NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is the definitive winner in this comparison, taking all 10 head-to-head benchmark victories against the RTX 3080 Mobile. The data shows a clear generational leap, with the RTX 5060 leading by an average of 11.4% across the tested workloads, despite the RTX 3080 Mobile having a much larger physical GPU. The RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 26,331 places it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3080 Mobile's 23,628 score sits in the 69th percentile.

For gamers and creators, the RTX 5060 is the only rational choice based on this data. It wins every single test, from DirectX 9 legacy titles to modern DirectX 12 and compute workloads. The RTX 5060 is also the only one of the two still in production, making it the practical option for new purchases. The RTX 3080 Mobile, now end-of-life, retains a niche only for those who specifically need its lower 115 W power draw or are constrained by older system compatibility.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent completely different design philosophies separated by four years of development. The RTX 5060 uses the GB206 chip built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. This allows for an extraordinarily dense design: 21,900 million transistors packed into a 181 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.0 million per mm². In contrast, the RTX 3080 Mobile uses the GA104 chip with Ampere architecture, built on Samsung's 8 nm process. It has 17,400 million transistors spread across a much larger 392 mm² die, giving a transistor density of just 44.4 million per mm².

The RTX 3080 Mobile compensates for its older process with raw hardware counts. It has 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, 96 raster output units, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores. The RTX 5060 has 3,840 shading units, 120 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 30 RT cores, and 120 tensor cores. Despite having roughly 37% fewer shading units, the RTX 5060 achieves slightly higher FP32 performance at 19.18 TFLOPS versus 18.98 TFLOPS, thanks to its much higher clock speeds: 2,280 MHz base and 2,497 MHz boost compared to the RTX 3080 Mobile's 1,110 MHz base and 1,545 MHz boost.

Memory technology also differs substantially. Both cards have 8 GB of VRAM and identical 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, but they achieve this through different means. The RTX 5060 uses GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus running at 28 Gbps effective, while the RTX 3080 Mobile uses GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus at 14 Gbps effective. This means the RTX 5060 achieves the same bandwidth with half the bus width, proof of the newer memory standard's efficiency.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5060 wins in every benchmark category, but the magnitude of its victories varies significantly by workload type. Its largest advantages come in compute-heavy and legacy API tests, indicating that architectural efficiency, not just raw shading power, drives its performance.

The biggest win for the RTX 5060 is in 2D graphics, with an 81.2% lead in Passmark G2D (1,154 versus 637). This suggests vastly better memory subsystem efficiency and possibly better display output processing. The RTX 3080 Mobile's portable-device-dependent display outputs may contribute to its weaker showing here.

In GPU compute, the RTX 5060 leads by 49.8% in Passmark GPU Compute (10,899 versus 7,276), indicating that its Blackwell architecture handles general-purpose workloads far more efficiently. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows a 37.2% advantage (3,628 versus 2,644), while Passmark DirectX 11 shows a 37% lead (200 versus 146). These modern API results demonstrate that the RTX 5060's architectural improvements translate directly to real-world gaming performance.

The RTX 5060's smaller leads in DirectX 12 (6.9%), DirectX 10 (5.8%), Geekbench OpenCL (7.6%), and Geekbench Vulkan (8.9%) suggest that when both GPUs are heavily utilized, the RTX 3080 Mobile's larger hardware count partially compensates for its older architecture. However, the RTX 5060 still wins decisively in every case, and its lead in Passmark G3D (28%) confirms that the overall gaming experience favors the newer card.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in overall gaming performance?

A: The RTX 5060 wins all 10 head-to-head benchmarks, including a 28% lead in Passmark G3D (20,891 versus 16,321) and a 37.2% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (3,628 versus 2,644).

Q: Do both GPUs have the same memory bandwidth?

A: Yes, both achieve 448.0 GB/s, but through different means: the RTX 5060 uses 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus at 28 Gbps effective, while the RTX 3080 Mobile uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus at 14 Gbps effective.

Q: Which GPU is more power efficient?

A: The RTX 5060 has a higher TDP at 145 W versus the RTX 3080 Mobile's 115 W, but it delivers significantly more performance. The RTX 5060's 19.18 TFLOPS FP32 output comes from a 5 nm process, while the RTX 3080 Mobile achieves 18.98 TFLOPS from an 8 nm process.

Q: Which GPU has better compute performance?

A: The RTX 5060 leads by 49.8% in Passmark GPU Compute (10,899 versus 7,276) and by 7.6% in Geekbench OpenCL (112,787 versus 104,831).

Q: Is the RTX 3080 Mobile still worth buying?

A: Based on the data, no. The RTX 5060 wins every benchmark, is still in production, and has a higher average score (26,331 versus 23,628). The RTX 3080 Mobile is end-of-life and loses in every test.

Q: How do these GPUs compare in DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 legacy titles?

A: The RTX 5060 leads by 32.4% in Passmark DirectX 9 (225 versus 170) and by 37% in Passmark DirectX 11 (200 versus 146), showing strong backward compatibility.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 5060's clean sweep of all 10 benchmarks reveals consistent superiority, but the margin varies dramatically by workload. The most striking result is in Passmark G2D, where the RTX 5060 scores 1,154 against the RTX 3080 Mobile's 637, an 81.2% advantage. This indicates that the Blackwell architecture's memory controller and display pipeline are vastly more efficient for 2D operations, which may benefit everyday desktop usage and certain productivity tasks.

Compute performance tells a similar story. The Passmark GPU Compute test shows the RTX 5060 at 10,899 versus 7,276, a 49.8% lead. This substantial margin suggests that AI workloads, rendering tasks, and other compute-heavy applications will run dramatically better on the newer card. The Geekbench OpenCL result (112,787 versus 104,831, a 7.6% lead) and Vulkan result (113,321 versus 104,066, an 8.9% lead) are closer, but still favor the RTX 5060.

In gaming-focused benchmarks, the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows the RTX 5060 at 3,628 versus 2,644, a 37.2% advantage. This modern DirectX 12 benchmark represents current game engines, and the gap indicates that the RTX 5060 will provide a noticeably smoother experience in recent titles. Legacy API performance is equally lopsided: Passmark DirectX 11 shows a 37% lead (200 versus 146), DirectX 9 shows a 32.4% lead (225 versus 170), and even DirectX 10 shows a 5.8% lead (127 versus 120).

The overall Passmark G3D score, which aggregates gaming performance across multiple API tests, gives the RTX 5060 a 28% lead (20,891 versus 16,321). This places the RTX 5060 in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3080 Mobile sits in the 69th percentile. The narrowest gaming margin comes in Passmark DirectX 12, where the RTX 5060 leads by just 6.9% (77 versus 72). This suggests that in highly optimized DirectX 12 titles, the RTX 3080 Mobile's larger shading unit count (6,144 versus 3,840) can partially offset its architectural disadvantages.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every major specification category. The RTX 5060 uses the GB206 chip on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, while the RTX 3080 Mobile uses GA104 on Ampere. Manufacturing processes differ significantly: TSMC's 5 nm node for the RTX 5060 versus Samsung's 8 nm for the RTX 3080 Mobile, with corresponding transistor counts of 21,900 million versus 17,400 million and die sizes of 181 mm² versus 392 mm².

Clock speeds are dramatically different, with the RTX 5060 running at 2,280 MHz base and 2,497 MHz boost, while the RTX 3080 Mobile operates at 1,110 MHz base and 1,545 MHz boost. Both have 8 GB of memory, but the RTX 5060 uses GDDR7 at 28 Gbps effective on a 128-bit bus, while the RTX 3080 Mobile uses GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective on a 256-bit bus. Both achieve identical bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s.

The RTX 3080 Mobile has more of every processing unit: 6,144 shading units versus 3,840, 192 TMUs versus 120, 96 ROPs versus 48, 48 RT cores versus 30, and 192 tensor cores versus 120. However, the RTX 5060 achieves slightly higher FP32 (19.18 versus 18.98 TFLOPS) and FP16 (19.18 versus 18.98 TFLOPS) performance. Pixel rate favors the RTX 3080 Mobile at 148.3 GPixel/s versus 119.9 GPixel/s, while texture rates are nearly identical (299.6 GTexel/s for the RTX 5060 versus 296.6 GTexel/s for the RTX 3080 Mobile).

Power requirements differ, with the RTX 5060 rated at 145 W TDP with a 300 W suggested PSU and a single 8-pin power connector, while the RTX 3080 Mobile runs at 115 W with no power connectors listed. The RTX 5060 uses PCIe 5.0 x8, while the RTX 3080 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the RTX 5060 has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b, while the RTX 3080 Mobile's outputs are labeled as portable device dependent. The RTX 5060 is a dual-slot card measuring 241 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 40 mm in width, while the RTX 3080 Mobile has no listed dimensions. The RTX 5060 remains in active production with a launch MSRP of 299 USD, while the RTX 3080 Mobile is end-of-life.