GeForce RTX 3060 vs GTS 450 Rev. 3
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | not rated | 83 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 4 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 73.43 |
| Architecture | Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014) | Ampere (2020−2024) |
| GPU code name | GF116 | Ampere GA106 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 11 July 2012 (12 years ago) | 12 January 2021 (3 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $329 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Detailed specifications
General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 144 | 3584 |
| Core clock speed | 783 MHz | 1320 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 1777 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 1,170 million | 13,250 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 106 Watt | 170 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 18.79 | 199.0 |
| Floating-point performance | 0.451 gflops | 12.74 gflops |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |
| Length | 210 mm | 242 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | 1x 12-pin |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | DDR3 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 192 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1400 MHz | 15000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 22.4 GB/s | 360.0 GB/s |
| Shared memory | no data | - |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI | 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort |
| HDMI | + | + |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 6.5 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 2.0 |
| Vulkan | N/A | 1.2 |
| CUDA | 2.1 | 8.6 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 11 July 2012 | 12 January 2021 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 12 GB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 106 Watt | 170 Watt |
GTS 450 Rev. 3 has 60.4% lower power consumption.
RTX 3060, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 8 years, a 1100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 400% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between GeForce GTS 450 Rev. 3 and GeForce RTX 3060. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
