NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data shows a decisive, though not universal, victory for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER. Across the ten head-to-head tests, the 4070 SUPER secures eight wins, while the RTX 3080 Ti manages only two. The average benchmark scores reinforce this split: the 4070 SUPER posts 43,223 against the 3080 Ti’s 41,187, a lead of roughly 5% overall.

The most striking single result is in PassMark DirectX 9, where the 4070 SUPER scores 344 versus 274 for the 3080 Ti. That is a 25.5% advantage, the largest margin in either direction across the entire test suite. DirectX 11 shows a similarly lopsided result, with the 4070 SUPER scoring 273 against 223, a 22.4% gap. These legacy API tests suggest the Ada Lovelace architecture handles older workloads with far greater efficiency than Ampere.

The other notable wins for the 4070 SUPER come in compute-oriented and modern API benchmarks. In PassMark GPU Compute, it scores 17,108 versus 15,282, an 11.9% lead. PassMark G3D shows 29,995 against 26,896, an 11.5% advantage. Geekbench Vulkan favors the 4070 SUPER at 205,624 versus 192,697, a 6.7% margin. Even Geekbench OpenCL, a closer contest, goes to the 4070 SUPER at 172,795 against 170,037, a modest 1.6% edge. PassMark G2D also tilts to the newer card, 1,184 versus 1,091, an 8.5% difference. The DirectX 12 test is a dead heat: both cards score exactly 110, with a delta of 0%.

The RTX 3080 Ti’s two victories are concentrated in specific areas. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the older card scores 5,077 against 4,627, a solid 8.9% win. PassMark DirectX 10 also goes to the 3080 Ti, 184 versus 167, a 9.2% margin. These results indicate that in certain rasterization-heavy scenarios, the 3080 Ti’s wider memory bus and larger silicon still provide a tangible edge.

The percentile ranking tells a broader story: both cards sit at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs. That means they occupy the same performance tier overall, even though the 4070 SUPER wins more individual tests. The nearest rivals for the 4070 SUPER include the RTX 4090 Mobile at 43,667 (a -1% delta) and the Quadro M6000 24 GB at 43,262 (-0.1%). For the 3080 Ti, the closest competitors are the RTX 5070 at 40,377 (a 2% delta) and the Tesla M40 24 GB at 41,707 (-1.2%). The data places both cards firmly in the upper echelon, but the 4070 SUPER’s wins are more frequent and often larger.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent distinct architectural generations built on different manufacturing processes. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses the AD104 chip, fabricated on TSMC’s 5 nm node, while the RTX 3080 Ti relies on the GA102 chip, built on Samsung’s 8 nm process. This process difference is stark: the AD104 packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.8 million per square millimeter. The GA102 contains 28,300 million transistors spread across a much larger 628 mm² die, with a density of just 45.1 million per square millimeter.

Clock speeds reflect the architectural and process advantages of Ada Lovelace. The 4070 SUPER runs at a base of 1980 MHz and boosts to 2475 MHz. The 3080 Ti operates at a base of 1365 MHz and boosts to 1665 MHz. That is a substantial clock advantage for the newer card, which helps explain its performance in single-threaded and latency-sensitive workloads.

Memory configurations present a fascinating contrast. Both cards have 12 GB of GDDR6X, but the bus widths differ dramatically. The 4070 SUPER uses a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The 3080 Ti employs a 384-bit bus, achieving 912.4 GB/s. The 3080 Ti’s memory bandwidth is nearly double that of the 4070 SUPER, which likely contributes to its 3DMark Steel Nomad win. The memory clocks also differ: the 4070 SUPER runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective), while the 3080 Ti runs at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective).

Shader resources tell a different story. The 3080 Ti has more raw compute units: 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 80 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores. The 4070 SUPER has 7,168 shading units, 224 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 56 RT cores, and 224 tensor cores. Despite having fewer units, the 4070 SUPER achieves higher FP32 throughput at 35.48 TFLOPS versus 34.10 TFLOPS for the 3080 Ti. The same applies to FP16, with both cards achieving a 1:1 ratio. Pixel rate slightly favors the 4070 SUPER at 198.0 GPixel/s versus 186.5 GPixel/s, while texture rate is close: 554.4 GTexel/s versus 532.8 GTexel/s.

Power and physical characteristics differ significantly. The 4070 SUPER is rated at 220 W TDP with a suggested PSU of 550 W, while the 3080 Ti draws 350 W and requires a 750 W PSU. Both are dual-slot cards, but the 4070 SUPER is shorter at 267 mm versus 285 mm for the 3080 Ti. The newer card uses a single 16-pin connector; the older card uses a 12-pin connector. Both support PCIe 4.0 x16 and offer identical display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 support are common to both.

Where Each One Wins

The performance split maps neatly onto workload types. The RTX 4070 SUPER dominates in legacy DirectX APIs and compute-heavy tasks. Its 25.5% lead in DirectX 9 and 22.4% lead in DirectX 11 suggest that drivers and architecture optimizations for older titles favor Ada Lovelace. The 11.9% advantage in GPU Compute and 11.5% lead in G3D indicate strong general-purpose and rasterization performance. Vulkan also tilts clearly to the 4070 SUPER with a 6.7% margin, making it the better choice for modern cross-platform titles that leverage this API.

The RTX 3080 Ti’s wins point to scenarios where memory bandwidth and raw fill rate matter more. Its 8.9% victory in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, a demanding modern rasterization test, suggests it can push more data through its wider 384-bit bus. The 9.2% win in DirectX 10 hints at a similar pattern. For users running DX12 games at high resolutions where bandwidth is the limiting factor, the 3080 Ti retains an edge.

The DirectX 12 tie at 110 for both cards is notable. It shows that in one of the most common modern API benchmarks, the two GPUs are functionally equivalent. This neutral result, combined with the 3080 Ti’s 3DMark win, means the choice is not purely about generational superiority. The data supports a nuanced view: the 4070 SUPER is broadly faster, but the 3080 Ti holds specific advantages in bandwidth-bound DX12 workloads.

For compute professionals, the 4070 SUPER’s 11.9% lead in PassMark GPU Compute and 1.6% edge in OpenCL make it the more capable option for general GPU compute tasks. For gamers targeting DX9 or DX11 titles, the 4070 SUPER is clearly superior. For DX12 enthusiasts with high-bandwidth needs, the 3080 Ti remains competitive.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 43,223, compared to 41,187 for the RTX 3080 Ti.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4070 SUPER in DirectX 11?

A: The 4070 SUPER scores 273 in PassMark DirectX 11, which is 22.4% higher than the 3080 Ti’s score of 223.

Q: In which benchmark does the RTX 3080 Ti beat the RTX 4070 SUPER by the largest margin?

A: The 3080 Ti wins 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 by 8.9%, scoring 5,077 against the 4070 SUPER’s 4,627.

Q: Do both GPUs have the same memory capacity and type?

A: Yes, both have 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, but the 3080 Ti uses a 384-bit bus with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the 4070 SUPER uses a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s.

Q: What is the performance difference in Vulkan?

A: The 4070 SUPER scores 205,624 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 6.7% higher than the 3080 Ti’s 192,697.

Q: How do the cards compare in DirectX 12?

A: They are exactly tied in PassMark DirectX 12, both scoring 110 with a 0% delta. However, the 3080 Ti wins 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 by 8.9%.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear hierarchy, but not a clean sweep. The RTX 4070 SUPER wins eight of ten benchmarks and holds a 5% advantage in average score. It is the faster card for most workloads, particularly legacy DirectX APIs, compute tasks, and Vulkan. Its 25.5% DirectX 9 lead and 22.4% DirectX 11 lead make it the obvious choice for older game libraries. The 11.9% GPU Compute advantage and 6.7% Vulkan win extend that case to productivity and modern cross-platform titles.

The RTX 3080 Ti should be selected for a narrower set of use cases. Its 8.9% win in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 9.2% win in DirectX 10 suggest that bandwidth-sensitive DX12 workloads still favor the older card. The 912.4 GB/s memory bandwidth versus 504.2 GB/s is the likely driver, and for users pushing 4K resolutions with high-texture DX12 games, that advantage is real. The 3080 Ti also has more raw shading units (10,240 versus 7,168) and RT cores (80 versus 56), which may help in specific ray-traced scenarios, even though the data does not directly test those.

The tie in PassMark DirectX 12 and the near-identical percentile ranking (both at 83rd) reinforce that these are peers. Neither card is a generational leap over the other in every dimension. The 4070 SUPER offers better efficiency, with a 220 W TDP versus 350 W, and a smaller die at 294 mm² versus 628 mm². It is also shorter and uses a newer 5 nm process. The 3080 Ti counters with superior memory bandwidth and a larger transistor budget in raw count.

For a gamer who plays a mix of DX11, DX12, and Vulkan titles, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the data-backed pick. It wins more tests and wins by larger margins in most categories. For a user whose primary workload is bandwidth-heavy DX12 rendering or who values the 3080 Ti’s memory throughput, the older card remains defensible. The data does not support calling the 3080 Ti obsolete, but it does support calling the 4070 SUPER the more versatile performer.