RTX 2060 Super vs RTX 3060
The complete head-to-head: full specs, real per-game FPS with 1% lows, ray tracing, a live CPU-bottleneck check, thermals, power and value, with a straight verdict.
GeForce RTX 2060 Super
GeForce RTX 3060
avg, 1080p
The short answer
This is a close race. The RTX 3060 is about 8% faster on average and adds 4 GB more VRAM, hardware AV1 decode, and full PCIe 4.0, all real advantages for a 2026 build. The RTX 2060 Super answers with a wider 256-bit memory bus and more raw bandwidth than the 3060, which shows up in emulation and bandwidth-heavy workloads, plus a noticeably lower price on the used market. Neither is a blowout, buy the 3060 if you want the newer feature set, buy the 2060 Super used if you just want frames per dollar.
These two land close together because Turing's biggest die, TU106, was pushed hard in the 2060 Super while Ampere's mainstream GA106 chip in the 3060 was built for efficiency and memory capacity instead of raw clocks. The result is an 8% gap in frame rate, small enough that the deciding factor is usually VRAM, features, or price rather than pure speed.
What follows breaks down exactly where that 8% comes from: 12 GB against 8 GB of VRAM, a 192-bit bus against a wider 256-bit one, AV1 decode that only the 3060 has, plus real frame rates, thermals, power draw, and price history for both cards side by side.
At a glance
Seven dimensions, two cards. Bigger area is not automatically better, each card owns different corners.
Strengths radar
Each axis scored 0-100 relative to the pair
Performance vs price
Up and to the left is better value
Grey dots are neighbouring cards for context.
Which should you buy?
Pick your use case, the winner changes with what you actually do.
Faster, newer, and AV1 decode makes for smoother modern-codec playback and editing.
12 GB of VRAM has real headroom over 8 GB once texture packs and 1440p settings climb.
12 GB fits bigger models and batches than the 2060 Super's 8 GB, capacity wins for AI work.
Hardware AV1 decode and a newer NVENC generation make imports and exports smoother.
5 W lower TDP and a shorter card make it the easier fit for a compact build.
448 GB/s over a 256-bit bus beats the 3060's 360 GB/s, a real edge once internal resolution climbs.
Already own an RTX 2060 Super? Upgrading to a 3060 is a modest win.
Short answer: probably not
An 8% average gain is real but small. If you already own a 2060 Super, the case for switching comes down to wanting the extra 4 GB of VRAM, AV1 decode, or full PCIe 4.0, not the frame rate itself.
If you want a bigger jump, a used RTX 3060 Ti or RTX 4060 gets you 25-45% more speed for a similar used-market spend, a far better use of the upgrade budget than a sideways move to the plain 3060.
Full specification comparison
Every spec side by side. The highlighted figure wins each row.
| Specification | RTX 2060 Super | RTX 3060 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| GPU / architecture | TU106 · Turing | GA106 · Ampere |
| Process node | TSMC 12 nm | Samsung 8 nm ▲ |
| Release date | Jul 9, 2019 | Feb 25, 2021 |
| Launch MSRP | $399 | $329 ▲ |
| Compute | ||
| CUDA cores | 2,176 | 3,584 ▲ |
| RT cores | 34 · 1st gen | 28 · 2nd gen ▲ |
| Tensor cores | 272 · 1st gen | 112 · 3rd gen ▲ |
| Base / boost clock | 1470 / 1650 MHz | 1320 / 1777 MHz ▲ |
| L2 cache | 4 MB ▲ | 3 MB |
| Memory | ||
| VRAM | 8 GB GDDR6 | 12 GB GDDR6 ▲ |
| Memory bus | 256-bit ▲ | 192-bit |
| Bandwidth | 448 GB/s ▲ | 360 GB/s |
| Power & form factor | ||
| TDP | 175 W | 170 W ▲ |
| Power connector | 1× 8-pin | 1× 8-pin |
| Suggested PSU | 550 W | 550 W |
| PCIe interface | 3.0 ×16 | 4.0 ×16 ▲ |
| Features | ||
| Upscaling | DLSS 2 / Super Res | DLSS 2 / Super Res |
| AV1 decode | No | Yes ▲ |
| Display outputs | 3×DP1.4 · HDMI 2.0b | 3×DP1.4a · HDMI 2.1 ▲ |
Average FPS by game
Switch resolution, metric, ray tracing and upscaling, the bars update live. Hover a bar for the avg / 1% / 0.1% breakdown.
Average FPS · 1080p · Rasterization. Representative data, hover a bar for avg / 1% / 0.1%. Note the RTX 3060's 1% lows fall off at 1440p and up from its 8 GB VRAM.
Smoothness & frametimes
Average FPS hides stutter. This is one run plotted as frametime, a flat line is smooth, spikes are hitches. Watch what the RTX 3060's 8 GB VRAM does in a texture-heavy game.
Frametime: Cyberpunk 2077, 1440p Ultra
Lower and flatter is better · 16.7 ms = 60 fps
Counterintuitive but real: the slower RTX 2060 Super delivers a smoother line here because 12 GB holds the texture pool the 8 GB RTX 3060 keeps evicting, those spikes are VRAM stutter, not raw speed.
Lab scores
Clean apples-to-apples tests, useful, but weaker at predicting real games than the FPS above.
Ray tracing & upscaling
Ray tracing tanks both cards at native resolution. What makes it playable is upscaling, and here the RTX 3060 has a real edge.
Is frame generation "real" performance?
Neither card supports frame generation. DLSS 3 Frame Generation is exclusive to the RTX 40 series and newer, so both the RTX 2060 Super and RTX 3060 are limited to DLSS 2's Super Resolution upscaling, which raises frame rate by rendering at a lower internal resolution rather than inserting AI-made frames.
Image quality between the two is essentially identical since both run the same DLSS 2 pipeline. The RTX 3060 upscales from a slightly higher base frame rate thanks to its 8% raster lead, which is the only practical difference you will notice.
Will your CPU bottleneck these cards?
A faster GPU only helps if your CPU keeps up. Pick your CPU and resolution to see expected FPS and bottleneck for each card.
CPU + GPU pairing check
The willitbottleneck engine, built right into the comparison.
Estimated from a 43-CPU model across 1440p. A weak CPU mostly bites at 1080p; at higher resolutions the GPU becomes the limiter and the bottleneck shrinks.
Thermals & noise
The efficiency gap shows up here: the newer card runs cooler and quieter, day in and day out.
Real draw, efficiency & PSU
TDP is the rated figure; what matters is real gaming draw and how many frames you get per watt.
Both use a single 8-pin connector. If your PSU already ran the RTX 2060 Super, it will run the RTX 3060 easily. Leave about 30% headroom for spikes.
Will it fit, and what to pair it with?
Size to scale
Card length matters for small cases
What monitor to pair
RTX 2060 Super: 1080p at 120-144 Hz, or 1440p at 60-90 Hz. RTX 3060: 1080p at 144 Hz and up, or 1440p at 60-100 Hz. Neither is a 4K card, treat 4K as DLSS-only, lighter-title territory.
Running an older PCIe 3.0 board?
The RTX 2060 Super runs a full PCIe 3.0 ×16 link, so it loses nothing on an older motherboard. The RTX 3060 runs PCIe 4.0 ×16, more bandwidth headroom than either card actually needs today.
Price history & dollars-per-frame
Raw price is only half the story. Cost per frame is the number that decides it, and it keeps moving as prices fall.
New price over time
Street price of new cards (USD)
The 8 GB vs 12 GB question
RTX 2060 Super · 8 GB
- The wider 256-bit bus and 448 GB/s of bandwidth mean the 8 GB the 2060 Super has moves data faster than the 3060's memory.
- 8 GB is getting tight for 2026 AAA titles at 1440p with high texture packs, where the 3060's 12 GB has real headroom.
- Local AI and large Blender scenes hit the 8 GB ceiling well before they hit the 3060's 12 GB one.
- For its actual home resolution, 1080p, 8 GB is still comfortable in the large majority of current games.
RTX 3060 · 12 GB
- 12 GB avoids the texture-quality drop the 8 GB 2060 Super can hit at 1440p in newer AAA titles.
- Meaningfully better for local Stable Diffusion, small LLMs, and large Blender or Resolve scenes.
- The narrower 192-bit bus and lower 360 GB/s bandwidth mean the extra capacity moves a bit slower than the 2060 Super's memory.
- The core speed advantage is modest, so the extra VRAM matters more than raw frame rate for most buyers.
Emulation & memory bandwidth
The narrower bus is a real downgrade for emulation
Emulation cares about memory bandwidth as much as capacity. The RTX 2060 Super's 448 GB/s over a 256-bit bus beats the RTX 3060's 360 GB/s over 192-bit, so it can hold its own or edge ahead in high-resolution Switch and PS3 emulation despite trailing slightly in average gaming frame rate. The 3060's extra 4 GB of VRAM helps once texture packs or large save states get involved, so the right pick depends on the emulator and target resolution.
Creator, AI & streaming
The newer card is quicker per task, but the older card's extra VRAM unlocks larger jobs it can't fit at all.
Streaming: the AV1 encoder is the differentiator
The RTX 3060 adds hardware AV1 decode, useful for importing and scrubbing AV1-encoded footage, but neither card has an AV1 encoder, that arrived with the RTX 40 series. For live streaming and recording, both lean on NVENC's H.264 and HEVC encoders, quality is close, with the 3060's newer encoder generation holding a small edge.
Overclocking & undervolting
Neither card has much overclocking headroom left, a few percent at best on either. Undervolting is the better move on both, and the 175 W RTX 2060 Super has slightly more room to gain.
Pros & cons
RTX 2060 Super
- Wider 256-bit bus and higher 448 GB/s bandwidth, ahead in bandwidth-heavy emulation
- Cheaper new and used than the RTX 3060
- Higher raw core and tensor counts from a bigger die
- About 8% slower on average with 8 GB VRAM against the 3060's 12 GB
- No AV1 decode and a touch higher TDP
RTX 3060
- 8% faster on average with 12 GB VRAM for 1440p and AI headroom
- Hardware AV1 decode and full PCIe 4.0 ×16
- Newer architecture with fresher driver optimization
- Costs more, new or used, than the 2060 Super
- Narrower 192-bit bus and lower bandwidth, a step back in emulation
Buying pitfalls
Two different RTX 3060 memory configs exist
Most RTX 3060 cards carry 12 GB on a 192-bit bus, but a later 8 GB, 128-bit variant also exists and is meaningfully slower and worse value. Confirm the box or spec sheet says 12 GB / 192-bit, that is the card covered on this page.
'Super' isn't optional in the name
The plain RTX 2060 and the RTX 2060 Super are different chips with different core counts and a wider memory bus, not just a clock bump. Make sure the listing says 'Super' before you buy, the standard 2060 is meaningfully slower and covered in its own comparison.
RTX 2060 Super vs RTX 3060: your questions answered
In raw speed, yes, but only by about 8%. The 3060's real wins are 4 GB of extra VRAM, AV1 decode, and PCIe 4.0, advantages that matter more day to day than the frame rate gap. The 2060 Super claws back ground with higher memory bandwidth and a much lower used price.
Pick the RTX 3060 if the newer feature set matters to you: more VRAM, AV1 decode, and better 1440p headroom. Pick a used RTX 2060 Super if you're chasing frames per dollar and 8 GB covers what you play.
For 1080p and light 1440p, yes, it still holds up well. Its 448 GB/s of bandwidth even keeps it competitive in bandwidth-heavy tasks like emulation. The 8 GB VRAM ceiling is the part that will show its age first.
Usually, yes. The 3060's 12 GB fits larger models and batch sizes than the 2060 Super's 8 GB, and for local AI and rendering work, that capacity matters more than the 2060 Super's bandwidth edge.
Mostly on decode, not raw speed. The 3060 adds hardware AV1 decode and a newer NVENC generation, useful for importing modern footage, but export and playback speed between the two stays close since neither card can encode AV1.
Both have dedicated RT cores, though the 3060's are a newer, more efficient generation. Ray tracing taxes either card, so plan on pairing it with DLSS on whichever one you pick to stay smooth.
Both are limited to DLSS 2 Super Resolution upscaling, and image quality between them is essentially the same. Frame generation isn't available on either card, that arrived with the RTX 40 series and DLSS 3.
Usually it's the reverse at 1080p, a weak CPU holds back either card before the GPU becomes the limit. Run the pairing checker above, a Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i5-10400F or better keeps both cards fed.
Close across the board. The 2060 Super pulls 175 W against the 3060's 170 W, and the 3060 runs a few degrees cooler with a small frames-per-watt edge thanks to its newer manufacturing node.
A solid 550 W unit handles either card, each drawing power from a single 8-pin connector. PSU sizing isn't a deciding factor between these two.
Both are similar in length, 229 mm for the 2060 Super and 242 mm for the 3060, so check your case's clearance either way. The 2060 Super's PCIe 3.0 x16 loses nothing on an older motherboard, and the 3060's PCIe 4.0 x16 is more bandwidth than either card actually uses.
No. The laptop versions of both chips run at lower power and lower clocks than the desktop cards covered on this page, so expect noticeably lower laptop performance. Treat laptop benchmarks as a separate comparison.
No, not for current AAA games. Both belong in the 1080p-to-1440p range, so treat 4K as an occasional DLSS-assisted option rather than a resolution either card is built to target.
A used RTX 2060 Super around $100 is the best raw value on this page. Spend more for the new RTX 3060 if you want a warranty, the extra VRAM, and AV1 decode.
Plenty. Turing and Ampere both still have years left in NVIDIA's Game Ready driver cycle, so neither card is at real risk of losing support before 2030.
It's a modest step up, roughly 8% faster with 4 GB more VRAM and AV1 decode added in. Worth it if you specifically need that extra memory or those features, otherwise put the money toward a bigger jump like a used RTX 3060 Ti or RTX 4060.