Steam Deck GPU vs GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | Ampere (2020−2024) | RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024) |
| GPU code name | GA106 | Van Gogh |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 12 January 2021 (3 years ago) | 25 February 2022 (2 years ago) |
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 | 3840 | 512 |
| Core clock speed | 817 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1282 MHz | 1600 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 13,250 million | 2,400 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 8 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 60 Watt | 15 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 153.8 | 51.20 |
| Floating-point processing power | 9.846 TFLOPS | 1.638 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 48 | 16 |
| TMUs | 120 | 32 |
| Tensor Cores | 120 | no data |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 30 | 8 |
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 | large | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | no data |
| Length | no data | 298 mm |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | None |
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 | GDDR6 | LPDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 6 GB | 16 GB |
| Memory bus width | 192 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1500 MHz | 1375 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 288.0 GB/s | 88 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 | No outputs | 1x USB Type-C |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |
| Shader Model | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Vulkan | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| CUDA | 8.6 | - |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 12 January 2021 | 25 February 2022 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 6 GB | 16 GB |
| Chip lithography | 8 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 60 Watt | 15 Watt |
Steam Deck GPU has an age advantage of 1 year, a 166.7% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 14.3% more advanced lithography process, and 300% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q and Steam Deck GPU. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q is a notebook card while Steam Deck GPU is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
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