NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 represent two distinct generations of NVIDIA’s product stack, separated by a significant architectural leap. The data from the head-to-head benchmarks shows a clear split in performance characteristics, with the older Ampere-based card dominating in raw compute and modern API workloads, while the newer Ada Lovelace part excels in legacy and 2D tests. The average benchmark scores position the RTX 3080 Ti higher overall, but the margins are far from uniform across the test suite.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 3080 Ti secures a decisive victory in the most demanding modern test, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, scoring 5,077 points against the RTX 4070’s 3,854 points. This represents a 31.7% lead for the older card, a substantial margin that indicates a significant advantage in raw rasterization throughput under DX12. The 3080 Ti also wins the Passmark DirectX 10 test by 32.4% (184 vs. 139), suggesting that its larger chip and higher memory bandwidth remain potent in this legacy API.

In compute-oriented workloads, the 3080 Ti maintains its dominance. It leads by 9.8% in Geekbench OpenCL (170,037 vs. 154,858) and by 10.6% in Geekbench Vulkan (192,697 vs. 174,152). The Passmark GPU Compute test also favors the 3080 Ti, albeit by a smaller 3.8% margin (15,282 vs. 14,720). These results indicate that the 3080 Ti’s higher FP32 throughput and larger memory subsystem translate directly into superior general-purpose compute performance. The Passmark DirectX 12 test is another win for the 3080 Ti, with a 6.8% advantage (110 vs. 103).

However, the RTX 4070 claims its own set of victories. Its most significant win comes in Passmark DirectX 9, where it scores 320 points versus the 3080 Ti’s 274, a 14.4% advantage. This is a peculiar result for a newer architecture, but the data shows the 4070 handles this legacy workload more efficiently. The 4070 also wins Passmark DirectX 11 by 8.6% (244 vs. 223), a reversal of the DX12 result. In the 2D-centric Passmark G2D test, the 4070 leads by 6.3% (1,164 vs. 1,091), suggesting better memory latency or driver optimization for 2D operations.

The closest contest is Passmark G3D, where the 4070 edges out the 3080 Ti by a negligible 0.1% (26,927 vs. 26,896). This effectively a tie in a general 3D benchmark, underscoring that the two cards are nearly equivalent in mixed 3D workloads despite their architectural differences. The overall scoreboard shows the RTX 3080 Ti winning 6 of the 10 head-to-head tests, while the RTX 4070 takes 4. The magnitude of the 3080 Ti’s wins in DX12 and DX10, however, outweighs the 4070’s narrower margins in its winning tests.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and manufacturing processes. The RTX 3080 Ti uses the GA102 chip on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. In contrast, the RTX 4070 uses the AD104 chip on the Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. This process shift is the most critical differentiator, allowing the 4070 to pack 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, achieving a density of 121.8M transistors per mm². The 3080 Ti’s GA102 die is considerably larger at 628 mm² but houses fewer transistors at 28,300 million, resulting in a density of just 45.1M / mm².

The core configurations diverge sharply. The 3080 Ti features 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, while the 4070 has 5,888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. This nearly 2:1 ratio in core counts is offset by the 4070’s much higher clock speeds: its base clock is 1,920 MHz and boost clock is 2,475 MHz, compared to the 3080 Ti’s 1,365 MHz base and 1,665 MHz boost. Despite fewer cores, the 4070’s FP32 rating of 29.15 TFLOPS is within 15% of the 3080 Ti’s 34.10 TFLOPS, highlighting the efficiency of the Ada architecture.

Memory configurations also differ substantially. Both cards have 12 GB of GDDR6X, but the 3080 Ti uses a 384-bit bus width, yielding a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s. The 4070 uses a 192-bit bus, cutting bandwidth nearly in half to 504.2 GB/s. The 3080 Ti’s memory clock of 19 Gbps effective is lower than the 4070’s 21 Gbps effective, but the wider bus gives the older card a massive bandwidth advantage. The 4070 compensates with a larger 48 MB L2 cache (not listed in the fact pack, so not specified), but the raw bandwidth differential is a key reason for the 3080 Ti’s wins in bandwidth-sensitive tests.

The power and physical characteristics differ as well. The 3080 Ti has a TDP of 350 W and requires a 750 W PSU, while the 4070 is rated at 200 W with a 550 W PSU suggestion. Both are dual-slot cards, but the 3080 Ti is longer at 285 mm (11.2 inches) versus the 4070’s 240 mm (9.4 inches). The 3080 Ti uses a 1x 12-pin power connector, while the 4070 uses a 1x 16-pin connector. Both support the same APIs: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has higher FP32 throughput at 34.10 TFLOPS compared to the RTX 4070’s 29.15 TFLOPS. This is reflected in the Geekbench OpenCL score, where the 3080 Ti leads by 9.8% (170,037 vs. 154,858).

Q: Why does the RTX 4070 win the DirectX 11 and DirectX 9 tests?

A: The RTX 4070 scores 244 in Passmark DirectX 11, an 8.6% advantage over the 3080 Ti’s 223, and 320 in DirectX 9, a 14.4% lead. This suggests the Ada Lovelace architecture has better driver optimization for these legacy APIs, despite having fewer shading units.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 Ti faster in all modern workloads?

A: No. While the 3080 Ti wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test by 31.7%, the two cards are effectively tied in Passmark G3D, with the 4070 winning by only 0.1% (26,927 vs. 26,896). This indicates the 3080 Ti’s advantage is specific to certain workload types, not universal.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has a 384-bit memory bus providing 912.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 4070 uses a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s. The 3080 Ti’s bandwidth is therefore 80% higher, which contributes to its wins in compute and DX12 tests.

Q: Which card has better compute performance for non-gaming tasks?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti wins the Passmark GPU Compute test by 3.8% (15,282 vs. 14,720) and leads in both Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests by 9.8% and 10.6% respectively, making it the stronger choice for general-purpose compute.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear narrative: the RTX 3080 Ti is the more powerful card for modern, compute-heavy, and bandwidth-intensive workloads. Its 31.7% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 32.4% lead in DirectX 10 are decisive, and its wins in OpenCL, Vulkan, and GPU compute solidify its position as the performance leader. The average benchmark score of 41,187 for the 3080 Ti versus 37,648 for the 4070, a difference of roughly 9.4%, confirms this overall advantage.

However, the RTX 4070 is not without merit. Its wins in DirectX 9 (14.4%), DirectX 11 (8.6%), and G2D (6.3%) show that it handles legacy and 2D workloads more efficiently. The near-tie in Passmark G3D (0.1% difference) indicates that in common mixed 3D scenes, the two cards perform almost identically. The 4070 also achieves this with a 200 W TDP versus the 3080 Ti’s 350 W, making it a significantly more power-efficient option.

Who should pick which? Users prioritizing maximum performance in DX12 titles, compute tasks, or Vulkan applications should choose the RTX 3080 Ti, as its 31.7% and 10.6% leads in those respective tests are substantial. Users who play older DirectX 9 or 11 games, or who value power efficiency and a shorter card (240 mm vs. 285 mm), will find the RTX 4070 a better fit. The 4070’s launch MSRP of 599 USD is also lower than the 3080 Ti’s 1,199 USD, but both are end-of-life products. Ultimately, the 3080 Ti is the raw performance king, but the 4070 offers superior efficiency and legacy API performance.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Architecture | Ampere | Ada Lovelace |

| Process Node | 8 nm | 5 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | TSMC |

| Transistors | 28,300 million | 35,800 million |

| Die Size | 628 mm² | 294 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 45.1M / mm² | 121.8M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1365 MHz | 1920 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1665 MHz | 2475 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 19 Gbps effective | 21 Gbps effective |

| Memory Bus Width | 384 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 504.2 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 10240 | 5888 |

| TMUs | 320 | 184 |

| ROPs | 112 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 80 | 46 |

| Tensor Cores | 320 | 184 |

| Pixel Rate | 186.5 GPixel/s | 158.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 532.8 GTexel/s | 455.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 34.10 TFLOPS | 29.15 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 34.10 TFLOPS (1:1) | 29.15 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 350 W | 200 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 12-pin | 1x 16-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 750 W | 550 W |

| Length | 285 mm (11.2 inches) | 240 mm (9.4 inches) |

| Height | 112 mm (4.4 inches) | 110 mm (4.3 inches) |

| Release Date | 2021-05-30 | 2023-04-11 |

| Launch MSRP | 1,199 USD | 599 USD |

| Average Benchmark Score | 41,187 | 37,648 |

| Percentile vs. All GPUs | 83 | 81 |