RTX 3080 vs GTX 1070
Roll up to compare the RTX 3080 vs GTX 1070, two popular graphics cards. Nvidia’s GTX 1070 was one of the first GTX cards, released in 2016. After several years, Nvidia has released various new GPU cards, including the RTX 3080, which is popular. You may be asking if the 1070 to 3080 graphics card update is worth it if you want better performance and smoother frame rates. This quick guide should show how much RTX 3080 and GTX 1070 differ in features, performance, and pricing.
GTX 1070 vs. RTX 3080 specifications
The stats comparison of RTX 3080 vs GTX 1070 illustrates how much the update may improve PC performance. The GTX 1070 only has an edge in TDP and basic clock speed. TDP is 150 watts for GTX 1070 and 320 for RTX 3080. The GTX 1070’s basic clock speed is 1,506 MHz, slightly higher than the RTX 3080’s 1,440 MHz.
The 1070 also has a 2,002 MHz memory clock, compared to the RTX 3080’s 1,188 MHz. The effective memory clock speed of RTX 3080 is 19 Gbps, while GTX 1080 is 8 Gbps. Besides these few aspects, the RTX 3080 surpasses the GTX 1070 in every manner.
This table lists both GPUs’ important specs:
| Specs | RTX 3080 | GTX 1070 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Ampere | Pascal |
| Processor size | 8 nm | 16 nm |
| Transistors | 28,300 million | 7,200 million |
| Tensor cores | 272 | NA |
| RT cores | 68 | NA |
| TFLOPS | 29.77 TFLOPS | 5.78 TFLOPS |
| Base clock | 1,440 MHz | 1,506 MHz |
| Boost clock | 1,710 MHz | 1,683 MHz |
| Memory clock | 1,188 MHz19 Gbps effective | 2002 MHz8 Gbps effective |
| Memory size | GDDR6X 10 GB | GDDR5 8 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 760.3 GB/s | 256.3 GB/s |
| TDP | 320 W | 150 watts |
| Power connectors | 1x 12-pin | 1x 8-pin |
| Shading units | 8,704 | 1,920 |
| TMUs | 272 | 120 |
| ROPs | 96 | 64 |
| Pixel rate | 164.2 GPixel/s | 107.7 GPixel/s |
| Texture rate | 465.1 GTexel/s | 202.0 GTexel/s |
| Price (during launch) | $699 | $379 |
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 offers almost 5x the floating point performance, as seen in the table. With 29.77 TFLOPS, the RTX 3080 outshines the GTX 1070’s 5.78. Additionally, the RTX 30-series card has 67.8 GPixel/s more pixels. GPU architecture is another major distinction. RTX cards use the 8 nm Ampere architecture, whereas GTX cards use the 16 nm Pascal architecture.
RTX 3080 has 10 GB VRAM, whereas GTX 1070 has 8. The RTX 3080 wins again with 284.4 GTexels/s greater texture rate. You get three times the memory bandwidth test with the RTX card’s 760 GB/s vs the GTX card’s 256.
Visual and texturing characteristics are better on RTX 3080 vs GTX 1070. It features ray tracing, improving games. Also, most RTX 3080 GPUs support DLSS. This lets them produce games at a lesser quality and update the pictures to run near-natively. Thus, upgrading to GeForce RTX 3080 may improve gaming experiences.
GTX 1070 vs. RTX 3080
From the specs comparison, the Nvidia RTX 3080 performs better due to its more cores, shading units, boost clock speed, etc. A combination of these variables boosts Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 performance.
Indeed, RTX 3080 performs better at all resolutions. GTX 1070 averages 93.6 FPS at 1080p, whereas RTX 3080 averages 232.4 FPS, approximately 150% higher. In 1440p and 4K, GTX 1070 performs at 68.5 FPS and 40.6 FPS, whereas RTX 3080 performs at 173.0 and 105.0 FPS.
Consider upgrading to the best CPU for the RTX 3080 to maximize your gaming system’s performance. If you prefer Team Red to Team Green, the AMD RX 6800 XT is the RTX 3080’s AMD counterpart.
RTX 3080 versus GTX 1070 cost
Similar to specifications and performance, card cost varies greatly. The RTX 3080 launched in September 2020 for $699. However, GTX 1070 launched in 2016 for $379. Since these cards are older, you may be able to find them online for less than MSRP. Check our top Black Friday GPU deals page for discounts on any of these cards.
Final verdict
Upgrading from the GTX 1070 to the RTX 3080 improves visuals and FPS. Despite its age, the GTX 1070 can run modern games like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Modern Warfare 3. If you don’t need a GPU update, your 1070 should last for years. The RTX 3080 is a major upgrade over the GTX 1070 due to its revolutionary architecture and ray tracing.
