NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile are both Ampere-based laptop parts built on the same GA104 chip, yet benchmark results show a split personality. The RTX 3080 Mobile takes the aggregate lead with an average benchmark score of 23628, edging out the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s 23518 by a 0.5% margin. However, the head-to-head data tells a different story: the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins 8 of 10 individual tests, including a decisive 7.9% victory in Passmark G3D. The RTX 3080 Mobile counters with wins in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and Geekbench Vulkan, but the overall picture is one of near-parity, with both GPUs sitting at the 69th percentile of all GPUs. The data suggests the RTX 3080 Mobile is marginally faster in modern API workloads, while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile dominates legacy and compute-oriented benchmarks.

The Verdict

Pick the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile if your priority is peak performance in current-generation DirectX 12 and Vulkan titles. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2644 is 2.8% ahead of the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s 2572, and its Geekbench Vulkan result of 104066 beats the competitor’s 100027 by 4%. These are the two most forward-looking workloads in the dataset, and the RTX 3080 Mobile wins both. It also carries a higher theoretical ceiling: 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores versus the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, 46 RT cores, and 184 tensor cores. Its FP32 throughput of 18.98 TFLOPS is 14.3% higher than the 16.60 TFLOPS of the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile.

Pick the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile if you care about overall consistency across a broader mix of workloads. The data shows it wins 8 of 10 head-to-head tests, including Passmark G3D (17727 vs 16321, a 7.9% lead), Passmark G2D (783 vs 637, an 18.6% lead), and Passmark DX9 (196 vs 170, a 13.3% lead). It also wins both compute-heavy Passmark tests: GPU Compute (7504 vs 7276) and Geekbench OpenCL (106022 vs 104831). The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile achieves this despite lower clock speeds (915 MHz base / 1410 MHz boost versus 1110 MHz / 1545 MHz), suggesting its architectural configuration is better tuned for certain legacy and compute paths. For a user running older DirectX titles or OpenCL applications, this is the safer choice.

The verdict hinges on workload. The RTX 3080 Mobile is the modern-gaming specialist; the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is the all-rounder that wins more tests but by smaller margins in the newest APIs. Both are end-of-life products, so the choice is purely about which benchmark profile matches your usage.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 23628, which is 0.5% higher than the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s 23518.

Q: How many head-to-head benchmark wins does each GPU have?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins 8 of the 10 head-to-head tests, while the RTX 3080 Mobile wins 2.

Q: What is the largest single-benchmark margin between the two?

A: The largest margin is in Passmark G2D, where the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile scores 783 versus the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 637, a delta of 18.6% in favor of the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile.

Q: Do both GPUs use the same memory configuration?

A: Yes, both have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth and running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

Q: Which GPU has higher clock speeds?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile has higher clocks: 1110 MHz base and 1545 MHz boost, compared to the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s 915 MHz base and 1410 MHz boost.

Q: Are these GPUs in the same performance percentile?

A: Yes, both sit at the 69th percentile of all GPUs, confirming their near-identical standing in the broader performance hierarchy.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture using the GA104 chip, fabricated on Samsung’s 8 nm process. They share the same 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, resulting in an identical transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The architecture is functionally identical in terms of feature support: both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and both use a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface. Display outputs are listed as portable-device dependent, meaning laptop manufacturers control connectivity.

The key architectural difference lies in the execution resources. The RTX 3080 Mobile has 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is slightly cut down: 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 46 RT cores, and 184 tensor cores. This means the RTX 3080 Mobile has 256 more shading units, 8 more TMUs, 2 more RT cores, and 8 more tensor cores. The ROP count is identical at 96, and both have exactly the same memory system: 8 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

The chip’s physical layout is identical, so the difference is purely in how many of the GA104’s resources are enabled. The RTX 3080 Mobile is the fuller implementation, while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is a slightly trimmed variant. This explains why the RTX 3080 Mobile posts higher pixel and texture rates: 148.3 GPixel/s and 296.6 GTexel/s, versus the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s 135.4 GPixel/s and 259.4 GTexel/s. Both have a TDP of 115 W and require no power connectors, as they are mobile parts.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in several measurable specifications, all stemming from the RTX 3080 Mobile’s larger enabled resource pool. Clock speeds are the most visible difference: the RTX 3080 Mobile runs at 1110 MHz base and 1545 MHz boost, while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile runs at 915 MHz base and 1410 MHz boost. That is a 195 MHz higher base clock and a 135 MHz higher boost clock for the RTX 3080 Mobile.

Shading unit counts differ by 256 (6144 vs 5888), TMUs differ by 8 (192 vs 184), RT cores differ by 2 (48 vs 46), and tensor cores differ by 8 (192 vs 184). The ROP count is the same at 96. These resource differences drive the compute throughput gap: the RTX 3080 Mobile delivers 18.98 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 (1:1), while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile delivers 16.60 TFLOPS for both. That is a 2.38 TFLOPS difference in raw compute.

Pixel and texture rates also diverge: 148.3 GPixel/s and 296.6 GTexel/s for the RTX 3080 Mobile, versus 135.4 GPixel/s and 259.4 GTexel/s for the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile. Memory is identical: 8 GB GDDR6, 256-bit bus, 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). Both have a 115 W TDP, use no power connectors, and are end-of-life products. The RTX 3080 Mobile was released on January 11, 2021, while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile followed on January 3, 2022.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 3080 Mobile’s two wins are both in modern, low-level APIs. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 2644 against the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s 2572, a 2.8% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 104066 versus 100027, a 4% lead. These are the most demanding and future-looking tests in the dataset, and the RTX 3080 Mobile’s higher core count and clock speed translate directly into better performance here.

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s wins are broader and often larger. The standout is Passmark G2D, where it scores 783 versus 637, an 18.6% margin. It also leads Passmark DX9 by 13.3% (196 vs 170), which is the second-largest delta. In Passmark G3D, the most comprehensive DirectX gaming test, it scores 17727 against 16321, a 7.9% lead. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile also wins Passmark DX11 (153 vs 146, a 4.6% margin), Passmark GPU Compute (7504 vs 7276, a 3% margin), Passmark DX10 (124 vs 120, a 3.2% margin), Passmark DX12 (73 vs 72, a 1.4% margin), and Geekbench OpenCL (106022 vs 104831, a 1.1% margin).

The pattern is clear: the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins every Passmark test, while the RTX 3080 Mobile wins the two cross-vendor API tests. Notably, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s Passmark G3D score of 17727 is higher than the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 16321 despite the latter’s higher theoretical specs. This suggests that Passmark’s workload mix favors the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s clock-per-core characteristics or driver optimization. The RTX 3080 Mobile’s wins are narrower (2.8% and 4%), while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s wins range from 1.1% to 18.6%. On average, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s victory margins are larger, which explains why it wins the majority of tests despite losing the aggregate score by 0.5%. The aggregate score is dominated by the Geekbench and 3DMark results, where the RTX 3080 Mobile’s 4% Vulkan win nearly offsets the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s 1.1% OpenCL win.