NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

GeForce RTX 3090 compared with GeForce RTX 4080
NVIDIAGeForce RTX 3090NVIDIAGeForce RTX 4080
Overview
ReleasedSeptember 2020November 2022
Performance
Chip makerNVIDIANVIDIA
ArchitectureAmpereAda Lovelace
Shader cores10,4969,728
Boost clock1,700 MHz2,510 MHz (better)
ArchitectureGA102; 82 Streaming Multiprocessors. Specifications describe NVIDIA's reference card; the photo shows PNY's stock-clock XLR8 Gaming UPRISING EPIC-X RGB Triple Fan, whose cooler and dimensions differ.AD103; 76 Streaming Multiprocessors. Specifications describe NVIDIA's reference card; the photo shows PNY's original RTX 4080 VERTO Triple Fan, whose cooler and dimensions differ.
Manufacturing processSamsung 8 nm 8N NVIDIA custom process; 28.3 billion transistors; 628.4 mm² dieTSMC 4N; 45.9 billion transistors; 378.6 mm² die
Ray tracing82 second-generation RT Cores76 third-generation RT Cores; 113 RT TFLOPS
AI cores328 third-generation Tensor Cores304 fourth-generation Tensor Cores; 780 AI TOPS
Upscaling and frame generationNVIDIA DLSS upscaling; no DLSS Frame GenerationDLSS 3.5 with Super Resolution, DLAA, Ray Reconstruction and Frame Generation
Base clock1.40 GHz on NVIDIA's current page; PNY's stock-clock card lists 1,395 MHz base and 1,695 MHz boost, matching the NVIDIA whitepaper's boost rather than the current rounded 1.70 GHz2.21 GHz on the current NVIDIA specification page; PNY's stock-clock VERTO lists 2,205 MHz base, while NVIDIA's Ada architecture whitepaper gives 2,505 MHz boost (current page rounds boost to 2.51 GHz)
Cache6,144 KB L265,536 KB L2
Memory
Video memory24 GB GDDR6X (better)16 GB GDDR6X
Memory bus384-bit (better)256-bit
Memory bandwidth936 GB/s (better)716.8 GB/s
Memory detail19.5 Gbps GDDR6X22.4 Gbps GDDR6X
Connections and power
Board power350 W320 W (better)
InterfacePCIe 4.0PCIe 4.0
Display outputs3 × DisplayPort 1.4a, 1 × HDMI 2.1; up to 4 displays; HDCP 2.3; NVLink supported3 × DisplayPort 1.4a, 1 × HDMI 2.1a; up to 4 displays; HDCP 2.3
Maximum resolution7680 × 4320; HDMI supports 4K 120 Hz HDR or 8K 60 Hz HDR4K at 240 Hz or 8K at 60 Hz with DSC and HDR
Power connector2 × PCIe 8-pin cables through the included adapter to 1 × 12-pin (Founders Edition)3 × PCIe 8-pin cables through the included adapter, or 1 × 450 W or greater PCIe Gen 5 cable (Founders Edition)
Recommended power supply750 W, based on NVIDIA's Intel Core i9-10900K test system750 W; NVIDIA recommends another 36 mm of clearance for the power cable
Slot width3-slot (Founders Edition)3-slot (Founders Edition)
Size (reference card)313 × 138 mm, 3-slot (Founders Edition); allow another 35 mm for the included power adapter304 × 137 mm, 3-slot; NVIDIA's system-clearance guide specifies 61 mm thickness (Founders Edition)
Video encode and decodeSeventh-generation NVENC, fifth-generation NVDEC; hardware AV1 decode, no AV1 encode2 × eighth-generation NVENC, fifth-generation NVDEC; AV1 encode and decode

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