NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by seven years of architectural evolution. The GTX 780 Ti, a Kepler-based flagship from 2013, was built for a time when raw rasterization power was the primary metric of performance. The RTX 3080, an Ampere-based card from 2020, is a product of the modern era, where dedicated ray tracing hardware, tensor cores, and massive compute throughput define the high-end experience. This comparison uses benchmark data to highlight how far the hardware has come, focusing on the specific architectural and performance deltas between these two end-of-life products.

FAQ

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference between the GTX 780 Ti and the RTX 3080?

A: The GTX 780 Ti holds an average benchmark score of 24,236, while the RTX 3080 scores 23,172. Despite this slight aggregate difference, the RTX 3080 wins both head-to-head benchmark tests, with a massive 82.1% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and a 19% lead in Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The GTX 780 Ti sits at the 70th percentile, while the RTX 3080 is at the 68th percentile. This indicates that while the newer card wins the direct comparisons, the older card's average score across its tested benchmarks places it slightly higher in the overall distribution of all GPUs in the database.

Q: How do the nearest rivals compare for each card?

A: The GTX 780 Ti's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630, which is a mere 0.2% slower. The RTX 3080's closest competitor is the NVIDIA P106-100, which is 0.3% faster. These figures show that in the database's aggregate scoring, both cards are tightly clustered with their respective peers.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The GTX 780 Ti is equipped with 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 336.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3080 features 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering a significantly higher 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports hardware ray tracing and DLSS?

A: Only the RTX 3080 has dedicated hardware for these features. It includes 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores. The GTX 780 Ti has no such hardware, relying entirely on traditional shader-based rendering.

Q: What is the difference in their DirectX API support?

A: The GTX 780 Ti supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the RTX 3080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). This means the RTX 3080 is compliant with the latest feature set, including hardware ray tracing and mesh shaders, whereas the older card is limited to the earlier DirectX 12 feature level.

Architecture Differences

The foundational architectures are worlds apart. The GTX 780 Ti is built on the Kepler architecture using the GK110B chip, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. This chip packs 7,080 million transistors onto a 561 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the RTX 3080 uses the Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm process. This newer chip contains 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, achieving a density of 45.1 million per square millimeter. This difference in manufacturing technology is the primary driver of the generational leap in capability.

The compute core layouts reveal a massive scaling in parallel processing power. The GTX 780 Ti has 2,880 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The RTX 3080 dramatically increases these numbers to 8,704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. This nearly threefold increase in shading units and doubling of ROPs directly translates to higher fill rates. The pixel rate jumps from 55.68 GPixel/s on the 780 Ti to 164.2 GPixel/s on the 3080, and the texture rate scales from 222.7 GTexel/s to 465.1 GTexel/s.

A key differentiator is the presence of specialized hardware in the RTX 3080. It features 68 RT cores for ray tracing and 272 tensor cores for AI-accelerated workloads like DLSS. The GTX 780 Ti has no equivalent units. Furthermore, the FP32 compute throughput is drastically different: the 780 Ti delivers 5.345 TFLOPS, while the RTX 3080 achieves 29.77 TFLOPS. The RTX 3080 also offers FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio, a feature the GTX 780 Ti lacks entirely.

The memory subsystems also reflect the architectural shift. The GTX 780 Ti uses 3 GB of GDDR5 with a 384-bit bus. The RTX 3080 uses 10 GB of faster GDDR6X memory, but on a narrower 320-bit bus. Despite the narrower bus, the higher memory clock speed (19 Gbps effective versus 7 Gbps effective) allows the RTX 3080 to achieve more than double the bandwidth, at 760.3 GB/s compared to 336.6 GB/s. The bus interface also advances from PCIe 3.0 x16 on the older card to PCIe 4.0 x16 on the newer one.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data shows a clear split in where each card excels. The GTX 780 Ti's strength lies in its legacy driver support and raw compute in certain API environments. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 27,326 and Vulkan score of 27,238 are respectable for its era. In the aggregate, it performs at a level that places it above the RTX 3080 in the overall percentile ranking (70th vs 68th). This suggests that in the database's full suite of tests, which includes legacy DirectX 9 and 10 benchmarks, the older architecture holds its own surprisingly well.

The RTX 3080, however, wins decisively in the modern, compute-heavy workloads that are more representative of current gaming and professional applications. The data shows a dominant performance in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 152,423, a staggering 82.1% higher than the GTX 780 Ti. This is where the massive increase in shading units, memory bandwidth, and raw FP32 throughput becomes evident. The RTX 3080's 29.77 TFLOPS of compute power is simply in another class.

The RTX 3080 also wins in Geekbench Vulkan with a score of 33,620, a 19% improvement over the 780 Ti's 27,238. This indicates that the newer architecture is better optimized for modern, multi-threaded graphics APIs. While the GTX 780 Ti's closest rivals are cards like the RTX 2080 SUPER (only 0.3% slower), the RTX 3080's nearest rivals are lower-tier mobile parts like the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, highlighting that its average score is dragged down by specific legacy tests, but its peak modern performance is far superior.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for these two cards show a clear generational gap. The most obvious difference is in their process nodes and chip designs. The GTX 780 Ti uses a 28 nm chip, while the RTX 3080 uses an 8 nm chip. The transistor count increases from 7,080 million to 28,300 million, and the die size grows from 561 mm² to 628 mm².

Clock speeds are also significantly different. The GTX 780 Ti has a base clock of 875 MHz and a boost clock of 928 MHz. The RTX 3080 operates at a much higher frequency, with a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz. The memory clock is also faster on the newer card, running at 19 Gbps effective versus 7 Gbps effective.

The memory configuration is a point of divergence. The GTX 780 Ti has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The RTX 3080 has 10 GB of GDDR6X on a 320-bit bus. This results in a massive bandwidth difference: 336.6 GB/s for the 780 Ti versus 760.3 GB/s for the 3080. The power requirements also differ, with the TDP increasing from 250 W to 320 W, and the suggested PSU rising from 600 W to 700 W.

Connectivity and outputs have also evolved. The GTX 780 Ti uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface and offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs. The RTX 3080 uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface and provides 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The power connector changes from a 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin setup to a single 1x 12-pin connector. The cards are also slightly different in physical size, with the 780 Ti being 267 mm long and the 3080 being 285 mm long.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data provides the clearest picture of performance superiority. The most dramatic victory for the RTX 3080 comes in the Geekbench OpenCL test. Here, the GTX 780 Ti scores 27,326, while the RTX 3080 achieves an astronomical 152,423. This represents an 82.1% performance delta in favor of the newer card. This test is heavily compute-bound, and the RTX 3080's 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, combined with its 760.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth, completely overwhelms the Kepler architecture's capabilities.

The second head-to-head test is Geekbench Vulkan. The GTX 780 Ti posts a score of 27,238, but the RTX 3080 again takes the win with a score of 33,620. While the margin is smaller, it is still a significant 19% difference. This demonstrates that even in a modern API that is designed to reduce driver overhead, the Ampere architecture's superior hardware resources and newer instruction set provide a clear advantage.

The data shows that while the GTX 780 Ti has a higher average benchmark score and percentile ranking, it loses every single direct comparison in the head-to-head suite. This paradox is explained by the nature of the tests included in the average. The RTX 3080's average score is pulled down by older DirectX 9 and 10 tests, where its modern architecture may not be optimized for, but in the compute-heavy and modern API tests that matter for current applications, it is unequivocally the faster card. The 82.1% delta in OpenCL confirms the massive architectural leap over seven years.