NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile vs Apple M1 8-Core GPU

Combined performance score

Apple M1 8-Core GPU
14.03

GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile outperforms Apple M1 8-Core GPU by 131% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking342158
Place by popularitynot in top-10075
Architectureno dataAmpere (2020−2022)
GPU code nameno dataGN20-E3 GA106
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date10 November 2020 (3 years old)4 January 2021 (3 years old)

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores83840
Core clock speed1278 MHz817 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1702 MHz
Number of transistorsno data13,250 million
Manufacturing process technology5 nm8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)no data115 Watt (60 - 115 Watt TGP)
Texture fill rateno data171.0

Size and compatibility

Information on Apple M1 8-Core GPU and GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop sizeno datalarge
Interfaceno dataPCIe 4.0 x16

Memory

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 typeno dataGDDR6
Maximum RAM amountno data6 GB
Memory bus widthno data192 Bit
Memory clock speedno data14000 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data336.0 GB/s
Shared memory+-

Video outputs and ports

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 dataNo outputs

API support

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

DirectXno data12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Modelno data6.5
OpenGLno data4.6
OpenCLno data2.0
Vulkanno data1.2
CUDAno data8.6

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Apple M1 8-Core GPU 14.03
RTX 3060 Mobile 32.38
+131%

GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile outperforms Apple M1 8-Core GPU by 131% in our combined benchmark results.


3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 8%

Apple M1 8-Core GPU 280200
RTX 3060 Mobile 466087
+66.3%

GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile outperforms Apple M1 8-Core GPU by 66% in 3DMark Ice Storm GPU.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD28
−264%
102
+264%
1440p27−30
−156%
69
+156%
4K16−18
−156%
41
+156%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−368%
103
+368%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
−107%
60−65
+107%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−230%
76
+230%
Battlefield 5 45−50
−106%
95−100
+106%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
−142%
85−90
+142%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−291%
86
+291%
Far Cry 5 35−40
−211%
112
+211%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−147%
94
+147%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−110%
100−110
+110%
Hitman 3 35−40
−216%
120
+216%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
−231%
96
+231%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
−117%
50−55
+117%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27
−293%
106
+293%
Watch Dogs: Legion 24−27
−212%
81
+212%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
−107%
60−65
+107%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−178%
64
+178%
Battlefield 5 45−50
−194%
141
+194%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
−142%
85−90
+142%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−214%
69
+214%
Far Cry 5 35−40
−194%
106
+194%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−147%
94
+147%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−110%
100−110
+110%
Hitman 3 35−40
−200%
114
+200%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
−166%
77
+166%
Metro Exodus 21−24
−268%
81
+268%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
−133%
56
+133%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 32
−188%
92
+188%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27−30
−390%
142
+390%
Watch Dogs: Legion 24−27
−173%
71
+173%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
−107%
60−65
+107%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−143%
56
+143%
Battlefield 5 45−50
−173%
131
+173%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−182%
62
+182%
Far Cry 5 35−40
−181%
101
+181%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−126%
86
+126%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−110%
100−110
+110%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27−30
−169%
78
+169%
Watch Dogs: Legion 24−27
−76.9%
46
+76.9%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 20−22
−160%
50−55
+160%
Hitman 3 21−24
−259%
79
+259%
Horizon Zero Dawn 20−22
−205%
61
+205%
Metro Exodus 12−14
−317%
50
+317%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
−300%
40
+300%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
−278%
68
+278%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
−150%
35−40
+150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−12
−336%
48
+336%
Battlefield 5 27−30
−259%
104
+259%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
−457%
39
+457%
Far Cry 5 21−24
−265%
84
+265%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
−240%
85
+240%
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
−152%
65−70
+152%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
−207%
40−45
+207%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
−325%
34
+325%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−11
−170%
27−30
+170%
Hitman 3 12−14
−277%
49
+277%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−11
−100%
20
+100%
Metro Exodus 7−8
−343%
31
+343%
Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
−175%
22
+175%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 8−9
−425%
42
+425%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
−323%
55
+323%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
−163%
21−24
+163%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
−57.1%
11
+57.1%
Battlefield 5 14−16
−350%
63
+350%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
−650%
15
+650%
Far Cry 5 10−12
−264%
40
+264%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
−257%
50
+257%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
−137%
45−50
+137%
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6
−280%
19
+280%

This is how Apple M1 8-Core GPU and RTX 3060 Mobile compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • RTX 3060 Mobile is 264% faster than Apple M1 8-Core GPU

1440p resolution:

  • RTX 3060 Mobile is 156% faster than Apple M1 8-Core GPU

4K resolution:

  • RTX 3060 Mobile is 156% faster than Apple M1 8-Core GPU

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RTX 3060 Mobile is 650% faster than the Apple M1 8-Core GPU.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, RTX 3060 Mobile surpassed Apple M1 8-Core GPU in all 68 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 14.03 32.38
Recency 10 November 2020 4 January 2021
Chip lithography 5 nm 8 nm

The GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the Apple M1 8-Core GPU in performance tests.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


Apple M1 8-Core GPU
M1 8-Core GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile
GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile

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