Testing GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop Graphics: How Does Nvidia’s New Flagship GPU Stack Up?

CES 2022 was a geyser of PC-component announcements, particularly for the laptop market. The three major parts makers (AMD, Intel, and Nvidia) uncorked a big bottle of new CPUs and GPUs, and it’s Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 30 Series “Ti” laptop graphics we’re taking a first sip of here.

The launch we're talking about here today is for the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPUs. The new flagship RTX 3080 Ti brings more than 7,000 CUDA cores (7,426 to be exact), and runs at a tighter range of 1,125MHz to 1,590MHz in stock configuration. (The non-Ti RTX 3080 has just over 6,000 CUDA cores and an operating range of 1,245MHz to 1,710MHz.) The RTX 3080 Ti is designed for 16GB of GDDR6 memory, while the non-Ti can be configured in 8GB or 16GB loadouts. The RTX 3070 Ti is a similar step-up chip, in terms of CUDA cores, from the original RTX 3070.

The first system with these new parts to come our way is the 2022 version of the MSI GE76 Raider. Our test unit is equipped with the new king of the GPU castle, the RTX 3080 Ti. This laptop also features an Intel 12th Generation (“Alder Lake-H”) laptop-grade CPU, a processor family that is also launching today, in parallel with the two new GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs. The Alder Lake-H CPUs are Intel’s latest mobile processor generation, designed for power laptops and gaming machines.

We have a deep-dive analysis of the particulars of this CPU's performance, which is posting in parallel with this article. (The GE76 Raider features Intel's Core i9-12900HK, Intel's new flagship laptop processor.) This piece, meanwhile, will zero in on how the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU stacks up to existing top-end laptop GPU options. Let’s see what's cooking on the GeForce end!

Testing the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile GPU: Specs and Comparison Systems

To gauge how much of a boost (or lack thereof) the RTX 3080 Ti can offer over the existing high-end GeForce RTX 30 Series options, we’ve assembled a group of competitors for it to spar with. Their names and specs, in addition to the MSI GE76 Raider’s full loadout, can be found in the table below…

There’s a nice mix of systems here to act as foils to the 2022 GE76 Raider. As the step-down GeForce GPU in the hierarchy, the RTX 3080 (the non-“Ti” version) is the most obvious point of comparison, so most of the laptop picks here utilize it. That doesn’t mean they're redundant, though, as different combinations of GPU, CPU, and chassis design will lead to different results. The mix of processors will help isolate the GPU performance, with an equivalent high-end AMD Ryzen chip and past Intel generations represented. There will be a little CPU influence in the results below, and the Raider is set up for success with the latest Intel silicon, but the performance numbers here should largely be about the GPUs' influence.

The MSI GE76 Raider, equipped with the RTX 3080 Ti
(Photo: Brian Westover)

There is one RTX 3070 laptop here, in the late-2021 version of the Razer Blade 15. This is, alas, a slimmer 15-inch laptop, which will skew the direct comparisons with it somewhat, since this chassis delivers less room for heat and cooling solutions compared with the beefier MSI GE76 Raider, a 17-inch-screened bruiser. We don’t have current gaming performance numbers in our database for a 17-inch gaming laptop with an RTX 3070, though, so this premium 15-inch alternative will suffice.

The GeForce RTX X-Factor: Maximum Power Draw

There’s another important facet when analyzing GeForce RTX 30 Series performance, and another reason to bring multiple versions of the same GPU into play. By design, the GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs in laptops can be implemented within a range of peak power delivery, tuned to different wattages to fit a laptop's design aspects, a desired price point, and the thermal limitations of a given laptop chassis.

This flexibility on the laptop maker's part to implement a given GPU differently from model to model can lead to some noteworthy variance in performance among GPUs with the same name, as we've written about before. With the GeForce RTX 30 series, that can make it harder to nail down expectations of any one GPU by name alone. One RTX 3070 or RTX 3080 can differ from another by its power-limit implementation.

The MSI GE76 Raider: Configured to 150 watts
(Photo: Brian Westover)

So, for example, one GeForce RTX 3080 GPU may perform a fair bit differently from another in a different RTX 3080 laptop depending on the wattages at play, and in some cases a full-power RTX 3070 could outperform a power-limited RTX 3080. In a sizable laptop like the MSI GE76 Raider, with more chassis volume for thermal headroom and cooling, it should be able to reach top-end performance, and it is indeed configured to a very high 150 watts.

Despite that being higher than average, the other RTX 3080 laptops tested here are heavy-hitting competition: The Alienware m17 R4 is configured at 160 watts peak, the Legion at 165 watts, and the previous-generation Raider at 155 watts. These peak power aspects will have a certain baked-in effect on test results, though at least these models are all within a reasonably close spread.

For testing, we’re using the same suite of benchmark tests we run for full laptop reviews, since we have a solid back catalog of comparison numbers for those tests. They’ll be split into two sections: synthetic raw graphics tests by 3DMark, and the built-in performance benchmarks in multiple retail games. With that out of the way, on to the results…

Testing the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile: Synthetic Graphics Tests

We test these PCs' graphics with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark benchmarking suite: Night Raid (the more modest of our two tests), and Time Spy (more demanding, suitable for gaming rigs like this with discrete GPUs). These should gauge the raw 3D power being pushed by the laptop, useful for judging relative muscle for some professional use cases, and hinting at gaming potency.

These results are very cut and dry: As implemented in this MSI 2022 model, the new RTX 3080 Ti, meant to be the most potent laptop GPU offering, indeed leads this pack on both tests. The margin isn’t huge over the best performers, you’ll note, but a win is a win. That's especially worth noting since it is actually configured at the lowest wattage among the RTX 3080-based laptops.

You can also see the amount of variance we alluded to among RTX 3080 systems (though the Legion’s Night Raid score is unusually low, considering its performance level outside of this test). The RTX 3070, too, is clearly lower than the alternatives.

Based on these tests, you’d pick the RTX 3080 Ti on raw power, but it’s not that simple in practice. Again, laptop size (and thus thermal solutions) greatly influence the performance, and the 2022 GE76 Raider is one sizable laptop. Its predecessor and some of the competitors are big, too, but it’s just as important to remember that you’re seeing the RTX 3080 Ti in a nearly ideal scenario for a GPU, embedded in such a large laptop. Running it in slimmer machines (the Alienware here, though a 17-incher, is still notably more compact than the Raider) may see diminishing returns.

The big GE76's body is an ideal chassis for a high-end GPU: more footprint, more thermal headroom.
(Photo: Brian Westover)

For gaming, you also have to consider the difference between the raw power demonstrated on these synthetic tests and actual, real-world gaming performance. As a general rule, game optimizations swing all over the place from game to game, and some titles lean more heavily on the CPU than GPU, or vice versa. Some titles that favor visual fidelity are demanding even for high-end hardware, while some are simpler and prioritize sky-high frame rates.

All of this is to say that the strong results on synthetic graphics tests—a positive sign in their own right, and denoting the system is a good fit for professional tasks like media editing and modeling—do not always mean a 1:1 correlation with equally great gaming performance. These next real-world game tests are very important to get the full picture, so let’s see how the system fared.

Testing the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile: Real-World Gaming Tests

We ran three real-world game tests using the built-in benchmarks of the games Assassin's Creed Valhalla, F1 2021, and Rainbow Six Siege. These represent simulation, open-world action-adventure, and competitive esports shooter games, respectively. Valhalla and Siege are run twice (Valhalla at its Medium and Ultra High quality presets, Siege at Low and Ultra quality), while we run F1 2021 twice at maximum settings, once with Nvidia's performance-boosting DLSS anti-aliasing turned on.

These results are a prime example of the above disclaimer about translating synthetic scores to gaming frame rates. On its own, the RTX 3080 Ti produced great results: 75fps in the most demanding title on maximum settings, easily over 100fps in a simulation title, and hundreds of frames per second in the multiplayer game to take advantage of high-refresh displays. That’s what you’d expect from a top-end GPU, and why you’d pay up for that experience on a laptop.

That said, the results are less rosy when you look at them in a head-to-head context, and they tell a different story than the synthetic scores. First, consider the AAA title, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The RTX 3080 Ti posted the second-lowest average frame rates on Valhalla at both Medium and Ultra settings, besting only the RTX 3070 in a slim 15-inch laptop. It lost by only a few frames in some cases, sure, but in others it was by quite a bit—the Alienware and its RTX 3080 led by 18fps on the Medium preset and 6fps on the Ultra high preset.

(Photo: Brian Westover)

For a GPU that’s meant to raise the power ceiling for laptops, that’s disappointing. Open-world and realism-focused AAA games like this are what push gamers to upgrade their GPUs, so they can turn on all the fancy effects. Based on this, the RTX 3080 Ti isn’t raising the bar by much, though this is just one game.

It also casts the “ideal scenario” argument in a different light: If the large laptop chassis was part of the reason this system posted the best synthetic results, then it’s less encouraging that this may be as good as it gets for gaming frame rates. There is a little wiggle room here with the power-delivery differences—the competition is configured at higher wattages—but you'll also be hard-pressed to find many laptops that can give you much more thermal potential than this beast, either. You're certainly limited to big 17-inch laptops if you want this much power.

Before drawing a full conclusion, though, let’s look at the other two titles.

The tale is similar on F1 2021—good, but trailing the Alienware by a notable margin—but more positive for the RTX 3080 Ti on Rainbow Six Siege. The new GPU posted the highest frame-rate average on the competitive shooter, breaking 12fps ahead of the Alienware on maximum settings and way ahead of the others. This should leave competitive esports players licking their lips, as these frame rates are fully ready to take advantage of cutting-edge 300Hz refresh rate displays.

Conclusion: More Laptops, More Tests Needed

Generally speaking, our first tests show the RTX 3080 Ti as a potent GPU for high-fidelity and high-refresh gaming, which hardly comes as a surprise. Laptops with this shiny new component will typically be premium offerings, or an upper configuration of a customizable flagship laptop. You’ll pay a pretty penny to get the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti name into a system, and its halo effect will be reserved for experiences meant to be the best of the best.

Based on these results, the reality is a little less glowing. In some cases, particularly on the synthetic tests, the RTX 3080 Ti delivers as the most potent option. In most of our gaming benchmarks, though, it does little to separate itself from the RTX 3080 laptops in our test set, which were running equal or lesser CPUs and the same amount of memory.

Just one RTX 3080 Ti in a coming crowd
(Photo: Brian Westover)

In summary, if you’re trying to get best value for your dollar out of a high-end laptop, the allure of the RTX 3080 Ti name may not be worth the money. You'll want to look hard at the individual test results issued by a trusted tech outlet to weigh how a given RTX 3080 Ti in a certain laptop scores versus competing machines. If there isn’t a meaningful price jump for the laptop you’re looking at, a sale is running, or money is no object, this new GPU can push out more power than any others, as it did on the 3DMark tests and Rainbow Six Siege. It may just depend on the game or games you have in mind, and if drivers and optimizations evolve with time in its favor. For now at the least, it should perform as well as an RTX 3080 of close wattage implementation.

We won’t set these conclusions in stone just yet, though. These results are for just one laptop, albeit a powerful one, and our test suite doesn’t comprise all games out there…far from it, just a sample. We’ll see how the RTX 3080 Ti and, eventually, the 3070 Ti, stack up over time in more laptops as 2022 goes on, so check back for further reviews and testing. With GeForce RTX laptops, now more than ever, independent tests are what matter most.

Editors' Note: PCMag Lead Analyst Brian Westover contributed testing and photography to this story.