NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data splits cleanly between the two cards. The GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is a Pascal-era part focused on 1080p rasterization with modest power demands, while the GeForce RTX 3070 is an Ampere-generation card built for higher resolutions and hardware-accelerated ray tracing. In the head-to-head benchmark set, the RTX 3070 wins both recorded tests. The GTX 1060 3 GB has zero wins in the head-to-head comparison, while the RTX 3070 claims two. That does not mean the older card is without merit, but the database shows a clear performance hierarchy.

The GTX 1060 3 GB sits at the 64th percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 19334. Its closest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX at a 0.4% lower score, the NVIDIA TITAN Xp at 0.8% higher, the GeForce GTX 780 at 0.9% higher, and the Tesla K20m at 1.3% higher. This places the GTX 1060 3 GB in a strange neighborhood: its average score is comparable to much larger and more expensive cards, which reflects the specific benchmark mix rather than raw gaming performance. The RTX 3070, by contrast, sits at the 61st percentile with an average score of 17208. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT at 0.7% higher, the GeForce GTX 690 at 1% higher, the Radeon HD 7970M at 1.1% higher, and the Tesla K40c at 1.5% lower. The percentile gap is only three points, but the average score gap is substantial: the GTX 1060 3 GB leads by 2126 points, about 12.4%. That is a database-level average across many tests, not a direct head-to-head result.

The RTX 3070 wins the compute and API-heavy workloads. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 112821 versus 27001 for the GTX 1060 3 GB, a delta of 76.1% in favor of the newer card. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 3070 scores 21022 versus 17475, a 16.9% advantage. These are the only two direct comparisons recorded, and both favor the RTX 3070. For users prioritizing compute throughput, Vulkan gaming, or OpenCL workloads, the RTX 3070 is the clear choice. For users on legacy software or who need a low-power card with a 120 W TDP, the GTX 1060 3 GB remains relevant, but the performance data does not favor it in any direct test.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different foundries and process nodes. The GTX 1060 3 GB uses the GP106 chip built on TSMC's 16 nm process, with 4,400 million transistors on a 200 mm² die. The transistor density is 22.0 million per square millimeter. The RTX 3070 uses the GA104 chip built on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. Its transistor density is 44.4 million per square millimeter. The RTX 3070 packs roughly four times the transistors onto a die that is nearly twice the size, and the density difference reflects the newer process.

The architectures themselves are generations apart. The GTX 1060 3 GB is Pascal, part of the GeForce 10-series, launched in August 2016. The RTX 3070 is Ampere, part of the GeForce 30-series, launched in August 2020. Pascal has no dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores; the RTX 3070 has 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. That is a fundamental feature gap: the RTX 3070 can accelerate ray-traced workloads and AI-based features, while the GTX 1060 3 GB cannot.

Shading resources differ enormously. The GTX 1060 3 GB has 1152 shading units, 72 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The RTX 3070 has 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. That is about 5.1 times more shading units, 2.6 times more TMUs, and exactly twice the ROPs. The pixel rate reflects this: 81.98 GPixel/s for the GTX 1060 3 GB versus 165.6 GPixel/s for the RTX 3070. Texture rate is 123.0 GTexel/s versus 317.4 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 3.935 TFLOPS versus 20.31 TFLOPS. FP16 is even more divergent: the GTX 1060 3 GB manages only 61.49 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio, while the RTX 3070 hits 20.31 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio. The RTX 3070 delivers more than five times the FP32 throughput and over 330 times the FP16 throughput.

Memory architecture also differs fundamentally. The GTX 1060 3 GB has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 192.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3070 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s. The RTX 3070 has more capacity, a wider bus, faster memory, and roughly 2.3 times the bandwidth. Memory clock rates are 2002 MHz with 8 Gbps effective for the older card versus 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective for the newer card, showing that the RTX 3070 uses fewer clock cycles but vastly higher per-pin data rates.

Feature support differs as well. The GTX 1060 3 GB supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 3070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 3070 adds DirectX 12 Ultimate features, which include ray tracing and mesh shaders. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 for the GTX 1060 3 GB and PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX 3070. Display outputs differ slightly: the GTX 1060 3 GB has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RTX 3070 has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, dropping DVI and upgrading HDMI.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct head-to-head tests. The first is Geekbench OpenCL. The GTX 1060 3 GB scores 27001, while the RTX 3070 scores 112821. That is a delta of 76.1% in favor of the RTX 3070. In raw terms, the RTX 3070 is about 4.2 times faster. OpenCL is a compute workload, and the RTX 3070's 20.31 TFLOPS FP32 versus the GTX 1060 3 GB's 3.935 TFLOPS explains the gap. The RTX 3070 also has 5888 shading units versus 1152, and a 1:1 FP16 ratio versus 1:64, which matters for compute tasks that use half precision.

The second head-to-head test is Geekbench Vulkan. The GTX 1060 3 GB scores 17475, and the RTX 3070 scores 21022. The delta is 16.9% in favor of the RTX 3070. This is a smaller gap than OpenCL, suggesting that Vulkan workloads are less sensitive to raw shading throughput and more dependent on driver efficiency and memory bandwidth. Still, the RTX 3070 wins decisively. The GTX 1060 3 GB's Vulkan score is actually higher than its OpenCL score relative to the RTX 3070, but the direction is the same.

The RTX 3070 also has additional benchmark entries in its own record that are not part of the head-to-head set. These include 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 3162, Passmark DirectX 10 at 150, DirectX 11 at 182, DirectX 12 at 85, DirectX 9 at 247, G2D at 1001, G3D at 22214, and GPU Compute at 11195. These scores cannot be directly compared to the GTX 1060 3 GB, which has no equivalent entries in the database, but they illustrate the RTX 3070's range. The G3D score of 22214 is particularly strong, and the GPU Compute score of 11195 shows substantial compute capability.

The average benchmark scores tell a broader story. The GTX 1060 3 GB averages 19334 across its recorded tests, which include Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan. The RTX 3070 averages 17208 across a much larger set of ten tests. The GTX 1060 3 GB's average is inflated by its Geekbench Metal score of 13527 and its OpenCL score of 27001, both of which are high relative to its gaming reputation. The RTX 3070's average is dragged down by low Passmark DirectX scores, which range from 85 to 247. Those Passmark DirectX scores are likely from legacy API tests and are not representative of modern performance. In the direct head-to-head tests, the RTX 3070 wins both, and the margin in OpenCL is enormous.

Specification Differences

The specification table reveals every difference between the two cards. The GTX 1060 3 GB uses the GP106 chip on a 16 nm TSMC process, while the RTX 3070 uses the GA104 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process. Transistor counts are 4,400 million versus 17,400 million. Die size is 200 mm² versus 392 mm². Transistor density is 22.0M per mm² versus 44.4M per mm². Base clocks are 1506 MHz versus 1500 MHz, nearly identical, and boost clocks are 1708 MHz versus 1725 MHz, a 17 MHz advantage for the RTX 3070. Memory clocks are 2002 MHz with 8 Gbps effective versus 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective.

Memory capacity is 3 GB GDDR5 versus 8 GB GDDR6. Bus width is 192 bit versus 256 bit. Bandwidth is 192.2 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s. Shading units are 1152 versus 5888. TMUs are 72 versus 184. ROPs are 48 versus 96. The RTX 3070 adds 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores; the GTX 1060 3 GB has none. Pixel rate is 81.98 GPixel/s versus 165.6 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 123.0 GTexel/s versus 317.4 GTexel/s. FP32 is 3.935 TFLOPS versus 20.31 TFLOPS. FP16 is 61.49 GFLOPS versus 20.31 TFLOPS.

TDP is 120 W versus 220 W. Power connectors are 1x 6-pin versus 1x 12-pin. Suggested PSU is 300 W versus 550 W. Bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs differ as noted. DirectX support is 12 (12_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2). The GTX 1060 3 GB is 250 mm long and 9.8 inches; the RTX 3070 is 242 mm long and 9.5 inches, with a height of 112 mm or 4.4 inches. Both are dual-slot. The GTX 1060 3 GB launched with an MSRP of 199 USD, and the RTX 3070 launched with an MSRP of 499 USD.

The RTX 3070's predecessor is the GeForce 20-series, and its successor is the GeForce 40-series. The GTX 1060 3 GB's predecessor is the GeForce 900-series, and its successor is the GeForce 20-series. Both are marked as end-of-life in the database. The GTX 1060 3 GB was released in August 2016, and the RTX 3070 was released in August 2020.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in compute workloads?

A: The RTX 3070 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test decisively, scoring 112821 versus 27001, a 76.1% advantage. Its FP32 throughput of 20.31 TFLOPS versus 3.935 TFLOPS for the GTX 1060 3 GB explains the margin.

Q: Does the GTX 1060 3 GB support ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 1060 3 GB has no ray tracing cores, while the RTX 3070 has 46 ray tracing cores. The RTX 3070 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, while the GTX 1060 3 GB is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How much memory bandwidth does each card have?

A: The GTX 1060 3 GB has 192.2 GB/s from 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus. The RTX 3070 has 448.0 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 1060 3 GB has a higher average score of 19334, compared to 17208 for the RTX 3070. However, the RTX 3070 wins both direct head-to-head tests, and the GTX 1060 3 GB's average is based on only three benchmarks.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The GTX 1060 3 GB has a TDP of 120 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W, with a single 6-pin connector. The RTX 3070 has a TDP of 220 W and a suggested PSU of 550 W, with a single 12-pin connector.

Q: How do the cards compare in Vulkan?

A: The RTX 3070 scores 21022 in Geekbench Vulkan, beating the GTX 1060 3 GB's 17475, a 16.9% advantage. Both support Vulkan 1.4, but the newer architecture delivers higher throughput in this API.