NVIDIA GeForce GT 740 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce GT 740 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 740 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER represent two extremes of NVIDIA's GPU lineup, separated by over a decade of architectural evolution. The data shows a stark contrast: the GT 740, a 2014 entry-level Kepler card, delivers an average benchmark score of 3431, while the RTX 5080 SUPER, a Blackwell 2.0 flagship, posts 3075 in its sole 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. These numbers, however, do not tell a simple story of linear progression—the RTX 5080 SUPER's single benchmark is a far more demanding workload than the GT 740's legacy compute tests, and its percentile ranking of 19 versus the GT 740's 21 reflects that difference in test methodology rather than raw capability. The RTX 5080 SUPER is unequivocally the more powerful GPU by every architectural metric, but each card occupies a distinct niche that the data supports examining separately.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 740 has a higher average benchmark score of 3431 across three tests (Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan), while the RTX 5080 SUPER has an average score of 3075 from a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. This comparison is misleading, however, because the tests measure entirely different workloads—the GT 740's scores come from legacy compute benchmarks, whereas the RTX 5080 SUPER's score comes from a modern DX12 rasterization test.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in terms of memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 5080 SUPER has 1.02 TB/s of memory bandwidth from 24 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, whereas the GT 740 has 80.19 GB/s from 1 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus. The RTX 5080 SUPER's bandwidth is more than 12 times higher, enabling it to feed 10,752 shading units compared to the GT 740's 384.

Q: What is the process node difference between the two cards?

A: The GT 740 uses a 28 nm process from TSMC with 1,270 million transistors on a 118 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 10.8 million per mm². The RTX 5080 SUPER uses a 5 nm process from TSMC with 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, achieving 120.6 million transistors per mm²—over 11 times the density.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing?

A: Only the RTX 5080 SUPER supports ray tracing, featuring 84 dedicated RT cores. The GT 740 has no RT cores, as its Kepler architecture predates ray tracing hardware. The RTX 5080 SUPER also includes 336 tensor cores for AI acceleration, which the GT 740 completely lacks.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The GT 740 has a TDP of 64 W and requires a 250 W suggested power supply with a single 6-pin connector. The RTX 5080 SUPER has a TDP of 415 W and uses a single 16-pin power connector; its power supply requirement is not listed in the data.

Q: What API support differences exist between the two?

A: The RTX 5080 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the GT 740 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6, but the RTX 5080 SUPER's newer API support enables features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading that the GT 740 cannot access.

Where Each One Wins

The GT 740 wins in legacy compute benchmarks. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 4083 is its strongest result, followed by OpenCL at 3847 and Metal at 2363. These scores place it in the 21st percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA Quadro 2000M at a nearly identical average score of 3434 (0.1% difference). The GT 740 also edges out the Intel HD Graphics P4600 by 1.2% and the Intel HD Graphics 530 by 3%, showing it holds its own against integrated graphics from its era. For users running older compute workloads or legacy applications, the GT 740's balanced performance across multiple API backends is a functional, low-power solution.

The RTX 5080 SUPER wins in every modern rendering scenario. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3075, while lower in raw number than the GT 740's average, represents a contemporary AAA gaming workload with advanced features like ray tracing and DLSS. The RTX 5080 SUPER sits in the 19th percentile, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA Quadro P1000 at 3163 (2.8% higher) and the Intel Arc Pro B60 at 3182 (3.4% higher). Interestingly, the RTX 5080 SUPER outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce 820A by 3.1% and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M by 3.6% in this specific test. The card's 24 GB of GDDR7 memory, 1.02 TB/s bandwidth, and 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute make it suitable for 4K gaming, content creation, and AI workloads—none of which the GT 740 can approach.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs spans four generations of NVIDIA design philosophy. The GT 740 uses the GK107 chip based on Kepler architecture, built on a 28 nm TSMC process. Kepler was designed for efficiency and scalability in the GeForce 700 generation, with 384 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 raster output units. It has no dedicated RT or tensor cores, relying entirely on traditional shader-based rendering. The GT 740's FP32 performance is 762.6 GFLOPS, and it has no FP16 support listed.

The RTX 5080 SUPER uses the GB203 chip based on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm TSMC process. Blackwell represents NVIDIA's latest GPU design, incorporating 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units—roughly 28 times the shader count of the GT 740. The RTX 5080 SUPER adds 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-driven features. Its FP32 performance is 56.28 TFLOPS, and FP16 performance is identical at 56.28 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, indicating unified compute capability. The transistor count difference is staggering: 45,600 million versus 1,270 million, a 36-fold increase packed into a die that is only 3.2 times larger, thanks to the 120.6M per mm² density versus 10.8M per mm².

The GT 740 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), which is a feature-limited implementation, while the RTX 5080 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) with full feature parity. Vulkan support likewise advances from 1.2.175 to 1.4. Both share OpenGL 4.6, but the underlying hardware capabilities are incomparable.

Specification Differences

The specification differences between the GT 740 and RTX 5080 SUPER are vast and touch every major component. The GT 740 has 1 GB of GDDR5 memory at 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) on a 128-bit bus, yielding 80.19 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5080 SUPER has 24 GB of GDDR7 memory at 2000 MHz (32 Gbps effective) on a 256-bit bus, yielding 1.02 TB/s—a 24-fold increase in capacity and a 12.7-fold increase in bandwidth.

Core counts differ dramatically: the GT 740 has 384 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, while the RTX 5080 SUPER has 10,752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. Pixel rate jumps from 7.944 GPixel/s to 293.1 GPixel/s, and texture rate from 31.78 GTexel/s to 879.3 GTexel/s. The RTX 5080 SUPER's FP32 of 56.28 TFLOPS is 73.8 times the GT 740's 762.6 GFLOPS.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The GT 740's core clocks are not listed, but its memory runs at 1253 MHz. The RTX 5080 SUPER has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz. Power consumption scales accordingly: 64 W TDP for the GT 740 versus 415 W for the RTX 5080 SUPER. Physical dimensions also differ—the GT 740 is 145 mm (5.7 inches) long and single-slot, while the RTX 5080 SUPER is 304 mm (12 inches) long, 137 mm (5.4 inches) tall, 40 mm (1.6 inches) wide, and dual-slot. Display outputs move from 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.4a on the GT 740 to 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b on the RTX 5080 SUPER. The bus interface advances from PCIe 3.0 x16 to PCIe 5.0 x16.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head benchmark data between these two GPUs is empty, meaning no direct comparative tests were run. However, the available benchmark results reveal the nature of their performance separation. The GT 740's best score is its Geekbench Vulkan result of 4083, which is 73% higher than its Metal score of 2363, indicating strong compute performance for its era. Its average of 3431 places it within 0.1% of the Quadro 2000M and 1.2% ahead of the Intel HD Graphics P4600—competitors from the same generation.

The RTX 5080 SUPER's single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3075 is its only data point. This benchmark is a modern, demanding DirectX 12 test that stresses geometry, shading, and memory bandwidth far beyond what legacy Geekbench tests require. The RTX 5080 SUPER trails the Quadro P1000 by 2.8% and the Arc Pro B60 by 3.4%, but leads the GeForce 820A by 3.1% and the GTX 860M by 3.6%. These rivals are all lower-tier GPUs, which suggests the Steel Nomad test may not fully utilize the RTX 5080 SUPER's capabilities, or that its drivers are not yet optimized for this workload.

The absence of shared benchmarks makes direct comparison impossible. The GT 740 cannot run modern ray-traced titles, and the RTX 5080 SUPER's performance in legacy compute tests is not recorded. What the data does show is that the RTX 5080 SUPER's 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is theoretically 73.8 times the GT 740's 762.6 GFLOPS, and its 293.1 GPixel/s pixel rate is 36.9 times higher. These raw throughput advantages translate directly to frame rates in modern games, even if no comparable benchmark exists to demonstrate it numerically.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER is the only choice for anyone playing contemporary games or running modern creative workloads. Its 24 GB of GDDR7 memory, 1.02 TB/s bandwidth, 84 RT cores, and 336 tensor cores are not incremental improvements over the GT 740—they are an entirely different class of hardware. The 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 879.3 GTexel/s texture rate are orders of magnitude beyond the GT 740's capabilities, and the 5 nm process with 45,600 million transistors enables features like hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration that the Kepler architecture physically cannot perform.

The GT 740, with its 64 W TDP and single-slot design, remains a functional option for legacy systems requiring basic display output or running older compute applications. Its Geekbench scores show competence in OpenCL and Vulkan workloads from its era, and its low power draw makes it suitable for office PCs or retro gaming rigs. The 1 GB memory capacity, however, severely limits its usefulness in any modern context.

The RTX 5080 SUPER's percentile ranking of 19 versus the GT 740's 21 should not be misread as equivalence. The RTX 5080 SUPER's benchmark runs a far more demanding workload, and its rivals in that test are mid-range cards from previous generations. The GT 740's rivals are integrated graphics and entry-level mobile GPUs. Users who need maximum performance in current games, ray-traced titles, or AI applications should select the RTX 5080 SUPER. Users who need a low-power, legacy-compatible GPU for basic tasks can consider the GT 740, but its end-of-life production status and 2014 release date indicate it is not a forward-looking purchase. The RTX 5080 SUPER is the definitive choice for modern computing, and the GT 740 is a historical artifact that still works for its narrow purpose.