Radeon RX 7900 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 — Specs & Performance Compared
Verdict: The Radeon RX 7900 XT is ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 on all 7 shared benchmarks on file, by 26% to 184%, including 173% in 3DMark Time Spy (23,839 vs 8,747). On llama2:13b, the Radeon RX 7900 XT generates 55.0 tokens/s (per GIGA CHAD LLC) against 32.8 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (per singhajit.com), best community run on file for each.
Side-by-side GPU comparison of the Radeon RX 7900 XT and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060. Released 2022 (Radeon RX 7900 XT), 2021 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060). MSRP range: $899 · $329. Specs, synthetic benchmarks, AI inference tok/s, and Amazon availability below; each column header links to that part's benchmark page.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Price and availability subject to change.
Where to buy
A listing for each part; the current price and stock are on the retailer's page.
Specs side-by-side
| Spec | Radeon RX 7900 XT | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
|---|---|---|
| vram gb | 20 | 12 |
| vram type | — | GDDR6 |
| tdp w | — | 170 |
| cuda cores | — | 3584 |
Synthetic benchmarks
Each row says whether a higher or a lower number is better (ranks and times are lower-is-better). Scores come from 3DMark, SlashGear, Notebookcheck, WCCFTech, Legit Reviews, TopCPU.net, UL Benchmarks, HWBOT, CpuTronic, Digital Trends, Trusted Reviews and PassMark; each row links its sources, and where they differ the cell shows their median. Empty cells mean we don't yet have that benchmark on file for the SKU.
| Benchmark | Radeon RX 7900 XT | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Fire Strike (higher is better) Source: 3DMark, SlashGear |
36,145 points | 21,653 points |
| 3DMark Fire Strike (GPU Graphics sub-score) (higher is better) Source: Notebookcheck |
63,712 points | — |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme (higher is better) Source: SlashGear |
27,227 points | — |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra (higher is better) Source: SlashGear |
16,587 points | — |
| 3DMark Port Royal (higher is better) Source: WCCFTech, Legit Reviews, 3DMark |
13,726 points | 5,074 points |
| 3DMark Speed Way (higher is better) Source: TopCPU.net, 3DMark |
5,773 points | 2,170 points |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad (higher is better) Source: UL Benchmarks, HWBOT, CpuTronic |
5,635 points | 1,984 points |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 Graphics Score (higher is better) Source: 3DMark |
— | 1,978 points |
| 3DMark Time Spy (higher is better) Source: Digital Trends, TopCPU.net, SlashGear, 3DMark |
23,839 points | 8,747 points |
| 3DMark Time Spy (overall score) (higher is better) Source: Legit Reviews |
— | 9,755 points |
| 3DMark Time Spy Extreme (higher is better) Source: SlashGear, Trusted Reviews |
11,631 points | — |
| PassMark G2D Mark (higher is better) Source: PassMark |
1,242 pts | 984 pts |
AI inference (tokens/sec)
Top community-reported tokens-per-second results for popular LLMs whose weights fit the card's memory, each linked to its source. See the per-SKU benchmark page for the full set including quantization and prompt length.
Radeon RX 7900 XT
- qwen3:8b: 711.0 tok/s (LocalLLaMA)
- llama2:7b: 124.6 tok/s (llama.cpp GitHub Discussion #15021)
- llama-2:7b: 123.2 tok/s (knightli.com llama.cpp GPU Scoreboard)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
- llama3.2:1b: 184.0 tok/s (LocalScore.ai)
- llama3.2:3b: 128.3 tok/s (tyolab.com)
- llama3.2:3b: 128.3 tok/s (tyolab.com)
Quick answers
Which is faster, the Radeon RX 7900 XT or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060?
The Radeon RX 7900 XT is ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 on all 7 shared benchmarks on file, by 26% to 184%, including 173% in 3DMark Time Spy (23,839 vs 8,747).
Which is better for running local LLMs?
On llama2:13b, the Radeon RX 7900 XT generates 55.0 tokens/s (per GIGA CHAD LLC) against 32.8 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (per singhajit.com), best community run on file for each.
What did the Radeon RX 7900 XT and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 cost at launch?
The Radeon RX 7900 XT launched at a $899 MSRP and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 at $329. Street prices drift from launch pricing; the Where to buy section links current listings.
Keep exploring
More guides & deep dives from the SpecPicks archive
Browse all articles & guides →- Best Budget Gaming PC Build 2026 — ~$1,000 ($800 on Sale)
- How to Build a Windows 98 Retro PC in 2026
- RTX 4070 Super vs RX 7800 XT — Which to Buy in 2026
- Best Retro Handhelds in 2026 — From $35 to $500
- Best 1440p Gaming GPUs in 2026
- The Complete Voodoo5 5500 AGP Driver Guide (2026 Edition)
- Emulation Hardware in 2026: FPGA, Software, and Cart-Reader Ecosystems
More reviews from the SpecPicks archive
Browse all reviews →- Build a Jellyfin Media Server on a Raspberry Pi 4 8GB in 2026
- The vLLM MCP Vulnerability: What Local LLM Operators Need to Do
- Sega's $5M Bet Saved Nvidia in 1996 — Jensen Heads to Tokyo
- Best GPUs for 1440p Gaming in 2026
- Claude Fable 5 Beats GPT-5.5 by 13 Points: The Local-LLM Reality Check
- CompactFlash as a Boot Drive: Silent Storage for a Period-Correct Retro PC (2026)
- Plug-and-Play Retro Consoles Compared: Genesis Mini vs SNES vs NES Classic
- Revive a Dead Payphone with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W: Full Build Walkthrough
- Best Gaming Headset in 2026 for Gaming and Music
- Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ (26 TOPS): What It Actually Runs in 2026
- VibeThinker-3B on an RTX 3060 12GB: Reasoning in 3 Billion Params
- Linux Fu: Upcycling an Old Router in 2026
- Imaging Vintage IDE & SATA Drives in 2026: USB Adapters
- How to run Qwen 3 14B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- Best Cheap Raspberry Pi Alternatives in 2025
- AA-Briefcase's 800x Cost Spread: What It Means for Local Agentic Rigs
- Logitech G29 vs HORI vs Thrustmaster: Best Sim Racing Wheel for Beginners
- Best Mechanical Keyboard for Office and Hybrid Coding in 2026
- Raspberry Pi 4 vs Pi Zero W: Which Board for Your First Project?
- Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 4 8GB: 2026 Smart-Home Hub Build
- Silent Cooling for a Retro Sleeper PC: Fitting a Modern Quiet Fan to a Vintage Case
- Local LLM vs Claude in 2026: When On-Device Beats the API
- Self-Hosted Immich on a Raspberry Pi 4 8GB: Photo Backup Without the Cloud
- 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 PCI Boots in a Modern ASUS Z77 Board
More buying guides from SpecPicks
Browse all buying guides →- Best External SSDs for Content Creators in 2026
- Best CPUs for Content Creators in 2026
- Best Tools for Building and Repairing Retro PCs in 2026
- Best GPUs for 4K Gaming in 2026
- Best NVMe External Enclosures for 2026
- Best NVMe SSDs for Gaming in 2026
- Best 4K Monitors for Content Creators in 2026
- Best Gaming Mice for 2026
- Best CPU Coolers for 2026
- Best CPUs for Gaming in 2026
- Best DDR5 RAM for Gaming PCs in 2026
- Best 1440p 240Hz Gaming Monitors in 2026
- Best Mechanical Keyboards for Gaming in 2026
- Best Controllers for PC Gaming in 2026
- Best Gaming Monitors for 2026
- Best PC Cases for Building in 2026
- Best Graphics Cards for Gaming in 2026
- Best Retro Gaming Consoles & Handhelds for 2026
- Best GPUs for Running Local LLMs in 2026
- Best GPU for Running 27B-32B Local LLMs in 2026
- Best AM5 Motherboards for 2026
Hardware benchmark data on SpecPicks
All benchmarks →- Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition — benchmarks & specs
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 — benchmarks & specs
- AMD Ryzen 9 9850HX — benchmarks & specs
- Intel Core Ultra 5 250KF — benchmarks & specs
- Intel Core i9-12900K — benchmarks & specs
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 — benchmarks & specs
- Ryzen 7 7700 — benchmarks & specs
- Radeon RX 6600 — benchmarks & specs
- Ryzen 5 1600 — benchmarks & specs
- Ryzen 9 5950X — benchmarks & specs
- GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB — benchmarks & specs
- NVIDIA B200 — benchmarks & specs
- Intel Arc A770 — benchmarks & specs
- Radeon RX 6750 XT — benchmarks & specs
- Radeon RX 6650M — benchmarks & specs
- NVIDIA Tesla P40 24GB — benchmarks & specs
- RTX 6000D — benchmarks & specs
- Ryzen 7 7800X3D — benchmarks & specs
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti — benchmarks & specs
- Radeon RX 6600 LE — benchmarks & specs
- AMD Ryzen 5 7640U — benchmarks & specs
- Ryzen 3 3100 — benchmarks & specs
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X — benchmarks & specs
- AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750GE — benchmarks & specs

