NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q vs Apple M3 10-Core GPU vs Apple M3 9-Core GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q
► remove from comparisonThe NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with Max-Q design is the power saving variant of the mobile GeForce RTX 2060. Therefore it is a high end gaming graphics card for thin laptops. It is based on the same chip as the RTX 2060 but with reduced clock speeds and a lower power consumption. It was released in 2020 with the Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop.
With the refresh, Nvidia also reworked the Max-Q technologies for more efficiency. Low Voltage GDDR6 (lower clocked but more headroom for the GPU) and improved regulator efficiency should improve the performance per Watt. Two new optional features can also be implemented by the OEM. Max-Q Dynamic Boost is able to shift power from the CPU to the GPU on a per frame basis to increase overall performance. Furthermore, the laptop manufacturer can also implement Advanced Optimus with a dynamic display switch (hardware) to enable Optimus, G-SYNC and high refresh rate displays (up to 4K 120 Hz).
The clock is not the only difference compared to the regular GTX 2060 though. The drivers for the Max-Q version were optimized for efficiency (and not performance; only for Max-Q models), there are optimized voltage converters for 1V operation, high-end cooling methods, and a 40 dB limit for the fan noise (with clock adjustments to ensure this at all times).
The performance should be only slightly below the normal RTX 2060 due to the decreased clock rates. It should be most suited for 1080p gaming at maximum detail level. Raytracing features however may reduce framerates a lot, so using raytracing will be limited to some games.
The chip is specified at a TGP of around 65 Watt and therefore clearly lower than the 80 - 90 Watt of the regular RTX 2060 Mobile.
Apple M3 10-Core GPU
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The 10-core Apple M3 GPU is an integrated graphics adapter designed by Apple that features 10 cores. This iGPU is built into the Apple M3 SoC and it uses the unified memory architecture (up to 24 GB LPDDR5-6400 with 100 GB/s bandwidth). Compared to M2 series GPUs, this new graphics adapter uses a new architecture with support for mesh shading and ray tracing. Dynamic caching is another new feature worth mentioning - it is coming to optimize shared memory usage.
In our testing, the M3 GPU (10 cores) mostly was 5% to 20% faster than the 10-core M2 GPU depending on the task.
Just like the rest of the Apple M3 chip, the graphics adapter is manufactured on a 3 nm TSMC process (possibly N3B). Our MBP 14 review revealed sustained power consumption figures of around 15 W for the iGPU.
Apple M3 9-Core GPU
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The Apple M3 9-Core GPU is a self-designed graphics card in the Apple M3 SoC and according to Apple with nine of the ten cores. It was first used in the iPad Air 2025. According to Apple, the GPU uses a new architecture and now offers dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration.
The GPU can access 8 GB LPDDR5-6400 unified memory via a 128-bit memory bus (max 100 GBit/s). Thanks to dynamic caching, the graphics card only reserves as much memory as is required.
The SoC is manufactured in the current 3nm process (probably N3B) at TSMC and is therefore very energy-efficient. The graphics unit can use around 15 watts of the TDP.
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | Apple M3 10-Core GPU | Apple M3 9-Core GPU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Apple M3 Series |
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| Codename | N18E-G1 MAX-Q TU106 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | Turing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pipelines | 1920 - unified | 10 - unified | 9 - unified | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Core Speed | 975 - 1185 (Boost) MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Speed | 11000 MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Bus Width | 192 Bit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | LPDDR5-6400 | LPDDR5-6400 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Max. Amount of Memory | 6 GB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shared Memory | no | no | no | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| API | DirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power Consumption | 65 Watt | 15 Watt | 15 Watt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| technology | 12 nm | 5 nm | 5 nm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Features | DLSS, Raytraycing, VR Ready, G-SYNC, Vulkan, Multi Monitor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notebook Size | large | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of Announcement | 06.01.2019 | 31.10.2023 | 31.10.2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | M1 8-Core GPU |
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Benchmarks
3DM Vant. Perf. total + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q
GFXBench T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q
Average Benchmarks NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q → 100% n=4
Average Benchmarks Apple M3 10-Core GPU → 93% n=4
Average Benchmarks Apple M3 9-Core GPU → 61% n=4
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
Game Benchmarks
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
Total War Pharaoh
2023
Baldur's Gate 3
2023
Gears Tactics
2020
Doom Eternal
2020
Hunt Showdown
2020
Escape from Tarkov
2020
Need for Speed Heat
2019
GRID 2019
2019
Borderlands 3
2019
Control
2019
F1 2019
2019
Anno 1800
2019
The Division 2
2019
Dirt Rally 2.0
2019
Far Cry New Dawn
2019
Metro Exodus
2019
Apex Legends
2019
Strange Brigade
2018
Monster Hunter World
2018
Far Cry 5
2018
X-Plane 11.11
2018
Fortnite
2018
Rocket League
2017
Overwatch
2016
Doom
2016
Metal Gear Solid V
2015
Dota 2 Reborn
2015
The Witcher 3
2015
GTA V
2015
BioShock Infinite
2013
Guild Wars 2
2012Average Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q → 100%
Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 100%
Average Gaming Apple M3 10-Core GPU → 54%
Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 50%
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | Apple M3 10-Core GPU | Apple M3 9-Core GPU | |||||||||||||||||||
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| low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | ||||
| Total War Pharaoh | 130 | 79 | 44 | 33 | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
| Cyberpunk 2077 2.2 Phantom Liberty | 33 | 25.7 | 21.3 | 18.1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Baldur's Gate 3 | 32 | 26 | 22 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total War: Three Kingdoms | 201.1 | 103.3 | 69.2 | 50.7 | 151 | 52 | 33 | 24 | 15 | ||||||||||||
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 118 | 87 | 80 | 70 | 20 | 106 | 42 | 38 | 33 | 23 | |||||||||||
| Far Cry 5 | 79 | 46 | 42 | 39 | 26 | ||||||||||||||||
| The Witcher 3 | 266 | 175 | 104 | 57 | 35 | 37 | 25 | ||||||||||||||
| GTA V | 173 | 164 | 119 | 68.2 | 98 | 83 | 68 | 44 | |||||||||||||
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | Apple M3 10-Core GPU | Apple M3 9-Core GPU | |||||||||||||||||||
| low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 1 3 | 2 2 | 4 | 2 2 | | 1 1 | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 2 3 2 | 2 3 2 | 2 5 1 | 4 4 | 4 | | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | | | | | | |
For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List
