NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti vs NVIDIA Quadro M6000 Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data separates these two NVIDIA cards by a wide margin, and the verdict is clear. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the dominant performer in every single head-to-head test included in the database. Across the two shared benchmarks, the RTX 3080 Ti wins both, with the Quadro M6000 trailing by 76.7% in Geekbench OpenCL and 75.7% in Geekbench Vulkan. Those are massive deltas, not incremental gains. For any workload that leverages OpenCL or Vulkan compute, the RTX 3080 Ti is the only rational choice from a pure performance standpoint.

The Quadro M6000, however, still holds a place in the data. Its average benchmark score of 43,301 places it at the 84th percentile of all GPUs, which is higher than the RTX 3080 Ti's 83rd percentile despite the latter's much higher raw scores. That percentile gap is explained by the different distribution of rivals each card faces. The Quadro M6000's nearest rivals include the RTX 5050 Mobile (0.1% ahead), the Quadro M6000 24 GB (0.1% ahead), and the RTX 4070 SUPER (0.2% ahead), meaning it sits in an extremely tight cluster of similarly performing cards. The RTX 3080 Ti, by contrast, has rivals like the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (0.8% ahead) and the Tesla M40 (1.7% ahead), but also the RTX 5070 (2% behind), showing it leads its immediate competitive set by a larger margin.

Who should pick which? From the data alone, the RTX 3080 Ti is for users who need maximum compute throughput in modern APIs, with 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and full support for DirectX 12 Ultimate. The Quadro M6000 is for those who value consistency and a proven legacy platform, with 6.844 TFLOPS and DirectX 12 (12_1) support. But if the workload is Vulkan or OpenCL heavy, the RTX 3080 Ti wins without contest. The Quadro M6000's only real advantage is its lower power requirement of 250 W versus 350 W, and a single 8-pin connector instead of a 12-pin, making it easier to integrate into older systems.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent two very different eras of NVIDIA engineering. The Quadro M6000 is built on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, using the GM200 chip fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 8,000 million transistors onto a 601 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.3 million per square millimeter. The RTX 3080 Ti uses the Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, built by Samsung on an 8 nm process. That die is slightly larger at 628 mm², but holds 28,300 million transistors, pushing density to 45.1 million per square millimeter.

The core configurations diverge sharply. The Quadro M6000 has 3,072 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation pipelines. It has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 3080 Ti scales up to 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, and adds 80 dedicated ray tracing cores plus 320 tensor cores. The FP32 throughput tells the story: the RTX 3080 Ti delivers 34.10 TFLOPS, a five-fold increase over the Quadro M6000's 6.844 TFLOPS. The RTX 3080 Ti also matches that FP32 number in FP16 at 34.10 TFLOPS (1:1), while the Quadro M6000 lists no FP16 capability in the data.

Memory architecture also differs fundamentally. The Quadro M6000 uses 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, achieving 317.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3080 Ti has the same 12 GB capacity and same 384-bit bus width, but switches to GDDR6X, more than doubling bandwidth to 912.4 GB/s. Clock speeds reflect the generational leap: the Quadro M6000 runs at a base of 988 MHz and boost of 1114 MHz, while the RTX 3080 Ti starts at 1365 MHz and boosts to 1665 MHz. Memory clocks also rise from 1653 MHz (6.6 Gbps effective) to 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective).

API support shows the RTX 3080 Ti is natively more modern. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Quadro M6000 tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The bus interface also advances from PCIe 3.0 x16 to PCIe 4.0 x16.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The shared benchmark suite between these two cards is limited to two tests, but the results are unambiguous. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Quadro M6000 scores 39,688, while the RTX 3080 Ti scores 170,037. That gives the RTX 3080 Ti a 76.7% advantage. The delta is so large that it dwarfs any other comparison in the database for these cards. In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin is similar: the Quadro M6000 posts 46,913, and the RTX 3080 Ti responds with 192,697, a 75.7% gap.

These are not close contests. The RTX 3080 Ti's OpenCL score is more than four times higher than the Quadro M6000's. Its Vulkan score is also more than four times higher. The RTX 3080 Ti wins both head-to-head benchmarks, giving it a 2-0 record in the database. The Quadro M6000 has zero wins in this matchup.

The RTX 3080 Ti also has a broader benchmark footprint in the database, with additional scores that the Quadro M6000 lacks. It scores 5,077 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 26,896 in Passmark G3D, and 15,282 in Passmark GPU Compute. It also posts 184 in Passmark DirectX 10, 223 in DirectX 11, 110 in DirectX 12, and 274 in DirectX 9, plus 1,091 in Passmark G2D. These numbers only reinforce the picture of a card that is built for modern, heavy workloads.

The average benchmark scores tell a slightly different story. The Quadro M6000 averages 43,301, while the RTX 3080 Ti averages 41,187. That is because the Quadro M6000 only has two benchmark entries, both of which are strong, while the RTX 3080 Ti's average is pulled down by its lower-magnitude Passmark tests. The percentile ranks reflect this: the Quadro M6000 sits at 84, the RTX 3080 Ti at 83.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Quadro M6000 has an average benchmark score of 43,301, while the RTX 3080 Ti averages 41,187. The Quadro M6000 also holds a higher percentile rank at 84 versus 83 for the RTX 3080 Ti.

Q: Which card wins the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti wins decisively with a score of 192,697, against the Quadro M6000's 46,913. The delta is 75.7% in favor of the RTX 3080 Ti.

Q: Does the Quadro M6000 have any head-to-head wins?

A: No. In the two shared benchmarks (Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan), the RTX 3080 Ti wins both. The Quadro M6000 has zero wins in this head-to-head comparison.

Q: How does memory bandwidth compare?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s using GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus. The Quadro M6000 has 317.4 GB/s using GDDR5 on the same 384-bit bus width.

Q: Do both cards support Vulkan 1.4?

A: Yes, both cards list Vulkan 1.4 support. They also both support OpenGL 4.6. The difference is in DirectX: the RTX 3080 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Quadro M6000 supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has 28,300 million transistors on the GA102 chip, while the Quadro M6000 has 8,000 million on the GM200 chip. The RTX 3080 Ti also has a higher transistor density at 45.1 million per mm² versus 13.3 million per mm².

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 Ti wins everywhere that matters in the head-to-head data. It dominates in OpenCL compute with a 76.7% lead, and in Vulkan compute with a 75.7% lead. Its 34.10 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, 80 ray tracing cores, and 320 tensor cores make it the clear choice for real-time rendering, ray-traced workloads, and modern game development. The 912.4 GB/s memory bandwidth supports those cores without bottlenecking. The additional benchmark entries—3DMark Steel Nomad at 5,077 and Passmark G3D at 26,896—show it also excels in DirectX 12 scenarios, where its 12 Ultimate support gives it access to features the Quadro M6000 cannot use.

The Quadro M6000 has no head-to-head wins, but it still has a niche. Its 250 W TDP is 100 W lower than the RTX 3080 Ti's 350 W, and it uses a single 8-pin power connector rather than a 12-pin. It is also shorter at 267 mm versus 285 mm, and the same height at 111 mm. For systems with limited power delivery or older power supplies rated at 600 W instead of 750 W, the Quadro M6000 is the more practical drop-in. Its Maxwell 2.0 architecture, while old, still supports OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, which keeps it viable for legacy OpenGL-centric professional applications. The 84th percentile rank also indicates it holds its own against a wide field of GPUs, even if it loses badly to the RTX 3080 Ti.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification table. The RTX 3080 Ti uses the GA102 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, while the Quadro M6000 uses the GM200 chip on a 28 nm TSMC process. Transistor counts are 28,300 million versus 8,000 million, with die sizes of 628 mm² and 601 mm² respectively. The RTX 3080 Ti has a transistor density of 45.1M per mm², more than triple the Quadro M6000's 13.3M per mm².

Core counts diverge significantly. The RTX 3080 Ti has 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, plus 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The Quadro M6000 has 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores. Clock speeds are higher on the RTX 3080 Ti: base 1365 MHz, boost 1665 MHz, versus 988 MHz base and 1114 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) versus 1653 MHz (6.6 Gbps effective).

Both have 12 GB of memory, but the RTX 3080 Ti uses GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, while the Quadro M6000 uses GDDR5 on the same bus width. Bandwidth is 912.4 GB/s versus 317.4 GB/s. Pixel rate is 186.5 GPixel/s versus 106.9 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 532.8 GTexel/s versus 213.9 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 34.10 TFLOPS versus 6.844 TFLOPS, and the RTX 3080 Ti adds FP16 at 34.10 TFLOPS (1:1), which the Quadro M6000 does not list.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The RTX 3080 Ti has a 350 W TDP and requires a 750 W suggested PSU, while the Quadro M6000 has a 250 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU. The RTX 3080 Ti uses a 1x 12-pin power connector; the Quadro M6000 uses 1x 8-pin. Both are dual-slot, but the RTX 3080 Ti is longer at 285 mm (11.2 inches) versus 267 mm (10.5 inches), and has a listed width of 40 mm (1.6 inches) while the Quadro M6000's width is not specified. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a on the RTX 3080 Ti, versus 1x DVI and 4x DisplayPort 1.2 on the Quadro M6000. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16. The RTX 3080 Ti also has a listed launch MSRP of 1,199 USD.