GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB vs GTX 680MX Mac Edition
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | 243 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 13 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 69.23 |
| Power efficiency | no data | 27.84 |
| Architecture | Kepler (2012−2018) | Ampere (2020−2025) |
| GPU code name | GK104 | GA107 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 23 October 2012 (12 years ago) | 2 February 2024 (1 year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $179 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.
Performance to price scatter graph
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 cores | 1536 | 2304 |
| Core clock speed | 719 MHz | 1042 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 1470 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 3,540 million | 8,700 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 122 Watt | 70 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 92.03 | 105.8 |
| Floating-point processing power | 2.209 TFLOPS | 6.774 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 |
| TMUs | 128 | 72 |
| Tensor Cores | no data | 72 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | no data | 18 |
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).
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |
| Length | no data | 242 mm |
| Width | no data | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | None |
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 type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 96 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1250 MHz | 1750 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 160.0 GB/s | 168.0 GB/s |
| Resizable BAR | - | + |
Connectivity and outputs
This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.
| Display Connectors | No outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |
| HDMI | - | + |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 6.7 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 3.0 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | 1.3 |
| CUDA | 3.0 | 8.6 |
| DLSS | - | + |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 23 October 2012 | 2 February 2024 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 6 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 122 Watt | 70 Watt |
RTX 3050 6 GB has an age advantage of 11 years, a 200% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 250% more advanced lithography process, and 74.3% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between GeForce GTX 680MX Mac Edition and GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that GeForce GTX 680MX Mac Edition is a notebook graphics card while GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB is a desktop one.
Other comparisons
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