Conclusion
There we have it, NVIDIA’s next Ampere architecture-based RTX 30 series GPU has launched. The new GeForce RTX 3060 with 12GB of VRAM is poised to shake up the 1080p gaming space and even has the muscle to squirm its way into 1440p gaming depending on the game.
NVIDIA’s intent is to allow gamers who have enjoyed the GeForce GTX 1060, and heck, even the GeForce RTX 2060, and provide an upgrade path for them. You can finally get rid of that GTX 1060 and upgrade to better performance and more features like being able to use Ray Tracing and DLSS, plus all the other goodies this generation has to offer.
While there is a set MSRP of $329 for the video card, there is not a Founders Edition this time. That means add-in-board partners can and will set their own prices. The EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC BLACK GAMING video card we reviewed today is such a video card that has the $329 MSRP.
It really goes without saying, the times we are living in right now mean availability is an issue, and you may see scalped pricing. This is just something we cannot control. When prices and availability settle to their norm, this review will be here for you to decide if this is the card for you.
GeForce RTX 3060 Specs
What makes the GeForce RTX 3060 tick? It has 3584 CUDA Cores and really benefits from its 28 2nd generation RT Cores and 112 3rd generation Tensor Cores. It has 112 Texture Units, 48 ROPs, and a GPU Boost of 1777MHz. Onboard you’ll find 12GB of GDDR6 at 15GHz on a 192-bit memory bus providing 360GB/s of bandwidth. All this at a TGP of 170W, only 10 more than the GeForce RTX 2060 FE!
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC BLACK GAMING video card we evaluated today is a fully custom video card. It’s small, it fits into many case builds of various sizes very easily. It has a dual-fan configuration with heatsink and four heatpipes. It even has a cut-out on the PCB to allow air to blow through the card and over part of the heatpipes. While the GPU Boost is set at 1777MHz, we found that due to the cooling and power delivery and headroom available it actually runs much faster, upwards of 1897MHz while gaming. That means better performance overall just by doing nothing.
The video card seems to be very power efficient, requiring not much more than a GeForce RTX 2060 FE, yet delivering a lot more performance. It also runs cool, under 70c, and of course, you can set fan profiles in EVGA Precision X1 software. This seems to be a solid card from EVGA, a no-frills, just get it done a card with no RGB.
There is no debating that NVIDIA has upped the game by providing 12GB of GDDR6 on its $329 video card. That’s the most VRAM that’s been put on a video card in this price range. That moves the target upward, and now the shoe is on AMD’s foot. Let’s see what happens.
Performance
We cannot leave this conclusion without talking about the actual performance of the EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC BLACK GAMING video card. I think it’s safe to say, from the data, this video card destroys 1080p standard rasterized performance. It allowed us to play every game with the highest in-game graphics settings at 1080p with high framerates. For 1080p gaming, this is your card.
It even surprised us at 1440p. In some games, it also allowed playable performance at the highest settings. For 1440p gaming, it is going to depend entirely on the type of game. I think many people who do e-sports games should actually find this card very capable for those games at 1440p. You can also just enable DLSS at 1440p also, which should make most games playable at the highest settings, sans Ray Tracing. That really expands its capability.
In terms of Ray Tracing performance, it is certainly a big upgrade in Ray Tracing performance over the last generations GeForce RTX 2060 FE. That video card could not sufficiently provide Ray Tracing performance at even 1080p. It just wasn’t playable. The GeForce RTX 3060 changes that. With its improved Ray Tracing performance, you can actually enable Ray Tracing in games now at 1080p, and play them. If the framerates get a little too sticky for you, just flip on DLSS and you’ll be sailing on the shiny ocean of Ray Tracing in games. DLSS makes Ray Tracing playable on the GeForce RTX 3060 at 1080p. That is just something you could not do with the GeForce RTX 2060, and of course incapable of doing with the GTX 1060.
In terms of performance differences, we saw about a 19-20% on average bump in performance from the GeForce RTX 2060 FE. That’s bigger than we thought we’d receive. In some games, it was even higher. Just imagine now what the difference coming from a GTX 1060 must be, that’s pretty significant. In terms of Ray Tracing performance, it was at least 50% faster at Ray Tracing compared to the RTX 2060 FE.
The Final Points
At the end of the day, the GeForce RTX 3060 is not a bad card. If just the prices and availability can stabilize, and this video card can actually be bought around its $329 price point, it’s a very decent video card in this price range. It does provide a big performance upgrade path from the GeForce GTX 1060. I would also go on to say it provides an upgrade path from the GeForce RTX 2060.
The GeForce RTX 2060 didn’t have what it takes to play games with Ray Tracing enabled. The new GeForce RTX 3060 does. With its high 12GB of VRAM, it cannot run into constraints like we saw with the RTX 2060 in Wolfenstein Youngblood. The Ray Tracing cores and Tensor Cores on board are just simply better, and faster on the GeForce RTX 3060. You can enable Ray Tracing at 1080p, and also throw on DLSS and have a really smooth gameplay experience. This wasn’t possible just in the last generation. The GeForce RTX 3060 is an improvement, plain and simple. We just need the prices and availability to normalize.
In regards to the EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC BLACK GAMING specifically, we do like this video card. It’s a solid build that just works. It’s no-frills and just gets it done. It isn’t flashy, it pushes all that away to just provide a good gaming experience and has the size to fit various builds. It is well cooled, quiet, and power-efficient. We have yet to test its overclocking ability, we plan to do that in a future article and we’ll see what kind of potential it has. Otherwise, if you can find this video card at MSRP $329, and you need an upgrade, you might want to consider it.