GeForce RTX 5080 vs RTX 3060

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce RTX 3060 and GeForce RTX 5080, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

RTX 3060
2021
12 GB GDDR6, 170 Watt
44.34

RTX 5080 outperforms RTX 3060 by a whopping 113% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking843
Place by popularity5not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation69.8540.75
Power efficiency17.9117.98
ArchitectureAmpere (2020−2024)Blackwell 2.0 (2025)
GPU code nameGA106GB203
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date12 January 2021 (4 years ago)30 January 2025 (recently)
Launch price (MSRP)$329 $999

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

RTX 3060 has 71% better value for money than RTX 5080.

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 cores358410752
Core clock speed1320 MHz2295 MHz
Boost clock speed1777 MHz2617 MHz
Number of transistors12,000 million45,600 million
Manufacturing process technology8 nm4 nm
Power consumption (TDP)170 Watt360 Watt
Texture fill rate199.0879.3
Floating-point processing power12.74 TFLOPS56.28 TFLOPS
ROPs48128
TMUs112336
Tensor Cores112336
Ray Tracing Cores2884

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).

InterfacePCIe 4.0 x16PCIe 5.0 x16
Length242 mm304 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 12-pin1x 16-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 typeGDDR6GDDR7
Maximum RAM amount12 GB16 GB
Memory bus width192 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1875 MHz1875 MHz
Memory bandwidth360.0 GB/s960.0 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 Connectors1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b
HDMI++

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model6.76.8
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL3.03.0
Vulkan1.31.4
CUDA8.610.1
DLSS++

Synthetic benchmark performance

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


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score.

RTX 3060 44.34
RTX 5080 94.24
+113%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

RTX 3060 17085
RTX 5080 36308
+113%

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 HD118
−63.6%
193
+63.6%
1440p68
−134%
159
+134%
4K47
−132%
109
+132%

Cost per frame, $

1080p2.79
+85.6%
5.18
−85.6%
1440p4.84
+29.9%
6.28
−29.9%
4K7.00
+30.9%
9.17
−30.9%
  • RTX 3060 has 86% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • RTX 3060 has 30% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • RTX 3060 has 31% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 120−130
−96.8%
240−250
+96.8%
Counter-Strike 2 95−100
−118%
200−210
+118%
Cyberpunk 2077 79
−186%
220−230
+186%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 120−130
−96.8%
240−250
+96.8%
Battlefield 5 130−140
−43.8%
190−200
+43.8%
Counter-Strike 2 97
−115%
200−210
+115%
Cyberpunk 2077 78
−190%
220−230
+190%
Far Cry 5 146
−43.2%
200−210
+43.2%
Fortnite 170−180
−71.6%
300−350
+71.6%
Forza Horizon 4 150−160
−118%
300−350
+118%
Forza Horizon 5 124
−93.5%
240−250
+93.5%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 150−160
−11.3%
170−180
+11.3%
Valorant 230−240
−158%
600−650
+158%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 120−130
−96.8%
240−250
+96.8%
Battlefield 5 130−140
−43.8%
190−200
+43.8%
Counter-Strike 2 83
−152%
200−210
+152%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 270−280
+0%
270−280
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 75
−201%
220−230
+201%
Dota 2 156
−92.3%
300−310
+92.3%
Far Cry 5 135
−54.8%
200−210
+54.8%
Fortnite 170−180
−71.6%
300−350
+71.6%
Forza Horizon 4 150−160
−118%
300−350
+118%
Forza Horizon 5 96
−150%
240−250
+150%
Grand Theft Auto V 141
−23.4%
170−180
+23.4%
Metro Exodus 81
−177%
220−230
+177%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 150−160
−11.3%
170−180
+11.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 178
−127%
400−450
+127%
Valorant 230−240
−158%
600−650
+158%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 130−140
−43.8%
190−200
+43.8%
Counter-Strike 2 72
−208%
222
+208%
Cyberpunk 2077 64
−253%
220−230
+253%
Dota 2 147
−104%
300−310
+104%
Far Cry 5 127
−64.6%
200−210
+64.6%
Forza Horizon 4 150−160
−118%
300−350
+118%
Forza Horizon 5 79
−103%
160−170
+103%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 150−160
−11.3%
170−180
+11.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 82
−252%
289
+252%
Valorant 230−240
−158%
600−650
+158%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 170−180
−71.6%
300−350
+71.6%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 30−35
−366%
140−150
+366%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 280−290
−82.3%
500−550
+82.3%
Grand Theft Auto V 81
−107%
160−170
+107%
Metro Exodus 50
−244%
170−180
+244%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Valorant 260−270
−83%
450−500
+83%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 100−110
−88.5%
190−200
+88.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 39
−267%
140−150
+267%
Far Cry 5 94
−112%
190−200
+112%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
−157%
300−350
+157%
Forza Horizon 5 62
−110%
130−140
+110%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 72
−239%
244
+239%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 110−120
−37.3%
150−160
+37.3%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 30−35
−165%
90
+165%
Counter-Strike 2 20−22
−445%
109
+445%
Grand Theft Auto V 82
−128%
180−190
+128%
Metro Exodus 32
−297%
120−130
+297%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 64
−278%
242
+278%
Valorant 240−250
−33.3%
300−350
+33.3%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 65−70
−106%
130−140
+106%
Counter-Strike 2 9
−300%
36
+300%
Cyberpunk 2077 18
−294%
70−75
+294%
Dota 2 115
−109%
240−250
+109%
Far Cry 5 48
−225%
150−160
+225%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
−281%
300−350
+281%
Forza Horizon 5 36
−108%
75−80
+108%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
−65.5%
95−100
+65.5%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 55−60
−43.6%
75−80
+43.6%

This is how RTX 3060 and RTX 5080 compete in popular games:

  • RTX 5080 is 64% faster in 1080p
  • RTX 5080 is 134% faster in 1440p
  • RTX 5080 is 132% faster in 4K

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

  • in Counter-Strike 2, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RTX 5080 is 445% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • RTX 5080 is ahead in 59 tests (97%)
  • there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 44.34 94.24
Recency 12 January 2021 30 January 2025
Maximum RAM amount 12 GB 16 GB
Chip lithography 8 nm 4 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 170 Watt 360 Watt

RTX 3060 has 111.8% lower power consumption.

RTX 5080, on the other hand, has a 112.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce RTX 5080 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce RTX 3060 in performance tests.

Vote for your favorite

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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
GeForce RTX 3060
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
GeForce RTX 5080

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.1 30357 votes

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