NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs NVIDIA Quadro M4000 Comparison

The Verdict

The database comparison between the NVIDIA Quadro M4000 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB is decisively one-sided in raw performance, but the two cards serve completely different purposes. The RTX 3080 12 GB wins the only directly comparable benchmark, the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, with a score of 4791 versus the Quadro M4000's 680. That is a delta of 85.8% in favor of the GeForce card. For any workload that depends on modern graphics throughput, the RTX 3080 12 GB is the clear choice.

However, the Quadro M4000 still holds relevance in specific legacy or professional contexts. Its Maxwell architecture, 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, and 192.3 GB/s of bandwidth make it a functional option for older professional workflows that do not require the latest feature set. The RTX 3080 12 GB, with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus and 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth, is in a different performance class entirely.

Who should pick which: choose the RTX 3080 12 GB if the task involves modern DirectX 12 Ultimate workloads, ray tracing, tensor operations, or any compute that benefits from 30.64 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput. Choose the Quadro M4000 only if the software environment is locked to older Maxwell-era drivers, if the system cannot physically accommodate a dual-slot 285 mm card, or if the power budget is extremely constrained at 120 W versus 350 W. The data does not support choosing the Quadro for performance; it only supports choosing it for compatibility or form factor reasons.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB scores 4791, while the NVIDIA Quadro M4000 scores 680. The RTX 3080 12 GB is 85.8% faster in this test.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The Quadro M4000 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 192.3 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3080 12 GB has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports newer graphics APIs?

A: The RTX 3080 12 GB supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Quadro M4000 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The Quadro M4000 has a 120 W TDP, a single 6-pin connector, and a suggested 300 W power supply. The RTX 3080 12 GB has a 350 W TDP, a single 12-pin connector, and a suggested 750 W power supply.

Q: Does the RTX 3080 12 GB have dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: Yes, it has 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores. The Quadro M4000 has neither.

Q: Which card is physically smaller?

A: The Quadro M4000 is single-slot, 241 mm long, and 111 mm high. The RTX 3080 12 GB is dual-slot, 285 mm long, 112 mm high, and 40 mm wide.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different architectural generations. The Quadro M4000 uses the GM204 chip built on Maxwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. It contains 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 13.1 million per mm². The RTX 3080 12 GB uses the GA102 chip on Ampere architecture, fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm process. It packs 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, achieving 45.1 million transistors per mm². The density advantage of the Ampere chip is substantial, reflecting the newer manufacturing process.

The shading resources differ dramatically. The Quadro M4000 has 1,664 shading units, 104 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The RTX 3080 12 GB has 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The RTX 3080 12 GB also adds 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores, which are completely absent from the Maxwell-based Quadro. These dedicated hardware blocks enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-accelerated tensor operations, neither of which the Quadro M4000 can perform in hardware.

The compute throughput reflects the architectural gap. The Quadro M4000 delivers 2.573 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the RTX 3080 12 GB delivers 30.64 TFLOPS. The RTX 3080 12 GB also lists FP16 at 30.64 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, while the Quadro M4000 has no listed FP16 capability. Pixel rate is 49.47 GPixel/s for the Quadro versus 164.2 GPixel/s for the RTX 3080 12 GB. Texture rate is 80.39 GTexel/s versus 478.8 GTexel/s. Every throughput metric favors the Ampere card by a wide margin.

The API support differs as well. The Quadro M4000 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RTX 3080 12 GB supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 3080 12 GB's DirectX 12 Ultimate support includes features like mesh shaders and sampler feedback that the Maxwell card cannot handle.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification field. The Quadro M4000 has no listed base or boost clock, while the RTX 3080 12 GB has a 1260 MHz base clock and a 1710 MHz boost clock. Memory clock differs: the Quadro runs at 1502 MHz with 6 Gbps effective, while the RTX 3080 12 GB runs at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective. The memory bus width is 256-bit for the Quadro and 384-bit for the RTX 3080 12 GB.

Memory capacity and type differ: 8 GB GDDR5 versus 12 GB GDDR6X. Bandwidth is 192.3 GB/s versus 912.4 GB/s. The RTX 3080 12 GB has more than 4.7 times the memory bandwidth of the Quadro M4000. Power consumption also differs greatly: 120 W versus 350 W TDP. The power connectors are a single 6-pin for the Quadro and a single 12-pin for the RTX 3080 12 GB. The suggested power supply is 300 W versus 750 W.

Physical dimensions differ. The Quadro M4000 is 241 mm long and 111 mm high with a single-slot design. The RTX 3080 12 GB is 285 mm long, 112 mm high, and 40 mm wide with a dual-slot design. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Quadro versus PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX 3080 12 GB. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.2 for the Quadro versus 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a for the RTX 3080 12 GB.

Release dates are far apart: June 2015 for the Quadro M4000 and January 2022 for the RTX 3080 12 GB. Both are end-of-life. The Quadro's predecessor is Quadro Kepler and its successor is Quadro Pascal. The RTX 3080 12 GB's predecessor is GeForce 20 and its successor is GeForce 40. The RTX 3080 12 GB has a launch MSRP of 799 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the database is the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. The Quadro M4000 scores 680, while the RTX 3080 12 GB scores 4791. The delta is 85.8% in favor of the RTX 3080 12 GB, meaning the Quadro's score is only about 14% of the RTX 3080 12 GB's score. This is not a close contest. The RTX 3080 12 GB is roughly 7 times faster in this specific test.

Beyond the head-to-head, the individual benchmark suites tell a more nuanced story for the Quadro M4000. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Quadro scores 19118. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 24640. In Passmark DirectX 9, it scores 113. In Passmark DirectX 10, it scores 33. In Passmark DirectX 11, it scores 49. In Passmark DirectX 12, it scores 26. In Passmark G2D, it scores 673. In Passmark G3D, it scores 6680. In Passmark GPU Compute, it scores 2660. The RTX 3080 12 GB has no scores listed for any of these tests, so the database only records the single Steel Nomad result for the Ampere card.

The Quadro M4000's average benchmark score across all its recorded tests is 5467, with a percentile rank of 32 among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals by average score are the AMD Radeon R7 M440 at 5483 (0.3% higher), the AMD Radeon 610M at 5444 (0.4% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M at 5501 (0.6% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce MX130 at 5508 (0.7% higher). The Quadro sits squarely in the middle of this low-end cluster.

The RTX 3080 12 GB has an average benchmark score of 4791, which comes entirely from its single Steel Nomad result. Its percentile rank is 28, lower than the Quadro's 32, but this is misleading. The percentile ranks are based on different benchmark sets. The RTX 3080 12 GB's nearest rivals by average score are the AMD Radeon R5 M255 at 4788 (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon R5 M335 at 4752 (0.8% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX at 4844 (1.1% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M at 4855 (1.3% higher). The recorded data places the RTX 3080 12 GB in a group of older mobile and entry-level GPUs, which reflects the limited benchmark coverage, not the actual performance class.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 12 GB wins in every measure of raw graphics performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark shows an 85.8% lead. The memory bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s gives it a massive advantage in any bandwidth-bound workload. The 30.64 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput versus 2.573 TFLOPS makes it suited for compute-heavy tasks such as rendering, simulation, and machine learning inference. The 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores enable hardware ray tracing and tensor operations that the Quadro M4000 cannot perform at all. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory also provides more capacity for large datasets and textures.

The Quadro M4000 wins in compatibility and physical constraints. Its single-slot design and 241 mm length fit into compact chassis where the dual-slot 285 mm RTX 3080 12 GB will not. Its 120 W TDP and single 6-pin connector allow it to run on a 300 W power supply, whereas the RTX 3080 12 GB requires a 750 W unit. The Quadro's 4x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs may be preferable in multi-monitor professional setups that rely on DisplayPort-only connections. Its Maxwell architecture may also be the only supported option for legacy professional software that has not been updated for Ampere.

The data does not show any benchmark where the Quadro M4000 outperforms the RTX 3080 12 GB. Every recorded metric either favors the RTX 3080 12 GB or has no comparison. The Quadro M4000's wins are purely situational: power envelope, physical size, and legacy software compatibility. For anyone choosing between these two based on performance alone, the RTX 3080 12 GB is the only rational pick. The Quadro M4000 remains viable only in niche deployment scenarios where the newer card cannot physically or electrically fit.