The Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series of GPUs can power the most powerful gaming PCs on the market today. Whether you build your own system or buy one from a manufacturer, you’ll want a gaming PC with an RTX 30 series card. (Unless you choose to go with AMD, but that’s another story.) The only problem – besides really finding a card in stock somewhere – is knowing which one to choose.
At the time of this writing, there were five Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs, priced between $ 329 and $ 1,499. This is a very wide range. As you can imagine, these cards can power everything from a casual 1080p gaming machine to a 4K graphic design workhorse. Knowing which RTX 30 series GPU to buy can be challenging, especially if you want it to work well with all other parts of your existing or potential machine.
At the moment, Tom’s Guide does not have the hardware or lab space to compare all of these GPUs. However, we can provide all of your relevant specifications and recommend ideal use cases for each model. That way, if you’re willing to take the time to track inventory, at least you can focus on the right graphics card for your machine.
Read on, while Tom’s Guide compares Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, 3060 Ti, 3070, 3080 and 3090 GPUs.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs, at a glance
The easiest way to see how Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series cards compare to each other is to simply compare them all on one big chart. Some of this information comes directly from Nvidia; some are from retail sources; part of that comes from our own experiences with the cards. This is the information we believe ordinary consumers will find most useful:
| Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 | |
| Nvidia CUDA Colors | 3,584 | 4,864 | 5,888 | 8,704 | 10,496 |
| Boost Clock (GHz) | 1.78 | 1.67 | 1.73 | 1.71 | 1.70 |
| Memory size | 12 GB | 8 GB | 8 GB | 10 GB | 24 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6X | GDDR6X |
| Dimensions (mm) | 9.5 x 4.4 inches | 9.5 x 4.4 inches | 9.5 x 4.4 inches | 11.2 x 4.4 inches | 12.3 x 5.4 inches |
| Energy consumption | 170W | 200W | 220W | 320W | 350W |
| Price | $ 330 | $ 400 | $ 500 | $ 700 | $ 1,500 |
To help you understand some of the more obscure terms above:
Nvidia CUDA Colors refer to parallel data processing units on a GPU. They work in a similar way to how the CPU works on your computer. In general, the more CUDA cores a GPU has, the more complex data it can process quickly.
Boost Clock refers to the maximum speed that a GPU can reach if it has power available and is running at a low enough temperature. There is also a Base Clock statistic, but Nvidia GPUs will use extra features during the game, assuming you have a powerful system that is not otherwise occupied. A higher Boost Clock speed usually means better performance, but it depends on many other factors, including the hardware of your individual PC.
Memory Type it is a subtle distinction. In short, GDDR6X has more bandwidth than GDDR6 memory and therefore (theoretically) has the ability to run more demanding games in higher configurations.
Finally, Energy consumption refers to how much power the GPU can consume on its own while operating under a full graphics load. Nvidia also has recommendations on how much overall power you need for a PC with each card installed, but we don’t include that data here, as choosing a power supply is a completely separate topic.
The good news is that, despite all their differences, the five Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs compared here have a multitude of features in common. They all support 2nd generation ray tracking; they all use the Nvidia Ampere architecture; they all use Nvidia DLSS (a kind of AI upscaler for games).
Nvidia FreeStyle, ShadowPlay, Highlights, G-Sync and GPU boost work on all 30 series cards. They are all VR-ready and HDMI 2.1-compatible. And in theory, they can support screen resolutions up to 8K. (What you will be able to do at 8K will undoubtedly vary significantly between, say, the 3060 and the 3090, but the potential is there.) Finally, they all support up to four monitors, if you really enjoy using productivity.
In other words: although the power varies considerably between Nvidia 3060, 3060 Ti, 3070, 3080 and 3090, they have a set of basic features in common. Which one you should get, then, depends mainly on how hard you intend to force your PC and with what programs.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series GPU recommendations
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
While the RTX 3090 is often easier to find than less expensive cards, $ 1,500 is still a huge amount of money. For that price, you could very well build an entire machine with one of the low-cost cards and still have enough left over for games and peripherals. In addition, the 3090 is arguably more geared towards productivity users, with creative drivers and much more memory than most games need. It is a great card and potentially future-proof. But, unless you work with animation, it’s probably not worth the initial cost.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
If you can afford it, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 is a very easy recommendation for high-end gaming systems in general. Its GDDR6X memory gives you a significant advantage over low-cost cards, as well as its nearly 9,000 CUDA cores. It is a very large card and consumes a significant amount of energy, so you will need to make sure that your case and power supply can support it. You will also need a state-of-the-art processor and lots of RAM to make the most of it. But if you have $ 2,000 or more to spend on a gaming PC, an RTX 3080 can be an integral part of it.
Now, the hardest part: comparing the 3070, the 3060 Ti and the 3060. Of course, the 3070 is the most powerful; the 3060 is the least powerful; the 3060 Ti is somewhere in the middle. But, as we have not had a chance to compare these cards face to face, it is difficult to say exactly where their strengths and weaknesses are. We intend to test them, so stay tuned.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
I can say from experience that I built the Tom Guide test equipment with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, and I am extremely pleased with the way it runs games at QHD resolutions. I doubt it’s a 4K power, but I imagine it would easily clear 30 fps in most games. At $ 500, it is an expensive component, but slightly less than the 3080 or 3090.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
As stated above, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti offers 4,864 Nvidia CUDA cores and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. This differentiates it from the RTX 3070 (5,888 CUDA cores, 8 GB GDDR6 memory) and the RTX 3060 (3,584 CUDA cores, 12 GB GDDR6 memory). Although the 3060 has more memory, it is generally still not as powerful as the 3060 Ti. This card appears to be a reasonable choice for low-end machines that still want decent QHD performance, but we will have to see how the card handles FHD resolutions. and QHD in our own tests.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
As the last powerful card in the RTX 30 series, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 looks like a safe bet for users who want 1080p resolution and decent frame rates. We will have to see how it works with QHD screens by ourselves, but we would not have cutting edge 4K performance.
The 3060 also has a lightweight – although temporary – advantage over other GPUs, as it supports Nvidia’s scalable BAR technology. This allows for faster frame rates without much additional processing power. But as the other 30 series GPUs will gain this technology by the end of the month, the gap between the 3060 and its more expensive counterparts will widen again soon.
For now, it can be smart to choose between 3070, 3060 Ti and 3060 mainly based on price, knowing that the more you pay, the better your performance will be.
Stay tuned, as Tom’s Guide will test these cards first hand in the coming weeks. We will update this story with additional results then.