RTX 3060 12GB vs RX 9060 XT 8GB
How this works
RTX 3060 12GB vs RX 9060 XT 8GB: £443.95 vs £449.99 stock-checked UK prices (2026-11-15), £/GB of VRAM, which AI models each runs, and a verdict.
| RTX 3060 12GB | RX 9060 XT 8GB | |
|---|---|---|
 |  | |
| Brand | NVIDIA | AMD |
| VRAM | 12 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory bus | 192-bit | 128-bit |
| Cheapest new UK price, stock checked | £443.95 at AWD-IT also Scan £459.98, Laptop Outlet £397.99 (stock not checked), PCHUB.UK £419.33 (stock not checked) | £449.99 at Scan also AWD-IT £521.41, PcNova £502.99 (stock not checked) |
| Price history | Low £322.99▲ 23% above 30-day avg🔔 Alert me | Low £449.99 (now)▼ 1% below 30-day avg🔔 Alert me |
| £ per GB VRAM | £37.00 | £56.25 |
| Biggest model at Q4 (est.) | Phi-4 14B | Qwen3 8B |
| Biggest model at Q8 (est.) | Qwen3 8B | Qwen3 4B |
| Models that fit at Q4 | 10 of 21 | 6 of 21 |
| Software | CUDA (widest support in llama.cpp, Ollama, vLLM, PyTorch) | ROCm / Vulkan (works in llama.cpp, Ollama, LM Studio; fewer tools than CUDA) |
| Specs | TechPowerUp · our page | TechPowerUp · our page |
Verdict
- RTX 3060 12GB is cheaper per GB of VRAM (£37.00 vs £56.25), and cheaper outright by £6.04.
- RTX 3060 12GB has more VRAM (12 GB vs 8 GB), so it fits bigger models: up to Phi-4 14B at Q4 vs Qwen3 8B.
- If you want the easiest setup and the widest tool support, NVIDIA's CUDA is still the safer pick; AMD works well in llama.cpp-based apps.
This is a value-for-memory verdict for local AI, not a gaming benchmark. We haven't measured tokens/sec.
FAQ
Is the RTX 3060 12GB or RX 9060 XT 8GB better for local LLMs?
RTX 3060 12GB is cheaper per GB of VRAM (£37.00 vs £56.25), and cheaper outright by £6.04. RTX 3060 12GB has more VRAM (12 GB vs 8 GB), so it fits bigger models: up to Phi-4 14B at Q4 vs Qwen3 8B. If you want the easiest setup and the widest tool support, NVIDIA's CUDA is still the safer pick; AMD works well in llama.cpp-based apps.
Which is cheaper in the UK, RTX 3060 12GB or RX 9060 XT 8GB?
On 15 November 2026, the cheapest stock-checked UK listings were the RTX 3060 12GB £443.95 at AWD-IT and the RX 9060 XT 8GB £449.99 at Scan. The RTX 3060 12GB is £6.04 cheaper (1% less). Prices change often; check the shop before buying.
How much VRAM do the RTX 3060 12GB and RX 9060 XT 8GB have?
RTX 3060 12GB: 12 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus; RX 9060 XT 8GB: 8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus. The RTX 3060 12GB has 4 GB more.
Can the RTX 3060 12GB and RX 9060 XT 8GB run a 14B model?
RTX 3060 12GB: yes at Q4; RX 9060 XT 8GB: no, not fully in VRAM (our estimate, ~4k context).
How do you check these prices?
Lowest new price at the UK shops we track (AWD-IT, Box, GamingKit, Laptop Outlet, Laptops Direct, PCHUB.UK, PcNova, Scan), re-checked through the day. Only stock-checked listings set the headline prices; listings a shop marks as pre-order or unavailable are skipped; prices we can't check are marked "stock not checked", and prices we couldn't refresh in the last 12 hours "price not recently checked". This page compares price, VRAM and which AI models fit; we haven't measured gaming frame rates or tokens/sec.
More details
Prices: lowest listed new price at UK shops (AWD-IT, Box, GamingKit, Laptop Outlet, Laptops Direct, PCHUB.UK, PcNova, Scan) (GPUs and laptops). GPU headline prices are stock-checked only; listings a shop marks as pre-order or unavailable are skipped; prices we can't check are marked "stock not checked", and prices we couldn't refresh in the last 12 hours "price not recently checked". Model fit: GGUF size ×1.1 + 1 GB (estimate). Other comparisons: RX 9060 XT 16GB vs RTX 5060 Ti 16GB · RTX 3060 12GB vs RX 9060 XT 16GB · RTX 5070 vs RX 9070 · RX 9070 vs RX 9070 XT · RX 9070 XT vs RTX 5070 Ti · RTX 5060 Ti 16GB vs RTX 5070 · Radeon AI PRO R9700 vs RTX 5090 · RTX 5070 vs RTX 5070 Ti laptop · RTX 5060 vs RTX 5070 laptop · Arc B570 vs Arc B580 · Arc B580 vs RTX 5050 · RTX 5050 vs RTX 5060 · RTX 5060 vs RX 7600 · RX 7600 vs RTX 3060 12GB · RX 9060 XT 8GB vs RTX 5060 Ti 8GB · RTX 5060 Ti 8GB vs RX 9060 XT 16GB