GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q vs GTX 480

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking432not rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation1.64no data
Power efficiency2.96no data
ArchitectureFermi (2010−2014)Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code nameGF100GA106
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date26 March 2010 (14 years ago)12 January 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$499 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores4803840
Core clock speed700 MHz817 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1282 MHz
Number of transistors3,100 million13,250 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)250 Watt60 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature105 °Cno data
Texture fill rate42.06153.8
Floating-point processing power1.345 TFLOPS9.846 TFLOPS
ROPs4848
TMUs60120
Tensor Coresno data120
Ray Tracing Coresno data30

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 sizeno datalarge
Bus support16x PCI-E 2.0no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16
Length267 mmno data
Height4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pinNone
SLI options+-

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 typeGDDR5GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount1536 MB6 GB
Memory bus width384 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed1848 MHz (3696 data rate)1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth177.4 GB/s288.0 GB/s
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 ConnectorsTwo Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMINo outputs
Multi monitor support+no data
HDMI+-
HDCP+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_0)12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model5.16.5
OpenGL4.24.6
OpenCL1.12.0
VulkanN/A1.2
CUDA+8.6

Pros & cons summary


Recency 26 March 2010 12 January 2021
Maximum RAM amount 1536 MB 6 GB
Chip lithography 40 nm 8 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 250 Watt 60 Watt

RTX 3060 Max-Q has an age advantage of 10 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 400% more advanced lithography process, and 316.7% lower power consumption.

We couldn't decide between GeForce GTX 480 and GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 480 is a desktop card while GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q is a notebook one.


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 GTX 480
GeForce GTX 480
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q
GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

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3.3 211 votes

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3.5 185 votes

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Questions & comments

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