NVIDIA GeForce 930A vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB Comparison

The Verdict

The NVIDIA GeForce 930A and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB are not peers; they are products from different eras with radically different purposes. The data shows a complete mismatch in capability, and the choice is dictated entirely by the user's workload.

The RTX 3080 12 GB is the only option for any modern, demanding application. Its recorded benchmark score in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 4791 points, and its architecture is built for high-end gaming and compute. The 930A, with its Geekbench OpenCL score of 5317 points, is a legacy, low-power part that belongs in an embedded or portable system. Its performance, as measured, is near the bottom of the database, with a percentile rank of 31, which means it outperforms only about a third of all GPUs.

For anyone building a desktop for gaming, content creation, or any GPU-accelerated workload in 2025, the RTX 3080 12 GB is the definitive choice. Its raw data, including a 30.64 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 912.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth, places it in a completely different performance class. The 930A is for a very specific niche: a system that requires a discrete GPU with a 33 W TDP and no external power connectors, where the absolute minimum performance is acceptable. In short, the RTX 3080 12 GB is a performance product; the 930A is a functionality product.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by two generations of NVIDIA architecture and a massive change in manufacturing technology. The 930A is built on the Maxwell architecture using the GM108 chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The RTX 3080 12 GB uses the Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, built on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This process difference alone explains the enormous gap in transistor count: the 930A has 1,020 million transistors on a 77 mm² die, while the RTX 3080 12 GB packs 28,300 million transistors onto a 628 mm² die. The transistor density figures reflect this, with the Ampere chip reaching 45.1M / mm² compared to 13.2M / mm² for the Maxwell part.

Core configuration is where the performance gulf becomes clear. The 930A has 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The RTX 3080 12 GB has 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The Ampere GPU also introduces dedicated hardware that the Maxwell chip completely lacks: 70 RT cores for ray tracing and 280 tensor cores for AI-accelerated workloads. This is a fundamental architectural difference, not just a scaling of older technology.

Memory subsystems also differ profoundly. The 930A uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 16.02 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3080 12 GB uses 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 912.4 GB/s. That is a 57x advantage in raw memory bandwidth for the newer card. The clock speeds also show the generational leap: the 930A boosts to 941 MHz, while the RTX 3080 12 GB boosts to 1710 MHz. Pixel and texture fill rates tell the same story, with the RTX 3080 12 GB achieving 164.2 GPixel/s and 478.8 GTexel/s versus 7.528 GPixel/s and 22.58 GTexel/s for the 930A.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data shows a single test for each GPU, which makes direct comparison difficult, but the architectural specs define clear domains of advantage.

The RTX 3080 12 GB wins every conceivable performance scenario. Its FP32 throughput of 30.64 TFLOPS is roughly 42 times higher than the 930A's 722.7 GFLOPS. It also has a 1:1 FP16 ratio, meaning it can process half-precision data at the same 30.64 TFLOPS rate, a feature critical for AI inference and certain compute workloads. The 12 GB VRAM capacity, combined with the high bandwidth, allows it to handle large textures, complex scenes, and multi-tasking that would instantly exhaust the 930A's 2 GB frame buffer. Its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the 930A's DirectX 12 (11_0) means it can run modern graphics features that the older chip cannot even attempt.

The 930A's only advantages are in power and physical footprint. It has a 33 W TDP compared to the RTX 3080 12 GB's 350 W. It requires no power connectors, while the RTX 3080 12 GB needs a single 12-pin connector and a suggested 750 W power supply. The 930A is an IGP (integrated graphics package) form factor, while the RTX 3080 12 GB is a dual-slot card measuring 285 mm in length. For a system where power draw and space are the absolute constraints, and where the workload is light, the 930A is the only viable option from this pair.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has better raw compute performance?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB is overwhelmingly superior. Its FP32 performance is 30.64 TFLOPS, while the 930A achieves 722.7 GFLOPS. The RTX 3080 12 GB also offers FP16 at 30.64 TFLOPS, whereas the 930A has no separate FP16 throughput listed.

Q: Can the NVIDIA GeForce 930A run modern games?

A: The data suggests it is not designed for that purpose. It supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and has 2 GB of DDR3 memory with 16.02 GB/s bandwidth. Its benchmark score of 5317 in Geekbench OpenCL places it near the bottom of the database, at the 31st percentile. It is better suited for basic display output and light compute.

Q: What is the memory capacity and bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The 930A has 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, providing 16.02 GB/s. The RTX 3080 12 GB offers 57 times more bandwidth.

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

A: Yes. It includes 70 dedicated RT cores. The 930A has no RT cores, as its Maxwell architecture predates hardware ray tracing acceleration.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The 930A has a TDP of 33 W and requires no power connectors. The RTX 3080 12 GB has a TDP of 350 W, requires a single 12-pin power connector, and the database suggests a 750 W power supply for the system.

Q: How do these GPUs compare to their nearest rivals in the database?

A: The 930A's score of 5317 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce 840M (5322), which is 0.1% faster. It also sits close to the GTX 980M (5308), which is 0.2% slower. The RTX 3080 12 GB's score of 4791 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 0.1% faster than the AMD Radeon R5 M255 (4788) and 0.8% faster than the AMD Radeon R5 M335 (4752).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

There are no direct head-to-head benchmark results recorded in the database for these two GPUs. Each was tested with a different benchmark tool, which prevents a direct score-to-score comparison. The 930A was measured using Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 5317 points, while the RTX 3080 12 GB was measured using 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, scoring 4791 points.

However, the database's percentile ranks provide a useful cross-reference. The 930A sits at the 31st percentile of all GPUs, meaning it outperforms 31% of the database. The RTX 3080 12 GB sits at the 28th percentile. This apparent paradox, where the much more powerful card has a lower percentile rank, is explained by the different benchmark suites used. The Geekbench OpenCL test is a compute-oriented workload that many older, low-power GPUs can complete. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test is a modern, DirectX 12 Ultimate workload that is far more demanding. The RTX 3080 12 GB's score of 4791 in that specific test is a strong result, but the test itself is more selective, pushing many older cards to much lower scores or disqualifying them entirely.

The nearest rival data for each card reinforces their positions in the database. The 930A's closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce 840M, which scores 5322, a mere 0.1% higher. The AMD Radeon R7 M445 is 0.8% faster at 5358. The RTX 3080 12 GB's closest rival is the AMD Radeon R5 M255, which scores 4788, just 0.1% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce 940MX is 1.1% faster at 4844. This shows that the 930A is grouped with entry-level mobile GPUs, while the RTX 3080 12 GB, despite its massive architectural advantage, is grouped in the database with a set of much older, lower-tier cards based on this particular benchmark's scoring.

The largest measurable wins come from the specification sheet. The RTX 3080 12 GB has 23 times more shading units (8960 vs 384), 35 times more TMUs (280 vs 24), and 12 times more ROPs (96 vs 8). Its FP32 output is 42 times higher, and its memory bandwidth is 57 times higher. These are not marginal improvements; they represent a multi-generational leap that redefines the performance envelope.

Specification Differences

The following table lists the key specifications where the two GPUs differ, based solely on the database records.

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce 930A | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Architecture | Maxwell | Ampere |

| Chip | GM108 | GA102 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 1,020 million | 28,300 million |

| Die Size | 77 mm² | 628 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.2M / mm² | 45.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 928 MHz | 1260 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 941 MHz | 1710 MHz |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | GDDR6X |

| Memory Bus Width | 64 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 16.02 GB/s | 912.4 GB/s |

| Memory Clock | 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective) | 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) |

| Shading Units | 384 | 8960 |

| TMUs | 24 | 280 |

| ROPs | 8 | 96 |

| RT Cores | None | 70 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 280 |

| Pixel Rate | 7.528 GPixel/s | 164.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 22.58 GTexel/s | 478.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 722.7 GFLOPS | 30.64 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | Not listed | 30.64 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 33 W | 350 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 12-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not listed | 750 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 (11_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Dimensions (L x H x W) | Not listed | 285 mm x 112 mm x 40 mm |

| Release Date | 2015-03-12 | 2022-01-10 |

| Launch MSRP | Not listed | 799 USD |

| Predecessor | GeForce 800A | GeForce 20 |

| Successor | Not listed | GeForce 40 |