NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Comparison

NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER and GeForce RTX 3060 Ti are two end-of-life graphics cards from consecutive generations, yet they present a stark contrast in performance and architecture. The benchmark data shows a clear generational leap, with the RTX 3060 Ti winning nine of the ten head-to-head tests, while the RTX 2060 SUPER secures a single, albeit significant, victory in Vulkan compute. This analysis breaks down where each card excels, the architectural shifts that define them, and the specific numbers that separate the two.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3060 Ti is the dominant force across nearly every workload category in the database. Its wins span from DirectX 9 legacy titles to modern DirectX 12 and compute-heavy tasks. The largest margin comes in GPU compute, where the RTX 3060 Ti scores 10,006 against the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 6,721, a 32.8% advantage. This points to a substantial lead in raw parallel processing power, making it the better choice for rendering, scientific simulations, or any task that leverages general-purpose compute.

In DirectX 11, a staple for many current games, the RTX 3060 Ti posts 163 versus 130, a 20.2% lead. DirectX 12 shows a similar story, with the newer card scoring 78 against 61, a 21.8% difference. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which is a modern, demanding benchmark, reinforces this trend: the RTX 3060 Ti scores 2,626, outperforming the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 2,011 by 23.4%. Even in older DirectX 10 and DirectX 9 APIs, the RTX 3060 Ti maintains a lead of 15.9% and 6.8%, respectively.

The RTX 2060 SUPER’s only win is in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 77,402 versus the RTX 3060 Ti’s 47,784. This is a massive 62% delta in favor of the older card. This suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER has a more efficient Vulkan driver stack or a hardware advantage specific to that API, which could matter for users running Vulkan-based games or applications. However, this single victory does little to offset the RTX 3060 Ti’s sweeping dominance elsewhere. For users prioritizing compute performance, modern DirectX titles, or overall rasterization, the RTX 3060 Ti is unequivocally the stronger option. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s Vulkan advantage makes it a niche pick for those specifically invested in that API.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and manufacturing processes. The RTX 2060 SUPER uses the TU106 chip, based on the Turing architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 12 nm process. The die measures 445 mm² and houses 10,800 million transistors, resulting in a transistor density of 24.3M per mm². In contrast, the RTX 3060 Ti uses the GA104 chip, based on the Ampere architecture, built on Samsung’s 8 nm process. This die is smaller at 392 mm² but packs far more transistors, 17,400 million, yielding a much higher density of 44.4M per mm². This density increase is a core reason for the RTX 3060 Ti’s performance advantage.

The compute core counts differ dramatically. The RTX 2060 SUPER has 2,176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The RTX 3060 Ti more than doubles the shading units to 4,864 and increases TMUs to 152 and ROPs to 80. Ray tracing and tensor core counts also shift: the RTX 2060 SUPER has 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores, while the RTX 3060 Ti has 38 RT cores but only 152 tensor cores. This means the newer card has a different balance, prioritizing raw shading throughput over dedicated AI acceleration.

Memory configurations are identical on paper: both offer 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth and the same 1750 MHz memory clock (14 Gbps effective). The differences lie in the processing rates. The RTX 2060 SUPER delivers 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 and 14.36 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), while the RTX 3060 Ti delivers 16.20 TFLOPS FP32 and 16.20 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 105.6 GPixel/s for the older card and 133.2 GPixel/s for the newer one, with texture rates of 224.4 GTexel/s and 253.1 GTexel/s respectively. Power consumption also rises, from 175 W on the RTX 2060 SUPER to 200 W on the RTX 3060 Ti.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has 4,864 shading units, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER has 2,176. This is a key factor in the newer card’s superior raw performance.

Q: Is the memory bandwidth the same on both cards?

A: Yes, both cards have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which card wins in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER wins decisively, scoring 77,402 compared to the RTX 3060 Ti’s 47,784, a 62% advantage.

Q: What is the largest performance margin in the head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The largest margin is in the Passmark GPU Compute test, where the RTX 3060 Ti leads by 32.8%, scoring 10,006 versus 6,721.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has a boost clock of 1665 MHz, slightly higher than the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 1650 MHz.

Specification Differences

The recorded data highlights several key specification differences between the two cards. The most impactful is the shading unit count, which jumps from 2,176 on the RTX 2060 SUPER to 4,864 on the RTX 3060 Ti. Texture mapping units increase from 136 to 152, and ROPs from 64 to 80. Ray tracing cores see a small increase from 34 to 38, but tensor cores actually decrease from 272 to 152. The FP32 compute throughput nearly doubles, going from 7.181 TFLOPS to 16.20 TFLOPS, and the FP16 ratio changes from 2:1 to 1:1.

The manufacturing process differs, with the RTX 2060 SUPER on TSMC’s 12 nm node and the RTX 3060 Ti on Samsung’s 8 nm node. The chip sizes and transistor counts reflect this: the RTX 2060 SUPER has a 445 mm² die with 10,800 million transistors, while the RTX 3060 Ti has a 392 mm² die with 17,400 million transistors. Power and connectivity also differ. The RTX 2060 SUPER has a TDP of 175 W and requires a 450 W power supply, while the RTX 3060 Ti has a 200 W TDP and recommends a 550 W PSU. The power connector changes from a single 8-pin to a single 12-pin. The bus interface moves from PCIe 3.0 x16 to PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs also change, with the RTX 2060 SUPER offering 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C, while the RTX 3060 Ti provides 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The physical dimensions differ slightly: the RTX 2060 SUPER is 229 mm long, 113 mm high, and 35 mm wide, while the RTX 3060 Ti is 242 mm long and 112 mm high. Both are dual-slot cards.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head benchmark data paints a one-sided picture. The RTX 3060 Ti wins nine of the ten tests, and its margins are generally large. The most significant victory is in Passmark GPU Compute, where the RTX 3060 Ti scores 10,006 versus 6,721, a 32.8% lead. This is followed by the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the RTX 3060 Ti scores 2,626 against 2,011, a 23.4% advantage. DirectX 11 shows a 20.2% lead (163 vs 130), and DirectX 12 shows a 21.8% lead (78 vs 61). The Passmark G3D test, a general gaming metric, has the RTX 3060 Ti at 20,349 versus 16,462, a 19.1% win. DirectX 10 sees a 15.9% lead (132 vs 111), and the 2D test shows a 13.7% advantage (989 vs 854). Even the older DirectX 9 test favors the newer card, with a 6.8% lead (234 vs 218). The Geekbench OpenCL test is the closest, with the RTX 3060 Ti scoring 78,927 versus 76,957, a 2.5% margin.

The sole exception is Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 2060 SUPER scores 77,402 versus the RTX 3060 Ti’s 47,784. This 62% delta is the largest of any test, but it is an outlier in an otherwise consistent pattern of RTX 3060 Ti dominance. The data suggests that for most workloads, especially compute and modern graphics APIs, the RTX 3060 Ti is the superior card by a wide margin, while the RTX 2060 SUPER retains a specific, niche advantage in Vulkan-based applications.