RTX 3060 laptops are everywhere - but just how fast are they?

The benchmarking results below are presented using the same system we use for our CPU and GPU testing, where on desktop browsers an embedded video embed shows you exactly the scene we used for testing. Start the video, and you'll see the frame-rate and frame-time play out in real time. Below these stats, we have a bar chart that you can hover over to show more stats and click to switch between absolute and relative performance. Mobile users get a more basic view, with a table of results.

First up: Cyberpunk 2077. This streaming test used during production remains accessible in the game and offers a good test of both CPU and GPU at its 'Ultra' preset. We've benchmarked at 1440p, as this is the native resolution of both laptops, compared against a desktop RTX 3060 graphics card running on our 2022-spec GPU test rig, with a Core i9 12900K and DDR5-6000 RAM - representing the upper echeleon of what an RTX 3060 desktop card could achieve in a largely GPU-bound scenario.

There's a significant delta here between the thicker Chillblast machine and the thinner Tuxedo laptop, with the InfinityBook 16 in Balanced and Enthusiast performance modes delivering 30 and 40fps on average, respectively, while the Chillblast hits 50fps in the same test. That's enough to just barely outperform the desktop RTX 3060 card, a phenomenon seemingly made possible by the laptop's higher shader count than the desktop model (3840 vs 3584).

Following Rich's testing of Cyberpunk's RT Overdrive mod running on lower-end hardware, which looked at how the fully path-traced version of Cyberpunk can be experienced using a mod that reduces the amount of light bounces, I also tested the game running on the Tuxedo InfinityBook 16 with the mod installed. Surprisingly, frame-rates are just about acceptable at 1080p with DLSS performance mode, coming in slightly higher than our 1440p result which uses the 'Ultra' non-RT preset. However, we're still a little ways off from achieving a locked 30fps, with some scenes dipping to around the 20-25fps mark and one-off stutters to ~10fps.

F1 22 is another game that provides a tough GPU challenge even without RT turned on. The Singapore circuit in the rain is the toughest workout we've found so far, and again we see a surprisingly wide margin between the two laptops in terms of performance. The Tuxedo machine manages a reasonable 80fps at 1440p, while the Chillblast leaps ahead to 99fps average - nearly identical to the 100fps average recorded by our desktop machine.

Note that the laptops both suffer from big dips in frame-rate, while the desktop model is comparatively much more stable - potentially due to the better CPU on our desktop system, but the more relaxed power and thermal constraints on the desktop card could also contribute to the higher lowest 1 percent lows.

We tend to think of Far Cry 6 as being a game that is heavy on both CPU and GPU - and particularly reliant on single-core CPU performance - but here the Chillblast machine turns in a desktop-beating 72fps, albeit with worse minimum frame-rates. Meanwhile, the Tuxedo machine turns in a 59fps average, with slightly better relative stability. This 23 percent margin in favour of the thicker laptop is about what we've seen in other games so far, so it'll be interesting to see if this continues.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, tested here in its DX9 iteration rather than the Vulkan-based Counter-Strike 2 follow-up, is of course much more CPU-limited. Both laptops turn in excellent results and can make great use of their high refresh rate displays even at 1440p, with 232fps average for the 240Hz Tuxedo, 247fps for the 165Hz Chillblast and 274fps for our desktop machine. Minimum frame-rates are also excellent here.

Modern Warfare 2 is a bit of an interesting one, as the integrated benchmark we've used here providing super-low results for the Tuxedo machine in its default balanced mode. Enabling the jet-like maximum fan mode and the Enthusiast powerplan raises performance precipitously, beyond what should be possible - so I suspect that we encountered a bug of some kind here, despite repeated testing showing similarly stunted results. Regardless, with its loosened restraints the Tuxedo machine manages to outperform the Chillbook for the first time, hanging alongside the desktop RTX 3060 around ~110fps.

Our final game of Company of Heroes 3 returns us to a more logical hierarchy, with the desktop on top, the Chillbast machine in second and the Tuxedo InfinityBook in third place. We see a 13 percent advantage for the Defiant laptop, with the desktop card a relatively modest seven percent faster than this.

With our performance testing completed, let's move to the third and final page to wrap up and draw some conclusions.

RTX 3060 Laptop performance analysis

• Intro: Chillblast Defiant 16 vs Tuxedo InfinityBook Pro 16
• Benchmarks: RTX 3060 Laptop vs RTX 3060 desktop [this page]
• Conclusion: performance analysis and value judgements