what/llm/can/i/run
compare/rtx-3060-12gb vs rtx-5080

RTX 3060 12GBvsRTX 5080

▸
If you already own a RTX 3060 12GB → wait. Buying new → RTX 5080.RTX 5080 has +4 GB VRAM, 167% more bandwidth, unlocks +5 models, at +$819 (+293%) price.

▸Side by side

Contender
RTX 3060 12GB
NVIDIA · Ampere · sm_86
Street$280
vram
12 GB
bandwidth
360 GB/s
tdp
170 W
released
2021-02-25
vs
Contender · winner
RTX 5080
NVIDIA · Blackwell · sm_120
Street$1,099
vram
16 GB
bandwidth
960 GB/s
tdp
360 W
released
2025-01-30

▸Spec diff

specrtx-3060-12gbrtx-5080delta
vram12 GB16 GB+4 GB · 33%
bandwidth360 GB/s960 GB/s+600 · 167%
tdp170 W360 W+190 W
street price$280$1,099+$819 · 293%
arch maturity2021-02-252025-01-30newer = less stable

▸What changes with the upgrade

▸ Unlocked by RTX 50805 models
Qwen2.5 Coder 32BQ2_K73 t/s · bench 48.8
Qwen3 32BQ2_K73 t/s · bench 40.0
deepseek r1 distill qwen 32bQ2_K73 t/s · bench 33.3
Qwen3 30B A3B 2507Q2_K78 t/s · bench 0.0
Yi 1.5 34BQ2_K69 t/s · bench 0.0
▸ Speed deltas on shared modelstop 5
Gemma 2 2b77 → 204 t/s +165%
Gemma 3 4B40 → 108 t/s +170%
Meta Llama 3.1 8B40 → 108 t/s +170%
Gemma 2 9B36 → 96 t/s +167%
Gemma 3 12B36 → 73 t/s +103%

▸Value verdict

▸ Should you buy/upgrade?

RTX 5080 adds 4 GB VRAM for +$819 (293% premium). The real question is whether your workflow needs models that RTX 3060 12GBcan't run.

If yes — you want to run Qwen2.5 Coder 32B or similar — then the 4 GB is load-bearing, not luxury.

$ recommend → If you own a RTX 3060 12GB: wait. Prices drop, refresh cycles continue. If buying new: get the RTX 5080 IF your budget allows AND you need the unlocked models.