Nvidia RTX 4070 vs RTX 3060 – which graphics card should you go for?

Updated on April 13, 2023 by Eva Black

Posted in Tech

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For anyone wondering how the much-speculated-on RTX 4070 might shape up against the existing RTX 3060, you’ve come to the right place.

The new RTX 4070 comes as the latest edition to Nvidia’s 40-series family. Its arrival has been welcomed fairly enthusiastically by 1440p gamers who are keen to get their hands on Lovelace architecture for an affordable price.

Where to buy RTX 4070:

Amazon US

Best Buy

Newegg

Newegg (in stock)

We’ve already taken a look at the top end of the range comparing RTX 4070 specs against the 4090 and 4080 models. Now it’s time to take a look at one of the more mid-range models and how a new release might compare against old favourites.

Though we think it’s obvious that the RTX 4070 will outperform the 3060, let’s find out by how much.

Let’s get into it.

Nvidia RTX 4070 vs 3060 – specs

Whether you’re an existing RTX 3060 owner wondering if you should upgrade, or someone looking at the GPUs on offer in today’s market to compare and contrast, there’s no better place to start than a specs break down.

	RTX 4070 Specs	RTX 3060 Specs
Architecture	Lovelace	Ampere
RT Cores	3rd Generation	2nd Generation
Tensor Cores	4th Generation	3rd Generation
Stream Processors/CUDA Cores	5,888	3,584
Base Clock	1,920MHz	1.32GHz
VRAM	GDDR6X 12 GB	GDDR6 12GB/8GB
Dimensions	336 mm x 140 mm x 40 mm	242mm x 112mm

The key things to note here are the lack of GDDR6X VRAM for the RTX 3060, and the significantly reduced number of cores than those predicted for the RTX 4070. The upgrade in frame buffer between the RTX 3060 and the suspected RTX 4070 technology would be a difference in video memory bandwidth.

Functionally, a higher memory bandwidth allows for faster processing of data. With this in mind, particularly if you are comparing the lower memory RTX 3060 (with 8GB) against the prospective specs of the RTX 4070 then that actually tots up to a fair difference in capability.

Nvidia RTX 4070 vs 3060 – architecture

Further differences that will jump out to you are the consistent increase in Architecture and Core generations between the RTX 40 series and the RTX 30 series. Nvidia announced that a feature of the 40 series would be the inclusion of Ada Lovelace architecture. Ada Lovelace architecture utilises fourth-generation tensor cores. These cores ‘accelerate transformative AI technologies’ such as DLSS 3. DLSS 3 allows extremely high quality graphics to be rendered from lower input information using predictive AI. This gives the Lovelace architecture, and consequently the 40 series a serious leg up on the old 30 series with its Ampere technology.

This is not to say that Ampere is insufficient. Ampere architecture contains six revolutionary innovations, including Multi-Instance GPU, A100 (data center accelerator) allows for ray tracing due to the improvement in cores. Ray tracing was a large step forward in graphics for the gaming industry. However, despite it being supported in more and more AAA games, with Cyberpunk 2077 recently announcing a ray tracing dedicated update, many big-name games are yet to fully utilise it, putting the 30 series still far at the front in the graphics industry.

Nvidia RTX 4070 vs 3060 – performance

But how do they compare in performance?

To point out the obvious, it’s fairly clear that the 4070 outperforms the 3060 in terms of raw power.

Both models are towards the more mid-range sections of their respective series so a cross-comparison feels easy. However, the 40 series has so far managed to pip the 30 series to the post with its architecture and core generation updates.

Nvidia RTX 4070 vs 3060 – price

Another key factor to consider when comparing and contrasting an RTX 4070 and the RTX 3060 is the price.

At the time of writing, we’re expecting the RTX 4070 to hit the market at $599. If holds out against potential stock issues, it’s a dream come true for gamers as it would seriously undercut the rest of the 40 series and finally make the Lovelace architecture a bit more budget accessible. So, where does the 3060 compare?

Of the 3060 GPUs currently on offer, they seem to range from roughly $379 to $550 depending on the brand and seller. This puts the 3060, generally, just below the potential price of an RTX 4070.

Nvidia RTX 4070 vs 3060 – which one should you go for?

The main factor that will likely influence your decision is price. If you can snag the 4070 for $599, why wouldn’t you choose the more recent graphics card? Those keen to future-proof their gaming set-up should especially opt for the 4070 given its advanced ray tracing and overclocking abilities.

The RTX 3060 is still a decent card for gaming in 1080p, and has even made it onto our list of best graphics cards for VR gaming. If you’d like to skip the potential drama of securing the 4070, the 3060 might be the easier choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the 3060 good?

As a mid-range graphics card, the RTX 3060 generally provides a very good service for the role it aims to fill. You can run 1080p and 1440p fine, and occasionally hit 4k. Generally speaking if you don’t typically play graphics heavy games then the 3060 is a perfectly good option as a graphics card.

Is 3060 considered high end?

RTX 3060 is generally considered to be a more mid-range model GPU since it is less suited to 4K gaming than other GPUs on the market and within the 30 series itself.