NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the definitive winner in this comparison, securing a clean sweep across all ten head-to-head benchmarks against the older NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. The data shows a consistent generational leap, with the RTX 3060 Ti leading by margins ranging from a modest 1.3% in legacy DirectX 9 workloads to a substantial 18.2% in DirectX 12 tests. While the GTX 1080 Ti retains its historical reputation as a high-end card, the benchmark results indicate that the newer Ampere architecture delivers superior performance across every measured category, making the RTX 3060 Ti the clear choice for modern workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 3060 Ti’s dominance is most pronounced in modern API benchmarks, where its architectural advantages translate into significant performance gains. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 3060 Ti scores 2626 against the GTX 1080 Ti’s 2231, a decisive 17.7% advantage. This pattern repeats in PassMark’s DirectX 12 test, where the RTX 3060 Ti achieves a score of 78 versus 66, representing an 18.2% lead—the largest margin of any single benchmark in the comparison. These results highlight the Ampere architecture’s superior efficiency in handling contemporary graphics workloads, which often utilize asynchronous compute and advanced draw call batching that Pascal struggles to process as effectively.

Compute performance further solidifies the RTX 3060 Ti’s lead. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3060 Ti posts 78,927 points, outpacing the GTX 1080 Ti’s 67,929 by 16.2%. The Vulkan API test shows an even larger gap, with the RTX 3060 Ti scoring 47,784 against 40,511—an 18% improvement. These results are particularly relevant for users running GPU-accelerated applications beyond gaming, such as video encoding, scientific simulations, or machine learning inference, where the RTX 3060 Ti’s dedicated tensor cores and higher FP32 throughput provide a measurable edge.

Even in older DirectX benchmarks, where the GTX 1080 Ti might be expected to hold its own given its high raw texture and pixel rates, the RTX 3060 Ti still prevails, though by narrower margins. In PassMark DirectX 10, the RTX 3060 Ti scores 132 versus 118, a 11.9% lead, while DirectX 11 shows a 7.9% advantage (163 versus 151). The smallest delta appears in DirectX 9, where the RTX 3060 Ti’s 234 barely edges out the GTX 1080 Ti’s 231, a mere 1.3% difference. This suggests that while the older card remains competitive in legacy titles, the RTX 3060 Ti’s newer architecture does not sacrifice backward compatibility for forward-looking features.

The PassMark G3D and G2D tests reinforce the overall picture. In G3D, the RTX 3060 Ti achieves 20,349 points, a 9.4% improvement over the GTX 1080 Ti’s 18,600. The G2D test shows a 5.3% lead (989 versus 939), indicating that even 2D desktop workloads benefit from the newer card’s more efficient memory subsystem. Finally, in GPU compute, the RTX 3060 Ti scores 10,006 against 9,632, a 3.9% margin—the closest result in the entire suite, suggesting that the GTX 1080 Ti’s higher shader count and texture units still provide respectable raw compute throughput, though not enough to overcome the RTX 3060 Ti’s overall advantages.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 16,129, compared to the GTX 1080 Ti’s 15,548. This places the RTX 3060 Ti in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, while the GTX 1080 Ti sits in the 58th percentile.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in average score?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti’s average score of 16,129 is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16,014) and 1.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15,862). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16,351) and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (16,361) by 1.4% each.

Q: What is the biggest performance delta between the two cards?

A: The largest margin is in the PassMark DirectX 12 test, where the RTX 3060 Ti leads by 18.2% (78 versus 66). The smallest margin is in PassMark DirectX 9, where the RTX 3060 Ti leads by just 1.3% (234 versus 231).

Q: Does the GTX 1080 Ti win any benchmark in the head-to-head comparison?

A: No. The data shows the RTX 3060 Ti wins all ten head-to-head benchmarks. The GTX 1080 Ti has zero wins in the comparison.

Q: How do the two cards compare in terms of nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti’s average score of 15,548 is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (15,521) and 1.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (15,290) and GTX 580 (15,283). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679) by 0.8%.

Q: What is the difference in FP32 performance?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti delivers 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the GTX 1080 Ti delivers 11.34 TFLOPS. This represents a significant raw computing advantage for the newer card.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the superior product for essentially every use case. It wins all ten head-to-head benchmarks, with particularly large margins in modern APIs like DirectX 12 (18.2%) and Vulkan (18%), which are the foundations of current and future game titles. Its average benchmark score of 16,129 outperforms the GTX 1080 Ti’s 15,548, and it achieves this while consuming less power (200 W versus 250 W) and requiring a smaller power supply (550 W versus 600 W).

The GTX 1080 Ti’s only redeeming qualities in this comparison are its larger 11 GB memory capacity and higher memory bandwidth (484.4 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s). For users who specifically need more video memory for large textures or datasets, this could be a deciding factor. However, the benchmark results indicate that in actual performance tests, the RTX 3060 Ti’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient to deliver superior results across every workload measured. The RTX 3060 Ti also brings modern features like ray tracing cores and tensor cores, which the GTX 1080 Ti completely lacks, making the newer card the only sensible choice for users interested in hardware-accelerated ray tracing or AI-assisted features.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ substantially in their core specifications. The RTX 3060 Ti features 4,864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation pipelines, while the GTX 1080 Ti has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 88 ROPs. Despite having fewer TMUs and ROPs, the RTX 3060 Ti achieves higher pixel and texture rates in practice, thanks to its higher clock speeds and more efficient architecture. The RTX 3060 Ti’s base clock is 1410 MHz with a boost of 1665 MHz, while the GTX 1080 Ti runs at 1481 MHz base and 1582 MHz boost.

Memory configurations also differ significantly. The RTX 3060 Ti uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, while the GTX 1080 Ti uses 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus. Although the GTX 1080 Ti has a higher theoretical bandwidth (484.4 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s), the RTX 3060 Ti’s newer memory technology and higher effective clock speed (14 Gbps versus 11 Gbps) help it maintain competitive performance. The cards also differ in power delivery: the RTX 3060 Ti uses a single 12-pin connector and has a 200 W TDP, while the GTX 1080 Ti requires a 6-pin and 8-pin connector combination with a 250 W TDP.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational. The RTX 3060 Ti is built on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture using an 8 nm process from Samsung, while the GTX 1080 Ti uses the older Pascal architecture on TSMC’s 16 nm process. This process shrink allows the RTX 3060 Ti to pack 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, compared to the GTX 1080 Ti’s 11,800 million transistors on a larger 471 mm² die. The resulting transistor density is dramatically higher on the RTX 3060 Ti: 44.4 million per mm² versus 25.1 million per mm².

The RTX 3060 Ti’s Ampere architecture introduces dedicated ray tracing cores (38) and tensor cores (152), features that are completely absent from the Pascal-based GTX 1080 Ti. This enables hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based features like DLSS, which the GTX 1080 Ti cannot utilize. The FP16 performance difference is also stark: the RTX 3060 Ti achieves 16.20 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio to FP32, while the GTX 1080 Ti manages only 177.2 GFLOPS with a 1:64 ratio. The RTX 3060 Ti also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (API 12_2), while the GTX 1080 Ti is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1), which may affect compatibility with future games that require the newer API feature set.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3060 Ti wins in every benchmark category measured, but the magnitude of its victories varies by workload. For modern gaming, particularly titles using DirectX 12 or Vulkan, the RTX 3060 Ti’s lead is substantial—18.2% and 18% respectively—making it the clear choice for new game releases. Its advantage in compute workloads (16.2% in OpenCL, 3.9% in GPU compute) also makes it better suited for productivity tasks like video rendering, 3D modeling, or data processing. The inclusion of ray tracing and tensor cores further extends its utility to emerging applications that leverage these technologies.

The GTX 1080 Ti’s remaining advantage lies in its memory capacity and bandwidth. With 11 GB of VRAM versus 8 GB, it can potentially handle larger textures or multi-GPU workloads that exceed the RTX 3060 Ti’s memory pool. Its higher bandwidth (484.4 GB/s) may also benefit memory-intensive tasks, though this did not translate into a benchmark win in any tested scenario. For users running very old DirectX 9 games, the GTX 1080 Ti comes closest to matching the RTX 3060 Ti, with only a 1.3% deficit, suggesting that legacy titles see minimal difference between the two. However, given the RTX 3060 Ti’s comprehensive sweep and modern feature set, the GTX 1080 Ti only makes sense for niche scenarios where its larger memory buffer is an absolute requirement.