Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 vs RTX 3060 Ti

When it comes to PC gaming, there is a lot of talk right now surrounding the different GPUs from both Nvidia and AMD, and how these cards stack up against each other in terms of performance. A question that a lot of people will want answering though is just how the different graphics cards step up against the competition from their own developers – like how the two main budget orientated GPUs from Nvidia stack against each other.

So, here we are going to be discussing the key differences between the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and the RTX 3070, two strong contenders for the best budget GPU for your money – but which comes out on top?

First off, let’s look at the specifications of each card, and how they compare to each other.

If you have been reading through any of our other versus articles you know that we (or at least I) like to start off by talking about the differences in the actual hardware inside the graphics cards themselves, as there is often quite a big discrepancy – especially when you are comparing two different companies graphics cards.

However…that isn’t exactly the case here. In fact, these two cards are closer together than you might suspect in their specifications. Take the power consumption for example. 20w more are required for the 3070 over the 3060 Ti, which is nothing at all really, barely worth mentioning except to say that if you need to think about that kind of wattage requirement regarding your PSU, then the information is there. But it’s hardly a huge leap.

The power is provided by the same PCIe 8-pin connector in the 3070 as it is in the 3060 Ti, and these are both two slot cards to boot. Basically, if you were coming into this article to have me tell you that one card is different to the other physically – sorry. They aren’t. Similar sizes and power requirements all round, and they both use the exact same cooler (which is good by the way, heat management won’t be a problem on either of these cards).

The cooling system isn’t the only similarity when it comes to these GPUs either. These cards are both going to have the same type and amount of GDDR6 RAM – 8Gb. But, when it comes to these GPUs different performance output, this is the end of the specification similarities that make a difference. The 3060 Ti has 32 less tensor cores than the 3070’s 184, and eight less tensor cores as well.

What does this mean? Well for the casual user, maybe not that much. Tensor cores usually equate to how well the GPU handles AI integration, and here that might relate to how well these GPUs handle the DLSS integration. So, what these numbers tell us is that if you are the kind of person who wants the best DLSS integration for their money (or is going to notice the difference that eight less tensor cores represents), then maybe the 3070 is the better option for you.

The same applies to the RT cores. Both of these cards can handle ray tracing, but you are going to see better frame rates and integration within the 3070 rather than the 3060 Ti. So, if you are the kind of person who is going to want that dependable FPS with ray tracing involved, then the 3070 is going to be the way to go. Otherwise, for dependable FPS with ray tracing (but maybe not as strong) the 3060 Ti is going to work just fine.

I mentioned before that these cards are pretty close when it comes to their actual hardware specifications, but how do these different specs translate into in-game performance?

Well, as you might expect you are going to get a slightly faster card out of the 3070 – but it is only a slight performance increase. In fact, if you look at the price difference between these two cards (about £80), you might even begin to think like me that the price difference is actually a fair depiction of the power and performance difference between these two cards.

Firstly, you have the EFps performance of both cards. The 3070 is roughly 7% faster when it comes to effective frames per second in-game than the 3060 Ti, with speeds like 282 EFps in CS:GO (compared to the 3060 Ti at 271 EFps), 205 EFps in Overwatch (compared to the 3060 Ti at 182 EFps), and 186 EFps in Fortnite (which clocks in at 174 EFps on the 3060 Ti).

These speeds come courtesy of iserbenchmark.com,, who have done some pretty expansive testing between these two cards. In fact, they also found out that the effective speed of the 3070 is actually 16% higher than the speed of the 3060 Ti. Again, this performance lead over the 3070 shouldn’t be too surprising, and it isn’t that massive of a difference in actual speed – just about enough to validate the tiny price difference between these two cards. But it isn’t the only uptick in speed though.

So whilst the last stats refer to the rate at which 3D gaming environments are rendered and modeled effectively, the stats for individual aspects such as lighting, reflections, and gravity should all be looks at individually – and on average, these benchmark results each clock out at around 15% higher on the 3070 than they do on the 3060 Ti. Again, the situation is that if you are looking for a GPU that handles modern gaming with all of its added caveats in a stable manner, then you should definitely be considering a 3070 over the 3060 Ti.

Let me take a moment here though to talk about why you shouldn’t be put off by the dip in the performance of the 3060 Ti though. If you did end up buying this card, plugging it in, and rinning it for modern gaming, you won’t be finding yourself with a dud card that gives out low performance. The 3060 Ti is more powerful than the 2080 Super, so you already have a card that sits happily on top of the performance table when it comes to GPUs designed for mass consumers over the past few years.

In fact, thanks to this card being part of the Ampere line up you can expect it to be reasonably well futureproofed as well against developments in video games as the years go by.

What I’m trying to say here is this: When it comes to in-game performance, the 3070 is the card that comes out on top inside all of the different benchmark tests you can put it through – but only by a small margin, and that the 3060 Ti on its own is still a good card. This leads me to my next point.

Let me take a moment here though to talk about why you shouldn’t be put off by the dip in the performance of the 3060 Ti though. If you did end up buying this card, plugging it in, and rinning it for modern gaming, you won’t be finding yourself with a dud card that gives out low performance. The 3060 Ti is more powerful than the 2080 Super, so you already have a card that sits happily on top of the performance table when it comes to GPUs designed for mass consumers over the past few years.

In fact, thanks to this card being part of the Ampere line up you can expect it to be reasonably well futureproofed as well against developments in video games as the years go by.

What I’m trying to say here is this: When it comes to in-game performance, the 3070 is the card that comes out on top inside all of the different benchmark tests you can put it through – but only by a small margin, and that the 3060 Ti on its own is still a good card. This leads me to my next point.

All of this talk about performance is well and good, but one of the most major factors that help a user decide on what GPU they are going to be using is the actual price of the GPU. Lets assume that you are reading this article at a time when the different GPUs released by Nvidia are available at their official MSRP, and that you have a viable choice between the two.

If you are happy paying that marginal difference for a bump in performance, then there is no reason in the world to stop you from splashing out on an Nvidia 3070 over a 3060 Ti. It’s going to give you that edge in frame rate, rasterization, ray tracing, DLSS implementation, and all of the other good stuff that Nvidia is promising over the 3060 Ti, and that’s great. $100 does buy you a better in-game experience.

However, if you are trying to squeeze as much out of every single penny you are throwing at your PC build, then you really can’t go wrong with the 3060 Ti. Its still going to give you that next-gen performance, maybe not to the level at which the 3070 is capable, but you will have it. Really it’s a question of whether you can afford the 3070, because if you can you should probably splash out that extra 100 dollars or so.

That being said, if you are going for the 3070 and still have some headroom in your budget for an even more powerful GPU, you should definitely look into the offerings from AMD, or even the 3080 from Nvidia themselves – but that’s just a suggestion. I’ll let you research those cards yourself (we actually have handy guides on our site), but if you are looking into how to get the best graphics in-game, and which card is going to give you that opportunity then you should really consider all options.

However, when it comes to these two budget orientated GPUs, you really can’t go wrong. I would say here that choice is limited by your financial allowance – the difference in performance is negligible but if you are a hardcore gamer you might notice it. Simply put, casual enthusiasts would be well served by a 3060 Ti, whereas the more intense gamer on a budget would do well with a 3070.

Now, usually, when you are trying to decide between two separate products there is an element of competition between two separate developers or companies making the products themselves. Not so here.

In fact, when I was talking about the specifications on these two cards I mentioned that there are a lot of similarities in them, which can essentially be condensed into the TL:DR: the 3060 Ti is just a 3070 with less power inside it.

But this isn’t a bad thing. In fact, both of these cards are built really well – and the cooling on each of them is top-notch. In fact, even in the third party cards can boast some really excellent cooling (and RGB, if that is your thing).

So realistically, there are no big differences. Both cards are going to be well built and dependable over long periods of time. Now, another question usually worth asking is ‘what kinds of optional extras are going to be included with the card?’ and again, the answer is exactly the same for both GPUs.

The 3060 Ti and the 3070 will both ship with Ray Tracing, DLSS, a free subscription to GeForce Now – not bad at all. In fact, even the free extras you get from Nvidia are pretty great, with strong support for games included in regular and timely driver updates for their cards on the release of new games just before or on launch days.

If you were looking for me to poke holes in the way Nvidia do business, I really can’t as far as the manufacture and support of their products. Unless we count volume as a potential issue, in which case I can think of a few problems for sure, but when it comes to getting the 3060 Ti or the 3070 in your hand you are going to find that both of these products are well made, capable of delivering on the promises Nvidia have made and well supported by their makers in terms of software updates regularly.

If you do decide on one of these cards, and put your money down, I promise that you won’t get a case of buyer’s remorse. But which should you choose?

Well, that’s the big question, isn’t it? And really, there are a couple of answers depending on who you are. If you are a casual gamer looking for solid performance at a low cost, then the 3060 Ti is going to be the perfect answer for you.

Hardcore gamer on a budget? You can’t go wrong with the 3070. That’s about the sum of it, you are going to see better performance out of the 3070, but obviously that comes with a slightly higher price tag – so if you are prepared to pay that $100 extra for a bump in your in-game stats, you will definitely see them in-game.

I feel like a majority of people reading this article are looking for the answer to two questions: Is the 3070 better than the 3060 Ti? And, is the 3060 Ti a good card for its price?

The answer to both is yes. When we are looking at comparing two cards so close together on budget and performance, you have to account for your own taste and resources, but my take is this: If you can afford the 3070, great stuff. If you can only afford the 3060 Ti, you won’t be disappointed.

Any more questions about these two GPUs? Just leave a comment below and we will do our best to get back to you.