NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q (for laptops, GN20-E3, Max-Q) is the former name for a RTX 3060 Laptop GPU with Max-Q technologies. In previous generations, the Max-Q name was used for low power versions. With the RTX 3000 series, every TGP-version can now use Max-Q technologies and all GPUs are called RTX 3060 Laptop GPU (60 - 115W).

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU (mobile, NVIDIA_DEV.2583, GN20-P0) is the slowest RTX 3000 mobile card and based on the GA107 Ampere chip. It offers 2048 CUDA, 16 Ray Tracing and 64 Tensor cores. The memory bus is limited to 128 Bit and supports 4 GB of GDDR6 dedicated graphics memory.The clock speed depends on the TGP variant and can range from 713 - 1530 (base) and 1058 - 1740 (boost) for the TGP variants of 35 to 80 Watt (see table below).

The performance should be between the old GTX 1650 Ti and the 1660 Ti Max-Q depending on the used TGP variant. Therefore, it is best suited for full HD gaming (1920 x 1080) with high detail settings in demanding games. The performance is not sufficient to enable Raytracing in most games, but the Tensor cores can be used for DLSS in some games (and get performance boost with slight quality reduction). Beware, that the low TGP variants will offer a significantly lower performance.

The faster RTX 3050 Ti offers 25% more cores at similar clock speeds and TGP settings. 

The GA107 chip offers 3,072 FP32 ALUs of which half can also execute INT32 instructions (i.e. 1,536 INT32 ALUs). The RTX 3050 however maybe won't use all ALUs on the chip. With Turing all shaders could still execute FP32 or INT32 instructions. The raytracing and tensor cores on the chip were also improved according to Nvidia. The Ampere chips also include an improved 5th generation video encoder (NVENC for H.264 and H.265) and a 7th generation decoder (for various formats now including AV1).

The GA107 chip is manufactured by Samsung in 8nm (8N), which is not quite able to keep up with the 7nm node at TSMC (e.g. used by AMD and also for the professional GA100 Ampere chip).

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU or 3080 Mobile (for laptops, GN20-E7) is the fastest graphics card for notebooks in early 2021. It is based on the GA104-775-A1 Ampere chip and offers 8 or 16 GB GDDR6 graphics memory with a 256 Bit memory bus. It supports PCIe 4.0 and will be available in different variants from 80 - 150 Watt (TGP) (80, 90, 115, 125, 135, 145 and 150+ Watt). As package the notebook graphic card uses GB5-256 and the chip size is 40x40mm. The GPU supports eDP 1.4b to connect the internal monitor.

There is no more Max-Q variant (formerly used for the low power variants) but every OEM can choose to implement Max-Q technologies (Dynamic Boost, Whispermode).

The performance depends on the TGP setting and cooling of the laptop. At the same TGP level the RTX3080 should be faster than the old top model, the RTX 2080 Super Mobile and similar to the desktop RTX 3070. This means, the GPU should be well suited for 4k gaming or QHD with high frame rates. The similar named RTX 3080 desktop card is significantly faster.

The GA104 chip offers 6,144 FP32 ALUs of which half can also execute INT32 instructions (i.e. 3,072 INT32 ALUs). With Turing all shaders could still execute FP32 or INT32 instructions. The raytracing and tensor cores on the chip were also improved according to Nvidia. The Ampere chips also include an improved 5th generation video encoder (NVENC for H.264 and H.265) and a 7th generation decoder (for various formats now including AV1).

The GA104 chip is manufactured by Samsung in 8nm (8N), which is not quite able to keep up with the 7nm node at TSMC (e.g. used by AMD and also for the professional GA100 Ampere chip).