G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, raw graphics performance, VRAM, feature set, power efficiency, pricing context, and long-term value so you can see which GPU actually makes more sense.

GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

2020

Why buy it

✅+137.7% higher PassMark G3D performance.
✅Delivers 36.4% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 50.9 vs 37.3 G3D/$ ($399 MSRP vs $229 MSRP).
✅Access to DLSS 2 Super Resolution (2020).
✅More future proof: Ampere (2020−2025) on 8nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌33.3% higher power demand at 200W vs 150W.

Radeon RX 480

2016

Why buy it

✅Costs $170 less on MSRP ($229 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
✅Draws 150W instead of 200W, a 50W reduction.
✅Measures 240mm instead of 242mm, a 2mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark G3D performance (8,546 vs 20,312).
❌No DLSS support; it relies on FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2016-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 37.3 vs 50.9 G3D/$ ($229 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).

GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

2020

Radeon RX 480

2016

Why buy it

✅+137.7% higher PassMark G3D performance.
✅Delivers 36.4% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 50.9 vs 37.3 G3D/$ ($399 MSRP vs $229 MSRP).
✅Access to DLSS 2 Super Resolution (2020).
✅More future proof: Ampere (2020−2025) on 8nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Why buy it

✅Costs $170 less on MSRP ($229 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
✅Draws 150W instead of 200W, a 50W reduction.
✅Measures 240mm instead of 242mm, a 2mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌33.3% higher power demand at 200W vs 150W.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark G3D performance (8,546 vs 20,312).
❌No DLSS support; it relies on FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2016-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 37.3 vs 50.9 G3D/$ ($229 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).

Quick Answers

So, is GeForce RTX 3060 Ti better than Radeon RX 480?

Yes. GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is clearly the better overall GPU here. You are also looking at 20,312 vs 8,546 in G3D Mark. On top of that, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a 2020 card with DLSS Super Resolution, while Radeon RX 480 is a 2016 model from an older generation with FSR upscaling. So this is not really a tight same-tier comparison. It is more a modern card against an older, weaker alternative.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer 2020 generation instead of 2016, 137.7% more raw performance headroom, the stronger feature stack with DLSS Super Resolution instead of FSR upscaling, and a 8nm process instead of 14nm. That broader feature stack should age better as more games lean on modern upscaling and frame-generation support.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper card?

GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the smarter buy by a wide margin. GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is about 74.2% more expensive on MSRP at $399 MSRP versus $229 MSRP, and you are getting 137.7% higher G3D Mark. Radeon RX 480 really only makes sense now as a very cheap stopgap or a used-market placeholder.

Is Radeon RX 480 still worth buying for gaming in 2026?

No, not for a fresh gaming build. Radeon RX 480 is 2016 hardware with 8 GB of VRAM, 8,546 in G3D Mark, and FSR upscaling. That is simply too far behind to be an easy modern recommendation.

Games Benchmarks

Real-world benchmarks and performance projections based on comprehensive hardware analysis and comparative metrics. Values represent expected performance on High/Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Modeled using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reference profile to minimize specific CPU bottlenecks.

Note: Performance behavior can vary per game. Specific architectures may perform better or worse depending on game engine optimizations and API implementation.

GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Benchmark Check

Radeon RX 480 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
1080p
low	152 FPS	134 FPS
medium	137 FPS	113 FPS
high	118 FPS	97 FPS
ultra	100 FPS	58 FPS
1440p
low	131 FPS	114 FPS
medium	107 FPS	96 FPS
high	91 FPS	72 FPS
ultra	82 FPS	42 FPS
4K
low	77 FPS	39 FPS
medium	65 FPS	36 FPS
high	50 FPS	23 FPS
ultra	43 FPS	19 FPS

Open GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Open Radeon RX 480

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
1080p
low	425 FPS	156 FPS
medium	366 FPS	135 FPS
high	296 FPS	115 FPS
ultra	248 FPS	89 FPS
1440p
low	272 FPS	91 FPS
medium	229 FPS	71 FPS
high	190 FPS	56 FPS
ultra	156 FPS	44 FPS
4K
low	133 FPS	37 FPS
medium	114 FPS	29 FPS
high	96 FPS	23 FPS
ultra	73 FPS	18 FPS

Open GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Open Radeon RX 480

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
1080p
low	859 FPS	385 FPS
medium	693 FPS	308 FPS
high	602 FPS	256 FPS
ultra	457 FPS	192 FPS
1440p
low	658 FPS	288 FPS
medium	529 FPS	231 FPS
high	452 FPS	192 FPS
ultra	343 FPS	144 FPS
4K
low	434 FPS	192 FPS
medium	346 FPS	154 FPS
high	275 FPS	128 FPS
ultra	221 FPS	96 FPS

Open GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Open Radeon RX 480

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
1080p
low	580 FPS	290 FPS
medium	514 FPS	252 FPS
high	424 FPS	210 FPS
ultra	373 FPS	166 FPS
1440p
low	478 FPS	213 FPS
medium	427 FPS	190 FPS
high	335 FPS	153 FPS
ultra	290 FPS	118 FPS
4K
low	285 FPS	120 FPS
medium	266 FPS	98 FPS
high	234 FPS	80 FPS
ultra	195 FPS	62 FPS

Open GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Open Radeon RX 480

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and Radeon RX 480

GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in December 1 2020. It features the Ampere architecture. The core clock ranges from 1410 MHz to 1665 MHz. It has 4864 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 200W. Manufactured using 8 nm process technology. It features 38 dedicated ray tracing cores for enhanced lighting effects. G3D Mark benchmark score: 20,312 points. Launch price was $399.

Radeon RX 480

The Radeon RX 480 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in June 29 2016. It features the GCN 4.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1120 MHz to 1266 MHz. It has 2304 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 150W. Manufactured using 14 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 8,546 points. Launch price was $229.

⚡

Graphics Performance

In G3D Mark, the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 20,312 versus the Radeon RX 480's 8,546 — the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti leads by 137.7%. The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is built on Ampere while the Radeon RX 480 uses GCN 4.0, both on 8 nm vs 14 nm. Shader units: 4,864 (GeForce RTX 3060 Ti) vs 2,304 (Radeon RX 480). Raw compute: 16.2 TFLOPS (GeForce RTX 3060 Ti) vs 5.834 TFLOPS (Radeon RX 480). Boost clocks: 1665 MHz vs 1266 MHz.

Feature	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
G3D Mark Score	20,312+138%	8,546
Architecture	Ampere	GCN 4.0
Process Node	8 nm	14 nm
Shading Units	4864+111%	2304
Compute (TFLOPS)	16.2 TFLOPS+178%	5.834 TFLOPS
Boost Clock	1665 MHz+32%	1266 MHz
ROPs	80+150%	32
TMUs	152+6%	144
L1 Cache	4.8 MB+757%	0.56 MB
L2 Cache	4 MB+100%	2 MB

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti gives access to NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), widely regarding as the superior upscaling method for image quality. The Radeon RX 480 relies on FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), which is capable but generally slightly noisier than DLSS in motion.

Feature	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
Upscaling Tech	DLSS 2 Super Resolution	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	NVIDIA Reflex	AMD Anti-Lag

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards feature 8 GB of video memory. Memory bandwidth: 448 GB/s (GeForce RTX 3060 Ti) vs 256 GB/s (Radeon RX 480) — a 75% advantage for the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. Bus width: 256-bit vs 256-bit. L2 Cache: 4 MB (GeForce RTX 3060 Ti) vs 2 MB (Radeon RX 480) — the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
VRAM Capacity	8 GB	8 GB
Memory Type	GDDR6	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	448 GB/s+75%	256 GB/s
Bus Width	256-bit	256-bit
L2 Cache	4 MB+100%	2 MB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12 Ultimate (12_2) (GeForce RTX 3060 Ti) vs 12.0 (Radeon RX 480). Vulkan: 1.3 vs 1.3. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 4.

Feature	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
DirectX	12 Ultimate (12_2)	12.0
Vulkan	1.3	1.3
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
Max Displays	4	4

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC (Ampere) (GeForce RTX 3060 Ti) vs VCE 3.4 (Radeon RX 480). Decoder: NVDEC (Ampere) vs UVD 6.3. Supported codecs: H.264,H.265,VP9,AV1 (GeForce RTX 3060 Ti) vs MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC (Radeon RX 480).

Feature	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
Encoder	NVENC (Ampere)	VCE 3.4
Decoder	NVDEC (Ampere)	UVD 6.3
Codecs	H.264,H.265,VP9,AV1	MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti draws 200W versus the Radeon RX 480's 150W — a 28.6% difference. The Radeon RX 480 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 600W (GeForce RTX 3060 Ti) vs 500W (Radeon RX 480). Power connectors: 8-pin vs 8-pin. Card length: 242mm vs 240mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 75 vs 85°C.

Feature	GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	Radeon RX 480
TDP	200W	150W-25%
Recommended PSU	600W	500W-17%
Power Connector	8-pin	8-pin
Length	242mm	240mm
Height	112mm	95mm
Slots	2	2
Temp (Load)	75-12%	85°C
Perf/Watt	101.6+78%	57.0

💰

Value Analysis

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti launched at $399 MSRP, while the Radeon RX 480 launched at $229. The Radeon RX 480 costs 42.6% less ($170 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 50.9 (GeForce RTX 3060 Ti) vs 37.3 (Radeon RX 480) — the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti offers 36.5% better value. The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the newer GPU (2020 vs 2016).