobile integrated GPU designed for compact laptops. Benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap, with the RTX 3080 winning both shared tests by substantial margins, but the two cards serve fundamentally different use cases that go beyond raw frame rates.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 is the clear victor in every benchmark category where both cards have data. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 152,423 against the RX Vega M GL's 19,549, a difference of 679.7%. This is not a close contest; it represents a completely different class of compute performance. The RTX 3080's Geekbench Vulkan score of 33,620 is 47.7% higher than the RX Vega M GL's 22,757, showing that even in API-specific workloads, the desktop card maintains a commanding lead.

However, the RX Vega M GL wins in the context of its intended deployment. As an integrated GPU with a 65 W TDP, it is designed for thin-and-light portables where power draw and thermals are the primary constraints. The data shows it has a 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs, which is remarkably high for an IGP, placing it only two percentile points below the RTX 3080's 68th percentile. This means that for a mobile integrated solution, the RX Vega M GL delivers competitive performance within its power envelope, whereas the RTX 3080's 320 W TDP makes it unsuitable for any portable form factor.

The RTX 3080's wins extend to its broader benchmark suite, including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 with a score of 4,407, PassMark G3D at 25,086, and PassMark GPU Compute at 14,397. The RX Vega M GL has no data for these tests, but its average benchmark score of 21,153 versus the RTX 3080's 23,172 shows a 9.5% overall gap. The RTX 3080 also shows strength in legacy APIs, scoring 258 in PassMark DirectX 9 and 170 in DirectX 10, while the RX Vega M GL lacks comparable entries.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is generational and fundamental. The RTX 3080 uses the GA102 chip built on Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It packs 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.1 million per square millimeter. The RX Vega M GL uses the Polaris 22 chip on GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, with 5,000 million transistors on a 208 mm² die, giving a density of 24.0 million per square millimeter.

The RTX 3080 features 8,704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation pipelines, along with 68 dedicated ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores. The RX Vega M GL has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor core support. This means the RTX 3080 can handle hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-driven features like DLSS, while the RX Vega M GL relies entirely on traditional rasterization.

Memory architecture differs sharply. The RTX 3080 uses 10 GB of GDDR6X on a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth at an effective 19 Gbps. The RX Vega M GL uses 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus, providing 179.2 GB/s at 1400 Mbps effective. Despite the narrower bus, the RTX 3080's higher clocked GDDR6X gives it over four times the memory bandwidth, which is critical for high-resolution textures and compute workloads.

API support also diverges. The RTX 3080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX Vega M GL supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The DX12_2 feature level on the RTX 3080 enables advanced features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading, which the older GCN architecture cannot access.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two tests with data for both cards are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and both show overwhelming RTX 3080 victories. In OpenCL, the RTX 3080's 152,423 score is 679.7% higher than the RX Vega M GL's 19,549. This massive delta reflects not just the difference in shading units (8,704 vs 1,280) but also the memory bandwidth advantage, as OpenCL workloads often saturate memory subsystems.

In Vulkan, the RTX 3080 scores 33,620 versus 22,757 for the RX Vega M GL, a 47.7% advantage. The smaller delta in Vulkan compared to OpenCL suggests that the RX Vega M GL's GCN architecture handles Vulkan's lower-level API more efficiently relative to its hardware capabilities. Still, the RTX 3080's absolute advantage remains decisive, driven by its 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus the RX Vega M GL's 2.588 TFLOPS.

The RTX 3080 also demonstrates superior pixel and texture processing rates, with 164.2 GPixel/s and 465.1 GTexel/s respectively, against the RX Vega M GL's 32.35 GPixel/s and 80.88 GTexel/s. These translate directly to higher fill rates in real-world gaming scenarios, though the RX Vega M GL's numbers are respectable for a 65 W integrated part. The RTX 3080's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA P106-100 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, both within 0.3% of its average score, while the RX Vega M GL sits near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 (0.6% faster) and AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (2.1% slower).

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth from 10 GB of GDDR6X on a 320-bit bus. The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL has 179.2 GB/s from 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX Vega M GL has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 3080 includes 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads.

Q: What is the performance difference in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RTX 3080 scores 152,423, which is 679.7% higher than the RX Vega M GL's 19,549. This is the largest single-benchmark gap between the two cards.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The RTX 3080 has a density of 45.1 million transistors per mm² on an 8 nm Samsung process. The RX Vega M GL has 24.0 million per mm² on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23,172, while the RX Vega M GL averages 21,153. The RTX 3080 ranks in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, and the RX Vega M GL ranks in the 66th percentile.

Q: What is the DirectX support difference?

A: The RTX 3080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX Vega M GL supports DirectX 12 (12_0). This means the RTX 3080 can use features like mesh shaders and DXR that the GCN-based Vega M GL cannot.

Specification Differences

Process Node: RTX 3080 uses 8 nm Samsung; RX Vega M GL uses 14 nm GlobalFoundries.

Transistors: RTX 3080 has 28,300 million; RX Vega M GL has 5,000 million.

Die Size: RTX 3080 is 628 mm²; RX Vega M GL is 208 mm².

Base Clock: RTX 3080 runs at 1440 MHz; RX Vega M GL at 931 MHz.

Boost Clock: RTX 3080 boosts to 1710 MHz; RX Vega M GL to 1011 MHz.

Memory Speed: RTX 3080 uses 19 Gbps effective GDDR6X; RX Vega M GL uses 1400 Mbps effective HBM2.

Memory Size: RTX 3080 has 10 GB; RX Vega M GL has 4 GB.

Memory Bus: RTX 3080 uses 320-bit; RX Vega M GL uses 1024-bit.

Shading Units: RTX 3080 has 8,704; RX Vega M GL has 1,280.

TMUs: RTX 3080 has 272; RX Vega M GL has 80.

ROPs: RTX 3080 has 96; RX Vega M GL has 32.

Pixel Rate: RTX 3080 achieves 164.2 GPixel/s; RX Vega M GL achieves 32.35 GPixel/s.

Texture Rate: RTX 3080 achieves 465.1 GTexel/s; RX Vega M GL achieves 80.88 GTexel/s.

FP32 Performance: RTX 3080 delivers 29.77 TFLOPS; RX Vega M GL delivers 2.588 TFLOPS.

TDP: RTX 3080 consumes 320 W; RX Vega M GL consumes 65 W.

Slot Width: RTX 3080 is dual-slot; RX Vega M GL is an integrated GPU (IGP).

Power Connectors: RTX 3080 requires 1x 12-pin; RX Vega M GL has none.

Suggested PSU: RTX 3080 recommends 700 W; RX Vega M GL has no recommendation.

Bus Interface: RTX 3080 uses PCIe 4.0 x16; RX Vega M GL is IGP.

Display Outputs: RTX 3080 has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a; RX Vega M GL is portable device dependent.

Vulkan Version: RTX 3080 supports Vulkan 1.4; RX Vega M GL supports Vulkan 1.3.

Release Date: RTX 3080 launched September 2020; RX Vega M GL launched February 2018.

Launch MSRP: RTX 3080 had a launch MSRP of 699 USD; RX Vega M GL had no MSRP listed.