AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT present a fascinating study in contrasting design philosophies. One is a power-efficient laptop chip built on a modern architecture, while the other is a desktop-oriented graphics card with a higher power envelope. The benchmark data reveals a clear split: the AMD card wins the majority of traditional rasterization tests, while the NVIDIA card dominates in compute and modern API workloads. This analysis explores where each component excels, what the architecture differences mean, and which user should prioritize one over the other.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head results are heavily skewed in favor of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, which secures 8 wins out of 10 comparisons. The AMD card takes every PassMark test, including DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, along with the 2D, 3D, and compute benchmarks. Its largest victories come in legacy and general-purpose workloads. For instance, in the PassMark DirectX 9 test, the RX 5700 XT scores 226 against the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 146, a delta of 35.4% in AMD’s favor. Similarly, the PassMark G3D score shows the RX 5700 XT at 16277 versus 13230, a 18.7% advantage. The AMD card also wins the newer 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, scoring 2134 compared to 1821, a 14.7% lead.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, however, wins the two compute-oriented benchmarks decisively. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA card posts 79483 versus the AMD card’s 9524, a staggering 734.6% advantage. The Geekbench Vulkan result also favors NVIDIA, with 80344 against 68310, a 17.6% lead. These wins suggest that the RTX 3060 Mobile has a significant edge in compute-heavy tasks and modern graphics APIs, even though it loses in traditional DirectX-based gaming benchmarks.

The pattern is clear: the RX 5700 XT is the stronger choice for conventional gaming and DirectX workloads, while the RTX 3060 Mobile is better suited for compute, OpenCL, and Vulkan scenarios. The data also shows that the RTX 3060 Mobile’s average benchmark score of 18159 is higher than the RX 5700 XT’s 16361, but this average is skewed by the massive OpenCL difference. The percentile rankings tell a similar story: the RTX 3060 Mobile sits at the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 5700 XT is at the 59th.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras and design goals. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is built on the Ampere architecture using Samsung’s 8 nm process. Its GA106 chip contains 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 43.5 million per mm². The RX 5700 XT uses AMD’s RDNA 1.0 architecture on TSMC’s 7 nm node, with a Navi 10 chip that packs 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die, yielding a density of 41.0 million per mm². The smaller process node gives AMD a slight density advantage, but NVIDIA compensates with a larger chip.

The memory subsystems differ significantly. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 5700 XT offers 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s. This 33% bandwidth advantage for AMD likely contributes to its wins in memory-intensive rasterization tests. The RTX 3060 Mobile’s lower bandwidth, combined with its lower thermal design power of 80 W versus the RX 5700 XT’s 225 W, explains why it falls behind in many gaming scenarios.

Compute resources are arranged differently as well. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 3840 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. It also includes 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores, features that the RX 5700 XT lacks entirely. The RX 5700 XT has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Despite fewer shading units, AMD’s higher clock speeds (boost of 1905 MHz versus 1425 MHz) and higher pixel and texture rates (121.9 GPixel/s and 304.8 GTexel/s versus 68.40 GPixel/s and 171.0 GTexel/s) give it the edge in fill-rate-bound workloads. The FP32 throughput tells a nuanced story: the RTX 3060 Mobile reaches 10.94 TFLOPS, while the RX 5700 XT reaches 9.754 TFLOPS, but the AMD card doubles its FP16 output to 19.51 TFLOPS, whereas the NVIDIA card stays at 10.94 TFLOPS for both.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single victory in the head-to-head set belongs to the RTX 3060 Mobile in Geekbench OpenCL. The NVIDIA card’s 79483 score dwarfs the RX 5700 XT’s 9524, a 734.6% delta. This is not a marginal difference; it indicates the RTX 3060 Mobile is in a different class for general-purpose compute. The Geekbench Vulkan result is also notable, with the RTX 3060 Mobile leading 80344 to 68310, a 17.6% advantage. These two wins suggest that the NVIDIA architecture’s tensor cores and Ampere design provide substantial benefits in compute and modern API environments.

On the AMD side, the most impactful win is in PassMark G3D, where the RX 5700 XT scores 16277 against 13230, a 18.7% lead. This is the most representative test for traditional 3D gaming performance, and the margin is significant. The DirectX 9 result is even more lopsided: 226 versus 146, a 35.4% advantage for AMD. This legacy API test shows that the RX 5700 XT excels in older game engines, which often rely on lower-level draw calls that benefit from higher clock speeds and more ROPs. The PassMark G2D test also favors AMD, with 922 versus 588, a 36.2% margin, indicating stronger 2D performance.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which is a modern benchmark, shows the RX 5700 XT winning 2134 to 1821, a 14.7% delta. This suggests that even in current DirectX 12 titles, the AMD card holds a lead, despite the RTX 3060 Mobile’s newer architecture. The PassMark DirectX 12 test mirrors this, with 64 versus 58, a 9.4% advantage for AMD. Compute performance in PassMark also goes to AMD, with 7650 versus 5718, a 25.3% margin. Only the Geekbench tests break the pattern, with NVIDIA winning both OpenCL and Vulkan.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 18159, while the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT averages 16361. However, this average is heavily influenced by the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 734.6% win in Geekbench OpenCL.

Q: Does the RX 5700 XT win in any modern API tests?

A: Yes, the RX 5700 XT wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test with 2134 points versus 1821 for the RTX 3060 Mobile, a 14.7% margin. It also wins PassMark DirectX 12 with 64 points versus 58.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5700 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, giving AMD a clear advantage in memory capacity and speed.

Q: What explains the RTX 3060 Mobile’s massive OpenCL win?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile’s architecture includes 120 tensor cores and 30 RT cores, which the RX 5700 XT lacks. These features, combined with 3840 shading units, likely contribute to the 79483 versus 9524 score in Geekbench OpenCL.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile has a thermal design power of 80 W, while the RX 5700 XT is rated at 225 W. The NVIDIA card achieves its compute wins while consuming far less power.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No, both are end-of-life products. The RTX 3060 Mobile was released on January 11, 2021, and the RX 5700 XT on July 6, 2019.

The Verdict

The data points to two distinct user profiles. For gamers focused on traditional DirectX titles, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the stronger choice. It wins the PassMark G3D test by 18.7%, the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test by 14.7%, and several legacy API tests by large margins. Its 8 GB of memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth provide a solid foundation for rasterization-heavy workloads. The higher power draw of 225 W is a trade-off, but the performance in gaming benchmarks is consistently ahead.

For users who prioritize compute performance, Vulkan applications, or OpenCL workloads, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is the clear winner. The 734.6% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL is extraordinary, and the 17.6% win in Geekbench Vulkan shows modern API competence. The RTX 3060 Mobile also achieves this with an 80 W power envelope, making it far more efficient. Its 6 GB memory and lower bandwidth are limitations, but they do not affect its compute results.

The percentile rankings reinforce this split: the RTX 3060 Mobile sits at the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 5700 XT is at the 59th. This suggests that the NVIDIA card’s compute strengths boost its overall standing, even though it loses the majority of gaming tests. The nearest rivals for each GPU also reflect their positioning: the RTX 3060 Mobile is compared to the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 and Intel Arc A770M, while the RX 5700 XT sits near the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every core specification. The RTX 3060 Mobile uses an 8 nm process from Samsung, while the RX 5700 XT uses a 7 nm process from TSMC. The NVIDIA chip is larger, with 12,000 million transistors versus 10,300 million. Clock speeds favor AMD: the RX 5700 XT has a base clock of 1605 MHz and boost of 1905 MHz, while the RTX 3060 Mobile runs at 900 MHz base and 1425 MHz boost. The RX 5700 XT also has a game clock of 1755 MHz, which the NVIDIA card lacks.

Memory is another major differentiator: 6 GB versus 8 GB, 192-bit versus 256-bit bus, and 336.0 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The compute unit counts vary as well: the RTX 3060 Mobile has 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, while the RX 5700 XT has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The RTX 3060 Mobile includes 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores; the RX 5700 XT has none. Pixel and texture rates are higher on AMD (121.9 GPixel/s and 304.8 GTexel/s versus 68.40 and 171.0). FP32 performance is slightly higher on NVIDIA (10.94 versus 9.754 TFLOPS), but FP16 is much higher on AMD (19.51 TFLOPS versus 10.94). The power draw is drastically different: 80 W versus 225 W. The RX 5700 XT is a dual-slot card with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors and a suggested PSU of 550 W; the RTX 3060 Mobile uses no power connectors. Display outputs also differ, with AMD offering 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while NVIDIA’s outputs are portable device dependent. The RX 5700 XT has a launch MSRP of 399 USD.