NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER
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 4080 SUPER |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 736 GB/s |
| Shaders | 8960 | 10240 |
| Boost Clock | 1845 MHz | 2550 MHz |
| TDP | 350W | 320W |
| Architecture | Ampere | Ada Lovelace |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 4,797 | 6,612 |
| Best Price | $799 | $999 |
| Value Score | 38/100 | 44/100 |
Verdict
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the clear winner — it offers both better performance and better value.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER: Which Should You Buy?
This is not a close race. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers 133 fps at 1440p ultra to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB's 102.3 fps, a 30% gap. Only pick the slower card if it is dramatically cheaper or you need it for a lower resolution.
You pay a 25% premium for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ($999 against $799) to get 30% more frames. The extra performance more than covers the extra cost.
Two things beyond raw speed: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER carries 16GB against 12GB — the deciding factor at 1440p and above with ray tracing or texture packs, and the reason 12GB cards age badly; and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is 2 years newer (2024 versus 2022), so it gets longer driver support and newer upscaling and frame generation features.