NVIDIA recently released a new version of the GeForce RTX 3060 that features 8 GB rather than 12 GB of memory, but not everyone seems to be happy with it, including Hardware Unboxed’s Steven Walton, who slammed the graphics card in a new review that he published today, calling it a “horrible anti-consumer move by NVIDIA.”
Benchmarks that Walton shared in the review suggest that the GeForce RTX 3060 (8 GB) may be notably slower than the original GeForce RTX 3060, which features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and a larger memory interface width (192-bit vs. 128-bit), a seemingly significant difference that has led to the performance gap between the two models.
“[The GeForce RTX 3060 (8 GB)] is noticeably slower than the original, and in a number of instances, was significantly slower in our testing,” Hardware Unboxed concluded before going on to describe the graphics card as a “horribly anti-consumer move by NVIDIA” for reasons that include pricing (the 8 GB model is reportedly nearly as expensive as the 12 GB model in some regions) and packaging, which can be very similar between the two models and confuse buyers.
“It serves little more than to line their pockets while misleading and ripping off customers,” opined Walton, who also called it a “disgusting move.” “[NVIDIA has] taken a well-established, almost two-year-old product, quietly cut it down and they’re making out like a bandit unfortunately.”
NVIDIA launched the GeForce RTX 3060 with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on October 27, complemented by what the company said was a faster version of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with GDDR6X memory.
The GeForce RTX 3060 family starts at $329, according to the current landing page for the graphics cards featuring 2nd generation RTX architecture.