NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data positions the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile as the clear performance leader in this comparison, with an average benchmark score of 18,159 compared to the GTX 580's 15,283. The single shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, shows the RTX 3060 Mobile at 79,483 versus 15,283 for the GTX 580, a delta of 420.1% in favor of the mobile part. This is not a close contest; it reflects two generations of architectural progress and a fundamental shift in GPU capabilities.

Who should pick the RTX 3060 Mobile? Anyone requiring current-generation feature support, particularly hardware ray tracing and tensor core acceleration. The data shows it sits at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs, placing it just 0.4% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER and only 1.2% below the AMD Radeon RX 460 and Intel Arc A770M in average score. Its nearest rivals cluster within a narrow 1.4% band, indicating it is a solid mid-pack performer in the current database.

Who should pick the GTX 580? The data does not support choosing it for modern workloads. It sits at the 58th percentile, with its average score of 15,283 matching the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 within 0% delta, and it lands just 0.1% above the AMD Radeon 680M. Its only benchmark result, Geekbench OpenCL, is 420.1% behind the RTX 3060 Mobile. The GTX 580 is a legacy part, and its 244 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, and PCIe 2.0 interface indicate it belongs in a historical or retro context, not a modern gaming or productivity system.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 18,159, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 scores 15,283. The RTX 3060 Mobile also holds the 62nd percentile rank compared to the GTX 580's 58th percentile.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile scores 79,483 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the GTX 580 scores 15,283. This represents a 420.1% advantage for the RTX 3060 Mobile, which is the only benchmark both GPUs share in the database.

Q: What are the closest performance rivals for each GPU?

A: For the RTX 3060 Mobile, the nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 with an average score of 18,189, a delta of -0.2%. The GTX 580's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with an average score of 15,290, a delta of 0%.

Q: Does the GTX 580 support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 580 has no ray tracing cores listed in the database, and its DirectX support is limited to version 12 (11_0). The RTX 3060 Mobile includes 30 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Q: What memory configurations do the two GPUs use?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 580 has 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus with 192.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has the higher transistor count and smaller process node?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile uses 12,000 million transistors on an 8 nm Samsung process. The GTX 580 uses 3,000 million transistors on a 40 nm TSMC process. The RTX 3060 Mobile also has a smaller die at 276 mm² versus 520 mm² for the GTX 580.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is substantial. The RTX 3060 Mobile is built on the Ampere architecture, using the GA106 chip fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm process. It packs 12,000 million transistors into a 276 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 43.5 million per square millimeter. The GTX 580, by contrast, uses the Fermi 2.0 architecture with the GF110 chip fabricated by TSMC on a 40 nm process. It contains 3,000 million transistors spread across a much larger 520 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of just 5.8 million per square millimeter.

The RTX 3060 Mobile introduces hardware features that did not exist in the Fermi era. It includes 30 ray tracing cores and 120 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-driven features like DLSS. The GTX 580 has no such units listed, reflecting the pre-rtx generation design. The shading unit counts also differ dramatically: 3,840 shading units in the RTX 3060 Mobile versus 512 in the GTX 580. The RTX 3060 Mobile also has 120 texture mapping units to the GTX 580's 64, while both have 48 render output units.

API support further separates the two. The RTX 3060 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 580 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support recorded. The RTX 3060 Mobile also supports half-precision FP16 math at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, while the GTX 580 has no FP16 capability recorded.

Specification Differences

The specification tables reveal a generational leap in almost every measurable category. The RTX 3060 Mobile has a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 1425 MHz, while the GTX 580 has no base or boost clock recorded in the database. Memory clocks differ as well: the RTX 3060 Mobile runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective, and the GTX 580 runs at 1002 MHz with 4 Gbps effective.

Memory capacity and bandwidth show clear advantages for the newer part. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s. The GTX 580 has 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 192.4 GB/s. Despite the narrower bus, the RTX 3060 Mobile achieves significantly higher bandwidth due to faster memory technology.

Compute throughput numbers emphasize the performance gap. The RTX 3060 Mobile achieves 10.94 TFLOPS FP32, 68.40 GPixel/s pixel rate, and 171.0 GTexel/s texture rate. The GTX 580 achieves 1.581 TFLOPS FP32, 24.70 GPixel/s, and 49.41 GTexel/s. The RTX 3060 Mobile is roughly seven times faster in FP32 compute and nearly seven times faster in texture rate.

Power and physical specifications differ completely. The RTX 3060 Mobile is a low-power mobile part at 80 W TDP with no power connectors required and no slot width specified. The GTX 580 is a desktop card with a 244 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 550 W. The GTX 580 measures 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the RTX 3060 Mobile's dimensions are listed as portable device dependent. The GTX 580 uses PCIe 2.0 x16, while the RTX 3060 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The GTX 580's display outputs are 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the RTX 3060 Mobile's outputs are portable device dependent.

Release timing confirms the generational span: the GTX 580 was released in 2010, and the RTX 3060 Mobile arrived in 2021. The GTX 580 has a recorded launch MSRP of 499 USD, while the RTX 3060 Mobile has no launch MSRP recorded. The GTX 580's predecessor is GeForce 400 and its successor is GeForce 600, while the RTX 3060 Mobile's predecessor is GeForce 20 Mobile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains one shared benchmark between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. The results are decisive. The RTX 3060 Mobile scores 79,483, while the GTX 580 scores 15,283. This gives the RTX 3060 Mobile a 420.1% advantage, meaning it is over five times faster in this compute-oriented test.

Contextualizing this result within their respective rival groups clarifies where each part stands. The RTX 3060 Mobile's average score of 18,159 places it just 0.2% below the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18,189) and 0.4% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER (18,093). It also sits 1.2% below both the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18,373) and the Intel Arc A770M (18,383). This tight clustering suggests the RTX 3060 Mobile performs at a level comparable to mid-range desktop GPUs from the previous generation, despite being a mobile part.

The GTX 580's average score of 15,283 places it exactly level with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (15,290), a 0% delta. It is 0.1% above the AMD Radeon 680M (15,270), 0.6% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (15,199), and 0.7% above the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (15,171). These deltas are all within 1%, indicating the GTX 580's performance level is now matched by integrated graphics and entry-level discrete GPUs.

The RTX 3060 Mobile wins the only head-to-head benchmark, giving it 1 win and 0 losses in the database. The GTX 580 has no wins. The 420.1% delta in Geekbench OpenCL is the only recorded comparison, but it aligns with the theoretical compute figures: the RTX 3060 Mobile's 10.94 TFLOPS versus the GTX 580's 1.581 TFLOPS, and the RTX 3060 Mobile's 336.0 GB/s bandwidth versus the GTX 580's 192.4 GB/s.

The data also shows architectural efficiency gains. The RTX 3060 Mobile delivers its massive performance advantage at 80 W TDP, compared to 244 W for the GTX 580. This means the mobile part is not only faster, but also roughly three times more power-efficient based on the TDP figures alone. The RTX 3060 Mobile achieves this with a smaller die (276 mm² versus 520 mm²) and a denser transistor layout (43.5M per mm² versus 5.8M per mm²), demonstrating the benefits of the 8 nm node over the 40 nm node.