GeForce RTX 3060vsGeForce RTX 5090
The GeForce RTX 3060 is a reliable workhorse for 1080p gaming and everyday creative tasks on a budget, while the RTX 5090 is a top-tier card built for 8K gaming and heavy-duty professional workloads.
GeForce RTX 3060
Ampere · TSMC 8 nm · 2021
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GeForce RTX 5090
Blackwell 2.0 · TSMC 5 nm · 2025
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Overall Performance Score
A unified score from combined synthetic and real-world benchmarks. 100 represents the fastest consumer GPU available.
Side-by-Side Specs
Every detail compared. Highlighted cells indicate the leading value for that metric.
Which should you buy?
The GeForce RTX 5090 wins overall for anyone needing top-tier performance, leaving the RTX 3060 far behind.
For budget-conscious buyers, the older RTX 3060 is the smarter pick, offering decent gaming at a much lower cost.
The RTX 3060 is the right choice for playing older or less demanding games on a tight budget, where the RTX 5090's power would be wasteful.
Frequently asked questions
Is the RTX 3060 better than the RTX 5090?
Overall the RTX 5090 is the stronger graphics card: it ranks higher in our aggregate performance score (94 vs 41 out of 100), so it leads the RTX 3060 in most workloads.
How much faster is the RTX 5090 than the RTX 3060?
Based on our aggregated benchmark scores the RTX 5090 is roughly 129% faster than the RTX 3060 overall. The real-world gap varies by game, resolution and settings.
Which should you buy, the RTX 3060 or the RTX 5090?
If you want the most performance, pick the RTX 5090. If the RTX 3060 is meaningfully cheaper where you shop, it can be the better value for similar real-world results — check current prices and the full spec comparison above before deciding.