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

The data presents a clear hierarchy between these two NVIDIA mobile Ampere parts. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile outperforms the RTX 3080 Mobile in every single benchmark recorded, with a perfect 10-0 win record in the head-to-head comparison. This dominance is reflected in their overall percentiles, with the Ti variant sitting at the 71st percentile of all GPUs while the non-Ti sits just below at the 69th percentile. However, the magnitude of these wins varies significantly across different workloads, ranging from a modest 3.3% advantage in Vulkan to a substantial 28.4% lead in 2D graphics. The average benchmark score difference is 2,112 points in favor of the Ti, which places it among rivals like the AMD Radeon Pro W5700 and RX 6700M, while the standard 3080 Mobile trades blows with the GTX TITAN Z and RTX 3070 Ti Mobile. This is not a simple rebrand; the underlying silicon and memory configuration differ substantially.

The Verdict

The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is the unequivocal performance leader, but the choice between these two GPUs is not simply about raw speed. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile wins every single head-to-head test, from the modern DirectX 12 3DMark Steel Nomad test (8.5% ahead) to legacy DirectX 9 workloads (18.2% ahead). Its most decisive victories come in the Passmark G2D test (28.4% ahead) and the DirectX 12 Passmark test (22.2% ahead), suggesting particular strength in 2D composition and modern API draw calls.

For a user prioritizing maximum frame rates in the latest DirectX 12 titles, the Ti is the clear pick based on its 22.2% advantage in that specific Passmark test and its 8.5% lead in the 3DMark Steel Nomad benchmark. The Ti's 16.4% lead in GPU compute and 12.4% lead in OpenCL also make it the more compelling option for any CUDA-accelerated or general-purpose compute workloads. The RTX 3080 Mobile, while slower, is still a capable performer; its average score of 23,628 places it just 0.5% behind the GTX TITAN Z and 0.5% ahead of the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile. The data suggests the standard 3080 Mobile is for users who need strong 1440p gaming but do not require the absolute maximum headroom offered by the Ti variant.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs share the same Ampere architecture and are both built on Samsung's 8 nm process node, resulting in an identical transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The divergence begins with the physical silicon itself. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile utilizes the GA103 chip, which packs 22,000 million transistors onto a 496 mm² die. In contrast, the RTX 3080 Mobile uses the smaller GA104 chip, containing 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. This difference in die size and transistor count translates directly into a wider configuration for the Ti.

The GA103 chip in the Ti enables a more fully-featured execution pipeline. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is equipped with 7,424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, 58 ray tracing cores, and 232 tensor cores. The RTX 3080 Mobile, with its GA104 chip, is cut down to 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores. Both parts maintain 96 ROPs, which means their pixel processing capability is tied to clock speed rather than core count. The Ti also benefits from a larger and faster memory subsystem, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory compared to 8 GB, and a higher effective memory speed of 16 Gbps versus 14 Gbps, though both use a 256-bit bus. This results in a bandwidth advantage of 512.0 GB/s for the Ti versus 448.0 GB/s for the standard model.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile faster in every single benchmark?

A: Yes. The head-to-head data shows the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile winning all 10 recorded benchmarks, with a 10-0 win record. The RTX 3080 Mobile does not win a single test.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two?

A: The largest delta is in the Passmark G2D test, where the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile scores 818 versus 637 for the RTX 3080 Mobile, a 28.4% advantage. This is followed by a 22.2% lead in the Passmark DirectX 12 test.

Q: What is the smallest performance gap?

A: The smallest difference is in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the Ti scores 107,502 against 104,066, a lead of just 3.3%. This suggests that Vulkan API performance is more closely matched than other workloads.

Q: How do the memory configurations differ?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, double the 8 GB found on the RTX 3080 Mobile. The Ti also has a higher effective memory speed of 16 Gbps, giving it a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s, compared to 448.0 GB/s for the standard model.

Q: Do they use the same GPU chip?

A: No. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is based on the GA103 chip, while the RTX 3080 Mobile uses the GA104 chip. The GA103 is a larger die at 496 mm² with 22,000 million transistors, compared to the GA104's 392 mm² and 17,400 million transistors.

Q: Given the performance difference, what are their overall percentile rankings?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is at the 71st percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3080 Mobile is at the 69th percentile. Their average benchmark scores are 25,740 and 23,628, respectively.

Specification Differences

The core specification differences are substantial and explain the performance gap. The most obvious difference is in the chip: the Ti uses the GA103 while the standard model uses the GA104. This leads to a significant divergence in execution resources. The RTX 3080 Ti Mobile has 7,424 shading units and 232 TMUs, compared to 6,144 shading units and 192 TMUs on the RTX 3080 Mobile. Ray tracing and tensor core counts follow suit, with 58 and 232 on the Ti versus 48 and 192 on the standard part.

Clock speeds present an interesting inversion. The RTX 3080 Mobile has a higher base clock of 1,110 MHz and boost clock of 1,545 MHz, while the Ti runs at 810 MHz base and 1,260 MHz boost. Despite the lower clocks, the Ti achieves a higher pixel rate of 121.0 GPixel/s versus 148.3 GPixel/s for the standard model, which is surprising. The texture rate is nearly identical (292.3 GTexel/s vs 296.6 GTexel/s), but the FP32 compute is slightly lower on the Ti at 18.71 TFLOPS versus 18.98 TFLOPS. The memory configuration is a clear differentiator: 16 GB at 16 Gbps for the Ti versus 8 GB at 14 Gbps for the standard model, yielding 512.0 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Both have 96 ROPs, a 256-bit bus, a 115 W TDP, and the same API support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The release dates differ by about a year, with the standard model launching in January 2021 and the Ti in January 2022.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data reveals a consistent, though not uniform, performance advantage for the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile. The most striking win for the Ti comes in the Passmark G2D test, where it scores 818 points against 637, a 28.4% delta. This suggests a major advantage in 2D graphics and desktop composition tasks. In the Passmark DirectX 12 test, the Ti leads by 22.2% (88 vs 72), indicating a strong performance lead in modern, low-level graphics APIs.

The Ti also shows significant strength in legacy DirectX 9 workloads, winning by 18.2% (201 vs 170), and in the Passmark G3D test, also by 18.2% (19,288 vs 16,321). The GPU compute test shows a 16.4% lead for the Ti (8,471 vs 7,276), while the Geekbench OpenCL test shows a 12.4% advantage (117,866 vs 104,831). The Passmark DirectX 11 test shows a 12.3% lead (164 vs 146), and the DirectX 10 test a 9.2% lead (131 vs 120). The smallest wins are in the modern 3DMark Steel Nomad test, where the Ti leads by 8.5% (2,869 vs 2,644), and the Geekbench Vulkan test, where it leads by just 3.3% (107,502 vs 104,066).

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on the benchmark data, the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile wins in every scenario. There is no workload category in which the RTX 3080 Mobile comes out ahead. The Ti's largest leads are in 2D graphics (28.4% in G2D) and API-specific tests like DirectX 12 (22.2%) and DirectX 9 (18.2%). This makes it the definitive choice for any application that stresses these areas, from desktop productivity to gaming across multiple DirectX versions.

The RTX 3080 Mobile's best showing is in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where it trails by only 3.3%. This indicates that if a user's primary workload is Vulkan-based, the performance gap narrows considerably. It also has a higher boost clock and marginally higher FP32 compute, which contributes to its closer performance in Vulkan and its ability to remain competitive despite having fewer cores. However, the data shows that the standard 3080 Mobile is not a winner in any test; it is the slower option across the board. The choice, therefore, is not about which one wins specific workloads, but rather how much performance the user is willing to sacrifice, with the Ti representing the performance ceiling and the standard model representing a lower-performing, but still viable, alternative.