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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti vs AMD Radeon R9 280X

NVIDIA
VS
AMD
Performance
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti231% better
35,68334% of 104,937
Radeon R9 280X
10,79210% of 104,937

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has 231% better performance than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti148% better
89.4355% of 161.45
Radeon R9 280X
36.0922% of 161.45

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has 148% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

#

About the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GPU

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a desktop graphics card by NVIDIA. It launched in Q4 2020 with a suggested retail price of $399. Its GA104 chip that powers the GPU uses the Ampere architecture and is fabricated on the 8 nm process.

Memory

This GPU is paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. Its 1,750 MHz memory clock and 256 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 448 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

Compatibility

The RTX 3060 Ti is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 200 W. NVIDIA recommends using a power supply of at least 550 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has the 56th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 34.00% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 35,683 score and $399 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 89.43. This is the 26th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon R9 280X GPU

The Radeon R9 280X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by AMD. It launched in Q4 2013 with a suggested retail price of $299. Its Tahiti chip that powers the GPU uses the GCN 1.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

Memory

This GPU is paired with 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,500 MHz memory clock and 384 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 288 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

Compatibility

The R9 280X is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 250 W. AMD recommends using a power supply of at least 600 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The Radeon R9 280X has the 167th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 10.28% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 10,792 score and $299 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 36.09. This is the 71st best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoGeForce RTX 3060 TiRadeon R9 280X
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureAmpereGCN 1.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ4 2020Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)$399$299
Production StatusActiveEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for F1 24
F1 24
Display FPS for Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
Display FPS for Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima
Display FPS for Dragon's Dogma 2
Dragon's Dogma 2
Display FPS for Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Forbidden West
Display FPS for Alone in the Dark (2024)
Alone in the Dark (2024)
Display FPS for Sons of the Forest
Sons of the Forest

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for F1 24
F1 24
GeForce RTX 3060 TiRadeon R9 280X
Low - 1080p
360 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
299 FPS
--
High - 1080p
221 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
71 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
46 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
22 FPS
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce RTX 3060 Ti orRadeon R9 280X
GPUFrames Per Second
Radeon RX 570041.8+88%
GeForce RTX 309040.5+82%
Radeon RX 6950 XT30.2+36%
Radeon RX 7800 XT28.7+29%
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti28.2+27%
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti22.2
Arc A77021.2-5%
Radeon RX 680020.6-7%
GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER17-23%
Arc A75016.8-24%

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce RTX 3060 Ti orRadeon R9 280X
GPUCost Per Frame
Radeon RX 57008.35-54%
Arc A77015.52-14%
Arc A75017.2-4%
Radeon RX 7800 XT17.39-3%
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti17.97
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti21.24+18%
Radeon RX 680028.11+56%
GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER28.71+60%
GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER29.35+63%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti231% better
35,68334% of 104,937
Radeon R9 280X
10,79210% of 104,937

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has 231% better performance than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is ranked 56th with a score of 35,683, and the Radeon R9 280X is ranked 167th with a score of 10,792.

Performance per dollar
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti148% better
89.4355% of 161.45
Radeon R9 280X
36.0922% of 161.45

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has 148% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is ranked 26th with a performance per dollar of 89.43, and the Radeon R9 280X is ranked 71st with a performance per dollar of 36.09.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or
GPUBenchmark Performance
TITAN X (Pascal)35,995+1%
Radeon RX 5700 XT35,822.5+0%
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti35,683
GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER35,032-2%
Radeon RX 660031,774-11%
GeForce GTX 165013,645-62%
Radeon R9 38012,191-66%
Radeon R9 280X10,792-70%
GeForce GTX 96010,767.5-70%
GeForce GTX 68010,216.5-71%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkGeForce RTX 3060 TiRadeon R9 280X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
11,311
(+411.81%)
2,210
3DMark Time Spy Score
11,205
(+368.24%)
2,393
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
138,278
(+165.32%)
52,117
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
26,883
(+222.22%)
8,343
3DMark Night Raid Graphics
117,899
--
3DMark 11 Performance Score
30,426
(+197.1%)
10,241
PassMark G3D Mark
20,536
(+231.71%)
6,191
PassMark G2D Mark
999
(+47.78%)
676
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
95.2
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

#

Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecGeForce RTX 3060 TiRadeon R9 280X
CodenameGA104Tahiti
ArchitectureAmpereGCN 1.0
Process Size8 nm28 nm
Transistors17,400 million4,313 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecGeForce RTX 3060 TiRadeon R9 280X
Memory Size8 GB3 GB
Memory TypeGDDR6GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth448 Gb/s288 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,750 MHz1,500 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit384 bit
L1 Cache128 KB16 KB
L2 Cache4 MB768 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecGeForce RTX 3060 TiRadeon R9 280X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 4.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)200 W250 W
Suggested PSU550 W600 W
Power Connectors1x 12-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsHDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4aDVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecGeForce RTX 3060 TiRadeon R9 280X
Stream Processors (SP)--2,048
CUDA Cores4,864--
Compute Units (CU)--32
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)38--
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)152128
Render Output Units (ROP)8032
Tensor Cores152--
Ray Tracing Cores38--
Core Clock Speed1,410 MHz850 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,665 MHz1,000 MHz

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecGeForce RTX 3060 TiRadeon R9 280X
Pixel Fill Rate133.2 GPixel/s32 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate253.1 GTexel/s128 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance16.2 TFLOPS4.1 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance253.1 GFLOPS1,024 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecGeForce RTX 3060 TiRadeon R9 280X
DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)12 (11_1)
OpenCL3.02.1 (1.2)
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.76.5 (5.1)

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.