NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER Comparison

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti represent two distinct eras of NVIDIA graphics architecture, and the benchmark data reflects a generational chasm. While the older card retains a single notable victory in one specific API test, the newer Ada Lovelace part dominates across nearly every other metric, delivering decisive performance advantages in both legacy and modern workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most dramatic divergence appears in compute-heavy workloads. In the Passmark GPU Compute test, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER scores 18,372 against the RTX 2080 Ti's 10,056, a massive 82.7% advantage. This result aligns with the raw specifications: the newer card delivers 44.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance compared to 13.45 TFLOPS for the older Turing card. The gap in raw compute power is the single largest win for the 4070 Ti SUPER across the entire benchmark suite.

DirectX 12 performance also shows a clear hierarchy. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test yields 5,569 points for the 4070 Ti SUPER versus 3,537 for the 2080 Ti, a 57.4% lead. This modern API workload benefits heavily from the Ada Lovelace architecture's efficiency and higher clock speeds. The Passmark DirectX 12 subtest tells a similar story, with the 4070 Ti SUPER scoring 119 versus 84, a 41.7% margin. Older API tests also favor the newer card: DirectX 11 shows a 46.3% gap (278 vs 190), and even DirectX 9 demonstrates a 53.2% improvement (360 vs 235).

Synthetic gaming benchmarks reinforce the trend. The Passmark G3D score of 31,811 for the 4070 Ti SUPER beats the 2080 Ti's 21,548 by 47.6%. OpenCL compute workloads show a 55.5% advantage (199,267 vs 128,171), and the DirectX 10 test reveals an 18.3% edge (181 vs 153). Even the 2D performance metric, often overlooked, favors the newer card: 1,225 versus 927, a 32.1% improvement.

The sole exception to this sweep is the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the RTX 2080 Ti scores 132,930 against the 4070 Ti SUPER's 53,683. This 59.6% deficit for the newer card is a striking anomaly. The 2080 Ti's Turing architecture features 544 tensor cores, while the 4070 Ti SUPER has 264; the older card's 2:1 FP16 ratio (26.90 TFLOPS) versus the newer card's 1:1 ratio (44.10 TFLOPS) may explain part of this unusual Vulkan result, though the specific workload characteristics remain opaque from the data alone.

Out of ten head-to-head benchmarks, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER wins nine. The average benchmark scores reflect this overall dominance: 31,087 for the 4070 Ti SUPER versus 29,783 for the 2080 Ti, a modest 4.4% aggregate difference that understates the scale of the newer card's victories in individual tests. The percentile rankings are nearly identical — 76th versus 75th percentile among all GPUs — but the distribution of scores tells a more nuanced story.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different manufacturing processes and architectures. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER uses the AD103 chip on TSMC's 5 nm node, while the RTX 2080 Ti employs the TU102 chip on a 12 nm process. This node difference is dramatic: the newer chip packs 45,900 million transistors into a 379 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 121.1M per mm². The older Turing chip contains 18,600 million transistors spread across a much larger 754 mm² die, yielding just 24.7M transistors per mm². The 5 nm process enables more than four times the transistor density, which directly contributes to the performance disparity.

Clock speeds illustrate the efficiency gains of the newer architecture. The 4070 Ti SUPER boosts to 2,610 MHz with a 2,340 MHz base clock, while the 2080 Ti operates at 1,545 MHz boost and 1,350 MHz base. This represents a 69% higher boost clock, a staggering improvement enabled by the smaller process node. The memory subsystem also differs substantially: the 4070 Ti SUPER features 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus delivering 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth, while the 2080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR6 on a 352-bit bus at 616.0 GB/s. The newer card offers more capacity and higher bandwidth despite a narrower bus, thanks to faster memory running at 21 Gbps effective versus 14 Gbps.

Compute resources scale accordingly. The 4070 Ti SUPER has 8,448 shading units, 264 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs, compared to 4,352 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 88 ROPs on the 2080 Ti. The newer card nearly doubles the shading units while maintaining similar texture and pixel throughput capabilities. Pixel rate reaches 250.6 GPixel/s versus 136.0 GPixel/s, and texture rate hits 689.0 GTexel/s versus 420.2 GTexel/s. Ray tracing cores number 66 on the newer card versus 68 on the older one, but the Ada Lovelace implementation offers superior per-core efficiency. Tensor cores tell a counterintuitive story: the 2080 Ti has 544 versus 264 on the 4070 Ti SUPER, yet the newer card still wins most compute benchmarks.

Power and physical characteristics also differ notably. The 4070 Ti SUPER draws 285 W versus 250 W for the 2080 Ti, yet delivers dramatically higher performance per watt. The newer card is a triple-slot design measuring 310 mm long, 140 mm tall, and 61 mm wide, while the 2080 Ti fits in dual slots at 267 mm by 116 mm by 35 mm. Both require a 600 W power supply, but the 4070 Ti SUPER uses a single 16-pin connector while the 2080 Ti needs two 8-pin connectors. The 4070 Ti SUPER supports PCIe 4.0 x16, doubling the interface bandwidth of the 2080 Ti's PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are similar, with the newer card offering 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a versus the 2080 Ti's 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear choice for most users. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER wins nine of ten head-to-head benchmarks, with victories ranging from 18.3% to 82.7%. Its 57.4% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 47.6% edge in Passmark G3D make it the superior option for modern gaming and DirectX 12 workloads. The 82.7% advantage in GPU compute further solidifies its position for content creation and compute-heavy tasks.

The RTX 2080 Ti's single Vulkan victory, while significant at 59.6%, must be weighed against its losses everywhere else. Users whose primary workload relies specifically on Vulkan API performance might find the older card compelling, but this represents a narrow use case. The 2080 Ti also offers more tensor cores (544 versus 264) and a higher FP16 throughput ratio (2:1 versus 1:1), which could matter for certain AI inference workloads that leverage these features.

For general gaming, productivity, and compute applications, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the superior choice based on benchmark data. The 4070 Ti SUPER carries a launch MSRP of 799 USD. Its 16 GB memory capacity, higher bandwidth, and significantly faster clocks provide a substantial performance cushion. The 2080 Ti, despite its 999 USD launch MSRP, trails in nearly every measurable way.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in DirectX 12 gaming?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER leads by 57.4% in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (5,569 vs 3,537) and by 41.7% in the Passmark DirectX 12 test (119 vs 84).

Q: Does the RTX 2080 Ti beat the 4070 Ti SUPER in any benchmark?

A: Yes. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the 2080 Ti scores 132,930 versus 53,683 for the 4070 Ti SUPER, a 59.6% advantage.

Q: How do the memory subsystems compare?

A: The 4070 Ti SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus with 672.3 GB/s bandwidth, while the 2080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR6 on a 352-bit bus at 616.0 GB/s.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The 4070 Ti SUPER's 5 nm chip achieves 121.1M transistors per mm², while the 2080 Ti's 12 nm chip manages 24.7M per mm² — a 4.9x density advantage.

Q: Which card has higher clock speeds?

A: The 4070 Ti SUPER boosts to 2,610 MHz with a 2,340 MHz base, versus 1,545 MHz boost and 1,350 MHz base for the 2080 Ti.

Q: How do the cards compare in compute workloads?

A: The 4070 Ti SUPER leads by 82.7% in Passmark GPU Compute (18,372 vs 10,056) and by 55.5% in Geekbench OpenCL (199,267 vs 128,171).

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER dominates in nearly every category measured. DirectX 12 workloads show a 57.4% advantage in 3DMark Steel Nomad and 41.7% in Passmark. DirectX 11 improves by 46.3%, DirectX 10 by 18.3%, and DirectX 9 by 53.2%. OpenCL compute leads by 55.5%, and GPU compute by 82.7%. The 3D gaming score (Passmark G3D) runs 47.6% higher, and 2D performance is 32.1% better. For users targeting modern APIs, high-resolution gaming, or compute-heavy rendering tasks, the 4070 Ti SUPER is the clear pick.

The RTX 2080 Ti claims a single, decisive victory in the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark with a 59.6% margin. This suggests that workloads heavily optimized for Vulkan on the Turing architecture — possibly leveraging its 544 tensor cores and 2:1 FP16 ratio — could see unusual benefits. The 2080 Ti also offers a USB Type-C display output, which the 4070 Ti SUPER lacks. For users with specific Vulkan-based applications or those requiring the older card's unique connectivity, the 2080 Ti retains a niche, though narrow, use case. Everywhere else, the data points decisively to the Ada Lovelace generation.