NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 vs NVIDIA L4, AI & Machine Learning Comparison
NVIDIA L4 wins 4 of 11 benchmarks, averaging 3.3% faster.
Both cards were measured first-party on our bench, same suite, same test rig.
What the numbers say
The gap is widest in Stable Diffusion XL, where NVIDIA L4 leads by 76% (2.94 vs 5.18 images/min); the closest fight is Qwen3 4B (21% apart); VRAM decides part of this one: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 runs 138 of our 12 AI workloads while the other card runs 4, models that don't fit score zero.
Benchmark results head-to-head
| Benchmark | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | NVIDIA L4 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B tok/s | 102.04 | 84 | +21% |
| Llama 3.1 8B tok/s | 65.36 | 50.45 | +30% |
| Qwen2.5-Coder 14B tok/s | 35.52 | 27.46 | +29% |
| Qwen3 32B tok/s | 0 | 12.42 | n/a |
| Llama 3.3 70B tok/s | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Stable Diffusion XL images/min | 2.94 | 5.18 | -43% |
| Z-Image Turbo images/min | 0 | 2.475 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 dev images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| FLUX.1 Kontext dev images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Qwen-Image-Edit images/min | 0 | 0 | n/a |
| Wan 2.2 5B (720p) frames/s | 0 | 0.15 | n/a |
Whole-job comparison
How long each card takes to finish a complete pipeline, not just one model. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 is faster on 1 of 1; NVIDIA L4 on 0.
| Workflow | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | NVIDIA L4 | Difference | Cost per run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full codebase review | 28.2 min | 36.4 min | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 1.29x faster | $0.016 vs $0.267 |
Renting by the hour, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 finishes 1 of 1 cheaper. The quicker card is not automatically the cheaper way to get the work done.
Cost to rent
| Card | Per hour |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | $0.034 |
| NVIDIA L4 | $0.440 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 is 12.94x cheaper per hour. Cheapest on-demand rate we see across RunPod and Vast.
Specifications compared
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | NVIDIA L4 | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB | 24GB |
| Architecture | Ampere (GA106) | Ada Lovelace |
| Memory bandwidth | 360 GB/s | 300 GB/s |
| Boost clock | 1,777 MHz | 2,040 MHz |
| TDP | 170 W | 72 W |
| Launch MSRP | $329 | $2,500 |
| Release | 2021-02-25 | 2023-03-21 |
FAQ
- Which is better for ai & machine learning: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 or NVIDIA L4?
- NVIDIA L4 performs better for ai & machine learning, winning 4 of 11 benchmarks in our suite with an average 3.3% advantage.
- What are the main hardware differences between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 and NVIDIA L4?
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 has 12GB VRAM and a 170W TDP, while NVIDIA L4 has 24GB VRAM and a 72W TDP.
- Does VRAM matter more than speed between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 and NVIDIA L4?
- For AI, yes, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 fits 16 more of our 12 workloads than NVIDIA L4. A model that exceeds VRAM doesn't run slower, it doesn't run at all, so the card that fits the model wins that workload outright.
- Where is the biggest performance difference between NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 and NVIDIA L4?
- Stable Diffusion XL: NVIDIA L4 leads by roughly 76% (2.94 vs 5.18 images/min) in our testing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 full review · NVIDIA L4 full review · All AI & Machine Learning rankings