GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile vs GTX 280

Place in the ranking	729	163
Place by popularity	not in top-100	89
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.11	no data
Power efficiency	0.99	28.15
Architecture	Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	GT200	GA106
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	16 June 2008 (16 years ago)	12 January 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$649	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	240	3840
Core clock speed	602 MHz	900 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1425 MHz
Number of transistors	1,400 million	13,250 million
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	236 Watt	80 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	105 °C	no data
Texture fill rate	48.16	171.0
Floating-point processing power	0.6221 TFLOPS	10.94 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	48
TMUs	80	120
Tensor Cores	no data	120
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	30

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).

Laptop size	no data	large
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	267 mm	no data
Height	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	no data
SLI options	+	-

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	GDDR3	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	6 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	1107 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	141.7 GB/s	336.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

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	HDTVDual Link DVI	No outputs
Multi monitor support	+	no data
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
Audio input for HDMI	S/PDIF	no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	11.1 (10_0)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	4.0	6.5
OpenGL	2.1	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	2.0
Vulkan	N/A	1.2
CUDA	+	8.6

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 280 3.37

RTX 3060 Mobile 32.52
+865%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GTX 280 1299

RTX 3060 Mobile 12550
+866%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	10−12 −890%	99 +890%
1440p	7−8 −871%	68 +871%
4K	4−5 −925%	41 +925%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	64.90	no data
1440p	92.71	no data
4K	162.25	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

103

+0%

103

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	76 +0%	76 +0%
Battlefield 5	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	86 +0%	86 +0%
Far Cry 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	170−180 +0%	170−180 +0%
Hitman 3	106 +0%	106 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150 +0%	140−150 +0%
Metro Exodus	164 +0%	164 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	64 +0%	64 +0%
Battlefield 5	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	69 +0%	69 +0%
Far Cry 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	170−180 +0%	170−180 +0%
Hitman 3	108 +0%	108 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	189 +0%	189 +0%
Metro Exodus	129 +0%	129 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	102 +0%	102 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	158 +0%	158 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	158 +0%	158 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	56 +0%	56 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	62 +0%	62 +0%
Far Cry 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	170−180 +0%	170−180 +0%
Hitman 3	96 +0%	96 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	120 +0%	120 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	140 +0%	140 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	78 +0%	78 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	46 +0%	46 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	48 +0%	48 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	39 +0%	39 +0%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	180−190 +0%	180−190 +0%
Hitman 3	64 +0%	64 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	85 +0%	85 +0%
Metro Exodus	85 +0%	85 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	101 +0%	101 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	116 +0%	116 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Hitman 3	41 +0%	41 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%
Metro Exodus	60 +0%	60 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	55 +0%	55 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	11 +0%	11 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	15 +0%	15 +0%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60 +0%	60 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	19 +0%	19 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

+0%

This is how GTX 280 and RTX 3060 Mobile compete in popular games:

RTX 3060 Mobile is 890% faster in 1080p
RTX 3060 Mobile is 871% faster in 1440p
RTX 3060 Mobile is 925% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 72 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.37	32.52
Recency	16 June 2008	12 January 2021
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	6 GB
Chip lithography	65 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	236 Watt	80 Watt

RTX 3060 Mobile has a 865% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 12 years, a 500% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 712.5% more advanced lithography process, and 195% lower power consumption.

The GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 280 is a desktop card while GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.