NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
Side-by-side benchmark comparison, specs, pricing, and value analysis.
Benchmark Comparison
Gaming figures are average frames per second, measured by Tom's Hardware GPU hierarchy. Geometric mean of 15 games, ultra settings, no upscaling. Ray tracing figures are DXR-enabled at 1440p. A dash means the card was not tested at that resolution. Productivity and Steel Nomad are synthetic scores on their own scales and are not comparable to the fps columns.
Specifications
| Spec | GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB | GeForce RTX 4070 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB GDDR6X | 12GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 504 GB/s |
| Shaders | 8960 | 5888 |
| Boost Clock | 1845 MHz | 2475 MHz |
| TDP | 350W | 200W |
| Architecture | Ampere | Ada Lovelace |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 4,797 | 3,862 |
| Best Price | $799 | $579 |
| Value Score | 38/100 | 51/100 |
Verdict
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB is faster but costs more. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 offers better value for money. Your choice depends on budget vs. performance priority.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070: Which Should You Buy?
These two land on top of each other: 102.3 fps versus 97.8 fps at 1440p ultra, a 5% difference you will not notice in a game. The decision comes down to price, VRAM and power draw rather than speed.
You pay a 38% premium for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB ($799 against $579) to get 5% more frames. The extra frames do not keep up with the extra cost — the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the better value here.
Two things beyond raw speed: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 draws 150W less (200W versus 350W), which can mean a smaller PSU and a quieter case.