NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti vs NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB both rely on the Ampere architecture, but they occupy very different positions in the performance spectrum. The RTX 3080 Ti is a high-end GeForce 30-series part built for maximum throughput, while the RTX A2000 is a compact workstation card designed for professional environments with much lower power demands. The recorded benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap between the two, with the RTX 3080 Ti leading by a wide margin in every shared test, yet the A2000 remains a relevant option for specific tasks where its physical footprint and power characteristics are prioritized.

FAQ

Q: How large is the performance difference between the RTX 3080 Ti and the RTX A2000 12 GB?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 3080 Ti scores 5077 points versus 1309 points for the A2000, which represents a 287.9% advantage for the RTX 3080 Ti. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3080 Ti scores 170037 points against 66998 points, a 153.8% lead.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41187, while the RTX A2000 12 GB averages 34154. The RTX 3080 Ti places in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, whereas the A2000 sits in the 79th percentile.

Q: Do both cards support the same modern APIs?

A: Yes, both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What are the memory capacities of the two cards?

A: Both cards have 12 GB of memory. The RTX 3080 Ti uses GDDR6X with a 384-bit bus and 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth, while the RTX A2000 uses GDDR6 with a 192-bit bus and 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which card requires a larger power supply?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has a suggested power supply of 750 W, while the RTX A2000 has a suggested power supply of 250 W.

Q: What type of display outputs does each card offer?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti provides 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RTX A2000 provides 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a.

Architecture Differences

Both cards are built on the Ampere architecture and manufactured by NVIDIA using an 8 nm process at Samsung. The similarities end there, as the underlying chips are substantially different. The RTX 3080 Ti uses the GA102 chip, which contains 28,300 million transistors on a die size of 628 mm². The RTX A2000 uses the GA106 chip, which contains 12,000 million transistors on a die size of 276 mm². Transistor density is close between the two: 45.1 million transistors per mm² for the GA102 and 43.5 million per mm² for the GA106.

The compute resources differ by a wide margin. The RTX 3080 Ti has 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster operation pipelines. It also carries 80 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores. The RTX A2000 has 3328 shading units, 104 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, with 26 ray tracing cores and 104 tensor cores. In raw arithmetic terms, the RTX 3080 Ti delivers 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and the same 34.10 TFLOPS of FP16, while the A2000 delivers 7.987 TFLOPS in both FP32 and FP16.

Clock behavior also diverges sharply. The RTX 3080 Ti runs at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. The A2000 has a much lower base clock of 562 MHz and a boost of 1200 MHz. This is likely a deliberate choice to keep power consumption low in a compact workstation card. The memory subsystems are equally different: the RTX 3080 Ti uses GDDR6X at 19 Gbps effective with a 384-bit bus, producing 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth, whereas the A2000 uses GDDR6 at 12 Gbps effective on a 192-bit bus for 288.0 GB/s.

Power and physical design reflect the divergent goals. The RTX 3080 Ti has a TDP of 350 W, uses a dual-slot design, requires a 1x 12-pin power connector, and measures 285 mm in length, 112 mm in height, and 40 mm in width. The A2000 also uses a dual-slot design but has a TDP of 70 W, draws power from the PCIe slot with no additional power connectors, and measures only 167 mm in length and 69 mm in height. The RTX 3080 Ti is 285 mm long, which is roughly 118 mm longer than the A2000.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 Ti wins in every recorded head-to-head benchmark. Its 287.9% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 shows a massive advantage in DirectX 12 rendering workloads. The 153.8% lead in Geekbench OpenCL indicates that compute-heavy tasks, including those using OpenCL acceleration, also favor the RTX 3080 Ti decisively. This makes the RTX 3080 Ti the clear choice for high-frame-rate gaming, heavy 3D rendering, and GPU compute tasks where maximum throughput is required.

The RTX A2000 12 GB does not win any of the shared benchmarks, but it has strengths that are not captured by raw performance scores. Its 70 W TDP and lack of external power connectors make it suitable for systems with limited power delivery. Its 167 mm length and 69 mm height allow it to fit into small form factor chassis. The 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs are oriented toward multi-display professional setups. The A2000 also carries the same DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 API support as the RTX 3080 Ti, so software compatibility is not a differentiator.

The RTX 3080 Ti is end-of-life with a GeForce 40-series successor, while the A2000 is also end-of-life with a workstation Ada successor. The RTX 3080 Ti was released earlier, on 2021-05-30, while the A2000 arrived later on 2021-11-22. For users who prioritize performance above all else, the RTX 3080 Ti is the obvious winner. For users who need a low-power, compact card for professional environments, the A2000 offers a viable path despite its lower scores.

Specification Differences

The two cards share the same architecture, process node, foundry, API support, memory capacity, and dual-slot form factor. The differences are extensive across nearly every other specification.

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | GA102 | GA106 |

| Process node | 8 nm | 8 nm |

| Transistors | 28,300 million | 12,000 million |

| Die size | 628 mm² | 276 mm² |

| Transistor density | 45.1M / mm² | 43.5M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1365 MHz | 562 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1665 MHz | 1200 MHz |

| Memory type | GDDR6X | GDDR6 |

| Memory bus width | 384 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 288.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 10240 | 3328 |

| TMUs | 320 | 104 |

| ROPs | 112 | 48 |

| Ray tracing cores | 80 | 26 |

| Tensor cores | 320 | 104 |

| Pixel rate | 186.5 GPixel/s | 57.60 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 532.8 GTexel/s | 124.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 34.10 TFLOPS | 7.987 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 34.10 TFLOPS (1:1) | 7.987 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 350 W | 70 W |

| Power connectors | 1x 12-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 750 W | 250 W |

| Display outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a |

| Length | 285 mm | 167 mm |

| Height | 112 mm | 69 mm |

| Width | 40 mm | Not specified |

| Release date | 2021-05-30 | 2021-11-22 |

| Launch MSRP | 1,199 USD | 449 USD |

The memory clock also differs: the RTX 3080 Ti runs at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective data rate, while the A2000 runs at 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective. The higher effective rate on the RTX 3080 Ti combines with the wider bus to produce a bandwidth advantage of more than 3x.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data includes two shared tests, and the RTX 3080 Ti wins both with a large margin. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 3080 Ti scores 5077 points against 1309 points for the A2000. The delta is 287.9%, meaning the RTX 3080 Ti is nearly four times faster in this DirectX 12 workload. This test stresses the GPU's overall rendering pipeline, and the RTX 3080 Ti's higher shading unit count, faster clocks, and much larger memory bandwidth all contribute to the result.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3080 Ti scores 170037 points versus 66998 points for the A2000, a 153.8% advantage. This is a compute-oriented test that exercises general-purpose GPU performance. The RTX 3080 Ti's 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance versus the A2000's 7.987 TFLOPS explains a large portion of the gap, though memory bandwidth and core count also play a role.

The RTX 3080 Ti also has additional benchmark data in the database beyond the shared tests. It records scores of 192697 in Geekbench Vulkan, 26896 in Passmark G3D, 15282 in Passmark GPU Compute, and lower scores in legacy Passmark DirectX tests: 184 in DirectX 10, 223 in DirectX 11, 110 in DirectX 12, and 274 in DirectX 9. The Passmark G2D score is 1091. These results are not directly comparable to the A2000 because the A2000 only has two recorded benchmarks, but they add context to the RTX 3080 Ti's overall standing.

The average benchmark scores reflect the same hierarchy. The RTX 3080 Ti averages 41187 across all recorded tests and sits at the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, which scores 40870 with a delta of 0.8%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, which scores 40377 with a delta of 2%. The RTX 3080 Ti is slightly ahead of both. The A2000 averages 34154 and sits at the 79th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT at 34133 with a 0.1% delta, the NVIDIA RTX A1000 at 34207 with a -0.2% delta, the AMD Radeon RX 480 at 33997 with a 0.5% delta, and the NVIDIA TITAN V at 34355 with a -0.6% delta. The A2000 is effectively within a rounding error of these cards, while the RTX 3080 Ti is roughly 20% above the A2000 in average score.

The wins count is 2 for the RTX 3080 Ti and 0 for the A2000. There is no benchmark in the shared set where the A2000 comes out ahead. The data paints a consistent picture: the RTX 3080 Ti is a high-performance part that dominates in both rasterization and compute, while the A2000 is a low-power professional card that trades raw speed for efficiency and compactness.