NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 vs NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile occupy entirely different segments of the GPU market, and the recorded data reflects that split with exceptional clarity. The RTX 4080 is a desktop flagship-class part, while the A500 Mobile is a low-power laptop component. Across the shared benchmark results, the RTX 4080 dominates every single test, with leads that range from roughly five times to nearly seven times the score of the A500 Mobile. The A500 Mobile, however, still holds its own within its own weight class, ranking at the 82nd percentile of all GPUs in the database. The RTX 4080 ranks at the 86th percentile. The verdict is straightforward: for any workload requiring maximum compute throughput, the RTX 4080 is the clear choice, while the A500 Mobile serves a niche for ultra-portable, low-power systems where the RTX 4080's size and power draw would be impractical.

The Verdict

The data points to a single conclusion: the RTX 4080 is in a different performance class entirely. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 4080 scores 214,739 against the A500 Mobile's 41,263, a difference of 420.4%. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RTX 4080 scores 263,779 against 37,873, a gap of 596.5%. These are not marginal wins; they represent a fundamental architectural and positional gap. The RTX 4080 wins both of the head-to-head benchmarks, giving it a 2-0 record in the database's direct comparisons.

Who should pick the RTX 4080? Anyone building a desktop workstation or high-end gaming rig that requires maximum compute performance. Its average benchmark score of 54,247 places it within 0.1% of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209), meaning the two are effectively tied in aggregate performance. It also sits ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828, a 1.1% deficit for the RTX 4080) and beats the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698) by 2.6%, as well as the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757) by 2.7%. The RTX 4080's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, is a mere 0.1% faster on average, making the RTX 4080 a nearly identical performer at a lower launch MSRP of 1,199 USD.

Who should pick the A500 Mobile? The data shows it is not a competitor to the RTX 4080. Its average benchmark score of 39,568 is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon Pro 575 (39,555, a 0% difference) and the AMD Radeon Pro 575X (39,116, where the A500 Mobile leads by 1.2%). It edges out the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40,063, a 1.2% deficit) and the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40,318, a 1.9% deficit). This places the A500 Mobile in the range of older, mid-range workstation GPUs. It is a capable mobile part for laptops where 30 W power draw is a hard constraint, but the benchmark results indicate it will trail the RTX 4080 by a wide margin in any compute-heavy task.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different NVIDIA generations. The RTX 4080 uses the AD103 chip, built on Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The A500 Mobile uses the GA107S chip, built on Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This process node difference is significant: the RTX 4080 packs 45,900 million transistors into a die size of 379 mm², yielding a transistor density of 121.1 million per square millimeter. The A500 Mobile has 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, for a density of 43.5 million per square millimeter. The RTX 4080's newer node allows roughly 2.8 times the transistor density, which directly contributes to its massive performance advantage.

The core configurations differ equally starkly. The RTX 4080 has 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines. It also carries 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores. The A500 Mobile has 2,048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores. This means the RTX 4080 has 4.75 times the shading units, 4.75 times the TMUs, and 3.5 times the ROPs. The ray tracing and tensor core counts also favor the RTX 4080 by similar margins. The FP32 compute rate tells the same story: the RTX 4080 delivers 48.74 TFLOPS, while the A500 Mobile delivers 6.296 TFLOPS. The RTX 4080 is roughly 7.7 times faster in raw FP32 throughput.

Both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API compatibility is identical. The memory subsystems, however, diverge. The RTX 4080 uses 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, yielding 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The A500 Mobile uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 96.00 GB/s. This is a 7.5 times gap in bandwidth, which will heavily affect texture-heavy and memory-bound workloads. The A500 Mobile's memory clock is 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), while the RTX 4080's memory clock is 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective), but the wider bus is what drives the bandwidth difference.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4080 wins in every measured scenario where the two are compared. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, which exercises general compute across many parallel workloads, the RTX 4080's 214,739 score is 420.4% higher than the A500 Mobile's 41,263. This indicates a decisive advantage in OpenCL-accelerated tasks like video encoding, physics simulations, and non-gaming compute. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RTX 4080's 263,779 score is 596.5% higher than the A500 Mobile's 37,873. Vulkan is commonly used in modern games and real-time graphics, so the RTX 4080's lead here suggests far superior gaming and interactive 3D performance.

Looking beyond the head-to-head results, the RTX 4080's other benchmark scores reinforce its positioning. It scores 6,567 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 34,457 in Passmark G3D, and 20,671 in Passmark GPU Compute. It also posts a Geekbench Vulkan score of 263,779, which is its highest single result. The A500 Mobile has no recorded scores in these tests, so the database only shows its Geekbench results. Still, the RTX 4080's Passmark G2D score of 1,239 and Passmark DirectX 11 score of 314 indicate strong 2D and legacy DirectX performance, which the A500 Mobile lacks data for.

The A500 Mobile's wins are contextual, not performance-based. It draws only 30 W, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops, while the RTX 4080 draws 320 W and requires a triple-slot cooler with a 1x 16-pin power connector and a 700 W suggested PSU. The A500 Mobile has no power connectors and is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) form factor. It is also portable device dependent for display outputs, meaning it can be paired with small form factors. The RTX 4080, by contrast, measures 310 mm in length, 140 mm in height, and 61 mm in width. The A500 Mobile has no listed dimensions, which is consistent with a mobile part. For a system where power draw and physical size are the primary constraints, the A500 Mobile is the only viable option, but the performance data shows it sacrifices over 80% of the RTX 4080's compute capability.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247, while the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile has an average of 39,568. The RTX 4080 leads by a wide margin.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4080 in OpenCL?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 4080 scores 214,739 versus the A500 Mobile's 41,263, which is a 420.4% advantage.

Q: Does the A500 Mobile win any direct benchmark comparison?

A: No. In the database's head-to-head benchmarks, the RTX 4080 wins both the Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan tests, giving it 2 wins and the A500 Mobile 0 wins.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of each GPU?

A: The RTX 4080 has 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth with 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus. The A500 Mobile has 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth with 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus.

Q: How do the nearest rivals compare to each GPU?

A: The RTX 4080's closest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER, which is only 0.1% faster on average. The A500 Mobile's closest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 575, which is exactly 0% different in average score.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The RTX 4080 has 45,900 million transistors, while the A500 Mobile has 8,700 million. The RTX 4080 has roughly 5.3 times as many transistors.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct comparison in the database covers two tests, and the RTX 4080 wins both decisively. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4080's 214,739 points dwarf the A500 Mobile's 41,263 points. The 420.4% delta means the RTX 4080 processes OpenCL workloads more than five times faster. This is not a subtle margin; it is a generational gap. OpenCL is used in a variety of professional applications, including medical imaging, scientific computing, and some content creation tools. The RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 304 tensor cores provide the raw throughput needed for these tasks, while the A500 Mobile's 6.296 TFLOPS and 64 tensor cores are a fraction of that capability.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens further. The RTX 4080 scores 263,779 against the A500 Mobile's 37,873, a 596.5% advantage. Vulkan is a low-overhead graphics API used in many modern games and in some compute workloads. The RTX 4080's 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores, combined with its 716.8 GB/s of memory bandwidth, allow it to handle complex scenes with ease. The A500 Mobile's 16 ray tracing cores and 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth are simply not in the same league. The 596.5% delta indicates that the RTX 4080 is nearly seven times faster in this test, which is consistent with its much larger die, higher clock speeds (2505 MHz boost versus 1537 MHz boost), and superior memory subsystem.

The RTX 4080 also has a stronger supporting benchmark suite. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567 shows excellent DirectX 12 performance. The Passmark G3D score of 34,457 and Passmark GPU Compute score of 20,671 further confirm its compute and graphics dominance. The A500 Mobile has no recorded scores for these tests, so the database cannot quantify its performance there, but given the Geekbench results, it would likely be far behind. The RTX 4080's Passmark DirectX 9 score of 370, DirectX 10 score of 204, and DirectX 11 score of 314 also indicate strong legacy API support. The A500 Mobile's absence from these tests limits direct comparison, but the two tests that do exist are sufficient to establish the performance hierarchy.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for the two GPUs diverge on nearly every major field. The RTX 4080 uses an AD103 chip on Ada Lovelace architecture, while the A500 Mobile uses a GA107S chip on Ampere architecture. The process node is 5 nm for the RTX 4080 and 8 nm for the A500 Mobile. The foundry is TSMC for the RTX 4080 and Samsung for the A500 Mobile. The RTX 4080 has 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, while the A500 Mobile has 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die. Transistor density is 121.1 million per mm² for the RTX 4080 and 43.5 million per mm² for the A500 Mobile.

Clock speeds differ significantly. The RTX 4080 has a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, while the A500 Mobile has a base clock of 832 MHz and a boost clock of 1537 MHz. The memory clock is 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective) for the RTX 4080 and 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for the A500 Mobile. Memory capacity is 16 GB of GDDR6X for the RTX 4080 versus 4 GB of GDDR6 for the A500 Mobile. The bus width is 256-bit for the RTX 4080 and 64-bit for the A500 Mobile. Bandwidth is 716.8 GB/s for the RTX 4080 and 96.00 GB/s for the A500 Mobile.

Core counts follow the same pattern. The RTX 4080 has 9,728 shading units, 304 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 76 ray tracing cores, and 304 tensor cores. The A500 Mobile has 2,048 shading units, 64 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 16 ray tracing cores, and 64 tensor cores. Pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s for the RTX 4080 and 49.18 GPixel/s for the A500 Mobile. Texture rate is 761.5 GTexel/s for the RTX 4080 and 98.37 GTexel/s for the A500 Mobile. FP32 compute is 48.74 TFLOPS for the RTX 4080 and 6.296 TFLOPS for the A500 Mobile, with both offering 1:1 FP16 ratios.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The RTX 4080 has a TDP of 320 W, requires a triple-slot cooler, a 1x 16-pin power connector, and a suggested PSU of 700 W. The A500 Mobile has a TDP of 30 W, uses an IGP form factor, no power connectors, and no suggested PSU. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX 4080 and PCIe 4.0 x8 for the A500 Mobile. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a for the RTX 4080, while the A500 Mobile is portable device dependent. The RTX 4080 measures 310 mm by 140 mm by 61 mm, while the A500 Mobile has no listed dimensions. Both are end-of-life products. The RTX 4080 was released on 2022-09-19, while the A500 Mobile was released on 2022-03-21. The RTX 4080 has a launch MSRP of 1,199 USD, while the A500 Mobile has no launch MSRP listed.