AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT
Rated: 7/10
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Rated: 6/10
Pros And Cons
Graphics Card | Pros | Cons |
AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT | ✅ Significantly higher performance ✅ Better power efficiency | ❌Narrower bus width ❌Higher price tag |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | ✅Slightly lower price ✅Slightly lower power consumption | ❌Lacluster performance ❌Small VRAM buffer |
- On average, in our gaming tests, the performance of the RX 7700 XT was over 22% higher than the RTX 3060 Ti, putting both cards in different tiers of performance.
- The power consumption of the RX 7700 XT was only around 7% higher than the RTX 3060 Ti in our testing, which is an acceptable amount considering its performance improvements.
- The price of the RTX 3060 Ti is still near MSRP despite the age of this card.
- The high price tag of the RTX 3060 Ti, accompanied by its lackluster performance in modern titles, makes it hard to recommend it to most people looking for a budget graphics card.
Comparison Table
Technical Specs | NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti | Radeon RX 7700 XT |
Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 3.0 |
CUDA Cores | 4864 | 3456 |
Tensor Cores | 152 | NA |
RT Cores | 38 | 54 |
TMUs | 152 | 216 |
ROPs | 80 | 96 |
Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
Memory Speed | 448.0 GB/s | 448.0 GB/s |
MSRP | $399 | $449 |
Best Variants | Best RTX 3060 Ti Graphics Cards | Best RX 7700 XT Graphics Cards |
Architectural Difference
- Clock Speed: The RX 7700 XT has a base clock of 1700MHz, much higher than the 1410MHz base clock of the RTX 3060 Ti. The difference between the boost frequencies of these cards is even larger, with the RTX 3060 Ti sitting at around 1665MHz, while the RX 7700 XT has a boost clock of 2544MHz.
- VRAM: The AMD card has 12GB of video memory over a 192-bit bus, while the RTX 3060 Ti has 8 GB of memory over a 256-bit bus.
- Process Node: The RX 7000 series of GPUs utilize an advanced 5nm manufacturing process, while the RTX 3060 Ti uses an advanced yet a bit older 8nm processing node.
- TDP: The RX 7700 XT has a higher 245-watt TDP than the 200-watt TDP of the RTX 3060 Ti.
- Other Differences: Both graphics cards match each other for the most useful features they have. Both have support for hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing, AI upscaling, and frame generation using AMD’s open-source software.
With the prices of graphics cards reaching the sky in recent years, a lot of gamers are yearning for good entry-level GPUs. The RX 7700 XT vs RTX 3060 Ti comparison will evaluate two contenders to determine the best price-to-performance card.
Gaming Benchmarks – 1440p
Now that we have an idea of the architectural differences of the RX 7700 XT vs RTX 3060 Ti, we will now compare the performance of these two GPUs in modern games. All the subsequent tests have been done on a testbench with handpicked components, the specifications of which are listed below:
Test Bench
- CPU: Core i5 12400F
- Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus
- Storage: XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 2TB NVMe SSD
- PSU: ENERMAX REVOLUTION D.F. X 1050W
- RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 2 x 16 GB DDR5, 6000 MHz; CL36-36-36-96
- CPU Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360mm AIO
Baldur’s Gate 3
- Our testing was kicked off with a 28% win for the RX 7700 XT in Baldur’s Gate, with an average framerate of 112 FPS against the RTX 3060 Ti’s average framerate of 96 FPS. Bear in mind all settings were set to max except for Ray Tracing, which we decided to turn off.
- The 1% lows of the RX 7700 XT approached 72 FPS, while the Nvidia card managed a much smoother minimum framerate of 82 FPS.
Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
- Both GPUs did not give an enjoyable framerate in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, with the Nvidia card averaging around 34 FPS. The RX 7700 XT had an average framerate of around 39 FPS. AMD had an unceremonious 15% lead over its Nvidia counterpart in this game.
- The 1% lows were even worse on both cards, with the 3060 Ti hovering around 21 FPS, while the RX 7700 XT had lows of around 28 FPS.
Escape From Tarkov
- With the Ultra preset, this realistic game had an average framerate of around 82 FPS on the RX 7700 XT, which was around 17% higher than the 70 FPS average of the RTX 3060 Ti.
- The 1% lows fell to around 68 FPS on the RX 7700 XT, while the RTX 3060 Ti fell below sixty frames with minimums of around 47 FPS.
Counter-Strike 2
- At the Very High preset, the RTX 3060 Ti took its first win in CS 2, with an average framerate of 187 FPS, around 5% higher than the RX 7700 XT’s 178 FPS average.
- The RX 7700 XT made up for its average by delivering superior 1% lows at around 150 FPS, significantly higher than the 122 FPS that the RTX 3060 Ti mustered as its minimum.
Cyberpunk 2077
- With no RT or upscaling, the RX 7700 XT ran Cyberpunk 2077 much better with an average framerate of 72 FPS, beating out the 52 FPS average of the RTX 3060 Ti by around 38%, a massive difference.
- The 1% lows of the RTX 3060 Ti hovered around 38 FPS, while the RX 7700 XT managed a minimum framerate of around 56 FPS in graphically demanding moments in our gameplay.
Starfield
- With DRS turned off on the Ultra preset, the RX 7700 XT managed an average framerate of 58 FPS in Starfield, while the RTX 3060 Ti had an average of around 44 FPS. The latter was around 32% slower in this game on average.
- The 1% lows of the RX 7700 XT were around 49 FPS in this game, while the RTX 3060 Ti struggled to maintain lows of around 33 FPS.
Diablo 4
- The Ultra preset in this game netted the RX 7700 XT an average framerate of 130 FPS, 18% higher than the 110 FPS average of the RTX 3060 Ti.
- As for the 1% lows, the RTX 3060 Ti fell down to 62 FPS, while the RX 7700 maintained a comfortable lead at around 73 FPS.
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
- With all the settings cranked up except for RT, the RX 7700 XT had an average framerate of 59 FPS in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, while the RTX 3060 Ti had an average of around 45 FPS. The RX 7700 XT was around 31% faster in this game.
- The 1% lows danced around 31 FPS on the RTX 3060 Ti, while the RX 7700 XT had lows of around 47 FPS in graphically demanding scenes.
The Last Of Us Part 1
- The Ultra preset was pretty hard to run on both graphics cards with a smooth framerate, with the RX 7700 XT getting an average framerate of 62 FPS, while the RTX 3060 Ti had an average framerate of around 40 FPS. The advantage of the AMD card swelled up to 55% in this game.
- The 1% lows of the RTX 3060 Ti were around 30 FPS in The Last Of Us, while the RX 7700 XT had more enjoyable minimums of 45 FPS. Both cards were no less stuttery in this game.
Resident Evil 4
- The raster performance with maxed-out settings was around 110 FPS on average with the RX 7700 XT, while the RTX 3060 Ti had an average of around 73 FPS, 50% lower than that of the AMD card.
- The RTX 3060 Ti managed 1% lows of around 53 FPS in this game, while the RX 7700 XT flew closer to 84 FPS as its minimum.
Hogwarts Legacy
- The average framerate of the RX 7700 XT was around 71 FPS in Hogwarts Legacy with the Ultra preset and RT turned off, while the RTX 3060 Ti was around 34% slower with an average framerate of 53 FPS.
- Both graphics cards had pretty weak 1% lows in this game, with the RTX 3060 Ti evening out around 26 FPS, while the RX 7700 XT had lows of around 36 FPS.
Overall Gaming Performance
Average Framerate
There was a massive difference between the performance of these two cards in almost every game, with the RX 7700 XT ultimately being around 22.5% in the lead. It had an overall average framerate of around 89 FPS, while the RTX 3060 Ti had an average framerate of around 73 FPS. The loss for the Nvidia card was much larger than we expected going into this comparison, and such a large difference certainly puts these two cards in different performance tiers.
1% Lows
The 1% lows of the RX 7700 XT were around 64 FPS on average, showing that it is a card adequate for 1440p gaming in most games with high settings. The RTX 3060 Ti missed the mark a little bit with lows around 51 FPS, which put it around 27% behind its competition.
Overall, the performance of the RTX 3060 Ti and the RX 7700 XT definitely differs a lot, with the AMD card being a clear win.
Winner: AMD's Radeon RX 7700 XT
Power Consumption
Game | RTX 3060 Ti (W) | RX 7700 XT (W) |
Baldur's Gate 3 | 230 | 248 |
Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora | 231 | 274 |
Escape From Tarkov | 210 | 233 |
CS 2 | 200 | 193 |
Cyberpunk 2077 | 228 | 232 |
Starfield | 203 | 208 |
Diablo 4 | 209 | 243 |
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor | 229 | 225 |
The Last Of Us Part 1 | 181 | 208 |
Resident Evil 4 | 225 | 251 |
Hogwarts Legacy | 215 | 213 |
Average Power Consumption | 215 | 230 |
Winner: Nvidia's RTX 3060 Ti |
The power consumption of the RX 7700 XT was around 7% higher than the RTX 3060 Ti on average, which is an acceptable increment considering the difference in performance. For most people, this little difference will not impact their gaming experience or day-to-day useability significantly.
Price And Value
Processor | MSRP | Current Price |
RTX 3060 Ti | 💲399 | 💲393 |
RX 7700 XT | 💲449 | 💲439 |
Difference | 13% | 12% |
Because of the recent demand of GPUs for AI servers, Nvidia cards have become particularly expensive. The cheapest we could find the RTX 3060 Ti on the used market was around $393, only slightly cheaper than its launch MSRP. This means that the RX 7700 XT is only 12% more expensive than the RTX card, which is a fair markup considering its increment in performance.
What We Recommend
RTX 3060 Ti: For most people, the current price of the RTX 3060 Ti does not justify its mediocre performance. Most modern titles have become too demanding to run at 1440p with high settings on this card, resorting to this GPU to be labelled as a good 1080p card if we ignore the price for a second. Nevertheless, taking into account the larger GPU market, we cannot recommend this card to most consumers.
RX 7700 XT: Despite its problems, the RX 7700 XT holds up pretty firmly against the RTX 3060 Ti in our comparison. It offers significantly superior performance at a comparable price, giving consumers a good option as an entry-level graphics card. Still, the price of this GPU is kind of steep for its tier.
The price-to-performance ratio of the GPU still seems to be off, but if you are choosing between the RTX 3060 Ti and RX 7700 XT, we would strongly recommend siding with the new AMD GPU instead of the barely discounting, sub-par performing Nvidia option.
FAQs
Any recent i5 or Ryzen 5 processor should give you enough performance that CPU limiting should not be a factor with these graphics cards.
No, both the RX 7700 XT and the RTX 3060 Ti perform about equivalently regarding hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
Yes, AMD’s Fluid Motion Frames Software allows any graphics card to utilize AI frame generation technology.
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