NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM represent two distinct eras of NVIDIA's GPU lineup, with the former being a flagship from the GeForce 10-series and the latter a cut-down Ampere part from the GeForce 30-series. The data from the benchmark suite shows a clear performance hierarchy in most traditional rasterization workloads, but the newer card's architecture brings features that the older one simply cannot match. This analysis will dissect the head-to-head results, architectural differences, and positioning of both cards based strictly on the provided information.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti has a higher average benchmark score of 15548, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199. This puts the GTX 1080 Ti at the 58th percentile among all GPUs, and the RTX 3050 OEM at the 57th percentile.

Q: How much faster is the GTX 1080 Ti in DirectX 11 performance?

A: According to the PassMark DirectX 11 test, the GTX 1080 Ti scores 151, which is 75.6% higher than the RTX 3050 OEM's score of 86. This is the second-largest margin of victory for the older card in any test.

Q: Is there any benchmark where the RTX 3050 OEM wins?

A: Yes, the RTX 3050 OEM wins two of the nine head-to-head benchmarks. It takes the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 57103, which is 29.1% higher than the GTX 1080 Ti's 40511, and it also wins the PassMark G2D test with a score of 973 versus 939.

Q: What are the key differences in memory configuration?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti uses 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s. In contrast, the RTX 3050 OEM has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s.

Q: What is the difference in FP32 (single-precision) compute performance?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti delivers 11.34 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the RTX 3050 OEM delivers 8.087 TFLOPS. This represents a significant raw compute advantage for the older Pascal-based card.

Q: How do their transistor densities compare?

A: The RTX 3050 OEM, built on Samsung's 8 nm process, has a transistor density of 43.5M / mm², which is substantially higher than the GTX 1080 Ti's 25.1M / mm² on TSMC's 16 nm process. This is despite the RTX 3050 OEM having a smaller die size of 276 mm² compared to 471 mm².

The Verdict

The benchmark data paints a clear picture for traditional gaming performance: the GTX 1080 Ti is the superior rasterization card. It wins seven of the nine head-to-head benchmarks, with commanding leads in PassMark G3D (56.9%) and GPU Compute (66.7%). For users running DirectX 9, 10, 11, or 12 workloads that don't leverage ray tracing or DLSS, the GTX 1080 Ti is the definitive choice based on the data. Its higher memory bandwidth (484.4 GB/s vs 224.0 GB/s) and greater texture fill rate (354.4 GTexel/s vs 126.4 GTexel/s) contribute directly to its dominance in these tests.

However, the RTX 3050 OEM is not without its merits. Its architecture includes dedicated RT cores and tensor cores, which the GTX 1080 Ti lacks entirely. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 57103 shows a 29.1% advantage for the newer card, suggesting better performance in modern, low-level graphics APIs that may be more sensitive to architectural advancements. Furthermore, its lower power consumption (130 W TDP vs 250 W TDP) and smaller physical footprint make it a more practical choice for compact or power-constrained systems. The RTX 3050 OEM should be picked by users who require hardware-accelerated ray tracing, DLSS capabilities, or need a modern card with a smaller power envelope, while the GTX 1080 Ti is the pick for raw, legacy performance.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The GTX 1080 Ti's victories are decisive and widespread. Its most dominant win comes in the PassMark DirectX 10 test, where it scores 118 versus the RTX 3050 OEM's 61, a 93.4% advantage. This is followed closely by a 75.6% lead in DirectX 11 (151 vs 86) and a 68.6% lead in DirectX 9 (231 vs 137). In the crucial PassMark G3D test, which represents overall 3D graphics performance, the GTX 1080 Ti scores 18600, which is 56.9% higher than the RTX 3050 OEM's 11857. The compute gap is even more pronounced; the GTX 1080 Ti posts a PassMark GPU Compute score of 9632, a 66.7% improvement over the RTX 3050 OEM's 5779. Even in the DirectX 12 test, where the newer architecture might be expected to help, the GTX 1080 Ti wins by a solid 13.8% (66 vs 58).

The RTX 3050 OEM's two wins are notable for their qualitative significance, if not their breadth. The Geekbench Vulkan result is a major victory for the newer card, with a score of 57103 compared to 40511, a 29.1% delta in its favor. This indicates that in modern, multi-threaded APIs, the Ampere architecture's efficiency can overcome the raw compute disadvantage. The other win is in the PassMark G2D test, which measures 2D graphics performance. Here, the RTX 3050 OEM scores 973, narrowly edging out the GTX 1080 Ti's 939 by a 3.5% margin. While this is a minor test, it does show the newer card has a slight edge in desktop and 2D workloads.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the GTX 1080 Ti maintains its lead with a score of 67929 versus 60740, a 11.8% advantage. This result, combined with the PassMark GPU Compute score, reinforces the conclusion that in general-purpose compute tasks, the older card's higher shader count (3584 vs 2304) and memory bandwidth provide a tangible benefit. Overall, the data shows a 7-2 win record for the GTX 1080 Ti, with the RTX 3050 OEM only taking the lead in areas that specifically benefit from its newer architecture or in lightweight 2D operations.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ significantly across almost every core specification. The GTX 1080 Ti features 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 88 ROPs, while the RTX 3050 OEM has 2304 shading units, 72 TMUs, and only 32 ROPs. This fundamental difference in execution resources explains the large gap in fill rates: the GTX 1080 Ti achieves a pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s, while the RTX 3050 OEM is limited to 56.16 GPixel/s and 126.4 GTexel/s, respectively.

Clock speeds are surprisingly close, with the GTX 1080 Ti having a base clock of 1481 MHz and a boost clock of 1582 MHz, while the RTX 3050 OEM has a higher base clock of 1515 MHz and a boost clock of 1755 MHz. Despite the newer card's higher clocks, it cannot overcome the GTX 1080 Ti's superior core configuration. The memory subsystems are also drastically different. The GTX 1080 Ti uses 11 GB of GDDR5X on a 352-bit bus, running at 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective), while the RTX 3050 OEM uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). This results in a 484.4 GB/s bandwidth for the GTX 1080 Ti versus 224.0 GB/s for the RTX 3050 OEM.

Power requirements differ substantially, with the GTX 1080 Ti having a 250 W TDP and requiring a 600 W suggested PSU, along with a 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connector setup. The RTX 3050 OEM is more efficient, with a 130 W TDP, a 300 W suggested PSU, and a single 8-pin connector. The cards also differ in bus interface, with the GTX 1080 Ti using PCIe 3.0 x16 and the RTX 3050 OEM using PCIe 4.0 x8. Physically, the GTX 1080 Ti is longer at 267 mm (10.5 inches) compared to the RTX 3050 OEM's 242 mm (9.5 inches), though both are dual-slot and share the same height of 112 mm (4.4 inches). The GTX 1080 Ti is also wider at 40 mm (1.6 inches), while the RTX 3050 OEM's width is not specified. Display outputs are similar, with the GTX 1080 Ti offering 1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RTX 3050 OEM has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX 1080 Ti's launch MSRP was 699 USD.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between the two cards is generational. The GTX 1080 Ti is built on the Pascal architecture, using the GP102 chip fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. It contains 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die. The RTX 3050 OEM, in contrast, uses the Ampere architecture with the GA106 chip, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This newer process allows it to pack 12,000 million transistors into a much smaller 276 mm² die, resulting in a significantly higher transistor density of 43.5M / mm² versus 25.1M / mm².

The most critical functional difference is the inclusion of dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores in the RTX 3050 OEM. The Ampere card has 18 RT cores and 72 tensor cores, features that are entirely absent from the Pascal-based GTX 1080 Ti. This is reflected in the API support: the RTX 3050 OEM supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX 1080 Ti is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). The FP16 compute capabilities also differ sharply. The GTX 1080 Ti has a FP16 performance of 177.2 GFLOPS, which is a 1:64 ratio to its FP32 performance, indicating a heavily restricted, legacy path for half-precision compute. The RTX 3050 OEM, however, has a 1:1 ratio, delivering 8.087 TFLOPS of FP16 compute, matching its FP32 output. This makes the newer card far more capable in workloads that utilize half-precision math.

The cards also differ in their physical and power characteristics due to the architecture. The GTX 1080 Ti's older 16 nm process and massive 471 mm² die contribute to its 250 W TDP. The RTX 3050 OEM's smaller, denser 8 nm die is far more power-efficient, with a 130 W TDP. Finally, they belong to different generations, with the GTX 1080 Ti being the successor to the GeForce 900 series and the predecessor to the GeForce 20 series, while the RTX 3050 OEM is part of the GeForce 30 generation, succeeding the GeForce 20 series and preceding the GeForce 40 series. Both cards are currently marked as end-of-life, but their architectural lineage clearly defines their respective capabilities and limitations.