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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB vs GeForce RTX 5060 — Specs & Performance Compared

Verdict: The GeForce RTX 5060 is ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB on all 7 shared benchmarks on file, by 18% to 71%, including 57% in 3DMark Time Spy (13,731 vs 8,747). On llama3.1:8b, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB generates 64.5 tokens/s (per tyolab.com) against 58.1 for the GeForce RTX 5060 (per DatabaseMart), best community run on file for each.

Side-by-side GPU comparison of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB and the GeForce RTX 5060. MSRP range: $329 · $299. Specs, synthetic benchmarks, AI inference tok/s, and Amazon availability below; each column header links to that part's benchmark page.

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*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

SpecNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GBGeForce RTX 5060
vram gb 128
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 Digital Trends, 3DMark, Wccftech, Legit Reviews, Overclocking.com and Club386; 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.

BenchmarkNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GBGeForce RTX 5060
3DMark Fire Strike (higher is better)
Source: Digital Trends, 3DMark		 21,653 points34,779 points
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme (higher is better)
Source: Digital Trends		 —17,893 points
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme (Graphics) (higher is better)
Source: Wccftech		 —16,021 points
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra (higher is better)
Source: Digital Trends		 —8,764 points
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra (Graphics) (higher is better)
Source: Wccftech		 —8,724 points
3DMark Port Royal (higher is better)
Source: Digital Trends, Legit Reviews, 3DMark, Wccftech, Overclocking.com		 5,074 points8,661 points
3DMark Speed Way (higher is better)
Source: Club386, 3DMark, Wccftech, Overclocking.com		 2,192 points3,502 points
3DMark Steel Nomad (higher is better)
Source: Digital Trends, 3DMark, Overclocking.com, Club386		 1,976 points3,221 points
3DMark Steel Nomad (Graphics, median of user submissions) (higher is better)
Source: 3DMark		 —3,178 points
3DMark Time Spy (higher is better)
Source: Digital Trends, 3DMark		 8,747 points13,731 points
3DMark Time Spy (overall score) (higher is better)
Source: Legit Reviews		 9,755 points—
3DMark Time Spy Extreme (higher is better)
Source: Digital Trends		 —6,772 points

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.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB

All NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB AI benchmarks →

GeForce RTX 5060

All GeForce RTX 5060 AI benchmarks →

Quick answers

Which is faster, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB or the GeForce RTX 5060?

The GeForce RTX 5060 is ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB on all 7 shared benchmarks on file, by 18% to 71%, including 57% in 3DMark Time Spy (13,731 vs 8,747).

Which is better for running local LLMs?

On llama3.1:8b, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB generates 64.5 tokens/s (per tyolab.com) against 58.1 for the GeForce RTX 5060 (per DatabaseMart), best community run on file for each.

What did the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB and the GeForce RTX 5060 cost at launch?

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB launched at a $329 MSRP and the GeForce RTX 5060 at $299. Street prices drift from launch pricing; the Where to buy section links current listings.

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