Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU vs GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q

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Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the rankingnot ratednot rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
ArchitectureAmpere (2020−2024)no data
GPU code nameGA104no data
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date12 January 2021 (3 years ago)31 October 2023 (1 year ago)

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores614440
Core clock speed780 MHzno data
Boost clock speed1245 MHzno data
Number of transistors17,400 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology8 nm5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)80 Watt53 Watt
Texture fill rate239.0no data
Floating-point processing power15.3 TFLOPSno data
ROPs96no data
TMUs192no data
Tensor Cores192no data
Ray Tracing Cores48no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop sizelargemedium sized
InterfacePCIe 4.0 x16no data
Supplementary power connectorsNoneno data

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR6LPDDR5-6400
Maximum RAM amount8 GBno data
Memory bus width256 Bitno data
Memory clock speed1500 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth384.0 GB/sno data
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display ConnectorsNo outputsno data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)no data
Shader Model6.5no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL2.0no data
Vulkan1.2-
CUDA8.6-

Pros & cons summary


Recency 12 January 2021 31 October 2023
Chip lithography 8 nm 5 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 80 Watt 53 Watt

Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU has an age advantage of 2 years, a 60% more advanced lithography process, and 50.9% lower power consumption.

We couldn't decide between GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q and Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU. We've got no test results to judge.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q
GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q
Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU
M3 Max 40-Core GPU

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

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3.8 37 votes

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3.4 253 votes

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