AMD Radeon RX 9060 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 9060 end the benchmark sweep with an exact 5-5 split in wins, but the nature of those victories tells a tale of two very different architectures. The RTX 3060 Ti, an Ampere-generation part from late 2020, is now end-of-life, while the RX 9060, built on RDNA 4.0, is an active product released in mid-2025. Their aggregate average benchmark scores are nearly identical—16,129 for the NVIDIA card versus 16,014 for the AMD card—a gap of just 0.7%. The data shows that one card is not universally faster; instead, the winner depends heavily on the specific API and workload.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive victory in the entire comparison belongs to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti in the Passmark DirectX 12 test. It scores 78 points against the RX 9060’s 44 points, a massive 77.3% advantage. This is a staggering delta for two cards with nearly identical average scores, suggesting that the RTX 3060 Ti’s driver optimization or hardware scheduling for DX12 is vastly superior in this specific legacy test. The NVIDIA card also wins Passmark DirectX 10 by a 26.9% margin (132 vs. 104) and Passmark G3D by 15.4% (20,349 vs. 17,631). Even in compute, the RTX 3060 Ti edges out the RX 9060, winning Passmark GPU Compute by a slim 0.9% (10,006 vs. 9,919).

The AMD Radeon RX 9060, however, strikes back in modern and API-agnostic workloads. Its biggest win is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where it scores 3,322 versus the RTX 3060 Ti’s 2,626, a 21% lead. This is particularly notable because it is a modern DX12 benchmark, contrasting sharply with the older Passmark DX12 result. The RX 9060 also wins Geekbench OpenCL by 10.5% (88,183 vs. 78,927) and Passmark DirectX 11 by 10.4% (182 vs. 163). In legacy DirectX 9, it takes a 16.4% lead (280 vs. 234). The smallest margin of the entire set is in Passmark G2D, where the RX 9060 wins by 1.3% (1,002 vs. 989), indicating near-parity in 2D acceleration.

Architecture Differences

The underlying hardware could not be more different. The RTX 3060 Ti uses the GA104 chip on Samsung’s 8 nm process, packing 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm². In contrast, the RX 9060 uses the Navi 44 chip on TSMC’s 4 nm process, which crams 29,700 million transistors into just 199 mm², achieving a density of 149.2 million per mm². This is a generational leap in manufacturing, allowing the AMD card to fit nearly twice the transistors in half the space.

The compute configurations diverge wildly. The RTX 3060 Ti boasts 4,864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 80 raster operation units (ROPs). It also includes 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores, which are absent from the RX 9060’s spec sheet. The RX 9060 counters with only 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, but relies on much higher clock speeds to compensate. Its base clock is 1,700 MHz, boosting to 2,990 MHz, with a game clock of 2,400 MHz. The RTX 3060 Ti runs at a much more conservative 1,410 MHz base and 1,665 MHz boost. This clock advantage gives the RX 9060 a higher peak throughput: 21.43 TFLOPS FP32 versus 16.20 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA card, and a texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s versus 253.1 GTexel/s. The AMD card also wins on pixel rate, 191.4 GPixel/s against 133.2 GPixel/s.

Memory configurations also differ. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR6, but the RTX 3060 Ti uses a 256-bit bus to achieve 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 9060 uses a narrower 128-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s. The RTX 3060 Ti’s memory runs at 14 Gbps effective, while the RX 9060’s runs faster at 18 Gbps effective, but the wider bus on the NVIDIA card wins on total throughput. The RX 9060 is significantly more power-efficient on paper, with a 132 W TDP versus 200 W for the RTX 3060 Ti, and it requires a 300 W suggested PSU versus 550 W. The NVIDIA card uses a 1x 12-pin power connector, while the AMD card uses a standard 1x 8-pin.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3060 Ti is the clear winner for legacy API performance and specific compute tasks. Its 77.3% lead in Passmark DX12 and 26.9% lead in DX10 suggest it handles older code paths with far greater efficiency. The 15.4% win in Passmark G3D indicates a general strength in rasterized 3D rendering, likely aided by its higher fill rate and wider memory bus. For users running older games or applications that rely on DX10 or early DX12 implementations, the RTX 3060 Ti is the superior choice. Its 0.9% edge in GPU compute also makes it marginally better for OpenCL-style compute workloads, despite the AMD card’s higher raw TFLOPS.

The RX 9060 dominates modern API workloads and compute, but with caveats. Its 21% win in 3DMark Steel Nomad suggests that for current-generation DX12 games, it is substantially faster. The 10.5% win in Geekbench OpenCL shows a strong compute advantage, while the 10.4% win in DX11 covers the vast majority of recent titles that still use that API. The 16.4% win in DX9 is a legacy strength that is less relevant today. The RX 9060’s wins are spread across the most common gaming scenarios, making it the better all-rounder for contemporary software, despite its narrower memory bus and fewer shading units. Its higher boost clock and newer architecture clearly compensate for the lower core count.

The Verdict

Strictly from the data, the choice depends entirely on the user’s software environment. If the priority is running old DirectX titles or specific compute tasks, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the safer pick. Its near-identical average score (16,129 vs. 16,014) combined with massive wins in DX12 (77.3%) and DX10 (26.9%) makes it a specialist for legacy compatibility. The 59th percentile ranking for both cards against all GPUs reinforces that they sit in the same performance class, but the RTX 3060 Ti’s wins are more lopsided in its favor.

For anyone buying new hardware today, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the more future-proof option. It wins the modern 3DMark Steel Nomad benchmark by 21%, the Geekbench OpenCL test by 10.5%, and the ubiquitous DX11 test by 10.4%. It also does this while drawing significantly less power (132 W vs. 200 W) and requiring a smaller PSU (300 W vs. 550 W). The RX 9060’s 21.43 TFLOPS FP32 output is also 32% higher than the RTX 3060 Ti’s 16.20 TFLOPS, indicating more headroom for raw compute in future software. The RTX 3060 Ti’s 8 GB of memory on a 256-bit bus offers more bandwidth (448.0 GB/s vs. 288.0 GB/s), but the RX 9060’s faster clocks and newer architecture make it the better bet for modern gaming. The data suggests the RX 9060 is the rational default, while the RTX 3060 Ti is the niche pick for legacy API enthusiasts.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has a slightly higher average benchmark score of 16,129, compared to the AMD Radeon RX 9060’s 16,014, a difference of 0.7%.

Q: Which card wins in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 wins decisively with a score of 3,322, which is 21% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti’s score of 2,626.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has the biggest win in the Passmark DirectX 12 test, scoring 78 versus the RX 9060’s 44, a 77.3% advantage for the NVIDIA card.

Q: How do their power requirements compare?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 has a 132 W TDP and a 300 W suggested PSU, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has a 200 W TDP and a 550 W suggested PSU.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 has a much higher transistor density of 149.2M per mm², compared to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti’s 44.4M per mm², due to its smaller 199 mm² die on a 4 nm process.

Q: Which card wins in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 47,784, which is 21% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 9060’s score of 39,476.