13 specifications

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

On paper, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has more shading units, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has a wider memory bus. Specifications describe what each card is designed to do; how much of that either one holds under continuous load is a separate question.

10 specifications · 4 with a higher side

Full specifications

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB

NVIDIA · GeForce RTX 30 · Desktop

Full specifications

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

NVIDIA · GeForce RTX 30 · Desktop

Compute

Architecture

Ampere

Shading units

3,584

4,864

Base clock

1320 MHz

1410 MHz

Boost clock

1780 MHz

1670 MHz

Memory

8 GB

Memory type

GDDR6

GDDR6 or GDDR6X

Memory bus

128-bit

256-bit

Power and platform

TDP

170 W

200 W

Process

Not verified

Launched

Not verified

2020-12-02

A check marks the higher figure only on rows where higher is unambiguously better. Rows without one are not ties; they are specifications where “better” has no meaning.

Reading the table

What the difference means.

The same architecture

Both are Ampere cards from NVIDIA, so their figures can be read against each other directly, and the features are the same on both. The differences in the table are the whole difference.

Video memory

Both carry 8 GB, so neither has the advantage where memory is the limit: high resolutions, heavy textures and local AI models fill both at the same point.

Memory bus

The RTX 3060 Ti moves data over a 256-bit bus of GDDR6 or GDDR6X; the RTX 3060 8GB uses 128-bit GDDR6. The bus width and the memory type together set how fast the chip can reach its own memory, which shows at high resolutions where every frame moves more data. A narrow bus with fast memory can match a wide one with slow memory, so neither figure settles it alone.

Shading units

The RTX 3060 Ti has 4,864 shading units against 3,584, 36 percent more of the same kind of core. Within one architecture that is the clearest single guide to how much more work the chip can do, provided it is given the power and cooling to use them.

Board power

The RTX 3060 Ti draws up to 200 W against 170 W. That is heat the case has to exhaust and current the power supply has to deliver: allow a supply of about 600 W for the RTX 3060 Ti with a typical processor, and check the card's power connectors against the supply's. A card that cannot shed its heat does not fail. It lowers its clocks after a few minutes, which is the frame rate that falls the longer you play.

Which to pick, on paper

A small case or a modest power supply: RTX 3060 8GB; 170 W against 200 W: less heat, fewer power connectors, quieter fans.

What no table says

How much of its speed a graphics card keeps after the first minute depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in. If you own one of these, measure it: the test is free and runs in this browser.

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Questions

Is the RTX 3060 8GB better than the RTX 3060 Ti?: By need, on the specifications: a small case or a modest power supply: the RTX 3060 8GB. They share an architecture, so the table is a fair guide. Frame rates depend on the game and its settings, and how much speed either card keeps after ten minutes depends on its cooling, which is what a sustained test measures.
What power supply does the RTX 3060 Ti need?: Allow about 600 W with a typical processor, and make sure the supply has the power connectors the card uses. The RTX 3060 8GB at 170 W is easier on both.
Do the RTX 3060 8GB and the RTX 3060 Ti have the same features?: Yes. Both are Ampere designs from NVIDIA, so they share the same generation of video encoders and decoders, upscaling and driver support. What separates them is in the table: how much of the chip each one has, and how much power it is given.

More comparisons

Every figure on this table is a design target. None of it is a measurement.

Nothing above describes how a graphics card behaves twenty minutes into a sustained workload, which is where two chips with nearly identical specifications routinely diverge. A boost clock is a ceiling the vendor permits, not a rate the chip sustains, and whether it holds depends on the cooling, the case, the power profile and the room. None of those appear on a specification sheet.

We deliberately do not reduce these figures to a single score. A composite invented from specifications would look authoritative and measure nothing, and choosing the weights would be choosing the winner.

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