NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060
Side-by-side benchmark comparison, specs, pricing, and value analysis.
Benchmark Comparison
Gaming figures are average frames per second, measured by Tom's Hardware GPU hierarchy. Geometric mean of 15 games, ultra settings, no upscaling. Ray tracing figures are DXR-enabled at 1440p. A dash means the card was not tested at that resolution. Productivity and Steel Nomad are synthetic scores on their own scales and are not comparable to the fps columns.
Specifications
| Spec | GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB | GeForce RTX 5060 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB GDDR6X | 8GB GDDR7 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 448 GB/s |
| Shaders | 8960 | 3840 |
| Boost Clock | 1845 MHz | 2497 MHz |
| TDP | 350W | 145W |
| Architecture | Ampere | Blackwell 2.0 |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 4,797 | 3,149 |
| Best Price | $799 | $299 |
| Value Score | 38/100 | 85/100 |
Verdict
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB is faster but costs more. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 offers better value for money. Your choice depends on budget vs. performance priority.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060: Which Should You Buy?
This is not a close race. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB delivers 102.3 fps at 1440p ultra to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060's 76.3 fps, a 34% gap. Only pick the slower card if it is dramatically cheaper or you need it for a lower resolution.
You pay a 167% premium for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB ($799 against $299) to get 34% more frames. The extra frames do not keep up with the extra cost — the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is the better value here.
Two things beyond raw speed: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB carries 12GB against 8GB — the deciding factor at 1440p and above with ray tracing or texture packs, and the reason 8GB cards age badly; and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 draws 205W less (145W versus 350W), which can mean a smaller PSU and a quieter case; and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is 3 years newer (2025 versus 2022), so it gets longer driver support and newer upscaling and frame generation features.