As we know, some manufacturers install mobile processors on desktop motherboards. However, this also applies to graphics cards—in fact, we wrote about it two years ago. But we’re revisiting the topic because an RTX 4080M converted into a desktop card has been tested and compared to AMD’s RX 9070 GRE, which has the same memory capacity. As you’ll see, there are some interesting things to discuss!
RTX 4080M: First Test of a Model Converted to aDesktop Card!
Low power consumption!
The advantage of laptop GPUs is that they’re designed to keep power consumption in check. As you might expect, to maximize battery life, power consumption is intentionally limited. Thus, in our tests, the card drew around 100W, even though this model is capable of drawing up to 175W. The question remains as to where the power limit is set, though it could be enforced at the vBIOS level or via a more conservative power limit.
The results:
In synthetic benchmarks, specifically on 3DMark Time Spy, this model posted scores ranging from 18,600 pts to 19,500 pts depending on the run.
In gaming, when compared to the RX 9070 GRE—which also has 12 GB of VRAM—the card shows a significant lead in PUBG (1440p, Ultra), with approximately 340 FPS compared to 240FPS for the AMD card. The “Chameleon” card is nearly 42% faster than its rival. In Delta Force (4K, Ultra), the green model delivers about 100FPS compared to 90FPS for the red model. Once again, the RTX 4080M outperforms its competitor by about 11%.
However, as soon as we move on to AAA games, the tide turns and the RADEON takes the lead again. The mobile GPU thus trails the RADEON by 35.5% in Cyberpunk 2077 (4K High): 49 FPS versus 76. The same is true forForza Horizon 5 at 1440p,Low settings, with 214 FPS versus 297 (-27.9%), while the gap narrows to -10.3% on Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 4K, High settings.
Overall, excluding competitive games, the 4080M is 17% slower than the RX 9070 GRE; the gap narrows to 6% when PUBG andDelta Force are factored in.
An affordable price!
To conduct these tests, we’ve learned that the card was purchased for around $300 (approximately 2,000 yuan), while similar cards are now selling for around $400 (2,700 to 2,800 yuan). In contrast, an RX 9070 GRE sells for between 3,600 and 4,000 yuan. Consequently, the RTX 4080M, although slower, is 22 to 30% more affordable while maintaining low power consumption. This is a viable solution that, unfortunately, does not benefit from any official support or warranty from NVIDIA. Yes, this is an unofficial DIY project.
