NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile Comparison

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile wins every single benchmark in the head-to-head comparison, taking all 8 recorded tests. The RTX 3050 A Mobile records zero wins. For any workload, the RTX 5060 Mobile is the stronger choice, and the performance gap is substantial across every category tested.

The RTX 5060 Mobile sits in the 67th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile sits in the 44th percentile. Its average benchmark score of 22435 places it alongside desktop-class rivals such as the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (22549, only 0.5% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile (22729, 1.3% faster). The RTX 3050 A Mobile, with an average score of 8746, lands near the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8686, 0.7% slower) and the AMD Radeon R9 M265X (8851, 1.2% faster).

The RTX 5060 Mobile is an active production part, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life. The RTX 3050 A Mobile belongs to the GeForce 30-series, and the RTX 5060 Mobile belongs to the GeForce 50-series. The RTX 5060 Mobile is the successor in a newer generation, and the data shows it delivers across the board.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5060 Mobile wins in every benchmark category. There is no test in the recorded data where the RTX 3050 A Mobile comes out ahead. The largest relative gaps appear in legacy DirectX tests, while the smallest gap appears in DirectX 12.

The RTX 5060 Mobile is particularly dominant in compute-oriented and modern API workloads. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 96969 against 52998 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile, a 45.3% advantage. In Passmark GPU Compute, it scores 7607 against 4419, a 41.9% lead. These results indicate the RTX 5060 Mobile is better suited for general-purpose compute and GPU-accelerated tasks.

For gaming and graphics workloads, the RTX 5060 Mobile also wins decisively. In Passmark G3D, it scores 18852 against 11664, a 38.1% lead. In DirectX 11, it scores 168 against 94, a 44% advantage. Even in DirectX 9, where the gap is smallest, the RTX 5060 Mobile still leads by 25.1% (203 versus 152). The RTX 5060 Mobile also leads in 2D performance with a Passmark G2D score of 876 versus 526, a 40% difference.

The RTX 3050 A Mobile has no use case where it outperforms the RTX 5060 Mobile based on the recorded benchmarks. Its only distinction is that it is the older, lower-performing part in this comparison.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different architectures and process nodes. The RTX 3050 A Mobile uses the GA106 chip built on Ampere architecture, manufactured by Samsung on an 8 nm process. The RTX 5060 Mobile uses the GB206 chip built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 5 nm process.

Transistor counts differ significantly. The RTX 3050 A Mobile packs 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 43.5 million per mm². The RTX 5060 Mobile packs 21,900 million transistors on a smaller 181 mm² die, yielding a density of 121.0 million per mm². The RTX 5060 Mobile nearly doubles the transistor count while using a smaller die, which reflects the denser 5 nm process.

Both parts are integrated GPUs with a slot width of IGP and no power connectors, and both have a 45 W TDP. The RTX 5060 Mobile uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 bus interface, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8.

Memory configurations differ in capacity and type. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5060 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5060 Mobile doubles both capacity and bandwidth. Effective memory clock is 12 Gbps for the RTX 3050 A Mobile and 24 Gbps for the RTX 5060 Mobile, while the base memory clock of 1500 MHz is identical.

The RTX 5060 Mobile also carries a much larger shader configuration. It has 3328 shading units, 104 texture mapping units, 48 ROPs, 26 ray tracing cores, and 104 tensor cores. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 1792 shading units, 56 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 14 ray tracing cores, and 56 tensor cores. The RTX 5060 Mobile roughly doubles the shader, TMU, ray tracing, and tensor core counts.

Both parts support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Display outputs are portable device dependent for both.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in overall benchmark score?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 22435, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile averages 8746. The RTX 5060 Mobile also holds the 67th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the 44th percentile for the RTX 3050 A Mobile.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 Mobile compare to the RTX 3050 A Mobile in DirectX 12 performance?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile scores 87 in Passmark DirectX 12, versus 55 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile. That is a 36.8% advantage for the RTX 5060 Mobile.

Q: What is the memory difference between the two GPUs?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. Both use a 128-bit bus.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No. The RTX 5060 Mobile is marked as Active, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life. The RTX 5060 Mobile was released in May 2025, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile was released in late December 2023.

Q: Which GPU has more compute capability?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile scores 7607 in Passmark GPU Compute and 96969 in Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 4419 and 52998 respectively. The RTX 5060 Mobile leads by 41.9% in Passmark GPU Compute and 45.3% in Geekbench OpenCL.

Q: What is the FP32 performance of each GPU?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile delivers 9.684 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, and the RTX 3050 A Mobile delivers 4.813 TFLOPS. Both parts have a 1:1 FP16 ratio, so FP16 performance is identical to FP32 for each.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 5060 Mobile wins all 8 head-to-head benchmarks. The most decisive win is in DirectX 10, where the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 119 against 61 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile, a 48.7% gap. DirectX 11 shows a similar margin, with the RTX 5060 Mobile at 168 and the RTX 3050 A Mobile at 94, a 44% difference.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5060 Mobile nearly doubles the RTX 3050 A Mobile, scoring 96969 versus 52998, a 45.3% lead. Passmark GPU Compute follows closely, with the RTX 5060 Mobile at 7607 and the RTX 3050 A Mobile at 4419, a 41.9% advantage. These compute scores show the RTX 5060 Mobile is more than a refresh; it is a fundamental step forward in raw throughput.

The 2D performance gap is also large. The RTX 5060 Mobile scores 876 in Passmark G2D, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 526, a 40% difference. This suggests the RTX 5060 Mobile handles even basic display and 2D workloads faster.

The closest contest is DirectX 9, where the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 203 versus 152 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile. That is still a 25.1% lead, but it is the smallest margin in the entire comparison. DirectX 12 is the next closest, with the RTX 5060 Mobile at 87 and the RTX 3050 A Mobile at 55, a 36.8% gap.

In Passmark G3D, the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 18852, which is 38.1% ahead of the RTX 3050 A Mobile at 11664. This is the headline gaming metric, and the RTX 5060 Mobile is clearly the stronger gaming part.

The RTX 3050 A Mobile has no benchmark where it leads. Every recorded test, from legacy DirectX 9 to modern OpenCL, favors the RTX 5060 Mobile. The consistency of these results, with margins ranging from 25.1% to 48.7%, indicates a generational leap rather than an incremental improvement.

Specification Differences

The RTX 5060 Mobile and RTX 3050 A Mobile differ across nearly every hardware specification.

| Specification | RTX 3050 A Mobile | RTX 5060 Mobile |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Ampere | Blackwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 5 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 12,000 million | 21,900 million |

| Die Size | 276 mm² | 181 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 43.5M / mm² | 121.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1065 MHz | 952 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1343 MHz | 1455 MHz |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR7 |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 192.0 GB/s | 384.0 GB/s |

| Effective Memory Clock | 12 Gbps | 24 Gbps |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 3328 |

| TMUs | 56 | 104 |

| ROPs | 32 | 48 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 14 | 26 |

| Tensor Cores | 56 | 104 |

| Pixel Rate | 42.98 GPixel/s | 69.84 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 75.21 GTexel/s | 151.3 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 4.813 TFLOPS | 9.684 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 4.813 TFLOPS (1:1) | 9.684 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 45 W | 45 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Generation | GeForce 30 Mobile | GeForce 50 Mobile |

Both GPUs share the same 45 W TDP, 128-bit memory bus, slot width of IGP, no power connectors, and API support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Display outputs are portable device dependent for both.

The RTX 5060 Mobile has a lower base clock (952 MHz versus 1065 MHz) but a higher boost clock (1455 MHz versus 1343 MHz). The higher boost clock, combined with more shaders and higher memory bandwidth, drives the performance advantage. The RTX 5060 Mobile also has a newer PCIe interface (5.0 x16 versus 4.0 x8), which provides more bandwidth for data transfer to the host system.