NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM

The RTX 2060 and RTX 3050 OEM represent two distinct generations of NVIDIA's mainstream GPU lineup, with the older Turing-based card winning 6 of 9 head-to-head benchmarks despite the newer Ampere architecture in its opponent. The RTX 2060 edges ahead with an average benchmark score of 15290 versus 15199 for the RTX 3050 OEM, a margin of just 0.6%. Both cards sit near the 57th-58th percentile of all GPUs, placing them in the same performance tier, yet their architectural approaches and benchmark-specific strengths tell a more nuanced story.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 leads with an average benchmark score of 15290, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM trails at 15199, a difference of 0.6%.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 2060 in DirectX 10 workloads?

A: The RTX 2060 scores 98 in Passmark DirectX 10, while the RTX 3050 OEM scores 61, giving the RTX 2060 a substantial 60.7% advantage.

Q: Does the RTX 3050 OEM win any benchmarks?

A: Yes, the RTX 3050 OEM wins 3 benchmarks: Passmark DirectX 12 (58 vs 53, an 8.6% margin), Passmark G2D (973 vs 745, a 23.4% margin), and Passmark GPU Compute (5779 vs 5488, a 5% margin).

Q: What is the transistor density difference between these GPUs?

A: The RTX 3050 OEM, built on Samsung's 8 nm process, achieves a transistor density of 43.5M per mm². The RTX 2060, using TSMC's 12 nm process, has a density of 24.3M per mm².

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RTX 3050 OEM has 2304 shading units, while the RTX 2060 has 1920, a difference of 384 units in favor of the newer card.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The RTX 2060 scores 65846 in Geekbench Vulkan, surpassing the RTX 3050 OEM's 57103 by 15.3%.

Architecture Differences

The fundamental architectural split here is Turing versus Ampere. The RTX 2060 uses the TU106 chip built on TSMC's 12 nm process, containing 10,800 million transistors across a 445 mm² die. The RTX 3050 OEM employs the GA106 chip fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm node, packing 12,000 million transistors into a much smaller 276 mm² die. This results in dramatically different transistor densities: 24.3M per mm² for the RTX 2060 versus 43.5M per mm² for the RTX 3050 OEM, reflecting the newer process technology's efficiency.

Feature-wise, both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API-level capabilities are identical. However, the internal hardware differs substantially. The RTX 2060 carries 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, while the RTX 3050 OEM has fewer of both: 18 RT cores and 72 tensor cores. This is a notable inversion given the newer generation. The RTX 2060 also has more texture mapping units (120 vs 72) and more render output units (48 vs 32), suggesting a wider memory pipeline.

The memory subsystems diverge as well. The RTX 2060 uses a 192-bit bus with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3050 OEM widens capacity to 8 GB but narrows the bus to 128-bit, yielding only 224.0 GB/s. Both run memory at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), so the bandwidth gap comes entirely from bus width. The RTX 3050 OEM compensates with a higher FP32 throughput of 8.087 TFLOPS versus 6.451 TFLOPS for the RTX 2060, and it also handles FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (8.087 TFLOPS) rather than the RTX 2060's 2:1 ratio (12.90 TFLOPS).

Power characteristics also differ: the RTX 2060 has a 160 W TDP with a 450 W suggested PSU, while the RTX 3050 OEM draws 130 W and recommends a 300 W PSU. Both use dual-slot coolers and a single 8-pin power connector. The RTX 2060 offers a DVI output and USB Type-C alongside HDMI 2.0 and two DisplayPort 1.4a connections, whereas the RTX 3050 OEM provides one HDMI 2.1 and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 2060 dominates the legacy DirectX API suite, winning Passmark DirectX 9, 10, and 11 by margins of 38.7%, 60.7%, and 27.9% respectively. It also excels in compute-oriented API benchmarks, taking Geekbench OpenCL by 7% and Geekbench Vulkan by 15.3%. The Passmark G3D result reinforces this pattern, with the RTX 2060 scoring 14111 versus 11857, a 19% advantage. If the workload involves older DirectX titles or general graphics throughput, the RTX 2060 is clearly the stronger card.

The RTX 3050 OEM wins in exactly three areas, but they are distinct categories. Its Passmark DirectX 12 score of 58 beats the RTX 2060's 53 by 8.6%, indicating an advantage in modern API workloads. The G2D score of 973 versus 745 (23.4% higher) suggests superior 2D desktop and display composition performance. Finally, the GPU Compute score of 5779 tops the RTX 2060's 5488 by 5%, pointing to better raw compute throughput in certain non-graphics tasks.

The split is telling: the RTX 2060 wins where geometry and fill-rate dominate, while the RTX 3050 OEM wins where shader compute and newer API paths matter. The RTX 3050 OEM's higher shading unit count and FP32 throughput align with its compute and DirectX 12 wins, while the RTX 2060's wider memory bus and higher ROP count support its fill-rate victories.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification category. The RTX 2060 uses the TU106 chip with Turing architecture on TSMC's 12 nm process, while the RTX 3050 OEM uses the GA106 chip with Ampere architecture on Samsung's 8 nm process. Transistor counts are close (10,800 million vs 12,000 million), but the die sizes are not: 445 mm² versus 276 mm², yielding transistor densities of 24.3M versus 43.5M per mm².

Clock speeds favor the RTX 3050 OEM, which boosts to 1755 MHz versus 1680 MHz for the RTX 2060, with base clocks of 1515 MHz and 1365 MHz respectively. Memory configurations are a mixed bag: the RTX 2060 has 6 GB on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 3050 OEM has 8 GB on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s.

Core counts diverge significantly. The RTX 3050 OEM has 2304 shading units versus 1920, but the RTX 2060 has more TMUs (120 vs 72), ROPs (48 vs 32), RT cores (30 vs 18), and tensor cores (240 vs 72). Pixel and texture rates favor the RTX 2060: 80.64 GPixel/s versus 56.16 GPixel/s, and 201.6 GTexel/s versus 126.4 GTexel/s. FP32 compute favors the RTX 3050 OEM at 8.087 TFLOPS versus 6.451 TFLOPS. Power draw is lower for the RTX 3050 OEM at 130 W versus 160 W, with a correspondingly lower suggested PSU of 300 W versus 450 W. The RTX 2060 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX 3050 OEM uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Physical dimensions are similar, with the RTX 2060 at 229 mm length and the RTX 3050 OEM at 242 mm.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The biggest win for the RTX 2060 comes in Passmark DirectX 10, where it scores 98 against 61, a 60.7% margin. This is followed by Passmark DirectX 9 (190 vs 137, up 38.7%) and Passmark DirectX 11 (110 vs 86, up 27.9%). The Geekbench Vulkan result shows a 15.3% advantage (65846 vs 57103), and Passmark G3D shows 14111 versus 11857, a 19% lead. Geekbench OpenCL rounds out the RTX 2060's wins with 65014 versus 60740, a 7% edge.

For the RTX 3050 OEM, the largest win is Passmark G2D at 973 versus 745, a 23.4% margin. Passmark DirectX 12 shows 58 versus 53, an 8.6% advantage. The GPU Compute result is closer: 5779 versus 5488, a 5% lead. These three wins are narrower in aggregate than the RTX 2060's six wins, which include several lopsided margins.

The deltaPct values from the nearestRivals data put the overall competition in context. The RTX 2060's average score of 15290 is just 0.6% above the RTX 3050 OEM's 15199. Both cards sit within 0.8% of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (15171) and within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon 680M (15270) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (15283). This is a tightly clustered performance tier where no card has a decisive overall lead.

The Verdict

The data indicates that the RTX 2060 is the better choice for users prioritizing legacy DirectX performance and memory bandwidth. Its 60.7% DirectX 10 lead, 38.7% DirectX 9 lead, and 19% G3D advantage make it the stronger pick for older game libraries and fill-rate-intensive workloads. The wider 192-bit memory bus and higher ROP count likely explain these results, as does the higher texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s.

The RTX 3050 OEM appeals to users focused on modern API workloads and compute tasks. Its DirectX 12 win, 5% GPU Compute advantage, and 23.4% G2D lead point to a card that handles newer rendering paths and desktop composition more efficiently. The higher FP32 throughput of 8.087 TFLOPS and greater shading unit count support this profile. The 8 GB memory capacity also gives it a capacity advantage over the RTX 2060's 6 GB, which may matter for texture-heavy modern titles even if bandwidth is lower.

Given that the RTX 2060 wins 6 of 9 benchmarks with several dominating margins, while the RTX 3050 OEM wins 3 with mostly modest margins, the overall performance crown goes to the RTX 2060. However, the average score gap is just 0.6%, and the RTX 3050 OEM's lower 130 W TDP and 300 W PSU requirement make it the more efficient option. Users choosing between these two end-of-life cards should weigh the RTX 2060's broader benchmark superiority against the RTX 3050 OEM's modern API and compute strengths. The RTX 2060 is the safer pick for general gaming, while the RTX 3050 OEM suits compute-oriented or newer-API-focused builds.