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

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data splits these two NVIDIA GPUs into starkly different roles. The GTX 1080 wins 8 of the 10 head-to-head tests, and it wins big in traditional rasterization workloads. The most dramatic gap appears in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the GTX 1080 scores 1560 against the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 469 — a 69.9% advantage. That is not a marginal lead; it is a generational chasm in raw GPU throughput for modern graphics loads.

The GTX 1080 also dominates the PassMark suite across every DirectX version. In PassMark DirectX 11, it posts 124 versus 76, a 38.7% lead. DirectX 10 shows 93 versus 60, a 35.5% margin. Even in the aging DirectX 9 test, the GTX 1080 scores 211 against the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 120, a 43.1% advantage. The PassMark G3D score tells the same story: 15586 for the GTX 1080 versus 10093 for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, a 35.2% gap. Compute workloads follow suit, with the GTX 1080 at 7614 in PassMark GPU Compute against 4305 for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, a 43.5% lead.

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's wins are fewer but revealing. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 57915 against the GTX 1080's 51204, a 13.1% advantage. The Geekbench Vulkan result is even more pronounced: 55812 versus 30398, an 83.6% blowout. These two wins point to the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's architectural strengths in API-level compute and modern driver paths, not in traditional rasterization.

The overall average benchmark scores reflect this split. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile averages 12940, while the GTX 1080 averages 11960. That the GTX 1080 wins most tests yet has a lower average is due to the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's massive Vulkan and OpenCL scores pulling its mean upward. The nearest rivals for each card reinforce the positioning: the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile sits within 0.4% of the GTX 1660 SUPER and 0.1% of the RX 580, while the GTX 1080 is 2.4% ahead of the GTX 1660 and 2.9% ahead of the RX 7800 XT in its own comparison set.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different foundries, nodes, and design philosophies. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses the GA106 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, packing 12,000 million transistors into a 276 mm² die. That yields a transistor density of 43.5 million per square millimeter. The GTX 1080 uses the GP104 chip on a 16 nm TSMC process, with 7,200 million transistors on a larger 314 mm² die, giving a density of just 22.9 million per square millimeter. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is built on Ampere architecture; the GTX 1080 is Pascal.

Ampere brings hardware features Pascal lacks entirely. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores. The GTX 1080 has neither. This explains the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's Vulkan dominance — modern API paths leverage these dedicated units and driver optimizations that did not exist in Pascal's era. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX 1080 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Shading unit counts are identical at 2560, but the rest of the geometry differs. The GTX 1080 has 160 texture mapping units and 64 ROPs, versus 80 TMUs and 32 ROPs on the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. That is a 2:1 advantage for the GTX 1080 in both fill-rate subcomponents. Pixel rate tells the story: 110.9 GPixel/s for the GTX 1080 versus 33.12 GPixel/s for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. Texture rate is similarly lopsided: 277.3 GTexel/s versus 82.80 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds and power envelopes reflect their different physical designs. The GTX 1080 runs a 1607 MHz base and 1733 MHz boost, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile runs a much lower 735 MHz base and 1035 MHz boost. The GTX 1080's TDP is 180 W, more than double the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 75 W. The GTX 1080 requires a dual-slot cooler, a 1x 8-pin power connector, and a 450 W suggested power supply. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is an IGP-class part with no power connector and a portable-device-dependent display output.

Memory configurations also diverge sharply. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 192.0 GB/s bandwidth at 12 Gbps effective. The GTX 1080 has 8 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 320.3 GB/s at 10 Gbps effective. The GTX 1080's bandwidth advantage is 67% higher, which directly feeds its rasterization wins. The GTX 1080 also uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16 — a flexibility win for the newer part, though the bandwidth advantage is not enough to overcome the GTX 1080's raw throughput.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous for traditional gaming: the GTX 1080 is the stronger card. It wins every PassMark rasterization test by margins from 10.9% to 43.1%, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is nearly triple that of the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. If your workload is classic DirectX gaming or general GPU compute, the GTX 1080 is the pick. Its 8 GB memory buffer and 320.3 GB/s bandwidth also make it the better choice for high-resolution textures and memory-heavy scenes.

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile wins only in Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan — but those wins are enormous, especially the 83.6% Vulkan lead. For applications that leverage ray tracing, tensor cores, or modern API compute paths, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the only viable option. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate support and dedicated RT/Tensor hardware give it a future-proofing edge that the Pascal-based GTX 1080 simply cannot match.

The power envelope is decisive for mobile users. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile draws 75 W, fits as an IGP, and requires no external power connector. The GTX 1080 draws 180 W, needs a dual-slot cooler and an 8-pin connector, and is a desktop card with a 267 mm length. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is end-of-life as a product, but its architecture is five years newer — released in 2021 versus 2016. The GTX 1080's launch MSRP was 599 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has better raw rasterization performance?

A: The GTX 1080. It wins PassMark G3D 15586 to 10093 (35.2% ahead) and PassMark DirectX 11 124 to 76 (38.7% ahead). Its pixel rate of 110.9 GPixel/s versus 33.12 GPixel/s confirms the dominance.

Q: Why does the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile win Geekbench Vulkan by so much?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 55812 versus 30398 for the GTX 1080, an 83.6% lead. This is attributed to its Ampere architecture with dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, plus DirectX 12 Ultimate support, versus the Pascal GTX 1080's lack of both.

Q: Can the GTX 1080 handle ray tracing or tensor workloads?

A: No. The GTX 1080 has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores.

Q: What are the memory differences?

A: The GTX 1080 has 8 GB GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus with 320.3 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 4 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has better compute performance in PassMark?

A: The GTX 1080. It scores 7614 in PassMark GPU Compute versus 4305 for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, a 43.5% advantage.

Q: Are both cards end-of-life products?

A: Yes, both are marked as end-of-life in the production status. The GTX 1080 was released in 2016; the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile in 2021.

Where Each One Wins

GTX 1080 wins: Traditional DirectX gaming, high-resolution texture loads, any workload that depends on fill rate. Its 160 TMUs and 64 ROPs double the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's counts. The GTX 1080's 320.3 GB/s bandwidth and 8 GB frame buffer make it the right choice for 1440p or 4K gaming with high-detail assets. PassMark DirectX 9 through 12 all favor the GTX 1080, with the smallest gap being 10.9% in DirectX 12. It also wins 2D performance (PassMark G2D 888 versus 498, a 43.9% lead) and general compute.

RTX 3050 Ti Mobile wins: Modern API compute and any workload that uses Vulkan or OpenCL. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 57915 beats the GTX 1080's 51204 by 13.1%. The Vulkan lead of 83.6% suggests that applications built for current-generation APIs will run dramatically better on the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. It also has dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, which the GTX 1080 lacks entirely. For power-constrained environments, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 75 W TDP versus the GTX 1080's 180 W makes it the only practical choice in a laptop or small form factor. Its PCIe 4.0 x16 interface is also two generations newer than the GTX 1080's PCIe 3.0 x16.

The split is clean: pick the GTX 1080 for raw gaming throughput and memory capacity; pick the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile for modern API compute, ray tracing, and power efficiency. The GTX 1080's 8 wins versus 2 wins in the head-to-head tells the story for legacy and current DirectX titles, but the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 83.6% Vulkan victory signals where the industry is heading.

Specification Differences

| Specification | RTX 3050 Ti Mobile | GTX 1080 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Ampere | Pascal |

| Process Node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 16 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 12,000 million | 7,200 million |

| Die Size | 276 mm² | 314 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 43.5M / mm² | 22.9M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 735 MHz | 1607 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1035 MHz | 1733 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 12 Gbps effective | 10 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 4 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR5X |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 192.0 GB/s | 320.3 GB/s |

| TMUs | 80 | 160 |

| ROPs | 32 | 64 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 20 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 80 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 33.12 GPixel/s | 110.9 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 82.80 GTexel/s | 277.3 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 5.299 TFLOPS | 8.873 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 5.299 TFLOPS (1:1) | 138.6 GFLOPS (1:64) |

| TDP | 75 W | 180 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | N/A | 450 W |

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

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| Release Date | 2021-05-10 | 2016-05-26 |

| Launch MSRP | N/A | 599 USD |