NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti vs NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which card wins more benchmarks in the database?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti wins 8 of the 10 head-to-head tests, while the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation wins 2.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti scores 2626 versus 1767 for the RTX 2000 Ada, a 32.7% advantage.

Q: Is there any test where the RTX 2000 Ada wins by a large margin?

A: Yes, in Geekbench Vulkan it scores 83360 against 47784, a 74.5% lead. It also wins Passmark G2D with 1072 versus 989, an 8.4% edge.

Q: What is the difference in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada has an average benchmark score of 18954, while the RTX 3060 Ti averages 16129. The RTX 2000 Ada sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, the RTX 3060 Ti at the 59th.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each card according to the database?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6600 with a delta of -0.4%. The RTX 3060 Ti's closest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 9060 with a delta of 0.7%.

Q: What memory configurations do these cards use?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3060 Ti has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Architecture Differences

The RTX 2000 Ada is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. The RTX 3060 Ti uses the Ampere architecture on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 17,400 million transistors across a 392 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: 118.9M per mm² for the RTX 2000 Ada versus 44.4M per mm² for the RTX 3060 Ti. The newer process node allows the Ada card to pack comparable transistor counts into less than half the die area.

The RTX 3060 Ti has a significantly larger compute configuration on paper. It features 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, against 2816 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 48 ROPs on the RTX 2000 Ada. Ray tracing cores also favor the RTX 3060 Ti with 38 cores versus 22, and tensor cores follow at 152 versus 88. The FP32 throughput reflects this: 16.20 TFLOPS for the RTX 3060 Ti versus 12.00 TFLOPS for the RTX 2000 Ada.

Clock speeds invert the raw compute picture. The RTX 2000 Ada runs a base clock of 1620 MHz and a boost of 2130 MHz, while the RTX 3060 Ti operates at 1410 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost. Despite fewer cores, the Ada card reaches higher frequencies, which helps close the gap in several workloads.

Memory architecture differs substantially. The RTX 2000 Ada uses 16 GB of GDDR6 at 2000 MHz with a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s. The RTX 3060 Ti uses 8 GB of GDDR6 at 1750 MHz effective 14 Gbps on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s. The RTX 3060 Ti has 75% more memory bandwidth, which shows in rasterization-heavy tests.

Power characteristics are dramatically different. The RTX 2000 Ada has a TDP of 70 W, requires no power connectors, and suggests a 250 W PSU. The RTX 3060 Ti has a TDP of 200 W, uses a 12-pin connector, and suggests a 550 W PSU. The Ada card draws less than half the power of the older Ampere part. Physical dimensions also differ: the RTX 2000 Ada is 168 mm long and 69 mm tall, while the RTX 3060 Ti is 242 mm long and 112 mm tall.

The bus interface differs as well. The RTX 2000 Ada runs PCIe 4.0 x8, while the RTX 3060 Ti runs PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs diverge: the RTX 2000 Ada offers 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a, whereas the RTX 3060 Ti offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 3060 Ti dominates the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test with a score of 2626 against 1767, a 32.7% lead. This is the largest win for the Ampere card in raw 3D rendering. The Passmark G3D suite shows a similar pattern, with the RTX 3060 Ti scoring 20349 versus 16927, a 16.8% advantage. Compute workloads favor the RTX 3060 Ti as well, with Passmark GPU Compute at 10006 against 7834, a 21.7% edge.

Legacy DirectX tests lean toward the RTX 3060 Ti across the board. Passmark DirectX 10 scores 132 versus 82, a 37.9% gap, the largest delta in any test. Passmark DirectX 11 scores 163 against 138, a 15.3% lead. Passmark DirectX 12 shows 78 versus 71, a 9% lead. Passmark DirectX 9 shows 234 against 216, a 7.7% edge. OpenCL results are nearly flat, with the RTX 3060 Ti at 78927 and the RTX 2000 Ada at 78074, only a 1.1% difference.

The RTX 2000 Ada wins the Geekbench Vulkan test decisively, scoring 83360 against 47784, a 74.5% advantage. This is the standout result for the Ada card and suggests its architecture handles Vulkan workloads more efficiently despite lower raw compute. The RTX 2000 Ada also takes Passmark G2D with 1072 versus 989, an 8.4% lead, indicating better 2D performance.

The average benchmark scores complicate the head-to-head picture. The RTX 2000 Ada averages 18954 across its benchmark set, while the RTX 3060 Ti averages 16129. The RTX 2000 Ada's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 at a 0.4% lower average score and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 at 0.4% lower, while its closest competitors above it include the AMD Radeon RX 6600 at 0.4% higher and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 0.5% higher. The RTX 3060 Ti's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 9060 at 0.7% higher average score, the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M at 1.4% lower, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT at 1.4% lower, and the AMD Radeon R9 370X at 1.7% higher.

The percentile ranks differ slightly: the RTX 2000 Ada sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3060 Ti sits at the 59th. This positions the Ada card as a slightly stronger overall performer in the database's aggregate scoring, even though the RTX 3060 Ti wins more individual head-to-head tests.

Specification Differences

| Specification | RTX 2000 Ada | RTX 3060 Ti |

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

| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ampere |

| Process node | 5 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 18,900 million | 17,400 million |

| Die size | 159 mm² | 392 mm² |

| Transistor density | 118.9M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1620 MHz | 1410 MHz |

| Boost clock | 2130 MHz | 1665 MHz |

| Memory clock | 2000 MHz, 16 Gbps effective | 1750 MHz, 14 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 16 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory bus | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 256.0 GB/s | 448.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 2816 | 4864 |

| TMUs | 88 | 152 |

| ROPs | 48 | 80 |

| RT cores | 22 | 38 |

| Tensor cores | 88 | 152 |

| Pixel rate | 102.2 GPixel/s | 133.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 187.4 GTexel/s | 253.1 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 12.00 TFLOPS | 16.20 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 12.00 TFLOPS (1:1) | 16.20 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 70 W | 200 W |

| Power connectors | None | 1x 12-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 550 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display outputs | 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| Length | 168 mm | 242 mm |

| Height | 69 mm | 112 mm |

| Production status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release date | 2024-02-11 | 2020-11-30 |

| Predecessor | Workstation Ampere | GeForce 20 |

| Successor | Blackwell PRO W | GeForce 40 |

| Launch MSRP | 649 USD | 399 USD |

The Verdict

The data presents two cards with opposite strengths. The RTX 3060 Ti wins 8 of 10 head-to-head tests, with particular dominance in 3DMark Steel Nomad (32.7% ahead), Passmark G3D (16.8% ahead), and Passmark GPU Compute (21.7% ahead). Its larger core count, wider memory bus, and higher memory bandwidth make it the stronger rasterization and compute part in most workloads. The RTX 3060 Ti also shows a clear lead in legacy DirectX tests, with margins from 7.7% to 37.9%.

The RTX 2000 Ada wins in Vulkan by a massive 74.5% and in 2D by 8.4%. Its higher average benchmark score of 18954 versus 16129 and its higher percentile rank (63rd versus 59th) suggest that its wins carry more weight in the database's aggregate scoring. The Ada card achieves this while drawing 70 W against 200 W, requiring no power connectors, and running on a 5 nm process with far higher transistor density.

Users who prioritize 3D rendering, compute throughput, and legacy API performance should choose the RTX 3060 Ti. Users who need Vulkan performance, lower power draw, a smaller physical footprint, or a currently active production card with newer release date should choose the RTX 2000 Ada. The RTX 2000 Ada is positioned as a workstation card with a successor in Blackwell PRO W, while the RTX 3060 Ti is an end-of-life consumer card succeeded by GeForce 40.

Where Each One Wins

RTX 3060 Ti wins in:

• 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (2626 vs 1767, 32.7% ahead)
• Passmark G3D (20349 vs 16927, 16.8% ahead)
• Passmark GPU Compute (10006 vs 7834, 21.7% ahead)
• Passmark DirectX 10 (132 vs 82, 37.9% ahead)
• Passmark DirectX 11 (163 vs 138, 15.3% ahead)
• Passmark DirectX 12 (78 vs 71, 9% ahead)
• Passmark DirectX 9 (234 vs 216, 7.7% ahead)
• Geekbench OpenCL (78927 vs 78074, 1.1% ahead)

RTX 2000 Ada wins in:

• Geekbench Vulkan (83360 vs 47784, 74.5% ahead)
• Passmark G2D (1072 vs 989, 8.4% ahead)

The RTX 3060 Ti is the pick for DirectX workloads, OpenCL compute, and general 3D rendering. The RTX 2000 Ada is the pick for Vulkan-specific applications and 2D performance, and it does so with a drastically lower power envelope: 70 W TDP versus 200 W, no power connectors versus a 12-pin connector, and a 250 W suggested PSU versus 550 W.