RTX 3060 Ti vs RTX 5080

AmperevsBlackwellUpdated 35 days ago

The RTX 5080 emerges as the winner for most common use cases like LLM inference and fine-tuning. Its 56.3 TFLOPS compute power and 960 GB/s bandwidth deliver over four times the performance of the RTX 3060 Ti's 12.7 TFLOPS and 360 GB/s, justifying the higher $0.38 per hour average cost for production workloads.

RTX 3060 Ti from $0.23/hrRTX 5080 from $0.59/hr

Specifications Compared

SpecRTX-3060RTX-5080
TDP170W360W
VRAM12 GB16 GB
CUDA Cores3,58410,752
Memory TypeGDDR6GDDR7
ArchitectureAmpereBlackwell
Form FactorsPCIePCIe
Interconnect
Tensor Cores112336
FP16 Performance12.7 TFLOPS56.3 TFLOPS
FP32 Performance12.7 TFLOPS56.3 TFLOPS
Memory Bandwidth360 GB/s960 GB/s

Performance Analysis

The RTX 5080 outperforms the RTX 3060 Ti significantly in raw compute: 56.3 TFLOPS FP16 and FP32 compared to 12.7 TFLOPS, a 4.4-fold increase. This delta translates to faster model training and inference times, especially in half-precision workflows common in deep learning. For LLM training, the higher TFLOPS enable processing larger datasets or models in less wall-clock time on the RTX 5080.

Memory bandwidth shows a clear gap: 960 GB/s on the RTX 5080 versus 360 GB/s on the RTX 3060 Ti. Higher bandwidth supports larger batch sizes without stalling, reducing overhead in memory-bound operations like Stable Diffusion generation or scientific simulations. The RTX 5080's 16 GB GDDR7 VRAM versus 12 GB GDDR6 also accommodates bigger models, avoiding out-of-memory errors during inference. However, the 360 W TDP demands more power infrastructure than the RTX 3060 Ti's 170 W.

Live Cloud Pricing

Real-time prices from 25+ providers. Updated every 60 seconds.

RTX 3060 Ti

ProviderGPU ModelVRAMHost SpecsRegionPriceStatusAction
Vast.ai
Vast.ai
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
12GB VRAM
$0.23/GPU/hr
Available
Vast.ai
Vast.ai
4×NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
12GB VRAM
$0.23/GPU/hr
$0.90/hr total (4×)
Available
Vast.ai
Vast.ai
2×NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
12GB VRAM
$0.23/GPU/hr
$0.45/hr total (2×)
Available
Vast.ai
Vast.ai
2×NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
12GB VRAM
$0.23/GPU/hr
$0.45/hr total (2×)
Available

RTX 5080

ProviderGPU ModelVRAMHost SpecsRegionPriceStatusAction
RunPod
RunPod
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
16GB VRAM
$0.59/GPU/hr

Compare real-time pricing across 25+ providers

When to Choose the RTX 3060 Ti

The RTX 3060 Ti suits budget-conscious users running lightweight AI tasks. Its low cloud pricing from $0.03 per hour makes it ideal for prototyping small models, basic inference, or educational workloads where 12.7 TFLOPS and 12 GB VRAM suffice. Developers testing scripts or handling low-volume Stable Diffusion can leverage its 360 GB/s bandwidth without overspending.

When to Choose the RTX 5080

Opt for the RTX 5080 in performance-critical scenarios demanding high throughput. Its 56.3 TFLOPS FP32 performance excels in LLM fine-tuning or training large models, while 960 GB/s bandwidth handles massive batch sizes efficiently. Users prioritizing speed over cost benefit from 16 GB VRAM for complex scientific computing or high-resolution diffusion tasks.

Use Cases

LLM Training
RTX 5080

The RTX 5080's 56.3 TFLOPS FP16 performance provides 4.4 times the compute of the RTX 3060 Ti's 12.7 TFLOPS, accelerating large-scale training. Its 16 GB VRAM supports bigger models without swapping.

LLM Inference
RTX 5080

Higher 960 GB/s bandwidth on the RTX 5080 enables larger batch sizes for low-latency inference compared to 360 GB/s on the RTX 3060 Ti. 56.3 TFLOPS ensures faster token generation.

Fine-tuning
RTX 5080

RTX 5080 handles fine-tuning efficiently with 4.4x FP32 TFLOPS at 56.3 versus 12.7, reducing iteration times. 16 GB VRAM fits parameter-heavy adapters.

Stable Diffusion
Either

RTX 3060 Ti's 12 GB VRAM suffices for standard resolutions at $0.03 per hour. RTX 5080's 960 GB/s bandwidth speeds high-res generations.

Scientific Computing
RTX 5080

56.3 TFLOPS FP32 on RTX 5080 outperforms 12.7 TFLOPS for simulations. Higher bandwidth prevents bottlenecks in data-intensive computations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which GPU has more VRAM: RTX 3060 Ti or RTX 5080?

The RTX 5080 offers 16 GB GDDR7 VRAM, exceeding the RTX 3060 Ti's 12 GB GDDR6. This allows the RTX 5080 to load larger models without issues. Bandwidth also favors the RTX 5080 at 960 GB/s over 360 GB/s.

How do the prices compare for RTX 3060 Ti vs RTX 5080 in the cloud?

RTX 3060 Ti cloud pricing starts at $0.03 per hour, averaging $0.06 per hour across two offers. RTX 5080 begins at $0.25 per hour, averaging $0.38 per hour over four offers. The difference reflects the performance gap.

What is the FP32 performance difference between RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 5080?

RTX 5080 delivers 56.3 TFLOPS FP32, 4.4 times higher than RTX 3060 Ti's 12.7 TFLOPS. This impacts training speed significantly. FP16 matches this ratio.

Which GPU is more power efficient for AI tasks?

RTX 3060 Ti uses 170 W TDP, lower than RTX 5080's 360 W. However, RTX 5080 provides more performance per watt in high-end tasks due to 56.3 TFLOPS. Choose based on workload intensity.

Can RTX 3060 Ti handle LLM inference as well as RTX 5080?

RTX 3060 Ti manages basic LLM inference with 12 GB VRAM and 12.7 TFLOPS. RTX 5080 excels with 16 GB and 56.3 TFLOPS for higher throughput. Use RTX 3060 Ti for low-demand setups.

What architectures do these GPUs use?

RTX 3060 Ti employs Ampere from 2021. RTX 5080 uses Blackwell from 2025. The generational leap boosts efficiency and features.

Which is cheaper to rent, the RTX 3060 or the RTX 5080?

Cloud rental prices for both the RTX 3060 and RTX 5080 vary by provider, configuration, and availability. This page shows live pricing from 25+ providers updated every 60 seconds. Scroll to the Live Cloud Pricing section to compare current rates.

How much VRAM does the RTX 3060 have compared to the RTX 5080?

The RTX 3060 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory. The RTX 5080 has 16 GB of GDDR7 memory.

Can I find RTX 3060 and RTX 5080 GPUs available to rent right now?

Yes. This page shows real-time availability across 25+ cloud GPU providers. The Live Cloud Pricing section displays only in-stock offers with current pricing.

What is the main difference between the RTX 3060 and the RTX 5080?

The RTX 3060 uses the Ampere architecture (2021) while the RTX 5080 uses Blackwell (2025). The RTX 5080 delivers 4.4x the FP16 throughput and 2.7x the memory bandwidth of the RTX 3060.

RTX 3060 Ti vs RTX 5080: 4.4x FP16 Gap, 16GB vs 12GB | GPUPerHour