NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile vs NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 Comparison

The GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile and Quadro RTX 4000 present a clear generational clash: a modern, efficient Ampere laptop chip versus a larger, older Turing workstation card. The data shows a decisive split in their strengths. The Quadro RTX 4000 wins the majority of benchmark comparisons (7 out of 10), but the RTX 3060 Mobile takes critical victories in modern API tests and compute workloads. While the Quadro RTX 4000 leads in overall average score by a narrow margin (17,789 vs 18,159), the nature of the wins suggests the RTX 3060 Mobile is better suited for forward-looking DirectX 12 workloads, while the Quadro RTX 4000 is a more balanced, traditional performer.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile has a higher average benchmark score of 18,159, compared to the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000’s 17,789. This places both near the 62nd and 61st percentile of all GPUs, respectively.

Q: How do the two compare in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 wins this test with a score of 1,873, which is 2.8% higher than the GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile’s score of 1,821.

Q: Which GPU is more powerful in OpenCL compute workloads?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is significantly ahead, scoring 79,483 in Geekbench OpenCL. This is a 6.6% advantage over the Quadro RTX 4000’s score of 74,540.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 has a substantial advantage with 416.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile offers 336.0 GB/s. The Quadro also has a larger 8 GB frame buffer versus 6 GB.

Q: Which GPU performs better in legacy DirectX 9 benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 dominates in this older API, scoring 205 compared to the GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile’s 146. This represents a 28.8% advantage for the Quadro.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. However, the RTX 3060 Mobile achieves higher scores in the Vulkan benchmark (80,344 vs 78,844).

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data reveals a clear use-case split between these two GPUs. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 is the victor in traditional rasterization and compute-heavy workloads. It wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test (1,873 vs 1,821) and holds decisive leads in PassMark's DirectX 10 (108 vs 90) and DirectX 11 (128 vs 110) tests. Its biggest win comes in the DirectX 9 test, where it scores 28.8% higher than the RTX 3060 Mobile. The Quadro also wins the PassMark G3D test (15,117 vs 13,230) and the G2D test (846 vs 588), indicating stronger overall graphics and 2D performance. Furthermore, it takes the PassMark GPU Compute test (6,176 vs 5,718), showing a slight edge in general compute.

Conversely, the GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile wins where modern APIs and specific compute paradigms are concerned. Its most significant victory is in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where it scores 79,483, a 6.6% improvement over the Quadro’s 74,540. It also wins the Geekbench Vulkan test (80,344 vs 78,844) and the PassMark DirectX 12 test (58 vs 52), a crucial indicator for future games and applications. This shows that while the Quadro RTX 4000 is a more powerful traditional GPU, the RTX 3060 Mobile is better optimized for the latest DirectX 12 and Vulkan workloads, as well as OpenCL compute.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and manufacturing processes. The GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile uses the GA106 chip based on the newer Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. In contrast, the Quadro RTX 4000 uses the TU104 chip based on the older Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm process at TSMC. This leads to a significant difference in transistor density: the RTX 3060 Mobile packs 43.5 million transistors per square millimeter, while the Quadro RTX 4000 has a density of 25.0 million per square millimeter.

The chip sizes and transistor counts tell a different story. The Quadro RTX 4000 has a much larger die size of 545 mm² and contains 13,600 million transistors, while the RTX 3060 Mobile has a smaller 276 mm² die with 12,000 million transistors. This indicates that the Quadro is a more complex, physically larger chip, while the Ampere chip achieves higher density on a smaller die. The RTX 3060 Mobile has more shading units (3,840 vs 2,304) but fewer TMUs (120 vs 144) and ROPs (48 vs 64). The Quadro RTX 4000 has more RT cores (36 vs 30) and significantly more Tensor cores (288 vs 120). Notably, the RTX 3060 Mobile's FP16 performance is listed as 1:1 with its FP32 (10.94 TFLOPS), while the Quadro RTX 4000's FP16 is 2:1, reaching 14.24 TFLOPS against its 7.119 FP32.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across multiple key specifications, reflecting their different design goals. The most obvious difference is power: the GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile has a TDP of 80 W and requires no power connectors, while the Quadro RTX 4000 has a 160 W TDP and requires a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 450 W. The Quadro is also a single-slot card with physical dimensions of 241 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the mobile chip's dimensions are portable-device dependent.

Memory configurations also differ significantly. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s and 14 Gbps effective memory speed. The Quadro RTX 4000 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a wider 256-bit bus, providing a higher bandwidth of 416.0 GB/s at 13 Gbps effective. The bus interface differs as well, with the RTX 3060 Mobile using PCIe 4.0 x16 and the Quadro RTX 4000 using the older PCIe 3.0 x16. Clock speeds are also distinct, with the RTX 3060 Mobile having a base clock of 900 MHz and boost of 1425 MHz, while the Quadro RTX 4000 has a higher base clock of 1005 MHz and a boost of 1545 MHz. Finally, their release dates are over two years apart, with the RTX 3060 Mobile released in 2021 and the Quadro RTX 4000 in 2018.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark suite reveals a pattern of the Quadro RTX 4000 winning legacy and rasterization tests, while the RTX 3060 Mobile wins modern API and compute tests. The largest win for the Quadro RTX 4000 is in the PassMark DirectX 9 test, where its score of 205 is a massive 28.8% higher than the RTX 3060 Mobile's 146. This is followed by a 30.5% win in the PassMark G2D test (846 vs 588) and a 16.7% win in the DirectX 10 test (108 vs 90). The Quadro also shows strength in the DirectX 11 test with a 14.1% lead (128 vs 110) and the PassMark G3D test with a 12.5% lead (15,117 vs 13,230). Its smaller wins include a 7.4% edge in GPU compute (6,176 vs 5,718) and a 2.8% lead in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test (1,873 vs 1,821).

The GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile’s wins are fewer but concentrated in key areas. Its most significant victory is in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where it scores 79,483, which is 6.6% higher than the Quadro's 74,540. It also wins the PassMark DirectX 12 test with an 11.5% margin (58 vs 52), a crucial result for modern gaming. Finally, it takes the Geekbench Vulkan test with a 1.9% lead (80,344 vs 78,844). These results indicate that while the Quadro RTX 4000 is the more consistent winner across the board, the RTX 3060 Mobile is the superior choice for the latest graphics APIs and OpenCL compute.

The Verdict

The choice between these two GPUs depends entirely on the workload, and the benchmark data provides a clear guide. For users focused on legacy DirectX 9, 10, and 11 applications, or those requiring maximum 2D performance and a larger memory buffer, the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 is the clear winner. Its 28.8% advantage in DirectX 9 and 30.5% lead in G2D performance are decisive. Its higher texture rate (222.5 GTexel/s vs 171.0 GTexel/s) and pixel rate (98.88 GPixel/s vs 68.40 GPixel/s) support its wins in the G3D test. The Quadro’s overall average score of 17,789 is also competitive, being only 2.0% behind the RTX 3060 Mobile's average.

However, for workloads that leverage modern APIs, the GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is the better option. Its wins in the DirectX 12 and Vulkan benchmarks, along with its significant 6.6% lead in OpenCL compute, make it the more future-proof choice. The data suggests that the RTX 3060 Mobile's Ampere architecture is more efficient in these modern paradigms, despite having a lower TDP of 80 W. Its 6.6% lead in OpenCL is particularly noteworthy for compute tasks. Users prioritizing DirectX 12 gaming or OpenCL-based applications should favor the RTX 3060 Mobile. The Quadro RTX 4000, with its launch MSRP of 899 USD, offers a more traditional, powerful profile for legacy and general-purpose tasks, while the RTX 3060 Mobile represents the forward-looking option in this comparison.