NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile Comparison

The data places the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile in nearly the same performance tier, with average benchmark scores of 19164 and 19049 respectively. The RTX 4050 Mobile holds a marginal 0.6% lead over the GTX 780 according to the GTX 780's nearestRivals list, while the RTX 4050 Mobile's own nearestRivals list shows the GTX 780 at a 0.6% deltaPct. Despite this statistical tie in aggregate scores, the head-to-head benchmark results tell a very different story, with the RTX 4050 Mobile winning both available tests by massive margins. The GTX 780 is an end-of-life desktop card from 2013, while the RTX 4050 Mobile is an active mobile part from 2023, and the specification sheet reveals a generational chasm in process node, memory technology, and feature support that the average scores obscure.

The Verdict

The aggregate data suggests a near-perfect performance tie, but the head-to-head benchmarks decisively favor the RTX 4050 Mobile. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4050 Mobile scores 74748 against the GTX 780's 22863, a delta of -69.4% from the perspective of the older card. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4050 Mobile scores 75235 versus 24514, a delta of -67.4%. These are not minor differences; they represent the RTX 4050 Mobile delivering roughly three times the raw compute throughput in these specific tests.

The GTX 780's average score of 19164 places it at the 64th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 4050 Mobile sits at the 63rd percentile with an average of 19049. This near-identical percentile ranking is misleading for direct comparison, as the average scores are drawn from different benchmark suites. The GTX 780's benchmarks consist solely of Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan scores, while the RTX 4050 Mobile includes PassMark tests across multiple DirectX versions, G2D, G3D, and GPU compute. The head-to-head data, which uses identical test conditions, is the more reliable indicator of relative performance.

For a user choosing between these two, the decision hinges on workload and platform. The RTX 4050 Mobile is the clear choice for any task that leverages modern APIs, ray tracing, or tensor cores, as it features 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores that the GTX 780 completely lacks. The GTX 780, with its 288.4 GB/s memory bandwidth and 384-bit bus, might still appeal in scenarios where raw memory throughput matters more than compute features, but the benchmark data shows it losing decisively in the two tests where both cards were measured. The production status also matters: the GTX 780 is end-of-life, while the RTX 4050 Mobile is active, suggesting ongoing driver support and availability.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 780 has an average benchmark score of 19164, which is marginally higher than the RTX 4050 Mobile's 19049, a difference of 115 points or roughly 0.6%.

Q: How does the RTX 4050 Mobile perform in head-to-head tests?

A: The RTX 4050 Mobile wins both head-to-head benchmarks decisively, scoring 74748 in Geekbench OpenCL (versus 22863 for the GTX 780) and 75235 in Geekbench Vulkan (versus 24514), representing deltas of -69.4% and -67.4% respectively from the GTX 780's perspective.

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

A: The GTX 780 has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 4050 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 96-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the RTX 4050 Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RTX 4050 Mobile features 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores, while the GTX 780 has no RT cores or tensor cores listed in its specifications.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The GTX 780 has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W suggested PSU with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors, while the RTX 4050 Mobile has a TDP of 50 W and requires no power connectors, being an IGP (integrated graphics processor) design.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The RTX 4050 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 780 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent entirely different architectural eras from NVIDIA. The GTX 780 uses the GK110 chip based on the Kepler architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. This chip contains 7,080 million transistors on a die size of 561 mm², yielding a transistor density of 12.6 million transistors per square millimeter. The RTX 4050 Mobile uses the AD107 chip based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, also manufactured at TSMC but on a 5 nm process. The AD107 contains 18,900 million transistors on a much smaller die of 159 mm², achieving a transistor density of 118.9 million per square millimeter — nearly ten times the density of the GK110.

The Kepler architecture in the GTX 780 has no dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, relying instead on 2304 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The Ada Lovelace architecture in the RTX 4050 Mobile includes 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, 48 ROPs, plus 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores. This feature gap is fundamental: the RTX 4050 Mobile can accelerate ray-traced workloads and AI-based operations through dedicated hardware, while the GTX 780 must handle these tasks through its general-purpose shaders, assuming they are supported at all in software.

The manufacturing process difference is stark. The 28 nm node of the GTX 780 allows a 250 W TDP for a dual-slot card with external power connectors, while the 5 nm node of the RTX 4050 Mobile enables a 50 W TDP in an IGP form factor with no power connectors. The RTX 4050 Mobile's FP32 compute is rated at 8.986 TFLOPS, more than double the GTX 780's 4.156 TFLOPS, and it also offers FP16 at 8.986 TFLOPS (1:1), a capability the GTX 780 does not list. The pixel rate of the RTX 4050 Mobile is 84.24 GPixel/s versus 43.30 GPixel/s for the GTX 780, though the GTX 780 has a higher texture rate at 173.2 GTexel/s versus 140.4 GTexel/s.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal several key differences beyond the obvious generational gap. The GTX 780 has a base clock of 863 MHz and a boost clock of 902 MHz, while the RTX 4050 Mobile runs at 1455 MHz base and 1755 MHz boost. Memory configurations differ substantially: the GTX 780 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) on a 384-bit bus for 288.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 4050 Mobile uses 6 GB of GDDR6 at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) on a 96-bit bus for 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 780's wider bus gives it 50% more bandwidth, but the RTX 4050 Mobile has twice the capacity.

The bus interface differs: the GTX 780 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX 4050 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs also differ, with the GTX 780 offering 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2, while the RTX 4050 Mobile's outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent." The GTX 780 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 38 mm in width, whereas the RTX 4050 Mobile has no listed dimensions due to its IGP form factor. The GTX 780 has a launch MSRP of 649 USD, while the RTX 4050 Mobile has no launch MSRP listed.

Power specifications are dramatically different. The GTX 780 draws 250 W TDP, requires a 600 W suggested PSU, and uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors. The RTX 4050 Mobile draws only 50 W TDP, has no power connectors, and lists no suggested PSU. The RTX 4050 Mobile also has a more recent release date of 2023-01-02 compared to the GTX 780's 2013-05-22, and its production status is Active versus End-of-life for the GTX 780.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two head-to-head benchmarks available are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the RTX 4050 Mobile dominates both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4050 Mobile scores 74748 against the GTX 780's 22863, a delta of -69.4% from the GTX 780's perspective. This means the GTX 780 achieves only about 30.6% of the RTX 4050 Mobile's score in this test. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap is slightly smaller but still enormous: the RTX 4050 Mobile scores 75235 versus 24514 for the GTX 780, a delta of -67.4%, meaning the GTX 780 reaches roughly 32.6% of the newer card's performance.

These results are striking because the aggregate average scores suggest near-parity. The GTX 780's average of 19164 comes from its three Geekbench scores: Metal at 10114, OpenCL at 22863, and Vulkan at 24514. The RTX 4050 Mobile's average of 19049 is pulled down by its PassMark results, which include scores like 79 for DirectX 10, 130 for DirectX 11, 61 for DirectX 12, and 184 for DirectX 9, alongside a more respectable PassMark G3D score of 14423 and GPU compute score of 5947. The PassMark DirectX scores are likely normalized differently, but they drag the average down substantially.

When comparing only the tests both cards took, the RTX 4050 Mobile is the clear winner. The deltaPct values in the nearestRivals lists also hint at this: the GTX 780's nearestRivals include the RTX 4050 Mobile at a deltaPct of 0.6%, meaning the RTX 4050 Mobile is 0.6% ahead of the GTX 780 in that ranking context. Conversely, the RTX 4050 Mobile's nearestRivals show the GTX 780 at a deltaPct of -0.2%, meaning the GTX 780 is 0.2% behind, which is inconsistent but within the margin of error for aggregate scores.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4050 Mobile wins decisively in raw compute throughput as measured by Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan, with scores of 74748 and 75235 respectively. These are the only directly comparable benchmark results, and they show the RTX 4050 Mobile at roughly 3.3x the GTX 780's OpenCL score and 3.1x its Vulkan score. For any workload that leverages OpenCL or Vulkan — which includes many modern games, compute applications, and machine learning frameworks — the RTX 4050 Mobile is the superior choice. Its 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores further extend its advantage into ray tracing and AI-accelerated tasks, which the GTX 780 cannot hardware-accelerate at all.

The GTX 780's advantages are narrower but still present in the specification sheet. Its 384-bit memory bus provides 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is 50% higher than the RTX 4050 Mobile's 192.0 GB/s. This could benefit memory-bandwidth-bound workloads such as certain scientific simulations or high-resolution texture streaming, though no head-to-head benchmark data confirms this. The GTX 780 also has a higher texture rate at 173.2 GTexel/s versus 140.4 GTexel/s, which might favor texture-heavy rendering paths. However, these theoretical advantages do not translate into wins in the available head-to-head tests.

The platform difference is also crucial. The GTX 780 is a desktop card requiring a dual-slot cooler, 250 W of power, and a 600 W PSU, making it suitable only for full desktop builds. The RTX 4050 Mobile is an IGP with a 50 W TDP and no power connectors, designed for laptops and portable devices. A user building a desktop with ample power and space might consider the GTX 780 for its memory bandwidth, but the data shows it losing badly in compute tests. A user needing portable performance with modern feature support should choose the RTX 4050 Mobile, which also offers double the memory capacity at 6 GB versus 3 GB, despite the narrower bus. Production status favors the RTX 4050 Mobile as well, since it remains active while the GTX 780 is end-of-life.