GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB vs Iris Xe MAX Graphics

Place in the ranking	624	107
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	14.01	16.09
Architecture	Generation 12.1 (2020−2021)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	DG1	GA106
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	31 October 2020 (4 years ago)	12 October 2022 (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	768	3584
Core clock speed	300 MHz	1320 MHz
Boost clock speed	1650 MHz	1777 MHz
Number of transistors	no data	12,000 million
Manufacturing process technology	10 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	25 Watt	170 Watt
Texture fill rate	79.20	199.0
Floating-point processing power	2.534 TFLOPS	12.74 TFLOPS
ROPs	24	48
TMUs	48	112
Tensor Cores	no data	112
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	28

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 4.0 x4	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	no data	242 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	1x 12-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	LPDDR4X	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	2133 MHz	1875 MHz
Memory bandwidth	68.26 GB/s	240.0 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 HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	3.0	3.0
Vulkan	1.2	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.

Iris Xe MAX Graphics 5.11

RTX 3060 8 GB 39.92
+681%

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.

Iris Xe MAX Graphics 1971

RTX 3060 8 GB 15386
+681%

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	27 −678%	210−220 +678%
1440p	17 −665%	130−140 +665%
4K	15 −633%	110−120 +633%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

18−20
−678%

140−150

+678%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 −678%	210−220 +678%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	19 −637%	140−150 +637%
Battlefield 5	35−40 −678%	280−290 +678%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 −639%	170−180 +639%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −678%	140−150 +678%
Far Cry 5	27−30 −678%	210−220 +678%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 −650%	240−250 +650%
Forza Horizon 4	75−80 −624%	550−600 +624%
Hitman 3	24 −650%	180−190 +650%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −638%	450−500 +638%
Metro Exodus	57 −602%	400−450 +602%
Red Dead Redemption 2	33 −658%	250−260 +658%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40 −657%	280−290 +657%
Watch Dogs: Legion	65−70 −635%	500−550 +635%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 −678%	210−220 +678%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	6 −650%	45−50 +650%
Battlefield 5	35−40 −678%	280−290 +678%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 −639%	170−180 +639%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −678%	140−150 +678%
Far Cry 5	27−30 −678%	210−220 +678%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 −650%	240−250 +650%
Forza Horizon 4	75−80 −624%	550−600 +624%
Hitman 3	23 −639%	170−180 +639%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −638%	450−500 +638%
Metro Exodus	43 −598%	300−310 +598%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 −650%	240−250 +650%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	33 −658%	250−260 +658%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30 −659%	220−230 +659%
Watch Dogs: Legion	65−70 −635%	500−550 +635%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 −678%	210−220 +678%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 −678%	140−150 +678%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 −639%	170−180 +639%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −678%	140−150 +678%
Far Cry 5	27−30 −678%	210−220 +678%
Forza Horizon 4	75−80 −624%	550−600 +624%
Hitman 3	21 −662%	160−170 +662%
Horizon Zero Dawn	26 −669%	200−210 +669%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	29 −659%	220−230 +659%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18 −678%	140−150 +678%
Watch Dogs: Legion	65−70 −635%	500−550 +635%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

25
−660%

190−200

+660%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −673%	170−180 +673%
Far Cry New Dawn	16−18 −665%	130−140 +665%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 −673%	85−90 +673%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 −650%	60−65 +650%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 −650%	90−95 +650%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 −650%	45−50 +650%
Far Cry 5	12−14 −669%	100−105 +669%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −641%	400−450 +641%
Hitman 3	14−16 −614%	100−105 +614%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −639%	170−180 +639%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −678%	140−150 +678%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	20 −650%	150−160 +650%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 −673%	85−90 +673%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 −664%	550−600 +664%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

18−20
−637%

140−150

+637%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	10−12 −673%	85−90 +673%
Far Cry New Dawn	8−9 −650%	60−65 +650%
Hitman 3	7−8 −614%	50−55 +614%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 −669%	400−450 +669%
Metro Exodus	10−11 −650%	75−80 +650%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	11 −673%	85−90 +673%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 −614%	50−55 +614%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 −600%	35−40 +600%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	5−6 −600%	35−40 +600%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −600%	7−8 +600%
Far Cry 5	6−7 −650%	45−50 +650%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 −633%	110−120 +633%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	11 −673%	85−90 +673%
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5 −650%	30−33 +650%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−12

−673%

85−90
+673%

This is how Iris Xe MAX Graphics and RTX 3060 8 GB compete in popular games:

RTX 3060 8 GB is 678% faster in 1080p
RTX 3060 8 GB is 665% faster in 1440p
RTX 3060 8 GB is 633% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	5.11	39.92
Recency	31 October 2020	12 October 2022
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	10 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	25 Watt	170 Watt

Iris Xe MAX Graphics has 580% lower power consumption.

RTX 3060 8 GB, on the other hand, has a 681.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 25% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the Iris Xe MAX Graphics in performance tests.

Be aware that Iris Xe MAX Graphics is a notebook card while GeForce RTX 3060 8 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.