AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data presents a clear split between these two GPUs. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT wins 8 of the 10 head-to-head benchmark comparisons, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti takes 2. The RX 9070 XT is the dominant choice for modern, graphics-heavy workloads. Its largest victories come in DirectX 12 and compute tests, where it leads by substantial margins. The RTX 3060 Ti retains a single massive advantage in the Geekbench OpenCL test, but that result is an outlier relative to every other measurement in the database.

For a buyer prioritizing raw graphics performance today, the RX 9070 XT is the clear pick. It delivers a 176.4% higher score in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (7260 versus 2626) and a 31.7% higher Passmark G3D score (26795 versus 20349). The RTX 3060 Ti is end-of-life, launched in 2020, while the RX 9070 XT is active and released in 2025. The older card is best suited only for users whose software specifically favors its OpenCL path, as that is the singular test where it outperforms the newer AMD part by a factor of 4.5.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from entirely different manufacturing and design eras. The RTX 3060 Ti uses the GA104 chip on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung’s 8 nm process. The RX 9070 XT uses the Navi 48 chip on AMD’s RDNA 4.0 architecture, built on TSMC’s 4 nm node. The process shrink is dramatic: the RX 9070 XT packs 53,900 million transistors into a 357 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 151.0M per mm². The RTX 3060 Ti has 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, for a density of 44.4M per mm². The AMD chip is smaller in area but holds over three times the transistor count.

Core configurations differ in structure. The RTX 3060 Ti has 4864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The RX 9070 XT has fewer shading units at 4096, but more TMUs (256) and more ROPs (128). The RTX 3060 Ti includes 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores, while the RX 9070 XT has 64 RT cores and no tensor core count listed in the database. The RX 9070 XT’s higher TMU and ROP counts drive its texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s, both roughly triple the RTX 3060 Ti’s 253.1 GTexel/s and 133.2 GPixel/s.

Clock speeds also favor the AMD card. The RX 9070 XT has a base clock of 1660 MHz and a boost clock of 2970 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz. The RTX 3060 Ti runs at a 1410 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost. The FP32 compute figures reflect this: the RX 9070 XT reaches 48.66 TFLOPS, while the RTX 3060 Ti manages 16.20 TFLOPS. Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 9070 XT uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the RTX 3060 Ti uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the AMD card offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a, whereas the NVIDIA card has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test is the single most decisive result in the comparison. The RX 9070 XT scores 7260, which is 63.8% higher than the RTX 3060 Ti’s 2626. This is a modern DirectX 12 workload, and the gap is enormous. It suggests the AMD architecture is far better suited to current-generation rendering demands.

In Vulkan, the RX 9070 XT also leads, scoring 65879 against 47784, a 27.5% advantage. The lead carries into Passmark’s DirectX 11 test, where the AMD card scores 292 versus 163, a 44.2% gap. DirectX 9 shows a 33.7% lead for the RX 9070 XT (353 versus 234). DirectX 10 is closer, with the RX 9070 XT at 154 and the RTX 3060 Ti at 132, a 14.3% difference.

The compute and general graphics tests follow the same pattern. Passmark G3D gives the RX 9070 XT 26795 against 20349, a 24.1% win. Passmark GPU Compute shows 15864 versus 10006, a 36.9% win for the AMD card. The 2D test (Passmark G2D) favors the RX 9070 XT at 1328 versus 989, a 25.5% lead.

The RTX 3060 Ti’s wins are narrow or anomalous. In Passmark DirectX 12, both cards score exactly 78, a tie that the database credits to the NVIDIA card by a 0% delta. The real outlier is Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 3060 Ti scores 78927 against the RX 9070 XT’s 17428. That is a 352.9% advantage for the older card. No other test in the set comes close to reversing the overall trend. The data suggests this OpenCL result is either workload-specific or reflects a driver/API quirk, not a general performance advantage.

Specification Differences

The memory subsystems are a major differentiator. The RTX 3060 Ti has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 9070 XT doubles capacity to 16 GB of GDDR6 on the same 256-bit bus, but bandwidth rises to 644.6 GB/s. The AMD card’s memory clock runs at 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective), versus the NVIDIA card’s 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). This gives the RX 9070 XT a 43.9% bandwidth advantage, which matters for high-resolution textures and large datasets.

Power requirements differ substantially. The RTX 3060 Ti has a TDP of 200 W and a suggested PSU of 550 W, using a single 12-pin connector. The RX 9070 XT draws 304 W, needs a 700 W PSU, and uses two 8-pin connectors. Both are dual-slot cards, but the RTX 3060 Ti is physically specified at 242 mm length and 112 mm height, while the RX 9070 XT’s dimensions are not recorded in the database.

The RTX 3060 Ti launched at a 399 USD MSRP and is end-of-life, while the RX 9070 XT launched at a 599 USD MSRP and remains active. The release dates are far apart: the NVIDIA card launched on 2020-11-30, the AMD card on 2025-03-05. The RTX 3060 Ti’s predecessor is the GeForce 20 series, and its successor is the GeForce 40 series. The RX 9070 XT’s predecessor is Navi III, with no successor listed. The RTX 3060 Ti sits at the 59th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RX 9070 XT sits at the 55th percentile, a counterintuitive result driven by the RTX 3060 Ti’s high OpenCL score lifting its average.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins more benchmark comparisons?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT wins 8 of the 10 head-to-head tests. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti wins 2, one of which is a tie at 78 in Passmark DirectX 12.

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

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3060 Ti scores 78927 versus the RX 9070 XT’s 17428, a 352.9% lead for NVIDIA. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RX 9070 XT leads by 63.8% with 7260 versus 2626.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has 8 GB of GDDR6, while the RX 9070 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6. Both use a 256-bit bus, but the RX 9070 XT’s bandwidth is 644.6 GB/s compared to 448.0 GB/s.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has a TDP of 200 W and suggests a 550 W PSU. The RX 9070 XT has a TDP of 304 W and suggests a 700 W PSU. The NVIDIA card uses a single 12-pin connector, while the AMD card uses two 8-pin connectors.

Q: Are there differences in ray tracing hardware?

A: Yes. The RTX 3060 Ti has 38 RT cores, while the RX 9070 XT has 64 RT cores. The NVIDIA card also includes 152 tensor cores, while no tensor core count is listed for the AMD card.

Q: Which card is more recent?

A: The RX 9070 XT launched on 2025-03-05 and is marked active in the database. The RTX 3060 Ti launched on 2020-11-30 and is marked end-of-life.