Radeon RX 6850M XT vs GeForce RTX 3060

Place in the ranking	82	77
Place by popularity	4	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	70.36	no data
Power efficiency	18.03	18.89
Architecture	Ampere (2020−2024)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	GA106	Navi 22
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	12 January 2021 (4 years ago)	4 January 2022 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$329	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 cores	3584	2560
Core clock speed	1320 MHz	2321 MHz
Boost clock speed	1777 MHz	2581 MHz
Number of transistors	12,000 million	17,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	8 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	170 Watt	165 Watt
Texture fill rate	199.0	413.0
Floating-point processing power	12.74 TFLOPS	13.21 TFLOPS
ROPs	48	64
TMUs	112	160
Tensor Cores	112	no data
Ray Tracing Cores	28	40

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	no data	large
Interface	PCIe 4.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	242 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 12-pin	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	GDDR6	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	12 GB	12 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	1875 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	360.0 GB/s	384.0 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	1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a	No outputs
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	6.7	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	3.0	2.1
Vulkan	1.3	1.3
CUDA	8.6	-

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. 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.

RTX 3060 44.43

RX 6850M XT 45.17
+1.7%

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

RX 6850M XT 17369
+1.7%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

RTX 3060 28375

RX 6850M XT 42016
+48.1%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

RTX 3060 21379

RX 6850M XT 33901
+58.6%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

RTX 3060 120745

RX 6850M XT 172972
+43.3%

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 HD	122 −13.9%	139 +13.9%
1440p	72 −20.8%	87 +20.8%
4K	50 −34%	67 +34%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	2.70	no data
1440p	4.57	no data
4K	6.58	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	95−100 −2.1%	95−100 +2.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	79 −103%	160 +103%
Elden Ring	119 +33.7%	89 −33.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	95−100 −2.1%	95−100 +2.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	77 +13.2%	68 −13.2%
Forza Horizon 4	226 −31.4%	297 +31.4%
Metro Exodus	120 +15.4%	100−110 −15.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	85−90 −1.2%	85−90 +1.2%
Valorant	180−190 −1.7%	180−190 +1.7%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	95−100 −2.1%	95−100 +2.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	72 +35.8%	53 −35.8%
Dota 2	146 +19.7%	122 −19.7%
Elden Ring	149 −8.7%	160−170 +8.7%
Far Cry 5	105 +139%	44 −139%
Fortnite	180−190 −1.1%	180−190 +1.1%
Forza Horizon 4	180 −43.9%	259 +43.9%
Grand Theft Auto V	141 +11.9%	126 −11.9%
Metro Exodus	87 +102%	43 −102%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	200−210 −0.5%	210−220 +0.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	85−90 −1.2%	85−90 +1.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	160−170 −1.9%	160−170 +1.9%
Valorant	180−190 −1.7%	180−190 +1.7%
World of Tanks	270−280 +0%	270−280 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	95−100 −2.1%	95−100 +2.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	60 +36.4%	44 −36.4%
Dota 2	147 +54.7%	95 −54.7%
Far Cry 5	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	154 −47.4%	227 +47.4%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	200−210 −0.5%	210−220 +0.5%
Valorant	180−190 −1.7%	180−190 +1.7%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	81 −9.9%	89 +9.9%
Elden Ring	85 −14.1%	95−100 +14.1%
Grand Theft Auto V	81 −9.9%	89 +9.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	170−180 +0%	170−180 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	45−50 −2.2%	45−50 +2.2%
World of Tanks	280−290 −1.8%	280−290 +1.8%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 −1.3%	75−80 +1.3%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −4.3%	45−50 +4.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	37 +32.1%	28 −32.1%
Far Cry 5	140−150 −1.4%	140−150 +1.4%
Forza Horizon 4	115 −44.3%	166 +44.3%
Metro Exodus	89 −6.7%	95−100 +6.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	80−85 −2.5%	80−85 +2.5%
Valorant	140−150 −2%	150−160 +2%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −2.1%	45−50 +2.1%
Dota 2	82 −20.7%	99 +20.7%
Elden Ring	44 −6.8%	45−50 +6.8%
Grand Theft Auto V	82 −20.7%	99 +20.7%
Metro Exodus	32 −21.9%	35−40 +21.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	140−150 −2%	150−160 +2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	82 −20.7%	99 +20.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 −1.9%	50−55 +1.9%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −2.1%	45−50 +2.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	17 +30.8%	13 −30.8%
Dota 2	115 +47.4%	78 −47.4%
Far Cry 5	65−70 −2.9%	70−75 +2.9%
Fortnite	65−70 −3%	65−70 +3%
Forza Horizon 4	67 −37.3%	92 +37.3%
Valorant	75−80 −3.8%	80−85 +3.8%

This is how RTX 3060 and RX 6850M XT compete in popular games:

RX 6850M XT is 14% faster in 1080p
RX 6850M XT is 21% faster in 1440p
RX 6850M XT is 34% faster in 4K

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

in Far Cry 5, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the RTX 3060 is 139% faster.
in Cyberpunk 2077, with 1080p resolution and the Low Preset, the RX 6850M XT is 103% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RTX 3060 is ahead in 13 tests (21%)
RX 6850M XT is ahead in 43 tests (68%)
there's a draw in 7 tests (11%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	44.43	45.17
Recency	12 January 2021	4 January 2022
Chip lithography	8 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	170 Watt	165 Watt

RX 6850M XT has a 1.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 months, a 14.3% more advanced lithography process, and 3% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce RTX 3060 and Radeon RX 6850M XT.

Be aware that GeForce RTX 3060 is a desktop card while Radeon RX 6850M XT is a notebook one.

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