NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB — Benchmarks & Specs
Short answer: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB generates a median 55.2 tokens/sec on 7-9B dense models at 4-bit (Q4) under llama.cpp, across 21 cited runs from llama.cpp GitHub, GitHub: XiongjieDai/GPU-Benchmarks-on-LLM-Inference, TyoLab, singhajit.com, smeltcore.com, GitHub Gist, LocalScore and ModelFit.io. Its 12 GB of VRAM holds up to Phi-4 14B at Q4_K_M with an ~8K context, by the Will-It-Run matrix's sizing (13 of 23 models fit). At the $478.00 Amazon price checked under an hour ago (prices change), that is 115.5 tok/s per $1,000, the SpecPicks Value Index.
- Median speed 55.2 tok/s 21 cited runs, 7-9B at Q4, llama.cpp
- Fits in 12 GB up to Phi-4 14B at Q4_K_M → at ~8K context; 13 of 23 models in the Will-It-Run matrix
- Lowest linked price $478.00 Amazon, checked ; prices change
- Value Index 115.5 tok/s per $1,000 median speed ÷ the price above
Bottom line: how fast is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB?
SpecPicks median: 55.2 tokens/sec across 21 cited single-user runs of 7-9B dense models at 4-bit (Q4) under llama.cpp (range 31.9–75.9 tok/s), from llama.cpp GitHub (2 runs), GitHub: XiongjieDai/GPU-Benchmarks-on-LLM-Inference, TyoLab (7 runs), singhajit.com (6 runs), smeltcore.com (2 runs), GitHub Gist, LocalScore, ModelFit.io. At the $478.00 Amazon price of the cheapest linked listing (checked ; prices change), that is a SpecPicks Value Index of 115.5 tok/s per $1,000. At 1440p High with DLSS Quality upscaling, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB averages 65 fps in Hogwarts Legacy, per Gamersleaguepros. For local LLM inference it generates 32.8 tokens/sec running llama2:13b at q4_K_M under llama.cpp, per singhajit.com. In Geekbench 6 Vulkan it scores 91,383 points, per Geekbench Browser. Its 12 GB of VRAM is the binding constraint for local inference: the largest model on file at 4-bit quantization on this card is qwen2.5:14b (14.8B parameters, q4_K_M), generating 26.4 tokens/sec under llama.cpp, per LocalScore. That run's source does not report a context length; the Will-It-Run matrix sizes each model at its listed quantization with an ~8K context, and by that measure Phi-4 14B at Q4_K_M is the largest that fits in 12 GB.
Every figure above is a row in the tables below, and each row links out to the review or public benchmark database the number was taken from; the SpecPicks median is computed here from the runs it names, each a row in the AI table, and the per-$1,000 figure divides it by the dated listing price. SpecPicks aggregates published measurements; it does not report first-party benchmark runs.
Amazon listing: $478.00
This Amazon listing is above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB's $329 launch MSRP. Compare new and used listings on eBay before buying.
*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated 2026-10-21. Price and availability subject to change.
Read the full comparison → ComfyUI on an RTX 3060 12GB: Stable Diffusion Throughput and VRAM Limits in 2026
Check what fits in 12 GB: by Q4-class file size, 13 of the 23 open-weight models in the SpecPicks Will-It-Run matrix load entirely into the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB's 12 GB with 1.5 GB left for an ~8K context, up to Phi-4 14B (a 9.1 GB Q4_K_M file per its Hugging Face listing). Will Phi-4 14B run on the RTX 3060 12GB? → · Every model on this card, with cited tok/s · Full Will-It-Run matrix
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB is a graphics card from the Ampere family released in 2021 from NVIDIA. Key on-paper specs include 12 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, 170W TDP. It launched with a $329 MSRP, though street prices typically diverge meaningfully from launch pricing — see the linked product cards below for current listings. Data on this page draws on 8 linked listings, 20 synthetic benchmark results (top 10 shown), 46 community AI inference reports (top 26 shown), 154 measured game frame-rate results (top 15 shown), compiled from TyoLab, The FPS Review, LocalScore, singhajit.com, smeltcore.com, Gamersleaguepros, Geekbench Browser, GitHub Gist, GitHub: XiongjieDai/GPU-Benchmarks-on-LLM-Inference, llama.cpp GitHub, ModelFit.io, PCI Awesome, geerlingguy/ai-benchmarks, Legit Reviews, PassMark, 3DMark; each table row links to its source. Read this page when shopping the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB, comparing it against other graphics cards in your build, or sizing it for a specific workload (gaming at 1080p/1440p/4K, synthetic benchmark scores, or local LLM inference).
Gaming Performance (measured FPS)
Average and 1% low frame rates by game, resolution, and quality preset. Bars are scaled against the fastest result on this page.
| Game | Resolution | Settings | Relative | Avg FPS | 1% low | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolfenstein Youngblood | 1080p | RT Ultra RT on DLSS Quality | 162 fps | — | The FPS Review 2021-03-03 | |
| Hitman 3 | 1080p | Ultra | 141 fps | — | The FPS Review 2021-03-03 | |
| Wolfenstein Youngblood | 1080p | Ultra | 140 fps | — | The FPS Review 2021-03-03 | |
| Death Stranding | 1080p | Very High | 129 fps | 114 fps | pcisawesome.com (cites TechSpot) 2025-01-10 | |
| Death Stranding | 1080p | Very High | 129 fps | 114 fps | PCI Awesome 2023-10 | |
| Death Stranding Director's Cut | 1080p | Very High | 129 fps | 114 fps | pcisawesome.com 2025-01-10 | |
| Death Stranding | 1080p | Very High | 129 fps | 114 fps | PCIsAwesome 2025-01-10 | |
| Wolfenstein Youngblood | 1440p | Ultra | 124 fps | — | The FPS Review 2021-03-03 | |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 1080p | Highest | 123 fps | 91 fps | PCIsAwesome 2025-01-10 | |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 1080p | Highest | 123 fps | 91 fps | pcisawesome.com (cites TechSpot) 2025-01-10 | |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 1080p | Highest | 123 fps | 91 fps | pcisawesome.com 2025-01-10 | |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 1080p | Highest | 123 fps | 91 fps | PCI Awesome 2023-10 | |
| Wolfenstein Youngblood | 1080p | RT Ultra RT on | 117 fps | — | The FPS Review 2021-03-03 | |
| F1 2020 | 1440p | Ultra | 115 fps | — | The FPS Review 2021-04-14 | |
| Hogwarts Legacy | 1440p | High DLSS Quality | 65 fps | — | Gamersleaguepros 2026-03 |
AI Inference Performance
Tokens per second under each model + quantization. Higher = faster generation. Bars compare runs across the same model.
| Model | Quantization | Relative | Tokens/sec | VRAM used | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| llama3.2:1b | q8_0 llama.cpp | 211.9 tok/s | — | TyoLab 2026-05-11 | |
| llama3.2:1b | q4_K_M llamafile (LocalScore) | 185.0 tok/s | — | LocalScore (Mozilla Builders) retrieved 2026-09-26 | |
| llama3.2:1b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 184.0 tok/s | — | LocalScore.ai retrieved 2026-06-12 | |
| llama3.2:3b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 128.3 tok/s | — | tyolab.com 2026-05-11 | |
| Llama 3.2 3B | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 122.8 tok/s | — | geerlingguy/ai-benchmarks (GitHub) 2025-01 | |
| llama2:7b | Q4_0 llama.cpp (Vulkan) | 80.6 tok/s | — | llama.cpp GitHub (Vulkan performance scoreboard) 2024-12-18 | |
| llama2:7b | Q4_0 llama.cpp (CUDA) | 76.9 tok/s | — | llama.cpp GitHub (CUDA performance scoreboard) 2025-08 | |
| llama2:7b | q4_0 llama.cpp | 75.9 tok/s | — | llama.cpp GitHub Discussion #10879 2024-12-18 | |
| llama2:7b | Q4_0 llama.cpp | 75.6 tok/s | — | llama.cpp GitHub (CUDA scoreboard) 2025-08 | |
| Llama 3 8B | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 70.9 tok/s | — | GitHub: XiongjieDai/GPU-Benchmarks-on-LLM-Inference 2024-05-15 | |
| Qwen2.5-Coder-7B-Instruct | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 69.3 tok/s | — | TyoLab 2026-05-11 | |
| deepseek-r1:7b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 66.2 tok/s | — | tyolab.com 2026-05-11 | |
| deepseek-r1-distill:7b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 66.2 tok/s | — | TyoLab 2026-05-11 | |
| llama3.1:8b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 64.5 tok/s | — | TyoLab 2026-05-11 | |
| Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 64.5 tok/s | — | TyoLab 2026-05-11 | |
| llama2:7b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 60.2 tok/s | — | singhajit.com (Hardware Corner, citing geerlingguy data) 2024-01 | |
| qwen3:8b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 59.5 tok/s | — | tyolab.com 2026-05-11 | |
| qwen3:8b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 55.2 tok/s | 5.0 GB | smeltcore.com 2026-06-13 | |
| llama3.1:8b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 55.0 tok/s | — | GitHub Gist (the-crypt-keeper) 2024-08 | |
| llama3.1:8b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 52.2 tok/s | — | LocalScore.ai retrieved 2026-06-12 | |
| qwen3.5:9b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 49.9 tok/s | — | TYO Lab blog 2026-05-11 | |
| qwen3:8b | q4_K_XL llama.cpp | 42.0 tok/s | 7.5 GB | Hardware Corner 2025-06 | |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 42.0 tok/s | 6.5 GB | ModelFit.io 2025-01 | |
| llama2:13b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 32.8 tok/s | — | singhajit.com (Hardware Corner, citing geerlingguy data) 2024-01 | |
| qwen3:8b | q4_K_XL llama.cpp | 31.9 tok/s | — | singhajit.com (Hardware Corner) 2025-06 | |
| qwen2.5:14b | q4_K_M llama.cpp | 26.4 tok/s | — | LocalScore.ai retrieved 2026-06-12 |
Synthetic Benchmarks
Higher is better. Bars are scaled within each benchmark family (multi-thread, single-thread, etc.) so you can compare like-with-like at a glance.
| Benchmark | Relative | Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 Vulkan | 91,383 points | Geekbench Browser retrieved 2026-08-24 | |
| Geekbench 6 OpenCL | 82,071 points | Geekbench Browser retrieved 2026-08-24 | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike | 21,653 points | 3DMark 2024-01 | |
| PassMark G3D Mark | 16,969 pts | PassMark retrieved 2026-04-20 | |
| 3DMark Time Spy (overall score) | 9,755 points | Legit Reviews 2021-02-25 | |
| 3DMark Time Spy | 8,754 points | TopCPU.net retrieved 2026-07-13 | |
| 3DMark Time Spy | 8,747 points | topcpu.net / 3DMark retrieved 2026-08-08 | |
| 3DMark Time Spy | 8,682 points | 3DMark 2022-06 | |
| 3DMark Time Spy | 8,420 points | UL 3DMark 2022-01 | |
| 3DMark Port Royal | 5,264 points | 3DMark 2021-08-25 |
Products Featuring the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB
Full Specifications
| TDP | 170 W |
|---|---|
| VRAM | 12 GB |
| Memory type | GDDR6 |
| CUDA cores | 3584 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB — Frequently Asked Questions
What is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB best used for?
When was the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB released, and what was its launch MSRP?
Where do the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB benchmark numbers come from?
Can the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB run local LLMs?
Where can I buy the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB?
Buying guides that rank the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB's class
This page is the raw performance data. The guides below turn it into a ranked pick for a specific build.
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