RTX 5060 Ti vs RTX 3080 Ti: Specs, Price, Performance, and More Compared

This article compares Ampere’s high-end RTX 3080 Ti vs Blackwell’s mid-range RTX 5060 Ti regarding specs and more.

The 3080 Ti represented the essence of the Ampere flagship GPUs in 2020, offering plenty of VRAM, immense computing power, and substantial memory bandwidth. Gamers from the enthusiastic territory found it highly appealing to pick up and play games at native 4K, or even 1440p. Back then, DLSS wasn’t a selling point for these GPUs; raw performance mattered, which meant good raster performance, memory bandwidth, and bus width were all selling points.

Even though there was this unplayable title called Cyberpunk 2077, the gen-to-gen improvements were worth talking about. With the 50 Series, this changed significantly; mid-range GPUs no longer excite gamers, as, due to the trend, they are likely to be subpar. The only selling point of today’s highlight, the 5060 Ti, is that it comes with 16GB VRAM, not 8 GB. Let’s look at the comparison and discuss which one you should go for in 2025.

Note: This article is based on real-life examples and scenarios, thoroughly analyzed and researched. This does not source from any third-party data. All of the specs mentioned are official.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti vs RTX 3080 Ti

The 3080 Ti sits between the 4070 Super and the 4070 Ti in terms of raw performance, which is significantly higher than the RTX 5060 Ti, which falls in the 4070 level. However, in a real-world scenario, the VRAM limitation in the 3080 Ti and the weaker GPU core in the 5060 Ti limit gamers with both GPUs to 1440p. Either way, there is a problem, and ideally, the 1440p makes more sense with both of them.

It’s a simple win for the 5060 Ti, why? Because you can easily get away with an 80+ bronze PSU and not worry about anything. However, the 3080 Ti requires a special connector or an ATX 3 standard because it has a higher power draw. According to online reports, significant power transients occur on both the CPU and GPU sides, particularly during shader compilation. That’s one scenario where the 5060 Ti wins hands down.

There are benefits, too, such as 16GB VRAM and MFG support. Although gamers can enable frame generation through lossless calling with their 3080 Ti’s, native FG also has its own image quality differences, FG on top, requiring extra VRAM. Therefore, 12GB cards that turn on FG may run into serious issues when playing AAA titles built on Unreal Engine 5 (UE5).

Regarding raster performance, where the 5060 Ti falls short, the 3080 Ti, with tuning, manages to surpass the 20K mark in Timespy and around 15K in Port Royal. Whereas the 5060 Ti only manages 15K points in Timespy and around 7.5K in Port Royal. 

Official Specifications & Theoretical Performance

Category / Specification	RTX 5060 Ti (16GB)	RTX 3080 Ti
GPU Architecture	Blackwell (GB206)	Ampere (GA102)
Process Node	4nm (TSMC 4N)	8nm (Samsung)
CUDA Cores	4,608	10,240
Ray Tracing Cores	36 (4th Gen)	80 (2nd Gen)
Tensor Cores	144 (5th Gen)	320 (3rd Gen)
Base / Boost Clock	2407 MHz / 2572 MHz	1365 MHz / 1665 MHz
VRAM	16GB GDDR7	12GB GDDR6X
Memory Bus Width	128-bit	384-bit
Memory Bandwidth	448 GB/s	912 GB/s
TDP	180W	350W
PCIe Interface	Gen 5 x8	Gen 4 x16
Launch MSRP	$429	$1,199
Current Market Price (2025)	$500–$550 MSRP	$500–$600 (used)
Release Date	April 2025	June 2021

Theoretical Performance (Specification-Based)

Theoretical Metric	RTX 5060 Ti	RTX 3080 Ti (12GB)
FP32 Compute	23.7 TFLOPS	34.1 TFLOPS
FP16 Compute	23.7 TFLOPS	34.1 TFLOPS
FP64 Compute	0.37 TFLOPS	0.53 TFLOPS
Pixel Rate	123.5 GPixel/s	186.5 GPixel/s
Texture Rate	370.4 GTexel/s	532.8 GTexel/s

Pros and Cons of RTX 5060 Ti and 3080 Ti

Card	Pros	Cons
5060 Ti	Modern architecture with DLSS 4 and Frame Gen support (native) Excellent power efficiency; runs on 180W TDP 16GB GDDR7 VRAM ideal for modern UE5 and RT-heavy games PCIe 5.0 support for future-proofing Works well with budget PSUs (80+ Bronze) Cooler, quieter operation	Narrow 128-bit bus limits memory bandwidth Weaker raw raster performance vs older high-end GPUs Less future-proof for high-end 4K gaming Lacks the brute-force pixel and texture rates of Ampere
3080 Ti	Excellent raster performance, especially at 1440p and 4K Much higher compute power, CUDA, and texture performance Partially supports DLSS 4 Ideal for tuning/OC enthusiasts Still competitive in raw power despite being quite old	High power draw (350W), requires a high-end PSU and possibly ATX 3.0 Only 12GB of VRAM can limit UE5 and RT-heavy AAA titles No native Frame Generation support Large and power-hungry, not ideal for compact builds

Conclusion

Ultimately, picking between the two depends on what you want or what your expectations are. In short, if you value efficiency and a new GPU, go for the 5060 Ti. For the 3080 Ti, if you can get a good used deal and already have a 80+ gold or ATX 3 PSU, go for it. Turning down a few texture settings will still make games look good. 

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