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GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 — Specs & Performance Compared

Verdict: The GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB is ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 on all 3 shared benchmarks on file, by 59% to 89%, including 59% in 3DMark Time Spy (8,718 vs 5,483). On llama3.1:8b, the GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB generates 64.5 tokens/s (per TYO Lab blog) against 16.7 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (per Databasemart Blog), best community run on file for each.

Side-by-side GPU comparison of the GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660. MSRP range: $329 · $219. 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

SpecGeForce RTX 3060 12 GBNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660
vram gb 126
vram type —GDDR5
tdp w —120
cuda cores —1408

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, WCCFTech, TopCPU.net, UL Benchmarks, CpuTronic, Geekbench Browser, PassMark and AskGeek.io; 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.

BenchmarkGeForce RTX 3060 12 GBNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660
3DMark Fire Strike (higher is better)
Source: 3DMark		 21,653 points12,365 points
3DMark Port Royal (higher is better)
Source: 3DMark, WCCFTech		 5,168 points—
3DMark Speed Way (higher is better)
Source: 3DMark, TopCPU.net		 2,294 points—
3DMark Steel Nomad (higher is better)
Source: UL Benchmarks, CpuTronic		 1,974 points1,047 points
3DMark Time Spy (higher is better)
Source: TopCPU.net, 3DMark, CpuTronic		 8,718 points5,483 points
Geekbench 6 OpenCL (higher is better)
Source: Geekbench Browser		 82,071 points—
Geekbench 6 Vulkan (higher is better)
Source: Geekbench Browser		 91,383 points—
PassMark G2D Mark (higher is better)
Source: PassMark		 —776 pts
PassMark G3D Mark (higher is better)
Source: PassMark, AskGeek.io		 —11,618 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.

GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB

All GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB AI benchmarks →

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660

All NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 AI benchmarks →

Quick answers

Which is faster, the GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB or the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660?

The GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB is ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 on all 3 shared benchmarks on file, by 59% to 89%, including 59% in 3DMark Time Spy (8,718 vs 5,483).

Which is better for running local LLMs?

On llama3.1:8b, the GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB generates 64.5 tokens/s (per TYO Lab blog) against 16.7 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (per Databasemart Blog), best community run on file for each.

What did the GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 cost at launch?

The GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB launched at a $329 MSRP and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 at $219. Street prices drift from launch pricing; the Where to buy section links current listings.

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