NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti sweeps the recorded comparison against the RTX 3080 Ti, winning all ten benchmarks in the database with margins ranging from a modest single-digit edge to a commanding third-plus lead. The 5070 Ti sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, three points above the 3080 Ti's 83rd percentile, and posts an average benchmark score of 49,957 against 41,187. This is a clean generational victory on the numbers; the question is only how large the gap is in each workload category.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Every recorded test favors the newer card. The widest margins come in the GPU compute and legacy graphics workloads: the 5070 Ti scores 20,203 in PassMark GPU Compute versus 15,282 for the 3080 Ti, a 32.2 percent lead, and it takes PassMark DirectX 11 by 34.5 percent (300 to 223). The DirectX 9 test shows a similar story at 28.1 percent (351 to 274).

The flagship gaming proxy, 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), lands at 6,604 for the 5070 Ti versus 5,077 for the 3080 Ti, a 30.1 percent advantage. Modern API results are more varied but still decisively one-sided: Geekbench Vulkan puts the gap at 16.8 percent (225,122 to 192,697), PassMark DirectX 12 shows 15.5 percent (127 to 110), and Geekbench OpenCL shows 24.9 percent (212,363 to 170,037).

The tightest result of the entire set is PassMark DirectX 10, where the 5070 Ti wins by just 4.3 percent (192 to 184). That is the only place the older card gets remotely close. The overall PassMark G3D score, a broad summary metric, lands at 32,974 versus 26,896, a 22.6 percent gap, and even the 2D test favors the newer card by 22.1 percent.

The aggregate picture: ten wins to zero, with an average benchmark score lead of roughly 21 percent in the 5070 Ti's favor.

Architecture Differences

The two cards belong to different eras of NVIDIA silicon. The RTX 5070 Ti uses the GB203 chip on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated at TSMC on a 5 nm process. The RTX 3080 Ti uses the GA102 chip on Ampere, fabricated at Samsung on an 8 nm process.

The process gap shows up clearly in density and die size. The GB203 packs 45,600 million transistors into 378 mm², a density of 120.6M per mm². The GA102 holds 28,300 million transistors across a much larger 628 mm² die at 45.1M per mm². In other words, the newer chip delivers over 60 percent more transistors on a die roughly 40 percent smaller.

Raw functional-unit counts actually favor the older card in several categories. The 3080 Ti has 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 80 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores, against 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 70 RT cores, and 280 tensor cores for the 5070 Ti. The 5070 Ti compensates with much higher clocks: 2,295 MHz base and 2,452 MHz boost, versus 1,365 MHz base and 1,665 MHz boost on the 3080 Ti. The result shows up in throughput: 43.94 TFLOPS FP32 for the 5070 Ti against 34.10 TFLOPS for the 3080 Ti, plus a higher pixel rate (235.4 versus 186.5 GPixel/s) and texture rate (686.6 versus 532.8 GTexel/s).

Memory is a sharp point of divergence. The 5070 Ti pairs a 256-bit bus with 16 GB of GDDR7 running at 28 Gbps effective, delivering 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 3080 Ti uses a wider 384-bit bus with 12 GB of GDDR6X at 19 Gbps effective, which actually yields slightly higher total bandwidth at 912.4 GB/s, despite being an older memory type. Capacity, however, clearly favors the newer card.

Platform features also differ. The 5070 Ti uses PCIe 5.0 x16 against PCIe 4.0 x16, and its display outputs are newer: HDMI 2.1b plus three DisplayPort 2.1b, versus HDMI 2.1 plus three DisplayPort 1.4a on the 3080 Ti. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Power delivery differs too: a 1x 16-pin connector with a 300 W TDP and a 700 W suggested PSU for the 5070 Ti, versus a 1x 12-pin connector with a 350 W TDP and a 750 W suggested PSU for the 3080 Ti. Physically, the 5070 Ti is larger at 304 mm long, 137 mm tall, and 48 mm wide, versus 285 mm, 112 mm, and 40 mm for the 3080 Ti. Both are dual-slot cards.

Where Each One Wins

The 5070 Ti wins everywhere in the recorded data, but the size of the win varies by workload, and that pattern is informative.

Compute-heavy work is the newer card's strongest suit. The 32.2 percent PassMark GPU Compute lead and 24.9 percent OpenCL lead indicate that Blackwell's higher clocks and tensor throughput translate directly into general compute performance. Anyone running GPU compute workloads should expect roughly a third more performance than the 3080 Ti delivers.

Modern gaming APIs show a solid but smaller gap: 30.1 percent in 3DMark Steel Nomad, 16.8 percent in Geekbench Vulkan, and 15.5 percent in PassMark DX12. Legacy API tests mostly land in the high twenties to mid thirties percent range, with the notable exception of DirectX 10, where the two cards are nearly tied at a 4.3 percent difference. That single outlier suggests the older card's wider functional-unit counts still matter in very old code paths, though not enough to win.

There is no benchmark category in the database where the 3080 Ti wins. Its only numeric advantage anywhere in the spec sheet is memory bandwidth (912.4 GB/s versus 896.0 GB/s) and the wider 384-bit bus, and that does not translate into any recorded victory. It is also end-of-life, while the 5070 Ti remains in active production.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5070 Ti than the RTX 3080 Ti overall?

A: It wins all ten recorded benchmarks, with an average benchmark score of 49,957 versus 41,187, roughly a 21 percent aggregate lead. Individual test margins range from 4.3 percent (PassMark DirectX 10) to 34.5 percent (PassMark DirectX 11).

Q: Which card has more video memory?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti, with 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus. The RTX 3080 Ti has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus. Interestingly, the 3080 Ti's total bandwidth is slightly higher at 912.4 GB/s versus 896.0 GB/s.

Q: Which GPU uses less power?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti, with a 300 W TDP and a suggested 700 W PSU, versus 350 W and a suggested 750 W PSU for the RTX 3080 Ti, despite the newer card being clearly faster in every test.

Q: How do their compute capabilities compare?

A: The 5070 Ti scores 20,203 in PassMark GPU Compute against 15,282 for the 3080 Ti, a 32.2 percent lead, and leads Geekbench OpenCL by 24.9 percent. Its FP32 throughput is 43.94 TFLOPS versus 34.10 TFLOPS.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. The RTX 5070 Ti is listed as active, while the RTX 3080 Ti is end-of-life.

Q: Which card is physically smaller?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti, at 285 mm long, 112 mm tall, and 40 mm wide, versus 304 mm, 137 mm, and 48 mm for the 5070 Ti. Both are dual-slot cards.

Specification Differences

• Architecture: Blackwell 2.0 (GB203) versus Ampere (GA102)
• Process: TSMC 5 nm versus Samsung 8 nm
• Transistors: 45,600 million versus 28,300 million
• Die size: 378 mm² versus 628 mm²
• Density: 120.6M/mm² versus 45.1M/mm²
• Clocks: 2,295 MHz base / 2,452 MHz boost versus 1,365 MHz base / 1,665 MHz boost
• Memory: 16 GB GDDR7, 256-bit, 896.0 GB/s versus 12 GB GDDR6X, 384-bit, 912.4 GB/s
• Shading units: 8,960 versus 10,240
• TMUs: 280 versus 320
• ROPs: 96 versus 112
• RT cores: 70 versus 80
• Tensor cores: 280 versus 320
• FP32: 43.94 TFLOPS versus 34.10 TFLOPS
• TDP: 300 W versus 350 W
• Power connector: 1x 16-pin versus 1x 12-pin
• Suggested PSU: 700 W versus 750 W
• Bus: PCIe 5.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16
• Outputs: HDMI 2.1b plus 3x DisplayPort 2.1b versus HDMI 2.1 plus 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
• Dimensions: 304 x 137 x 48 mm versus 285 x 112 x 40 mm
• Status: Active versus end-of-life
• Launch MSRP: 749 USD versus 1,199 USD

The Verdict

The data leaves no room for debate: the RTX 5070 Ti is the stronger GPU in every measured workload, doing so with a lower TDP, more memory, a newer feature set, and active production status. It leads by double digits in nine of ten benchmarks, by more than 30 percent in three of them, and outranks the 3080 Ti percentile-wise, 86 versus 83.

The RTX 3080 Ti's case is essentially historical. It counters with a wider bus, slightly higher memory bandwidth, and larger counts of shading units, TMUs, ROPs, RT cores, and tensor cores, but none of that produces a single benchmark win. Its only near-tie, the 4.3 percent DirectX 10 result, is a narrow loss in a legacy API.

Choose the RTX 5070 Ti if the decision is based on performance, efficiency, memory capacity, or platform currency (PCIe 5.0, DisplayPort 2.1b). The 3080 Ti's remaining relevance is limited to systems already built around its 12-pin power connector and PCIe 4.0 platform, or to contexts where its end-of-life status is irrelevant. On the numbers alone, this comparison is a sweep.