Nvidia CES keynote is always the latest hardware it presents, and we were not disappointed with this year’s event. No big RTX 4000-series were apparent, but we found the first true budget 3000-series card: the RTX 3060 for $329 only.
It is expected that the company will launch its card next month. More specifically, auto-purchase bots and scalpers will be able to make purchases. Others will be needed to wait for more for stock to reach markets.
At any rate, 3060’s sales credit goes to its 12GB of GDDE6 VRAM. The previous generation’s RTX 2080 Ti is surpassed by this figure. The same is found even with this gen’s RTX 3080, having 11 and 8 GB of VRAM, respectively.
The RTX 3060 is incorporated with a 192-bit memory bus, and features 3,584 CUDA cores, and comes with a base clock speed of 1.32 GHz. It is believed to draw about 170 W of power on average over a PCIe 8-pin connector, which should fit perfectly into the majority of modern builds.
Nvidia ensures twice the raster performance of the GTX 1060 and 10x the RT performance. In fact, there is no comparison between the two, as 1060 is two generations old and doesn’t even support RTX in the first place.
However, it makes sense when a comparison is made between 3060 and 2060: both cards proclaim to be compatible with RTX technology, and there is only one generation gap in these two. Luckily, Nvidia twitched us providing the given chart:
As per Nvidia estimates, the RTX 3060 stands somewhere with 60-64 FPS in Watch Dogs: Contingent at 1080p with RT and DLSS enabled. However, it is not clear what settings of RT and DLSS were used. The RTX 2060 goes down to the low 40s, which is fine with such generation differences. The 1060’s performance is listed as well, but the comparison is of no use once again.
It is recommended to take manufacturer benchmarks with a grain of salt. Nvidia doesn’t intend to mislead us here. Actually, we are unknown by the methodology they use to conclude; thus, it cannot be verified. So let’s wait for independent benchmarks, like our own.
Nevertheless, if you desire, you can snag an RTX 3060 of your own next month. We’ll update you about anything coming new about its release.
