AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data in the database shows a decisive overall margin for the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, which claims 9 of the 10 recorded benchmark wins. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile manages a single victory, but the scale of AMD's wins in the remaining tests is substantial and consistent.

The most lopsided results come in the PassMark suites. In DirectX 11, the AMD card scores 169 against NVIDIA's 110, a delta of 53.6 percent. The DirectX 9 test shows a similar gap, with AMD at 215 and NVIDIA at 146, a 47.3 percent advantage. The 2D graphics test is even more one-sided: AMD records 918 points versus NVIDIA's 588, a 56.1 percent delta. These three tests alone establish a clear pattern of rasterization dominance for the Radeon part.

The compute-oriented tests also favor AMD, though by slightly smaller margins. PassMark GPU Compute shows AMD at 7532 against NVIDIA's 5718, a 31.7 percent lead. The DirectX 10 test gives AMD a 21.1 percent win (109 to 90), and the DirectX 12 test is closer at 6.9 percent (62 to 58). The aggregate PassMark G3D score, which represents overall 3D graphics performance, lands at 17166 for AMD versus 13230 for NVIDIA, a 29.8 percent advantage.

The modern 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test is the tightest contest among AMD's wins. AMD scores 1859, NVIDIA scores 1821, and the delta is just 2.1 percent. This suggests that in the latest DirectX 12 workloads, the two cards are nearly peers, with the Radeon holding only a nominal edge. Similarly, Geekbench Vulkan results are close: AMD at 81306 and NVIDIA at 80344, a 1.2 percent delta in AMD's favor.

NVIDIA's sole victory is in the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it is extraordinary in magnitude. The recorded scores are 79483 for NVIDIA and 10111 for AMD, a delta of -87.3 percent. This is the only test where NVIDIA wins by a landslide, and it indicates a fundamental advantage in OpenCL compute throughput for the Ampere architecture. However, this single outlier does not offset AMD's wins across the other nine tests, particularly in graphics-centric workloads.

Combined with the average benchmark scores, the picture is clear. AMD's average across all recorded benchmarks is 19765, while NVIDIA's is 18159. AMD's percentile rank among all GPUs is 65, slightly ahead of NVIDIA's 62. The database lists AMD's nearest rivals as NVIDIA Tesla K40m, AMD FirePro D300, AMD FirePro W7000, and NVIDIA Quadro K5200, with deltas ranging from -0.7 to 0.8 percent. NVIDIA's nearest rivals include AMD Radeon Pro 5700, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, AMD Radeon RX 460, and Intel Arc A770M, with deltas between -1.2 and 0.4 percent. These rival comparisons show that both cards sit in a similar performance tier, but the head-to-head scores put AMD consistently ahead in gaming and graphics scenarios.

The Verdict

The data supports a straightforward verdict: the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the stronger graphics card for DirectX-based gaming and general 3D rendering. It wins 9 of 10 benchmarks, including the critical PassMark G3D aggregate, PassMark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests, and the modern 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. The margins in the older DirectX APIs are particularly large, ranging from 21.1 to 53.6 percent, which indicates a substantial rasterization performance advantage that will show up in many current and previous-generation game titles.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is not without merit, but its case rests almost entirely on the Geekbench OpenCL result. The 79483 score in that test is a massive outlier, and it shows that the Ampere architecture has a clear edge in OpenCL compute applications. For users whose workloads are dominated by OpenCL, the NVIDIA card is the logical choice. The data does not support choosing NVIDIA for DirectX gaming, as it loses every such test.

The average scores reinforce this split. AMD's average of 19765 is 8.8 percent higher than NVIDIA's 18159. The percentile ranks are close, with AMD at 65 and NVIDIA at 62, but the head-to-head deltas are more decisive. AMD's nearest rivals in the database all have average scores within 0.8 percent of its own, meaning it is a stable mid-tier performer. NVIDIA's nearest rivals also cluster within 1.2 percent, but its lower average and lower percentile place it just behind AMD in the overall hierarchy.

In short, the recorded data says: pick the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT for DirectX gaming and most graphics workloads, and pick the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile only if OpenCL compute performance is the primary requirement.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT wins in every DirectX benchmark recorded. This includes DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, with the largest margins in the older APIs. The DirectX 11 delta of 53.6 percent is the single biggest win for either card in the entire head-to-head set, and DirectX 9 follows closely at 47.3 percent. The DirectX 12 delta of 6.9 percent is smaller but still favors AMD. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which is a modern DirectX 12 workload, also goes to AMD with a 2.1 percent margin, showing that the advantage persists even in newer rendering paths.

AMD also wins the PassMark G2D test with a 56.1 percent margin, which indicates superior 2D graphics throughput. The PassMark G3D aggregate, which is a composite of 3D tests, goes to AMD by 29.8 percent. The PassMark GPU Compute test, which measures general compute performance outside of OpenCL, goes to AMD by 31.7 percent. Geekbench Vulkan also favors AMD, though only by 1.2 percent.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile wins exactly one test: Geekbench OpenCL. The margin is enormous at -87.3 percent, meaning NVIDIA's score is roughly 7.9 times higher than AMD's. This is the defining characteristic of the NVIDIA card in this comparison. It is not a competitive win; it is a categorical one. For any workload that uses the OpenCL API, the RTX 3060 Mobile is the clear choice, and the data suggests that AMD's implementation of OpenCL is comparatively weak.

The use-case split is therefore clean. Gamers and users of DirectX-based applications should choose AMD. Users running OpenCL compute tasks, such as certain scientific or rendering workloads that rely on that API, should choose NVIDIA. There is no ambiguity in the data, as the two cards do not trade wins within the same API family.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the most benchmarks in the head-to-head comparison?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT wins 9 of the 10 recorded benchmarks, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile wins 1.

Q: What is the largest single benchmark margin in the comparison?

A: The largest margin is in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the NVIDIA card wins with a delta of -87.3 percent, scoring 79483 versus AMD's 10111.

Q: How do the two cards compare in DirectX 11 performance?

A: The AMD card scores 169 in PassMark DirectX 11, while the NVIDIA card scores 110, giving AMD a 53.6 percent advantage.

Q: What is the difference in the overall PassMark G3D score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT scores 17166, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile scores 13230, resulting in a 29.8 percent lead for AMD.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score across all recorded tests?

A: The AMD card has an average score of 19765, while the NVIDIA card has an average of 18159.

Q: Is the NVIDIA card competitive in any modern DirectX 12 workload?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the NVIDIA card scores 1821 against AMD's 1859, a margin of only 2.1 percent. It is close, but the AMD card still wins.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different manufacturers and use fundamentally different silicon. The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the Navi 23 chip, using the RDNA 2.0 architecture, and is manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile uses the GA106 chip, based on the Ampere architecture, and is manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The process nodes differ by one nanometer step, and the foundries are different, which affects transistor density: AMD's Navi 23 has a density of 46.7 million transistors per square millimeter, while NVIDIA's GA106 has 43.5 million.

The transistor counts are close, with AMD at 11,060 million and NVIDIA at 12,000 million, but the die sizes differ notably. AMD's die is 237 mm², while NVIDIA's is 276 mm². The smaller die with a slightly lower transistor count gives AMD the density advantage, but the larger NVIDIA die houses more total transistors.

The memory configurations are markedly different. AMD uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s. NVIDIA uses 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, yielding a higher bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. Despite having less capacity, the NVIDIA card has a wider memory interface and delivers 19.9 percent more bandwidth, which can help in bandwidth-sensitive workloads. The effective memory clock speeds are also different, with AMD at 17.5 Gbps effective and NVIDIA at 14 Gbps effective.

The compute resources are arranged differently. AMD has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. NVIDIA has 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Despite having nearly double the shading units, NVIDIA's FP32 throughput is only 10.94 TFLOPS versus AMD's 10.79 TFLOPS, a negligible difference of 0.15 TFLOPS. The FP16 throughput differs significantly: AMD achieves 21.59 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while NVIDIA achieves 10.94 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio.

Ray tracing and tensor hardware also differ. AMD integrates 32 ray tracing cores, while NVIDIA has 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores. NVIDIA's tensor cores are unique to this comparison, as AMD's card does not list any tensor cores. The pixel and texture rates reflect the architectural differences: AMD has a pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s, while NVIDIA has 68.40 GPixel/s and 171.0 GTexel/s. AMD's rates are roughly 2.5 times higher in pixels and 2.0 times higher in textures, which helps explain its large margins in the DirectX rasterization tests.

Power consumption is a major divider. The AMD card has a TDP of 176 W and requires a single 8-pin power connector with a suggested 450 W PSU. The NVIDIA card has a TDP of just 80 W, uses no power connectors, and is portable device dependent. This makes the NVIDIA card far more power-efficient in absolute terms, though the AMD card is a desktop part while the NVIDIA is a mobile part. The bus interface also differs: AMD uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while NVIDIA uses PCIe 4.0 x16.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so the API feature sets are identical. Display outputs differ, with AMD offering 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while NVIDIA's outputs are portable device dependent. The production status for both is end-of-life, but their release dates differ: AMD launched on 2022-05-09, while NVIDIA launched earlier on 2021-01-11. AMD's launch MSRP is 399 USD, while NVIDIA's is not recorded in the database.