GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB vs RTX 3060 Max-Q
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | 97 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | no data | 16.46 |
| Architecture | Ampere (2020−2024) | Turing (2018−2022) |
| GPU code name | GA106 | TU106 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 12 January 2021 (3 years ago) | 7 December 2021 (2 years 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 cores | 3840 | 2176 |
| Core clock speed | 817 MHz | 1470 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1282 MHz | 1650 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 13,250 million | 10,800 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 8 nm | 12 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 60 Watt | 184 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 153.8 | 224.4 |
| Floating-point processing power | 9.846 TFLOPS | 7.181 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 48 | 48 |
| TMUs | 120 | 136 |
| Tensor Cores | 120 | 272 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 30 | 34 |
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 size | large | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 229 mm |
| Width | no data | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |
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 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 6 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory bus width | 192 Bit | 192 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1500 MHz | 1750 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 288.0 GB/s | 336.0 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 Connectors | No outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C |
| HDMI | - | + |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 6.5 | 6.6 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| Vulkan | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| CUDA | 8.6 | 7.5 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 12 January 2021 | 7 December 2021 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 6 GB | 12 GB |
| Chip lithography | 8 nm | 12 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 60 Watt | 184 Watt |
RTX 3060 Max-Q has a 50% more advanced lithography process, and 206.7% lower power consumption.
RTX 2060 12 GB, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 10 months, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.
We couldn't decide between GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q and GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q is a notebook card while GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
