NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB
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 GTX 1080 | GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 8GB GDDR5X | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 320 GB/s | 224 GB/s |
| Shaders | 2560 | 2560 |
| Boost Clock | 1733 MHz | 1777 MHz |
| TDP | 180W | 130W |
| Architecture | Pascal | Ampere |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 1,561 | 1,331 |
| Best Price | $599 | $219 |
| Value Score | 13/100 | 53/100 |
Verdict
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 is faster but costs more. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB offers better value for money. Your choice depends on budget vs. performance priority.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB: Which Should You Buy?
These two land on top of each other: 39.4 fps versus 38.5 fps at 1440p ultra, a 2% difference you will not notice in a game. The decision comes down to price, VRAM and power draw rather than speed.
You pay a 174% premium for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 ($599 against $219) to get 2% more frames. The extra frames do not keep up with the extra cost — the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB is the better value here.
Two things beyond raw speed: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB draws 50W less (130W versus 180W), which can mean a smaller PSU and a quieter case; and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB is 6 years newer (2022 versus 2016), so it gets longer driver support and newer upscaling and frame generation features.