compare/rtx-3080-12gb vs rtx-3060-12gb

RTX 3080 12GBvsRTX 3060 12GB

▸

RTX 3080 12GB still wins for value.RTX 3060 12GB has +0 GB VRAM, -61% more bandwidth.

▸Side by side

Contender · winner

RTX 3080 12GB

NVIDIA · Ampere · sm_86

Street$549

vram: 12 GB
bandwidth: 912 GB/s
tdp: 350 W
released: 2022-01-11

Contender

RTX 3060 12GB

NVIDIA · Ampere · sm_86

Street$280

vram: 12 GB
bandwidth: 360 GB/s
tdp: 170 W
released: 2021-02-25

▸Spec diff

spec	rtx-3080-12gb	rtx-3060-12gb	delta
vram	12 GB	12 GB	+0 GB · 0%
bandwidth	912 GB/s	360 GB/s	-552 · -61%
tdp	350 W	170 W	+-180 W
street price	$549	$280	$269 · -49%
arch maturity	2022-01-11	2021-02-25	newer = less stable

▸What changes with the upgrade

▸ Unlocked by RTX 3060 12GB0 models

No additional models unlocked.

▸ Speed deltas on shared modelstop 5

Gemma 2 2b194 → 77 t/s -60%

Gemma 3 4B102 → 40 t/s -61%

Meta Llama 3.1 8B102 → 40 t/s -61%

Gemma 2 9B92 → 36 t/s -61%

Gemma 3 12B92 → 36 t/s -61%

▸Value verdict

▸ Should you buy/upgrade?

RTX 3060 12GB adds 0 GB VRAM for the same price. The real question is whether your workflow needs models that RTX 3080 12GBcan't run.

$ recommend → If you own a RTX 3080 12GB: wait. Prices drop, refresh cycles continue. If buying new: get the RTX 3060 12GB IF your budget allows AND you need the extra headroom.