NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the database's average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 22435, while the RTX 3070 Mobile records 20534. That puts the RTX 5060 Mobile about 9.3% higher overall.

Q: How do the two compare in the latest DirectX 12 test?

A: In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 3013.5 versus 2380 for the RTX 3070 Mobile, a 26.6% advantage for the newer card.

Q: Does the RTX 5060 Mobile win all benchmark categories?

A: Yes. Across the 10 head-to-head tests recorded, the RTX 5060 Mobile wins all 10, with deltas ranging from 4.3% in Geekbench OpenCL to 36.7% in Passmark G2D.

Q: How do the GPUs rank among all GPUs in the database?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile sits at the 67th percentile, while the RTX 3070 Mobile is at the 65th percentile. Both are mid-to-upper tier, but the newer part holds a slightly higher standing.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each card?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, which scores 22549, just 0.5% higher. The RTX 3070 Mobile's nearest rival is the Intel Arc B570 at 20556, only 0.1% ahead.

Q: Which card has the higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3070 Mobile offers 448.0 GB/s over a 256-bit bus, while the RTX 5060 Mobile provides 384.0 GB/s over a 128-bit bus. Despite lower bandwidth, the RTX 5060 Mobile still wins in compute-heavy benchmarks.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent distinct architectural generations. The RTX 5060 Mobile uses the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB206 chip, built on TSMC's 5 nm process. The RTX 3070 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA104 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm node. This process shrink is a key factor: the RTX 5060 Mobile packs 21,900 million transistors into a die size of 181 mm², yielding a transistor density of 121.0M per mm². The RTX 3070 Mobile contains 17,400 million transistors across a much larger 392 mm² die, for a density of just 44.4M per mm². The newer chip is denser and more compact.

Memory technology also differs. The RTX 5060 Mobile uses 8 GB of GDDR7 memory, while the RTX 3070 Mobile uses 8 GB of GDDR6. The memory clocks reflect this: the RTX 5060 Mobile runs at 1500 MHz with 24 Gbps effective, while the RTX 3070 Mobile runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective. Despite the newer memory type, the RTX 3070 Mobile has the wider 256-bit bus and higher total bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s versus 384.0 GB/s.

Shader configuration diverges significantly. The RTX 3070 Mobile has more shading units at 5120, more texture mapping units at 160, and more ROPs at 80. The RTX 5060 Mobile has 3328 shading units, 104 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Ray tracing and tensor hardware follow the same pattern: the RTX 3070 Mobile has 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores, while the RTX 5060 Mobile has 26 RT cores and 104 tensor cores. On paper, the older card has more raw execution resources.

However, the newer architecture compensates with higher efficiency. The RTX 5060 Mobile is rated at 45 W TDP, while the RTX 3070 Mobile is rated at 115 W. Clock speeds are lower on the newer card: the RTX 5060 Mobile has a base of 952 MHz and boost of 1455 MHz, while the RTX 3070 Mobile has a base of 1110 MHz and boost of 1560 MHz. Yet in FP32 compute, the RTX 3070 Mobile posts 15.97 TFLOPS against 9.684 TFLOPS for the RTX 5060 Mobile. The older card also leads in pixel rate at 124.8 GPixel/s and texture rate at 249.6 GTexel/s.

Bus interface differs as well: PCIe 5.0 x16 for the RTX 5060 Mobile versus PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX 3070 Mobile. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 5060 Mobile is listed as active production and released in 2025, while the RTX 3070 Mobile is end-of-life and released in 2021.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5060 Mobile wins in every recorded head-to-head benchmark, so the practical question is where its margins are largest. The biggest advantage appears in Passmark G2D, where it leads by 36.7%, and Passmark DirectX 12, where it leads by 35.9%. These results suggest the newer architecture excels in 2D workload efficiency and modern API utilization. The Passmark DirectX 11 test shows a 21.7% lead, and Passmark DirectX 9 shows a 26.9% lead. Even in legacy APIs, the RTX 5060 Mobile holds substantial ground.

The RTX 3070 Mobile does not win any of the 10 head-to-head tests, but it has structural strengths that matter in specific scenarios. Its higher FP32 throughput of 15.97 TFLOPS and larger memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s indicate that raw compute and memory-intensive tasks could favor it in situations not captured by the recorded benchmarks. The wider 256-bit bus is advantageous for large data transfers. The RTX 3070 Mobile also has more shading units, TMUs, and ROPs, which can help in workloads that scale with parallel execution resources rather than architectural efficiency.

For users prioritizing battery life and thermal headroom, the RTX 5060 Mobile's 45 W TDP versus 115 W is a decisive factor. The newer card delivers higher benchmark scores at less than half the power envelope. For users with older software or workloads that rely on legacy DirectX paths, the RTX 5060 Mobile still leads, but the margins in DirectX 10 and DirectX 9 are narrower at 5.3% and 26.9% respectively.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification field. Process node: 5 nm TSMC for the RTX 5060 Mobile, 8 nm Samsung for the RTX 3070 Mobile. Transistor count: 21,900 million versus 17,400 million. Die size: 181 mm² versus 392 mm². Transistor density: 121.0M per mm² versus 44.4M per mm².

Clock speeds: the RTX 5060 Mobile runs at 952 MHz base and 1455 MHz boost, while the RTX 3070 Mobile runs at 1110 MHz base and 1560 MHz boost. Memory clock: 1500 MHz with 24 Gbps effective versus 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective.

Memory bus width: 128 bit versus 256 bit. Bandwidth: 384.0 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s. Memory type: GDDR7 versus GDDR6. Memory size is the same at 8 GB.

Compute resources: 3328 shading units versus 5120, 104 TMUs versus 160, 48 ROPs versus 80, 26 RT cores versus 40, and 104 tensor cores versus 160. Pixel rate: 69.84 GPixel/s versus 124.8 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 151.3 GTexel/s versus 249.6 GTexel/s. FP32: 9.684 TFLOPS versus 15.97 TFLOPS. FP16 is identical in ratio at 1:1 for both.

TDP: 45 W versus 115 W. Bus interface: PCIe 5.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Both have no power connectors listed and both are portable device dependent for display outputs. The RTX 5060 Mobile is marked as active production, while the RTX 3070 Mobile is end-of-life. Both share the same API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 5060 Mobile dominates the direct comparison. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 3013.5 against 2380, a 26.6% lead. This is a modern DirectX 12 workload, and the gap is substantial.

Geekbench OpenCL shows a closer contest: 96969 versus 92939, a 4.3% advantage for the RTX 5060 Mobile. Geekbench Vulkan widens the gap to 11.2%, with scores of 96451 and 86768.

Passmark results tell a consistent story. In DirectX 10, the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 119 versus 113, a modest 5.3% lead. DirectX 11 shows a 21.7% advantage: 168 versus 138. DirectX 12 is the largest API gap at 35.9%, with 87 versus 64. DirectX 9 shows a 26.9% lead: 203 versus 160.

The 2D and compute tests follow the same pattern. Passmark G2D gives the RTX 5060 Mobile 876 versus 641, a 36.7% lead, the largest margin in the entire set. Passmark G3D scores 18852 versus 15309, a 23.1% advantage. Passmark GPU Compute shows 7607 versus 6827, an 11.4% lead.

The average benchmark score reinforces the trend: 22435 for the RTX 5060 Mobile versus 20534 for the RTX 3070 Mobile. Percentile ranking also favors the newer card at 67 versus 65. The RTX 5060 Mobile's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, scores 22549, just 0.5% above it. The RTX 3070 Mobile's nearest rival, the Intel Arc B570, scores 20556, only 0.1% above it. Both cards sit near their closest competitors, but the RTX 5060 Mobile sits in a higher performance tier overall.