AMD Radeon Vega 3 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data for these two GPUs comes from different benchmark suites, so a direct apples-to-apples score comparison is limited. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB was tested in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, scoring 4791 points. The AMD Radeon Vega 3 was tested across Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan, with scores of 4880, 3963, and 3961 respectively. Its average benchmark score is 4268.

The RTX 3080 12 GB sits in the 28th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the Vega 3 sits in the 25th percentile. The gap in percentile ranking is small, but the raw performance difference is substantial. The RTX 3080 12 GB produces 30.64 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, compared to 422.4 GFLOPS for the Vega 3. That is a 72.5x difference in raw floating-point throughput, which explains why these two products occupy entirely different performance tiers despite their close percentile positions.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides context. The RTX 3080 12 GB's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon R5 M255, with an average score of 4788, a delta of just 0.1%. The NVIDIA GeForce 940MX scores 4844, putting it 1.1% ahead of the RTX 3080 12 GB in the database's average score metric, though that comparison uses different test workloads. The Vega 3's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M at 4241, a 0.6% delta, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M at 4282, a 0.3% delta in favor of the GTX.

The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 3080 12 GB, despite its high-end positioning, shows a surprisingly modest average score delta against its nearest rivals. The 0.1% lead over the R5 M255 and 0.8% lead over the R5 M335 suggest that the database's average score metric compresses performance differences when tests are not directly comparable. Conversely, the Vega 3 trails the GTX 460M by 0.3% and the FirePro W2100 by 0.6%, while leading the Quadro K3000M by 0.6%.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two products is fundamental. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB uses the GA102 chip built on Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It contains 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.1M per mm². The AMD Radeon Vega 3 uses the Picasso chip on GCN 5.0 architecture, built on GlobalFoundries' 12 nm process. It contains 4,940 million transistors on a 210 mm² die, with a density of 23.5M per mm².

The RTX 3080 12 GB is a discrete add-in board with a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, dual-slot cooling, and a 1x 12-pin power connector. It requires a 750 W suggested PSU and has a 350 W TDP. The Vega 3 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no slot width, no power connectors, no dedicated bus interface, and a 15 W TDP. Its memory subsystem is system-shared, meaning the GPU borrows from the host's RAM, with bandwidth described as system dependent.

Memory configurations could not be more different. The RTX 3080 12 GB has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. Its memory clock runs at 1188 MHz, translating to 19 Gbps effective. The Vega 3 has no dedicated memory; size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all system shared or system dependent. This alone explains massive differences in texture and pixel throughput.

Compute resources scale accordingly. The RTX 3080 12 GB packs 8960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, along with 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores. Its pixel rate is 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate is 478.8 GTexel/s. The Vega 3 has 192 shading units, 12 TMUs, and 4 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 4.400 GPixel/s and texture rate of 13.20 GTexel/s. The Vega 3 has no RT cores and no tensor cores.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The RTX 3080 12 GB runs at a base of 1260 MHz and boosts to 1710 MHz. The Vega 3 has a base of 300 MHz and boosts to 1100 MHz. FP16 throughput differs in ratio: the RTX 3080 12 GB achieves 30.64 TFLOPS in FP16 with a 1:1 ratio to FP32, while the Vega 3 achieves 844.8 GFLOPS in FP16 with a 2:1 ratio.

API support also diverges. The RTX 3080 12 GB supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Vega 3 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The higher DX12 feature level on the NVIDIA part reflects a newer hardware design with more advanced pipeline features.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 12 GB wins decisively in any workload that stresses raw compute, memory bandwidth, or dedicated hardware features. Its 30.64 TFLOPS FP32 output is suited for heavy 3D rendering, large texture workloads, and compute-heavy simulations. The 912.4 GB/s memory bandwidth is over 200x what a system-shared IGP can typically access, making it far better for high-resolution textures and large scene data. The presence of 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores means ray-traced rendering and AI-accelerated tasks are viable, neither of which the Vega 3 can handle.

The Vega 3 wins in scenarios where power consumption and integration matter more than performance. Its 15 W TDP is a fraction of the RTX 3080 12 GB's 350 W TDP. It requires no external power connectors, no dedicated cooling slot, and no separate bus interface. For a low-power laptop or compact desktop with no discrete GPU option, the Vega 3 is the only choice of the two. Its Geekbench Metal score of 4880 actually exceeds the RTX 3080 12 GB's 3DMark score of 4791, though these are different tests measuring different APIs and workloads.

The Vega 3's system-shared memory means it can leverage whatever RAM the host system has, but that bandwidth is system dependent. In lightly threaded or older DirectX 11-style workloads, the Vega 3's GCN architecture can still produce playable frame rates at low resolutions and settings. The RTX 3080 12 GB, by contrast, is overkill for such tasks but delivers consistently high frame rates at maximum settings.

For content creation, the RTX 3080 12 GB's FP16 throughput at 30.64 TFLOPS (1:1) is useful for mixed-precision workloads. The Vega 3's FP16 at 844.8 GFLOPS (2:1) offers half the rate of its FP32, which is a more traditional ratio but at vastly lower absolute performance.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB has a higher average benchmark score of 4791, compared to the AMD Radeon Vega 3's average of 4268, a difference of 523 points.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in transistor count?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB contains 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, while the Vega 3 contains 4,940 million transistors on a 210 mm² die. The RTX 3080 12 GB has a transistor density of 45.1M per mm² versus 23.5M per mm² for the Vega 3.

Q: What memory configurations do these GPUs use?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Vega 3 uses system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth, so its memory performance depends entirely on the host system's RAM.

Q: Do both GPUs support ray tracing?

A: No. The RTX 3080 12 GB includes 70 dedicated RT cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing. The Vega 3 has no RT cores and no tensor cores, so it cannot perform hardware ray tracing or tensor-accelerated AI workloads.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB has a TDP of 350 W and requires a 750 W suggested PSU. The Vega 3 has a TDP of 15 W and requires no power connectors or dedicated PSU, as it is an integrated processor.

Q: Which GPU has a higher DirectX feature level?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Vega 3 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The 12_2 feature level includes additional capabilities such as mesh shaders and variable rate shading, which the Vega 3 lacks.

The Verdict

The data makes the choice clear for anyone building a high-performance desktop: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB is the only viable option. Its 30.64 TFLOPS FP32 output, 912.4 GB/s memory bandwidth, 70 RT cores, and 280 tensor cores place it in an entirely different league from the Vega 3. The RTX 3080 12 GB supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and has a 384-bit memory bus. It is designed for demanding gaming, rendering, and compute workloads where the Vega 3 would be completely inadequate.

The AMD Radeon Vega 3 is the right choice for a different use case entirely. As an integrated processor with a 15 W TDP, no power connectors, and no dedicated memory, it fits into low-power systems where the RTX 3080 12 GB physically cannot. Its 192 shading units and 4 ROPs are sufficient for basic display output, light office work, and legacy gaming at low settings. Its Geekbench Metal score of 4880 shows it can handle some API-specific workloads respectably, but its raw compute of 422.4 GFLOPS is a fraction of what the RTX 3080 12 GB delivers.

The percentile rankings tell a nuanced story: the RTX 3080 12 GB sits at the 28th percentile, only three points above the Vega 3's 25th percentile. This reflects the database's averaging methodology across different test suites. The RTX 3080 12 GB's nearest rival, the R5 M255, is within 0.1%, and the Vega 3's nearest rival, the Quadro K3000M, is within 0.6%. These deltas are small, but they do not change the fundamental verdict.

Anyone needing high-end gaming, ray tracing, or GPU compute should pick the RTX 3080 12 GB without hesitation. Anyone building a low-power, integrated system where discrete graphics is not an option should pick the Vega 3. The two products serve different markets, and the benchmark data confirms they should never be cross-shopped for the same task.