NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark record is unambiguous: the RTX 3070 Mobile wins all ten recorded head-to-head comparisons against the RTX 3060 Mobile. The largest margin appears in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the 3070 Mobile scores 2380 against 1821, a 30.7% advantage. That is the single biggest gap in the entire test suite, and it signals a substantial lead in modern DX12 rendering workloads.

The compute-oriented tests also favor the higher-tier chip. In Geekbench OpenCL, the 3070 Mobile records 92939 versus 79483, a 16.9% lead. PassMark GPU Compute shows a similar story: 6827 against 5718, a 19.4% difference. These results indicate that the 3070 Mobile is not just faster for gaming frames, it also carries a clear edge in general-purpose GPU compute tasks.

DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 legacy tests show the largest relative wins for the 3070 Mobile outside of Steel Nomad. PassMark DX10 scores 113 versus 90, a 25.6% lead, while DX11 scores 138 versus 110, a 25.5% lead. That consistency across older API workloads suggests the 3070 Mobile does not sacrifice compatibility or performance in less modern titles.

The Vulkan test is the closest contest. Geekbench Vulkan gives the 3070 Mobile 86768 and the 3060 Mobile 80344, a slim 8% margin. Still a win, but the narrowest one recorded. PassMark G2D also lands at 9% (641 versus 588), which measures 2D performance and is less relevant for gaming but still favors the 3070 Mobile.

PassMark DirectX 12 shows a 10.3% lead (64 versus 58), and DirectX 9 shows 9.6% (160 versus 146). PassMark G3D, the aggregate gaming graphics score, comes in at 15309 versus 13230, a 15.7% difference. The overall picture is clear: the 3070 Mobile leads everywhere, with margins ranging from 8% to 30.7%, and the average benchmark score reflects that at 20534 versus 18159, which is roughly a 13.1% gap.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on the same Ampere architecture and the same Samsung 8 nm process node. The foundry is identical, so process-level differences do not explain the performance gap. The chips themselves differ. The RTX 3070 Mobile uses the GA104 chip with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. The RTX 3060 Mobile uses the GA106 chip with 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die. Transistor density is nearly the same: 44.4M per mm² for the GA104 versus 43.5M per mm² for the GA106.

The core configuration is where the gap widens. The 3070 Mobile has 5120 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs. The 3060 Mobile has 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The 3070 Mobile also carries more specialized hardware: 40 RT cores versus 30, and 160 tensor cores versus 120. These are not minor differences; they scale directly with the shading unit count, and they explain why the 3070 Mobile produces higher pixel and texture rates.

Clock speeds differ as well. The 3070 Mobile has a base clock of 1110 MHz and a boost clock of 1560 MHz. The 3060 Mobile runs at a 900 MHz base and 1425 MHz boost. That is a 210 MHz base clock advantage and a 135 MHz boost clock advantage for the 3070 Mobile. Memory clocks are identical at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective on both cards. The memory type is also the same: GDDR6.

The FP32 compute rating for the 3070 Mobile is 15.97 TFLOPS, while the 3060 Mobile is rated at 10.94 TFLOPS. Both support FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, so the same TFLOPS figures apply for FP16. Pixel rate is 124.8 GPixel/s for the 3070 Mobile versus 68.40 GPixel/s for the 3060 Mobile. Texture rate is 249.6 GTexel/s versus 171.0 GTexel/s. These are direct consequences of the different core counts and clock speeds.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 on both. Neither card has dedicated power connectors listed; both are portable-device dependent for display outputs. Both are end-of-life products released on the same date, 2021-01-11, and both succeed the GeForce 20 Mobile generation.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3070 Mobile wins every recorded benchmark, so the use-case split is not about one card beating the other in a specific test. It is about how much of a lead matters for different workloads.

For modern DX12 gaming, the 3070 Mobile is the clear pick. The 30.7% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is the strongest single result, and it directly reflects performance in current-generation rendering engines. If you play recent titles that rely heavily on DX12 features, the 3070 Mobile will provide a noticeably smoother experience.

For compute-heavy tasks such as rendering, machine learning inference, or physics simulation, the 3070 Mobile again leads. The 19.4% advantage in PassMark GPU Compute and the 16.9% lead in Geekbench OpenCL show that the extra shading units and tensor cores translate into real throughput gains. The 160 tensor cores versus 120 gives it more headroom for workloads that use TensorFloat or other tensor core operations.

For legacy DirectX titles, the 3070 Mobile still wins, with 25.6% in DX10 and 25.5% in DX11. That means even older games that do not use modern APIs will run faster on the 3070 Mobile. The DX9 margin is smaller at 9.6%, but the 3070 Mobile still leads.

The RTX 3060 Mobile does not have a single benchmark win in the database. Its only advantage is practical: it is the lower-power option. The TDP is 80 W versus 115 W for the 3070 Mobile. In a laptop chassis, that lower power draw can translate into less heat, longer battery life, and potentially a thinner design. If your priority is maximum performance per watt in a constrained thermal envelope, the 3060 Mobile is the more efficient choice, but the data shows it is slower in every measured workload.

Specification Differences

The two cards share the same architecture, process node, foundry, memory type, API support, bus interface, and production status. The differences are in the chip, core counts, clocks, memory capacity and bus width, and power.

The chip: GA104 versus GA106. The 3070 Mobile has 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. The 3060 Mobile has 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die. Transistor density is 44.4M per mm² versus 43.5M per mm².

Core counts: 5120 shading units, 160 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 40 RT cores, and 160 tensor cores on the 3070 Mobile. The 3060 Mobile has 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 30 RT cores, and 120 tensor cores.

Clocks: base 1110 MHz and boost 1560 MHz on the 3070 Mobile. The 3060 Mobile runs 900 MHz base and 1425 MHz boost. Memory clock is the same at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

Memory: 8 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus for the 3070 Mobile, with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 3060 Mobile has 6 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Performance rates: 124.8 GPixel/s pixel rate and 249.6 GTexel/s texture rate for the 3070 Mobile. The 3060 Mobile is rated at 68.40 GPixel/s and 171.0 GTexel/s. FP32 is 15.97 TFLOPS versus 10.94 TFLOPS. FP16 is the same at a 1:1 ratio.

TDP: 115 W for the 3070 Mobile, 80 W for the 3060 Mobile.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The RTX 3070 Mobile scores 2380 versus 1821 for the RTX 3060 Mobile, a 30.7% lead.

Q: Does the RTX 3060 Mobile win any benchmark in the database?

A: No. The RTX 3070 Mobile wins all ten recorded head-to-head comparisons. The closest margin is 8% in Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 3070 Mobile has 448.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 256-bit bus with 8 GB GDDR6. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 336.0 GB/s on a 192-bit bus with 6 GB GDDR6.

Q: Are both GPUs on the same process node?

A: Yes. Both use the Samsung 8 nm process. The 3070 Mobile uses the GA104 chip, and the 3060 Mobile uses the GA106 chip.

Q: Which card has more RT cores?

A: The RTX 3070 Mobile has 40 RT cores, compared to 30 on the RTX 3060 Mobile.

Q: What is the TDP difference?

A: The RTX 3070 Mobile is rated at 115 W, while the RTX 3060 Mobile is rated at 80 W.

The Verdict

The data is one-sided. The RTX 3070 Mobile outperforms the RTX 3060 Mobile in every recorded benchmark, with margins ranging from 8% to 30.7%. The average benchmark score is 20534 versus 18159, and the 3070 Mobile sits at the 65th percentile of all GPUs while the 3060 Mobile sits at the 62nd. If you need maximum performance for gaming, compute, or legacy API workloads, the 3070 Mobile is the clear choice.

The 3060 Mobile is not without a role. Its 80 W TDP versus 115 W means it draws less power, which can be decisive in thin-and-light laptops where cooling and battery life matter more than raw frame rates. In the database, its closest rivals include the RTX 2060 SUPER (delta -0.4%) and the Arc A770M (delta -1.2%), which places it in a lower performance tier.

For a desktop replacement laptop where performance is the priority, pick the 3070 Mobile. For a portable machine where power efficiency is the constraint, the 3060 Mobile is the sensible fallback. The benchmark results do not show any workload where the 3060 Mobile wins, so the decision comes down to power budget, not performance.