NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile records an average benchmark score of 23628, while the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 21379. The RTX 3080 Mobile sits at the 69th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the A4000 Mobile's 66th percentile.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the head-to-head tests?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile wins all 9 recorded head-to-head benchmarks. The largest margin is in Geekbench Vulkan at 42.6%, while the smallest is Passmark DirectX 12 at 9.1%.

Q: Do both GPUs use the same architecture and manufacturing process?

A: Yes. Both are built on the Ampere architecture using the GA104 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: Both have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256 bit bus. The RTX 3080 Mobile runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the A4000 Mobile runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has more shading units and ray tracing cores?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile has 6144 shading units and 48 RT cores, while the A4000 Mobile has 5120 shading units and 40 RT cores. The RTX 3080 Mobile also leads in TMUs (192 vs 160) and ROPs (96 vs 80).

Q: How do their compute capabilities compare?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile delivers 18.98 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 (1:1), while the A4000 Mobile delivers 17.20 TFLOPS in both. The RTX 3080 Mobile also has higher pixel rate (148.3 GPixel/s vs 134.4 GPixel/s) and texture rate (296.6 GTexel/s vs 268.8 GTexel/s).

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the same fundamental silicon: the GA104 chip built on Ampere architecture, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. The die measures 392 mm² and contains 17,400 million transistors, giving a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm². Both use a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface and support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The difference lies in how NVIDIA configured the silicon for each product line. The GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile activates more of the GA104's compute resources. It enables 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, 96 ROPs, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores. The RTX A4000 Mobile, aimed at professional mobile workstations, uses a more conservative configuration: 5120 shading units, 160 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 40 RT cores, and 160 tensor cores. In raw unit counts, the RTX 3080 Mobile has 20% more shading units, 20% more TMUs, 20% more ROPs, 20% more RT cores, and 20% more tensor cores than the A4000 Mobile.

Clock behavior also differs. The A4000 Mobile has a higher base clock at 1140 MHz versus 1110 MHz, and a higher boost clock at 1680 MHz versus 1545 MHz. Despite the clock advantage, the A4000 Mobile cannot overcome the RTX 3080 Mobile's larger execution resource pool. The memory clocks differ as well: the RTX 3080 Mobile operates its GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) while the A4000 Mobile runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). This yields a 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth for the RTX 3080 Mobile versus 384.0 GB/s for the A4000 Mobile, a 16.7% bandwidth advantage.

Both cards are end-of-life products, with the RTX 3080 Mobile released on 2021-01-11 and the A4000 Mobile on 2021-04-11. The A4000 Mobile's predecessor is the Quadro Turing-M and its successor is listed as Ada-MW, while the RTX 3080 Mobile follows the GeForce 20 Mobile generation. Neither card draws external power connectors, and both are rated at a 115 W TDP. Display outputs are portable device dependent for both.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clean sweep: the RTX 3080 Mobile wins 9 of 9 head-to-head tests. The margins vary considerably by workload, which reveals where each GPU's configuration matters most.

The most striking result is Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 3080 Mobile scores 104066 against 73002 for the A4000 Mobile, a 42.6% lead. This is the largest delta in the entire test set, and it suggests that the RTX 3080 Mobile's higher memory bandwidth and larger shader array translate into a substantial advantage in Vulkan compute and graphics workloads. The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a much smaller gap: 104831 versus 97178, or 7.9%. OpenCL performance is closer because both cards share the same architecture and driver stack, but the RTX 3080 Mobile still takes the win.

Passmark DirectX tests show consistent but moderate advantages for the RTX 3080 Mobile. DirectX 10 scores 120 versus 105, a 14.3% lead. DirectX 11 scores 146 versus 127, a 15% lead. DirectX 12 scores 72 versus 66, a 9.1% lead. DirectX 9 scores 170 versus 157, an 8.3% lead. The pattern here is interesting: the newer the API, the smaller the gap, with DirectX 12 showing the smallest margin. This may reflect how modern APIs better utilize the A4000 Mobile's higher boost clock, while older APIs are more sensitive to raw shader count.

Passmark G3D, which represents overall 3D graphics performance, gives the RTX 3080 Mobile 16321 versus 14796, a 10.3% win. Passmark GPU Compute shows 7276 versus 6394, a 13.8% win. The compute test is notable because it sits between the modest OpenCL gap and the large Vulkan gap, suggesting that compute performance under Passmark is influenced by a mix of factors including clock speed, shader count, and memory throughput.

Passmark G2D (2D graphics) rounds out the set with 637 versus 585, an 8.9% win. This is a smaller margin than the 3D tests, which makes sense given that 2D performance is less dependent on the GPU's raw compute resources and more on memory bandwidth and driver efficiency.

Looking at the average scores in context, the RTX 3080 Mobile's 23628 average places it in a tight cluster of rivals. It sits 0.5% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (23736), 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile (23518), 1% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 (23877), and 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 (23315). The A4000 Mobile's 21379 average places it 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237), 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153), 1.2% behind the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 (21629), and 1.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 (21035).

The overall average gap between the two cards is 10.5% in favor of the RTX 3080 Mobile, which aligns closely with the mid-range margins seen in individual tests.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in several measurable fields while sharing their core platform.

Clocks: The RTX 3080 Mobile has a base clock of 1110 MHz and boost of 1545 MHz. The A4000 Mobile runs higher at 1140 MHz base and 1680 MHz boost. Memory clock also differs: 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for the RTX 3080 Mobile versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for the A4000 Mobile.

Memory bandwidth: The RTX 3080 Mobile delivers 448.0 GB/s; the A4000 Mobile delivers 384.0 GB/s.

Shading units: 6144 on the RTX 3080 Mobile, 5120 on the A4000 Mobile.

TMUs: 192 versus 160.

ROPs: 96 versus 80.

RT cores: 48 versus 40.

Tensor cores: 192 versus 160.

Pixel rate: 148.3 GPixel/s versus 134.4 GPixel/s.

Texture rate: 296.6 GTexel/s versus 268.8 GTexel/s.

FP32 and FP16: 18.98 TFLOPS versus 17.20 TFLOPS, both at 1:1 ratio.

Release date: 2021-01-11 versus 2021-04-11.

Generation: GeForce 30 Mobile versus Ampere-MW (Ax000).

Predecessor: GeForce 20 Mobile versus Quadro Turing-M. The A4000 Mobile also lists a successor (Ada-MW) while the RTX 3080 Mobile has none recorded.

Series: The RTX 3080 Mobile belongs to the GeForce 30-series; the A4000 Mobile has no series field recorded.

Unchanged between the two: 8 nm Samsung process, 17,400 million transistors, 392 mm² die, 44.4M/mm² density, 8 GB GDDR6, 256 bit bus, 115 W TDP, PCIe 4.0 x16, no power connectors, same API support, same production status (end-of-life), and no launch MSRP recorded for either.

The Verdict

The data points to one conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile is the faster GPU across every recorded benchmark. It wins all 9 head-to-head tests, holds a 10.5% higher average score, and ranks 3 percentile points higher among all GPUs. The largest advantage, 42.6% in Geekbench Vulkan, dwarfs the smallest advantage, 9.1% in Passmark DirectX 12.

The RTX 3080 Mobile achieves this with a lower boost clock (1545 MHz versus 1680 MHz) but more execution resources and faster memory. The extra 1024 shading units, 32 TMUs, 16 ROPs, 8 RT cores, and 32 tensor cores, combined with 64 GB/s more memory bandwidth, outweigh the A4000 Mobile's 135 MHz boost clock advantage.

The A4000 Mobile is not a weak card. Its 21379 average score and 66th percentile placement put it in respectable company, within 1.2% of the Quadro RTX 5000 and ahead of the RTX 5050 by 1.6%. But in a direct comparison, it loses every test in the database. There is no recorded workload where the A4000 Mobile takes the lead.

For users choosing between these two on raw performance, the RTX 3080 Mobile is the clear pick. For users who specifically need a professional workstation card, the A4000 Mobile's product positioning may matter more than its benchmark scores, but the performance data itself offers no reason to prefer it over the RTX 3080 Mobile.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 Mobile wins everywhere in the recorded data, but the size of its wins varies by workload category.

Vulkan compute and graphics: This is the RTX 3080 Mobile's strongest territory. The 42.6% lead in Geekbench Vulkan is by far the largest margin in the test set. The combination of 192 tensor cores, 48 RT cores, and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears to be particularly effective under Vulkan's explicit control model.

DirectX 10 and DirectX 11: Both show substantial wins for the RTX 3080 Mobile at 14.3% and 15% respectively. These older APIs tend to rely heavily on raw shader throughput, where the RTX 3080 Mobile's 6144 shading units hold a 20% count advantage.

Passmark GPU Compute: The RTX 3080 Mobile leads by 13.8%. This is the second-largest margin after Vulkan, indicating that general compute workloads also favor the higher-resource card.

Passmark G3D and G2D: Wins of 10.3% and 8.9% respectively. The 3D result reflects the overall graphics advantage, while the 2D result is closer, suggesting less sensitivity to compute resources.

DirectX 9 and DirectX 12: The smallest margins at 8.3% and 9.1%. The DirectX 9 result is the narrowest of all, while DirectX 12's 9.1% gap shows that modern APIs narrow but do not eliminate the RTX 3080 Mobile's lead.

Geekbench OpenCL: A 7.9% win rounds out the set, the closest overall result. OpenCL workloads appear to be the most balanced between the two cards, likely because both share the same Ampere architecture and the A4000 Mobile's higher clocks help close the gap.

The RTX A4000 Mobile does not win any recorded benchmark. Its closest competitive showing comes in Geekbench OpenCL and Passmark DirectX 9, where the deltas fall to single digits. Users working primarily in OpenCL or legacy DirectX 9 applications will see the smallest performance difference, while users in Vulkan-heavy workflows will see the largest.