NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile vs NVIDIA Rubin GPU Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile and the NVIDIA Rubin GPU occupy entirely different segments, and the recorded data reflects that divide. The RTX 4080 Mobile has a full suite of benchmark scores, while the Rubin GPU has no recorded benchmarks at all, resulting in an average benchmark score of 0. This means the head-to-head comparison is one-sided in terms of measured results, but the Rubin GPU's architectural specifications indicate a completely different performance class.

The RTX 4080 Mobile delivers an average benchmark score of 38,135 across its tested workload suite. Its strongest result comes from Geekbench OpenCL at 159,575 points, with Geekbench Vulkan close behind at 145,807. In PassMark tests, the GPU scores 24,926 in G3D, 11,191 in GPU Compute, 929 in G2D, 286 in DirectX 9, 244 in DirectX 11, 157 in DirectX 10, and 96 in DirectX 12. These figures place the RTX 4080 Mobile at the 81st percentile among all GPUs in the database.

The nearest rival data confirms the RTX 4080 Mobile's position. It sits 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce MX570, which scores 38,299, and 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile at 38,349. Against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, the RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% ahead, matching the delta against the NVIDIA Tesla P4, which also shows a 1.3% advantage for the 4080 Mobile. These narrow margins indicate that in the database's aggregate scoring, the RTX 4080 Mobile performs essentially on par with these adjacent products, with differences of less than two percentage points in every case.

The Rubin GPU, by contrast, has no benchmark entries and therefore no measurable wins in any test. Its percentile ranking is recorded at 50, which reflects the median position assigned to a product without recorded data rather than a performance result. The database contains no head-to-head benchmark comparisons between these two products, and the wins tally shows zero for each side. Consequently, any direct numerical comparison of gaming or compute workloads cannot be established from the available measurements.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs could hardly be more different in construction. The RTX 4080 Mobile uses the AD104 chip based on Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 35,800 million transistors on a die size of 294 mm², yielding a transistor density of 121.8 million per mm². The Rubin GPU uses the GR100 chip based on Rubin architecture, also from TSMC but on a 3 nm process node. Its transistor count is 336,000 million, nearly ten times higher, spread across a massive 1,456 mm² die, with a density of 230.8 million transistors per mm².

The memory subsystems diverge sharply. The RTX 4080 Mobile has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, producing a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s with a memory clock of 2250 MHz, equivalent to 18 Gbps effective. The Rubin GPU offers 288 GB of HBM4 memory on a 16,384-bit bus, delivering 22.1 TB/s of bandwidth, with a memory clock of 2695 MHz or 10.8 Gbps effective. The Rubin GPU's memory bandwidth is roughly 51 times higher, reflecting its server-oriented design.

Compute resources also differ fundamentally. The RTX 4080 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, 80 raster output units, 58 ray tracing cores, and 232 tensor cores. The Rubin GPU has 28,672 shading units, 896 TMUs, but only 24 ROPs, and 896 tensor cores. Notably, the Rubin GPU's ray tracing core count is not recorded in the database. The Rubin GPU's FP32 throughput is 130.0 TFLOPS, while the RTX 4080 Mobile delivers 24.72 TFLOPS. In FP16, the Rubin GPU reaches 260.0 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the RTX 4080 Mobile achieves 24.72 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio. The Rubin GPU's texture rate is 2,031.2 GTexel/s versus 386.3 GTexel/s for the RTX 4080 Mobile, but the RTX 4080 Mobile's pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s exceeds the Rubin GPU's 54.41 GPixel/s.

Power and physical specifications reveal the intended use cases. The RTX 4080 Mobile has a TDP of 110 W, uses an IGP slot width, requires no power connectors, and connects via PCIe 4.0 x16. The Rubin GPU has a TDP of 2300 W, uses an SXM Module slot width, and requires a suggested PSU of 2700 W. Its bus interface is PCIe 6.0 x16. The RTX 4080 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the Rubin GPU lists N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan, reflecting its headless server role with no display outputs. The RTX 4080 Mobile's display outputs are portable device dependent, while the Rubin GPU has no outputs at all.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4080 Mobile wins in every category that has recorded measurements, simply because the Rubin GPU has no benchmark data. The RTX 4080 Mobile is an active mobile product from the GeForce 40-series, released on January 2, 2023, and positioned at the 81st percentile among all GPUs. Its 24.72 TFLOPS FP32 performance, combined with 12 GB GDDR6 memory and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth, makes it suitable for portable gaming and workstation tasks that rely on DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan support.

The Rubin GPU wins on raw architectural capability where it can be compared without benchmark scores. Its FP32 throughput of 130.0 TFLOPS is more than five times that of the RTX 4080 Mobile. Its FP16 performance of 260.0 TFLOPS dwarfs the RTX 4080 Mobile's 24.72 TFLOPS. The 288 GB HBM4 memory with 22.1 TB/s bandwidth is in a different class entirely, designed for large-scale server workloads rather than portable graphics. The Rubin GPU's 28,672 shading units and 896 tensor cores indicate massive parallel processing capacity, though its 24 ROPs and 54.41 GPixel/s pixel rate suggest it is not optimized for traditional rasterization.

The RTX 4080 Mobile has the advantage in pixel processing, with 133.2 GPixel/s versus 54.41 GPixel/s for the Rubin GPU. It also has a significant clock speed advantage at idle, with a base clock of 1290 MHz and boost of 1665 MHz, compared to the Rubin GPU's 700 MHz base and 2267 MHz boost. The RTX 4080 Mobile's 80 ROPs triple the Rubin GPU's 24, reinforcing its role in pixel-heavy tasks.

The Rubin GPU's transistor count of 336,000 million and die size of 1,456 mm² are far beyond the RTX 4080 Mobile's 35,800 million transistors and 294 mm² die. The 3 nm process node gives the Rubin GPU a density of 230.8M transistors per mm², nearly double the RTX 4080 Mobile's 121.8M per mm². These figures point to a design intended for data center compute, where memory bandwidth and FP16 throughput matter more than pixel output.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher FP32 performance?

A: The Rubin GPU delivers 130.0 TFLOPS FP32, compared to 24.72 TFLOPS for the RTX 4080 Mobile.

Q: How much memory does each GPU have?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, while the Rubin GPU has 288 GB of HBM4 memory on a 16,384-bit bus.

Q: What are the power requirements for each GPU?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile has a TDP of 110 W and requires no power connectors. The Rubin GPU has a TDP of 2300 W and requires a suggested PSU of 2700 W.

Q: Does the Rubin GPU support DirectX 12?

A: No, the Rubin GPU lists N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan. The RTX 4080 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile contains 35,800 million transistors, while the Rubin GPU contains 336,000 million transistors.

Q: Which GPU has a higher pixel rate?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile achieves 133.2 GPixel/s, while the Rubin GPU achieves 54.41 GPixel/s.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every recorded specification. The RTX 4080 Mobile uses the AD104 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture from the GeForce 40 Mobile generation, while the Rubin GPU uses the GR100 chip with Rubin architecture from the Server Rubin (Rxx) generation. The process node is 5 nm for the RTX 4080 Mobile versus 3 nm for the Rubin GPU, both from TSMC.

Transistor counts are 35,800 million for the RTX 4080 Mobile and 336,000 million for the Rubin GPU. Die sizes are 294 mm² and 1,456 mm² respectively. Transistor density is 121.8M per mm² for the RTX 4080 Mobile and 230.8M per mm² for the Rubin GPU.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The RTX 4080 Mobile has a base clock of 1290 MHz and boost of 1665 MHz, while the Rubin GPU has a base of 700 MHz and boost of 2267 MHz. Memory clocks are 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for the RTX 4080 Mobile and 2695 MHz (10.8 Gbps effective) for the Rubin GPU.

Memory configurations are 12 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth for the RTX 4080 Mobile, versus 288 GB HBM4 on a 16,384-bit bus with 22.1 TB/s bandwidth for the Rubin GPU.

Shading units are 7,424 for the RTX 4080 Mobile and 28,672 for the Rubin GPU. TMUs are 232 versus 896. ROPs are 80 versus 24. The RTX 4080 Mobile has 58 ray tracing cores while the Rubin GPU's count is not recorded. Tensor cores are 232 versus 896.

Pixel rates are 133.2 GPixel/s for the RTX 4080 Mobile and 54.41 GPixel/s for the Rubin GPU. Texture rates are 386.3 GTexel/s versus 2,031.2 GTexel/s. FP32 is 24.72 TFLOPS versus 130.0 TFLOPS. FP16 is 24.72 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 260.0 TFLOPS (2:1).

TDP is 110 W for the RTX 4080 Mobile and 2300 W for the Rubin GPU. Slot width is IGP versus SXM Module. Power connectors are none for the RTX 4080 Mobile and not recorded for the Rubin GPU, which has a suggested PSU of 2700 W. Bus interfaces are PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 6.0 x16.

Display outputs are portable device dependent for the RTX 4080 Mobile and none for the Rubin GPU. API support includes DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 for the RTX 4080 Mobile, while the Rubin GPU lists N/A for all three.

Release dates are January 2, 2023 for the RTX 4080 Mobile and December 31, 2025 for the Rubin GPU. The RTX 4080 Mobile's predecessor is the GeForce 30 Mobile and successor is the GeForce 50 Mobile. The Rubin GPU's predecessor is Server Blackwell with no recorded successor.

The Verdict

The data shows two products with no meaningful overlap. The RTX 4080 Mobile is a complete, measured mobile GPU with an average benchmark score of 38,135, placing it at the 81st percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, the GeForce MX570 and RTX 5080 Mobile, are within 0.6% of its score, while it leads the RTX 4070 and Tesla P4 by 1.3%. These narrow margins confirm that the RTX 4080 Mobile sits in a well-established performance tier for portable systems.

The Rubin GPU has no recorded benchmarks, no average score, and no nearest rivals. Its percentile of 50 is a placeholder, not a result. What the specifications show is a server accelerator with 288 GB of HBM4 memory, 22.1 TB/s of bandwidth, 130.0 TFLOPS FP32, and 260.0 TFLOPS FP16, all within a 2300 W power envelope. It is designed for compute density, not for the DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan workloads that the RTX 4080 Mobile supports.

For users selecting a mobile GPU, the RTX 4080 Mobile is the only option with measured results, and its benchmark scores are consistent with its position among comparable products. For users requiring massive memory bandwidth and FP16 throughput in a server context, the Rubin GPU's architecture points to that role, though no benchmark data exists to validate its performance. The choice depends entirely on the workload: portable graphics and gaming favor the RTX 4080 Mobile, while data center compute with extreme memory capacity favors the Rubin GPU. Neither product serves the other's purpose.