NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile vs NVIDIA RTX A6000 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data splits these two NVIDIA parts into clearly different roles. The NVIDIA RTX A6000 wins 3 of the 9 head-to-head benchmark comparisons, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile wins 6. That alone suggests the A6000 is not a general-purpose winner, but rather a specialist in specific workloads.

The A6000 takes the two Geekbench compute tests and the PassMark GPU compute test. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 193,937 beats the RTX 4080 Mobile's 159,575 by 21.5%. In Geekbench Vulkan, the A6000 scores 164,462 versus 145,807, a 12.8% advantage. The largest single win for the A6000 is in PassMark GPU compute, where it posts 14,110 against 11,191, a 26.1% margin. These are the tests that stress raw compute throughput, memory bandwidth, and general-purpose GPU processing rather than rasterization.

The RTX 4080 Mobile wins every DirectX-related PassMark test. Its biggest victory is in PassMark DirectX 11, where it scores 244 versus 191, a 21.7% lead. It also wins DirectX 9 by 14.3% (286 versus 245), DirectX 12 by 9.4% (96 versus 87), and DirectX 10 by a slim 1.3% (157 versus 155). The mobile part also takes PassMark G3D with 24,926 versus 22,577, a 9.4% edge, and PassMark G2D with 929 versus 913, a 1.7% margin.

The pattern is consistent: the workstation card leads in compute-oriented tests, while the mobile gaming card leads in graphics API tests. The A6000's advantage in PassMark GPU compute is its largest delta across all nine benchmarks, and its Geekbench OpenCL win is nearly as large. The RTX 4080 Mobile's largest win, DirectX 11, is comparable in magnitude but appears in a different domain entirely.

The average benchmark scores reflect this split. The A6000 averages 44,075 across all recorded tests, placing it at the 84th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The RTX 4080 Mobile averages 38,135, at the 81st percentile. Despite winning fewer tests, the A6000 holds a higher overall average, driven by the magnitude of its compute wins versus the mobile card's narrower graphics victories.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations and different foundries. The RTX A6000 uses the GA102 chip on the Ampere architecture, fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm process. The RTX 4080 Mobile uses the AD104 chip on the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 5 nm process. The node difference is substantial: the 5 nm process allows 121.8 million transistors per square millimeter, versus 45.1 million per square millimeter on the 8 nm node.

The transistor counts and die sizes tell a contrasting story. The AD104 chip packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die. The GA102 chip contains 28,300 million transistors across a 628 mm² die. The A6000's die is more than twice the physical size, but the RTX 4080 Mobile's chip holds more transistors in less than half the area. This is the clearest illustration of the manufacturing process advantage held by the newer architecture.

The A6000 has significantly more execution resources. It carries 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units. The RTX 4080 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The A6000 also leads in ray tracing cores (84 versus 58) and tensor cores (336 versus 232). These resource counts align with the compute benchmark results, where the A6000 consistently outperforms.

Memory configuration is another major divider. The A6000 ships with 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 768.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 4080 Mobile has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, with 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The A6000 offers four times the capacity and 78% more bandwidth. The mobile card's memory runs at a higher effective speed (18 Gbps versus 16 Gbps), but the narrower bus limits its total throughput.

Clock speeds differ in an interesting way. The A6000 has a higher base clock at 1410 MHz versus 1290 MHz, and a higher boost clock at 1800 MHz versus 1665 MHz. Despite the mobile card's efficiency-oriented design, the A6000 sustains higher frequencies. This contributes to its FP32 throughput of 38.71 TFLOPS, compared to the RTX 4080 Mobile's 24.72 TFLOPS. The A6000 also leads in pixel rate (201.6 GPixel/s versus 133.2 GPixel/s) and texture rate (604.8 GTexel/s versus 386.3 GTexel/s).

Power and physical design are polar opposites. The A6000 draws 300 W, requires an 8-pin EPS power connector, and is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length. The RTX 4080 Mobile has a 110 W TDP, no power connectors, and is classified as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with portable-device-dependent display outputs. The mobile card's power budget is less than 37% of the workstation card's, yet it still wins the majority of graphics API benchmarks.

Both cards share the same API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Both use PCIe 4.0 x16 interfaces. The A6000 provides 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the RTX 4080 Mobile's outputs depend on the host device.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear division of purpose. The RTX A6000 is the compute-oriented workstation part. Its 26.1% lead in PassMark GPU compute, 21.5% lead in Geekbench OpenCL, and 12.8% lead in Geekbench Vulkan make it the stronger choice for workloads that stress raw GPU compute, memory bandwidth, or large memory capacity. Its 48 GB frame buffer is the largest in this comparison, and its 768.0 GB/s bandwidth is the highest recorded here. The A6000 also holds a higher average benchmark score (44,075 versus 38,135) and sits at the 84th percentile versus the mobile card's 81st.

The RTX 4080 Mobile wins the graphics API tests. Its 21.7% lead in PassMark DirectX 11 and 9.4% lead in PassMark G3D indicate better real-world rasterization performance in DirectX-based applications. It also wins DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 12, and G2D. For gaming or DirectX-centric workloads, the data favors the mobile card despite its lower compute throughput and smaller memory configuration.

The choice depends on workload. Users prioritizing compute performance, large memory capacity, or memory bandwidth should select the RTX A6000. Users prioritizing DirectX graphics performance, particularly in gaming or DirectX-rendered scenarios, should select the RTX 4080 Mobile. The A6000's higher average score and percentile ranking make it the better overall part in the database's aggregate metrics, but the RTX 4080 Mobile's DirectX wins are too consistent to ignore for graphics-focused use cases.

The RTX A6000 launched with a launch MSRP of 4,649 USD. The RTX 4080 Mobile has no recorded launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A6000 averages 44,075 across all recorded tests, compared to 38,135 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile.

Q: How much faster is the RTX A6000 in compute workloads?

A: The RTX A6000 leads by 26.1% in PassMark GPU compute (14,110 versus 11,191) and by 21.5% in Geekbench OpenCL (193,937 versus 159,575).

Q: In which benchmark does the RTX 4080 Mobile show its largest advantage?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile's largest win is in PassMark DirectX 11, where it scores 244 versus 191, a 21.7% lead over the RTX A6000.

Q: How do the memory capacities compare?

A: The RTX A6000 has 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus with 768.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4080 Mobile has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and tensor cores?

A: The RTX A6000 has 10,752 shading units and 336 tensor cores. The RTX 4080 Mobile has 7,424 shading units and 232 tensor cores.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX A6000 has a 300 W TDP and requires an 8-pin EPS power connector. The RTX 4080 Mobile has a 110 W TDP and uses no power connectors.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single win in the comparison belongs to the RTX A6000 in PassMark GPU compute. Its score of 14,110 versus 11,191 represents a 26.1% advantage, the biggest delta across all nine benchmarks. This result aligns with the A6000's hardware profile: more shading units (10,752 versus 7,424), more tensor cores (336 versus 232), and a much wider memory bus (384-bit versus 192-bit). The compute test likely exercises these resources more directly than the graphics API tests.

Geekbench OpenCL shows the second-largest margin. The A6000 scores 193,937 against 159,575, a 21.5% lead. This test also favors the A6000's compute capabilities. In Geekbench Vulkan, the A6000 wins again with 164,462 versus 145,807, a 12.8% margin. These three compute-oriented wins give the A6000 its overall score advantage despite losing the majority of individual tests.

The RTX 4080 Mobile's largest win comes in PassMark DirectX 11, where it scores 244 versus 191, a 21.7% lead. This is nearly the mirror image of the A6000's compute advantage. The mobile card's DirectX 11 performance is notable because it exceeds the A6000 by a wider margin than any graphics test in the A6000's win column. The Ada Lovelace architecture appears to handle this API generation more efficiently despite having fewer execution resources and a lower TDP.

PassMark DirectX 9 shows a 14.3% lead for the RTX 4080 Mobile (286 versus 245). DirectX 12 gives the mobile card a 9.4% edge (96 versus 87), and PassMark G3D also shows a 9.4% lead (24,926 versus 22,577). The DirectX 10 test is close, with the RTX 4080 Mobile winning 157 to 155, a 1.3% margin. PassMark G2D is similarly tight: 929 versus 913, a 1.7% win for the mobile part.

The pattern across all nine benchmarks is striking. The A6000 wins by large margins in compute tests (26.1%, 21.5%, 12.8%), while the RTX 4080 Mobile wins by large margins in some graphics tests (21.7% in DirectX 11) and by smaller margins in others (1.3% in DirectX 10, 1.7% in G2D). The A6000's compute wins are, on average, larger in magnitude than the RTX 4080 Mobile's graphics wins. This explains why the A6000 holds a higher average score (44,075 versus 38,135) despite winning only 3 of 9 head-to-head comparisons.

The RTX 4080 Mobile's DirectX 11 and DirectX 9 wins are particularly interesting given its hardware limitations. It has fewer shading units, fewer ROPs, less memory bandwidth, and a lower boost clock than the A6000. Yet it outperforms the workstation card in all four DirectX API tests and in both PassMark G2D and G3D. The architectural efficiency of Ada Lovelace on a 5 nm process appears to offset the raw resource advantage of the Ampere-based A6000 in these specific workloads.

The A6000's wins are not limited to compute. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 164,462 exceeds the RTX 4080 Mobile's 145,807 by 12.8%, showing that its advantages extend beyond pure compute into modern graphics APIs. However, the mobile card's consistent DirectX wins suggest that the A6000's strengths are more specialized than general. Users should weigh the specific benchmark results against their target workloads rather than relying on aggregate scores alone.