News GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Review: Hope Springs Eternal

[Admin]

Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3060 12GB targets the mainstream market and promises reduced mining performance. Packing more VRAM than the 3060 Ti, it's a good card, but we suspect it won't hit its $329 MSRP for a long time.

GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Review: Hope Springs Eternal : Read more

 

[Phaaze88]

Ok... that's surprisingly normal - trades blows with last years x70 and the x80Ti from the year before.
Some of these early 'speculation' videos had me thinking it was worse than that.

This card isn't bad, but:
-good luck with the pricing.
-12GBs of Vram, LOL. This card will be obsolete long before the masses can make use of it; same deal with the 3090.

 

[VforV]

I'm really, really not impressed by this... I was hoping for an equal to 2070 super, not a reskin of the 2060 super.

Gen for gen upgrade this is horrible and that 12GB Vram is a joke, sure it's better than 6GB, but it does not have enough power to take advantage of it (like others said), just a marketing ploy... meh.

The only way this ever remotely interesting today if it was at $330, maybe $350 for a high end model. Otherwise for my GTX 1080 this is not a meaningful upgrade, maybe for 1070 owners, but mostly for 1060 owners.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

The only way this ever remotely interesting today if it was at $330, maybe $350 for a high end model. Otherwise for my GTX 1080 this is not a meaningful upgrade, maybe for 1070 owners, but mostly for 1060 owners.

Which is what Nvidia was going for prior to the COVID and mining stuff happening. How soon will these get down to $329? And will RTX 40-series arrive by then? That's the question.

 

[spiketheaardvark]

Considering I'm seeing rx480 running for $300 on ebay right now, I doubt we'll see this thing anywhere near MSRP this year.

 

[Phaaze88]

@VforV
2070 Super is a 2080, 2060 Super is a 2070. They just shifted the product stack over a little

 

[Heat_Fan89]

None available at Amazon, Best Buy says coming soon. Newegg leads to a product not found page.

But EVGA's website is absolutely getting hammered from scalpers and miners. Their website barely moves from one page to the next.

"Hope springs eternal" if you think you'll snag one soon or at MSRP.

 

[ezst036]

Until Nvidia frees up its driver structure and open sources its driver or creates a new one that is open, I wouldn't ever purchase one of any of their offerings.

Seeing this latest round just the other day where the proposed solution was to use the driver to sabotage performance just entrenches even further the distrust that many have for hardware vendors as more self-serving than customer service.

 

[spongiemaster]

None available at Amazon, Best Buy says coming soon. Newegg leads to a product not found page.

But EVGA's website is absolutely getting hammered from scalpers and miners. Their website barely moves from one page to the next.

"Hope springs eternal" if you think you'll snag one soon or at MSRP.

All of Newegg's are on their product shuffle page.

https://www.newegg.com/product-shuffle

You have about an hour from this post to submit what you want to be eligible for.

Best Buy did have them available briefly. I was able to get one in my cart, but didn't actually want it, and was able to purchase a 3090 instead. They also had 3080's available in 2 different batches.

Also, anyone not near a Microcenter looking for 5800x at MSRP. They are currently listed in stock at Best Buy.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/amd-ry...cessor-without-cooler/6439000.p?skuId=6439000

 

[Heat_Fan89]

All of Newegg's are on their product shuffle page.

https://www.newegg.com/product-shuffle

You have about an hour from this post to submit what you want to be eligible for.

Best Buy did have them available briefly. I was able to get one in my cart, but didn't actually want it, and was able to purchase a 3090 instead. They also had 3080's available in 2 different batches.

Also, anyone not near a Microcenter looking for 5800x at MSRP. They are currently listed in stock at Best Buy.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/amd-ry...cessor-without-cooler/6439000.p?skuId=6439000

Ah gotcha, I forgot about the Newegg Shuffle deals. Wow and congrats , regarding the RTX 3080 and landing a 3090. Every time I go to their site all I ever see is out of stock for any of the current videocards including the 6800 XT.

 

[atomicWAR]

Wow I am left really underwhelmed by the RTX 3060 performance...I get Nvidia's product stack only leaves so much room to differentiate their SKUs but I really feel the OC'd performance should have been the base performance. Or at least split the difference between base and OC average FPS. Glad I am not buying into this generation of cards. The Ampere's top end is decent on performance but for those like me who went with a RTX 2080 Ti or even the RTX 2080 super....there is not a lot of compelling reasons to upgrade. Hopefuly when Nvidia releases the RTX 4000 series they'll recitify their product stack, prices and most importantly availability.

 

[nitrium]

Unless you need a lot of VRAM for some reason (definitely not for 4k textures at 60 fps with this GPU!), or are multiple generations behind already, this is not a good GPU imo. I'm on an RTX 2060 and, having read this review, will skip this generation altogether now - a 20% speed increase simply isn't worth the bother or cost).

 

[cryoburner]

Ok... that's surprisingly normal - trades blows with last years x70 and the x80Ti from the year before.

Those "years" seem stretched out a bit considering the 2070 came out over two years ago (and was widely considered to be underwhelming at launch) and the 1080 Ti came out 4 years ago. : P And of course, the model numbers for different price points got shifted with the 20-series, so this card's MSRP is actually closer to what would have traditionally been called an x70 card.

I don't think it's bad though, or least it wouldn't be if it were actually possible to get them for around $330. It's a little better than a 2060 SUPER, after all, so at a lower price it could make for a decent offering. Of course, even if these cards were all available at MSRP, it would be possible to get an extra 30% more performance or so in demanding games if one were to pay just 21% more for a 3060 Ti, so arguably that would be a better option for those willing to spend a little more. And while a 6GB 3060 is probably in the works, considering the 6GB 2060 already sees half the performance of an 8GB 2060 SUPER with raytracing enabled in Cyberpunk, the future prospects of such a card seems questionable.

 

[Phaaze88]

Those "years" seem stretched out a bit considering the 2070 came out over two years ago (and was widely considered to be underwhelming at launch) and the 1080 Ti came out 4 years ago. : P And of course, the model numbers for different price points got shifted with the 20-series, so this card's MSRP is actually closer to what would have traditionally been called an x70 card.

I don't think it's bad though, or least it wouldn't be if it were actually possible to get them for around $330. It's a little better than a 2060 SUPER, after all, so at a lower price it could make for a decent offering. Of course, even if these cards were all available at MSRP, it would be possible to get an extra 30% more performance or so in demanding games if one were to pay just 21% more for a 3060 Ti, so arguably that would be a better option for those willing to spend a little more. And while a 6GB 3060 is probably in the works, considering the 6GB 2060 already sees half the performance of an 8GB 2060 SUPER with raytracing enabled in Cyberpunk, the future prospects of such a card seems questionable.

Oh FUDGE. I'm sorry, that's a bad typo on my end. I meant generation.

Performance gain of the x60s of the last 4 gens[Going by TPU reviews]
GTX 760 -> 960 = +10%
GTX 960 -> 1060 = +50%
GTX 1060-> 2060 = +40%
RTX 2060 ->3060 = +15%
It doesn't look so good looking at it that way.

 

[MarsISwaiting]

Oh FUDGE. I'm sorry, that's a bad typo on my end. I meant generation.

Performance gain of the x60s of the last 4 gens[Going by TPU reviews]
GTX 760 -> 960 = +10%
GTX 960 -> 1060 = +50%
GTX 1060-> 2060 = +40%
RTX 2060 ->3060 = +15%
It doesn't look so good looking at it that way.

Dont get fooled about Nvidia xxx60 naming ... look at the price of the card to know the real performance gain ... Performance per dollar.

GTX 760 $250
GTX 960 $199
GTX 1060 $299
RTX 2060 $350

 

[Phaaze88]

Dont get fooled about Nvidia xxx60 naming ... look at the price of the card to know the real performance gain ... Performance per dollar.

GTX 760 $250
GTX 960 $199
GTX 1060 $299
RTX 2060 $350

I did that on purpose: I have to wonder if that holds as much weight as it should; when people don't always pay those prices - whether they purchased 2nd hand, from a 3rd party marketplace seller, or from a scalper, etc...
That completely changes the perf per currency value, by a little, or by a lot.

And since the 3060 cannot be had anywhere near the 330USD suggested price, it has the worst perf per currency of the x60s since... IDK, but it's at least 4 generations.
It was a dumb idea to skip the FE for this one. SOME people would've had a shot at getting it at the MSRP - instead, everyone eyeing this model gets bent.

 

[spongiemaster]

And since the 3060 cannot be had anywhere near the 330USD suggested price, it has the worst perf per currency of the x60s since... IDK, but it's at least 4 generations.
It was a dumb idea to skip the FE for this one. SOME people would've had a shot at getting it at the MSRP - instead, everyone eyeing this model gets bent.

Newegg had 2 models in their shuffle today for $330. So whoever was chosen for those cards did get them at MSRP. There are listing on Ebay now for $900+. That price makes absolutely no sense even in this market, with 3060 Ti's selling for less than that on Ebay that don't have crippled ethereum mining abilites.

 

[Phaaze88]

Newegg had 2 models in their shuffle today for $330. So whoever was chosen for those cards did get them at MSRP. There are listing on Ebay now for $900+. That price makes absolutely no sense even in this market, with 3060 Ti's selling for less than that on Ebay that don't have crippled ethereum mining abilites.

Well shut my mouth, that's great!
Wonder how long they'll stay that way, though

Putting a damper on Ethereum wasn't enough - the card is still profitable, miners are still gonna buy it.

 

[Pc6777]

Oh FUDGE. I'm sorry, that's a bad typo on my end. I meant generation.

Performance gain of the x60s of the last 4 gens[Going by TPU reviews]
GTX 760 -> 960 = +10%
GTX 960 -> 1060 = +50%
GTX 1060-> 2060 = +40%
RTX 2060 ->3060 = +15%
It doesn't look so good looking at it that way.

the 2060 at 300 dollars(the lowest msrp it got new, I got mine new for 300) is almost as good of a value as the 3060 at msrp, and we all know the 3060 wont be at msrp unless your super lucky. buying the 2060 during the ampere launch or before that was never a bad buy, the 30 series got too much hype. 15 percent? that's laughable. the only benfifit is more vram, which is nice, but still the card cant even utilize 12 gigs, maybe 10 at best but not 12.

 

[Co BIY]

Maxed out quality in many of the games that support ray tracing is going to prove too much for the GPU.

Ray Tracing tech is still unneeded in the mainstream cards. A few 17 series cards might make sense and money. Smaller chips but with the power for their purpose.

 

[herrwizo]

Considering I'm seeing rx480 running for $300 on ebay right now, I doubt we'll see this thing anywhere near MSRP this year.

That's nothing, I have seen 8GB models (mostly ROG STRIX and MSI Gaming X) going for as high as 400 EUR on second-hand markets here in Croatia. Incredible!

 

[cryoburner]

Performance gain of the x60s of the last 4 gens[Going by TPU reviews]
GTX 760 -> 960 = +10%
GTX 960 -> 1060 = +50%
GTX 1060-> 2060 = +40%
RTX 2060 ->3060 = +15%
It doesn't look so good looking at it that way.

Except the actual successor to the 1060 cards would be the 1660 models, not the 2060, making the gains for the last generation smaller. It only really makes sense to compare performance based on what's available at similar price points, not arbitrary model numbers. The GTX 970 was a $330 card, and the 1070 was a $380 card, so the $350 2060 and the $330 3060 are more successors to those. They don't keep the price points exactly the same between generations though, so to get meaningful results one would need to calculate the change in performance-per-dollar, not just performance.

Nvidia hasn't yet released a successor to the 960/1060/1660 this generation, something roughly around that $200-$250 price range with a TDP around 120 watts. It's also likely that the shift in model numbers that the higher-end cards saw last generation will work its way down the stack in place of something like the "16-series" they used before. So that card may be marketed as an RTX 3050 or 3050 Ti, despite not bearing much resemblance to the sub-$200, sub-100 watt cards Nvidia has traditionally associated with the "x50" model number. If I had to guess, a "3050 Ti" would probably perform a lot like a 2060, with 6GB of VRAM and an MSRP around $250-$280. Probably closer to the lower end of that price range considering there were already some $300 2060s last year, though it's hard to say in the current market, and I wouldn't expect the cards to be available for anywhere close to those prices for at least a number of months.

If there's a 3050 Ti, then there may also be a 3050 priced closer to $200, with performance more like that of the 1660 SUPER, only now with RTX functionality. I'm not sure how usable something like that would be for enabling raytraced lighting effects in games though, since the 2060 is already barely usable for that purpose.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

Except the actual successor to the 1060 cards would be the 1660 models, not the 2060, making the gains for the last generation smaller. It only really makes sense to compare performance based on what's available at similar price points, not arbitrary model numbers. The GTX 970 was a $330 card, and the 1070 was a $380 card, so the $350 2060 and the $330 3060 are more successors to those. They don't keep the price points exactly the same between generations though, so to get meaningful results one would need to calculate the change in performance-per-dollar, not just performance.

Nvidia hasn't yet released a successor to the 960/1060/1660 this generation, something roughly around that $200-$250 price range with a TDP around 120 watts. It's also likely that the shift in model numbers that the higher-end cards saw last generation will work its way down the stack in place of something like the "16-series" they used before. So that card may be marketed as an RTX 3050 or 3050 Ti, despite not bearing much resemblance to the sub-$200, sub-100 watt cards Nvidia has traditionally associated with the "x50" model number. If I had to guess, a "3050 Ti" would probably perform a lot like a 2060, with 6GB of VRAM and an MSRP around $250-$280. Probably closer to the lower end of that price range considering there were already some $300 2060s last year, though it's hard to say in the current market, and I wouldn't expect the cards to be available for anywhere close to those prices for at least a number of months.

If there's a 3050 Ti, then there may also be a 3050 priced closer to $200, with performance more like that of the 1660 SUPER, only now with RTX functionality. I'm not sure how usable something like that would be for enabling raytraced lighting effects in games though, since the 2060 is already barely usable for that purpose.

My thought is that RTX 3050 / 3050 Ti will be roughly at the level of the 2060 (one a bit faster, one a bit slower) but cost less -- well, official price will be lower at least. RT won't be the main selling point. These will be GPUs that can sort of do RT, but they'll also have DLSS still, and that will potentially make them interesting. $230 for a 3050 that performs about like the 2060? It's progress, even if it's not revolutionary.

 

[renz496]

I'm really, really not impressed by this... I was hoping for an equal to 2070 super, not a reskin of the 2060 super.

Gen for gen upgrade this is horrible and that 12GB Vram is a joke, sure it's better than 6GB, but it does not have enough power to take advantage of it (like others said), just a marketing ploy... meh.

The only way this ever remotely interesting today if it was at $330, maybe $350 for a high end model. Otherwise for my GTX 1080 this is not a meaningful upgrade, maybe for 1070 owners, but mostly for 1060 owners.

Nvidia more or less purposely limit it's performance to only match 2070.

 

[renz496]

Wow I am left really underwhelmed by the RTX 3060 performance...I get Nvidia's product stack only leaves so much room to differentiate their SKUs but I really feel the OC'd performance should have been the base performance. Or at least split the difference between base and OC average FPS. Glad I am not buying into this generation of cards. The Ampere's top end is decent on performance but for those like me who went with a RTX 2080 Ti or even the RTX 2080 super....there is not a lot of compelling reasons to upgrade. Hopefuly when Nvidia releases the RTX 4000 series they'll recitify their product stack, prices and most importantly availability.

For the last few years upgrading every generation becoming less and less enticing. With 3060 you can see that nvidia purposely limit it's performance to 2070 only by disabling 2SM.