The old flagship against a newer mid-range card. They are level on estimated performance, but the RTX 4070 does it with 120 W less power, 2 GB more memory and frame generation. It is the classic case where the newer, smaller card is the better purchase.
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The card that defined the Ampere generation, and one of the most widely owned high-end GPUs still in service. Its rasterisation still lands around current upper-mid-range, but 10 GB of memory is now its clearest limitation.
A notably efficient 1440p card: 200 W for roughly the rasterisation of a 320 W RTX 3080, with frame generation and AV1 encode on top. Its 12 GB memory pool is adequate rather than generous.
RTX 4070 comes out ahead of RTX 3080.
The score blends performance at 1440p (50%), performance per dollar (30%) and memory headroom (20%), each against every card CompareYourGPU tracks. Fewer than three points apart counts as level. How verdicts are calculated.
Performance, memory, power and value rows, ranked by how far apart RTX 3080 and RTX 4070 are. The full sheet below has every row.
| Difference | RTX 3080 | RTX 4070 | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board power | 320 W | Better: 200 W | RTX 407060% lower |
| Performance per 100 W | 14.1 | Better: 22.5 | RTX 407060% higher |
| Memory bandwidth | Better: 760 GB/s | 504 GB/s | RTX 308051% higher |
| VRAM | 10 GB | Better: 12 GB | RTX 407020% higher |
| Performance per $100 | 6.4 | Better: 7.5 | RTX 407017% higher |
| Ray tracing index, 1440p | 38 | Better: 43 | RTX 407013% higher |
Open any area to see every row. Rows where a card wins are marked; rows where the two match, or where a figure is not published, say so.
| Specification | RTX 3080NVIDIA | RTX 4070NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Launch MSRP | $699 | Best in this row: $599 |
| Current priceCompareYourGPU does not publish a price it has not verified. | Check current price | Check current price |
| Performance per $100Performance index at 1440p per $100 of launch MSRP. | 6.4 | Best in this row: 7.5 |
| Specification | RTX 3080NVIDIA | RTX 4070NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Essentially tiedCompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here. | 50 | 51 |
| Essentially tiedCompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here. | 45 | 45 |
| CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here. | Best in this row: 40 | 38 |
| CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here. | 38 | Best in this row: 43 |
| Measured suite average at 1440pNot compared: data missing for at least one cardThird-party geometric mean across their game suite, run with vendor upscaling at Quality. A different test from the estimated row below, not a check on it. | Not tested | 63.5 FPS (ComputerBase) |
| Estimated FPS at 1440pEssentially tiedModelled estimate for a typical modern AAA game at High settings with no upscaling. Not a measurement. | 80-115 FPS | 80-115 FPS |
| Specification | RTX 3080NVIDIA | RTX 4070NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Ampere | Ada Lovelace |
| GPU die | GA102 | AD104 |
| Only comparable within one manufacturer. | Best in this row: 8,704 | 5,888 |
| Data unavailable | Data unavailable | |
| Best in this row: 68 | 46 | |
| Best in this row: 272 | 184 | |
| 1,440 MHz | 1,920 MHz | |
| 1,710 MHz | 2,480 MHz | |
| Game clockAMD only. | Data unavailable | Data unavailable |
| Specification | RTX 3080NVIDIA | RTX 4070NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd-generation RT cores | 3rd-generation RT cores | |
| DLSS 4 Super Resolution, DLSS Ray Reconstruction, FSR 3.1, XeSS | DLSS 4 Super Resolution, DLSS Ray Reconstruction, FSR 3.1, XeSS | |
| FSR 3.1 Frame Generation (vendor-agnostic, game-dependent) | DLSS 3 Frame Generation | |
| No | Yes | |
| Video encoder | 7th-generation NVENC with HEVC and H.264 encode. No AV1 encode. | 8th-generation NVENC with AV1 and HEVC encode |
| Video decoder | 5th-generation NVDEC with AV1, HEVC and H.264 decode | 5th-generation NVDEC with AV1, HEVC and H.264 decode |
Each price carries its source and date, or is labelled as a launch MSRP. The retailer page is the authority on today's price.
Launch MSRP in US dollars, as set by the manufacturer at release. CompareYourGPU has no verified street price for this card, so this is a reference point rather than what it sells for today. The Amazon store the link opens depends on your location and charges in its own currency (US dollars, euros or pounds): expect a different figure there, and treat that page as the authority on what the card actually costs.
This card is out of production, so street prices are especially unpredictable.
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Launch MSRP in US dollars, as set by the manufacturer at release. CompareYourGPU has no verified street price for this card, so this is a reference point rather than what it sells for today. The Amazon store the link opens depends on your location and charges in its own currency (US dollars, euros or pounds): expect a different figure there, and treat that page as the authority on what the card actually costs.
This card is out of production, so street prices are especially unpredictable.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
CompareYourGPU may earn a commission on purchases made through these links. This never changes how a graphics card is scored or ranked.
Cards that cost at least 10% less than one of these and come within 10% of its estimated 1440p performance.
$499 MSRP · $200 less than RTX 3080
At least as fast
Compare with RTX 3080$599 MSRP · $100 less than RTX 3080
At least as fast
Compare with RTX 3080Each category is decided by the same numbers used everywhere else on the site. A category with no clear leader says so rather than picking one.
All six axes are normalised to a 0-100 scale so they can share one chart. Performance and ray tracing are CompareYourGPU’s estimated indices; value, VRAM, efficiency and features are each card’s standing relative to every other card tracked here.
| Criterion | RTX 3080 | RTX 4070 |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 45 | 45 |
| Ray tracing | 38 | 43 |
| Value | 66 | 80 |
| VRAM | 45 | 57 |
| Efficiency | 14 | 80 |
| Features | 60 | 75 |
CompareYourGPU estimate aggregated from public review coverage, not a measurement.
Modelled from the performance index. Not a measured benchmark. Real results vary widely by title.
Capacity alone is not the whole story: memory bus width and bandwidth decide how much of it the GPU can actually use.
The short version: the RTX 3080 is faster, but the RTX 4070 offers better value at the prices on record. Which of those matters more is the decision.
Based on the specifications, estimated performance indices and prices on record for these cards. How verdicts are calculated.
Highest estimated performance index at 1440p of the cards compared here, at 45. It is the right answer if frame rate is the only thing you are optimising for.
Delivers the most performance per dollar of the cards compared, at $599. Choose this if the difference in price matters more to you than the difference in frame rate.
Strongest ray-traced performance here, with an estimated ray tracing index of 43 at 1440p. It also carries DLSS 4 Super Resolution, which is how ray tracing becomes practical.
Carries 12 GB, the most headroom of the cards compared at 1440p. Memory is usually what dates a card before raw speed does.
Best performance per watt of the cards compared, drawing 200 W. That means less heat, quieter fans and less pressure on your power supply.
Best balance of speed, price and memory of the cards compared: 50% performance at 1440p, 30% performance per dollar, 20% memory headroom. Not necessarily the fastest.
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