PS5 Slim vs RTX 3060: Which has a better GPU?

The PS5 Slim is nearly equivalent to the Nvidia RTX 3060 and AMD RX 6700 graphics cards. Both GPUs were launched as budget entries in the last generation lineup and have been replaced by much more capable options this year, namely the RTX 4060 and RX 7700 XT GPUs. However, the older cards are still being stocked and can generally be bought at much lower prices today. This makes them a solid deal instead of the PlayStation console.

There are a bunch of differences between the PS5 Slim and 3060. Both pixel pushers have their sets of pros and cons that make them ideal for different segments of customers. In this piece, we will go over the key ways the console and its equivalent Nvidia GPU are different and which is the better choice for gamers in 2023.

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The PS5 Slim loses to the RTX 3060 in performance

In terms of raw performance, the last-gen Nvidia pixel pusher pulls ahead of the new PS5 Slim. While the console's RDNA 2 GPU is capable of pushing out about 10.6 TFLOPS of theoretical performance, the RTX 3060 is capable of 12.7 TFLOPS, at least according to mathematical calculations based on their on-paper specs.

That said, making an apples-to-apples comparison between the two gaming machines is very difficult because of a lot of factors. For starters, the PS5 and 3060 are based on completely different architectures - AMD RDNA 2 for the former and Nvidia Ampere for the latter.

Moreover, the 3060 can be paired with a wide array of CPUs and memory, both of which will determine the overall performance you get from a gaming rig.

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Optimization impacts gameplay on the RTX 3060

On top of these differences, games are optimized differently on PC and PS5. Most titles will play much better on the PlayStation, given the console is based on a universal hardware design.

Performance on PCs can be influenced by a wide array of factors, like the components in it, driver software, and others. This makes it difficult for developers, thereby leading to sub-optimum experience in some games.

Some examples of these issues impacting PC gaming are the latest launches in the market, like Starfield, Hogwarts Legacy, and Alan Wake 2. While the PlayStation has minor issues playing these games at 4K 30 FPS, you can't expect a similar experience on the 3060.

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Should you buy the PS5 Slim or RTX 3060?

The PS5 Slim is remarkably superior to the 3060 for gamers who want their gaming system to last for five to six years. The newly launched device has 1 TB of SSD storage, up from the original console. Moreover, every modern game is built with the console in mind, a thing that's not true for the 3060.

The RTX 3060 already falls behind the requirements of most of the latest titles, even at 1080p resolutions. It isn't ideal for 4K gaming today. Therefore, unless you already have a half-decent PC and want to add some extra graphics power to it, the PlayStation console simply makes more sense for playing the latest titles.