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

The GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB and the GeForce 930M occupy opposite ends of the GPU landscape, yet the recorded database scores place them surprisingly close in aggregate terms: the RTX 3080 12 GB averages 4791 against the 930M's 4388, a gap of roughly 9 percent. That headline number is misleading, and the rest of the data explains why. These two cards were never designed to compete, and every specification field in the database confirms it.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Direct head-to-head results are absent from the database for this pairing, so the comparison rests on each card's own recorded scores and its nearest rivals.

The RTX 3080 12 GB carries a single recorded benchmark, 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), with a score of 4791. Its percentile placement against all GPUs in the database is 28, and its average score of 4791 lands it within a fraction of a percent of cards like the AMD Radeon R5 M255 (4788, a 0.1 percent gap) and the AMD Radeon R5 M335 (4752, 0.8 percent behind). The NVIDIA GeForce 940MX sits just ahead at 4844, 1.1 percent up, and the GTX 560M at 4855, 1.3 percent ahead.

The 930M's recorded results are different tests entirely: Geekbench OpenCL at 5046 and Geekbench Vulkan at 3729, averaging 4388. Its percentile against all GPUs is 26. Its rivals include the GeForce GT 645M at 4411 (0.5 percent ahead), the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 at 4360 (0.7 percent behind), and the AMD FirePro W2100 at 4295 (2.2 percent behind). Notably, the rival list also lists the GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 at 4335, 1.2 percent below the 930M's average, an artifact of averaging across different benchmark suites rather than a true performance statement.

The lesson here is methodological: these averages mix incompatible tests, so treat the aggregate comparison with caution. What the scores do establish is that both parts sit in the same broad mid-tier band of the database's percentile spread, 28 versus 26, despite a hardware gulf that the raw specs make obvious.

Architecture Differences

The RTX 3080 12 GB is built on the GA102 chip, Ampere architecture, GeForce 30 generation. It was fabricated at Samsung on an 8 nm process, packs 28,300 million transistors onto a 628 mm² die, and reaches a transistor density of 45.1M per mm². The 930M uses the GM108S chip, Maxwell architecture, GeForce 900M generation, produced at TSMC on a 28 nm process with 1,020 million transistors on a 77 mm² die and a density of 13.2M per mm².

The generational gap shows up everywhere. The 3080 12 GB includes 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores; the 930M has neither. The 3080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (feature level 12_2), while the 930M tops out at DirectX 12 (11_0). Both report OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Compute and output hardware scale accordingly. The 3080 12 GB fields 8960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, delivering 30.64 TFLOPS of FP32 and an identical 30.64 TFLOPS FP16 at a 1:1 rate. The 930M has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs, with FP32 compute of 421.6 GFLOPS and no recorded FP16 figure. Pixel fill rate is 164.2 GPixel/s versus 4.392 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 478.8 GTexel/s versus 13.18 GTexel/s.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 12 GB wins every category where the silicon actually matters. Its memory subsystem alone is decisive: 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus running at 19 Gbps effective, producing 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The 930M has 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus at 1600 Mbps effective, yielding 12.80 GB/s. That is the difference between a card built for high-resolution gaming and compute workloads, and one built for basic display acceleration in a laptop.

Clocks follow the same pattern. The 3080 12 GB boosts to 1710 MHz from a 1260 MHz base; the 930M runs at a flat 549 MHz for both base and boost.

The 930M wins on power and practicality. Its TDP is 33 W, it requires no power connectors, and it is an IGP-slot part, meaning it lives inside portable devices with display outputs that are device dependent. The 3080 12 GB draws 350 W, needs a single 12-pin connector, and carries a suggested PSU of 750 W. For anyone constrained by power delivery or physical space, only the 930M is even feasible.

The 930M also has the recorded benchmark breadth: two Geekbench results versus one 3DMark entry for the 3080 12 GB, though this reflects database coverage rather than capability.

Specification Differences

• Chip and architecture: GA102 on Ampere (GeForce 30) versus GM108S on Maxwell (GeForce 900M)
• Process: Samsung 8 nm versus TSMC 28 nm
• Transistors: 28,300 million versus 1,020 million
• Die size and density: 628 mm² at 45.1M/mm² versus 77 mm² at 13.2M/mm²
• Clocks: 1260 MHz base, 1710 MHz boost versus 549 MHz for both
• Memory: 12 GB GDDR6X, 384-bit, 912.4 GB/s versus 2 GB DDR3, 64-bit, 12.80 GB/s
• Memory speed: 19 Gbps effective versus 1600 Mbps effective
• Shading units: 8960 versus 384
• TMUs: 280 versus 24
• ROPs: 96 versus 8
• RT cores: 70 versus none
• Tensor cores: 280 versus none
• FP32: 30.64 TFLOPS versus 421.6 GFLOPS
• Pixel rate: 164.2 GPixel/s versus 4.392 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 478.8 GTexel/s versus 13.18 GTexel/s
• TDP: 350 W versus 33 W
• Power: 1x 12-pin connector, 750 W suggested PSU versus no connectors and no suggested PSU
• Bus: PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x8
• Slot: Dual-slot versus IGP
• Outputs: 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a versus portable-device dependent
• DirectX: 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (11_0)
• Dimensions: 285 mm long, 112 mm high, 40 mm wide versus no fixed dimensions
• Release dates: 2022-01-10 versus 2015-03-12
• Lineage: preceded by GeForce 20 and succeeded by GeForce 40 versus preceded by GeForce 800M and succeeded by GeForce 10 Mobile
• Launch MSRP: 799 USD for the 3080 12 GB; none recorded for the 930M

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB, at 4791 versus 4388 for the 930M, roughly a 9 percent difference, though the averages come from different benchmark suites.

Q: Does the GeForce 930M support ray tracing?

A: No. It has no RT cores. The RTX 3080 12 GB has 70 RT cores and also 280 tensor cores.

Q: How big is the memory bandwidth gap?

A: The 3080 12 GB delivers 912.4 GB/s across a 384-bit GDDR6X bus; the 930M manages 12.80 GB/s across 64-bit DDR3.

Q: What power supply does each card need?

A: The 3080 12 GB has a 350 W TDP, one 12-pin connector, and a suggested 750 W PSU. The 930M draws 33 W with no power connectors.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both are listed as end-of-life. The 3080 12 GB was released in 2022, the 930M in 2015.

Q: Which DirectX feature level does each support?

A: The 3080 12 GB supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2); the 930M supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both list OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The Verdict

These cards answer different questions, and the data makes the split unambiguous. Anyone choosing a GPU for gaming, content creation, or compute should take the RTX 3080 12 GB: 8960 shading units, 30.64 TFLOPS of FP32, 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth, hardware ray tracing, and DirectX 12 Ultimate support put it in a different class entirely. Its PCIe 4.0 x16 interface and triple DisplayPort plus HDMI output suit a modern desktop workstation.

The 930M is not a purchase candidate against the 3080 in any performance sense. It exists for scenarios the 3080 cannot touch: a 33 W part with no power connectors, integrated into portable devices, with outputs that depend on the host machine. If the requirement is a low-power mobile GPU in an older laptop platform, the 930M is the only one of the two that fits, and its percentile placement of 26 against the 3080's 28 reflects database averaging quirks more than genuine parity.

In short: performance goes to the RTX 3080 12 GB by an overwhelming margin on every hardware metric recorded. The 930M's only wins are power draw and form factor. Pick accordingly.