The RTX 3060 Ti, 3070, and lately introduced 3060 all goal the upper-midrange worth bracket, delivering glorious efficiency for AAA video games at 1080p and 1440p. This “sweet spot” between $300 and $500 delivers the most effective efficiency per greenback, because the costlier RTX 3080 and 3090 present diminishing returns.
But which one do you have to decide? Nearly $200 separates the most costly card from the most cost effective one, whereas the specs, for essentially the most half, stay shut. There are variations between the RTX 3060, 3060 Ti, and 3070, nonetheless, with every of them concentrating on a distinct sort of gamer.
Pricing and availability
Although introduced concurrently the RTX 3080 and 3090, the RTX 3070 launched barely later than Nvidia’s main playing cards, on October 29, 2020. The RTX 3060 Ti was introduced and launched later, debuting on December 2, 2020.
Keeping according to the final gen’s counterparts, the 3070 and 3060 Ti launched with an MSRP of $499 and $399, respectively. Finding any of Nvidia’s Ampere playing cards in inventory, a lot much less for his or her MSRP, is a distinct story, nonetheless. If yow will discover one in all these playing cards in inventory, anticipate to pay $50 to $100 extra, no less than. Some retailers are even marking up playing cards past what’s anticipated of board associate playing cards. Newegg, for instance, will often restock these playing cards as bundles, together with one thing like an influence provide or a stick of RAM.
The RTX 3060 isn’t out but, however it is going to launch for $329 in late February. We anticipate the cardboard to promote out instantly like the opposite Ampere GPUs, and that costs will shoot $50 to $100 above its MSRP. Given the launch problems with the RTX 3080, it’s doable that Nvidia has ready the 3060 launch higher. We’re not holding our breath.
The secondhand market is nonexistent. There are listings for the RTX 3070 and 3060 Ti on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and the like, however they’re virtually solely from scalpers or secondhand sellers keen to cost scalper costs. Expect to pay round twice the MSRP if you happen to’re purchasing on the secondhand market (typically much more).
Specs: What’s up with the RTX 3060’s 12GB of VRAM?
Between the 3070 and 3060 Ti, there’s a gradual drop in specs. Both playing cards characteristic 8GB of GDDR6 reminiscence on a 256-bit bus. The 3060 Ti has round 1,000 fewer CUDA cores, nonetheless, in addition to a barely decrease base and enhance clock pace. The lately introduced RTX 3060 throws a wrench within the system with a shocking 12GB of GDDR6 reminiscence.
RTX 3060
RTX 3060 Ti
RTX 3070
CUDA cores
3584
4864
5888
Boost clock
1.78GHz
1.67GHz
1.73GHz
Memory
12GB GDDR6
8GB GDDR6
8GB GDDR6
Memory interface
192-bit
256-bit
256-bit
TDP
170w
200w
220w
That’s 50% extra reminiscence than the 3060 Ti and 3070. In truth, the RTX 3060 has 2GB greater than the flagship RTX 3080 (although, the 3060 makes use of GDDR6, not GDDR6X just like the 3080). The 3060 additionally has the next enhance clock than the 3060 Ti and 3070, over 100Mhz quicker than the 3060 Ti.
The bottleneck is the 192-bit reminiscence bus on the RTX 3060. Without getting too technical, a smaller reminiscence interface means much less knowledge going to and coming from the GPU’s reminiscence every second. That signifies that although the 3060 has extra reminiscence than the opposite two playing cards, its general bandwidth is sort of 100GBps much less.
Between the three playing cards, there’s little in energy distinction, with the RTX 3060 drawing solely 170w and the RTX 3070 drawing as much as 220w. Nvidia recommends a distinct energy provide for every card, nonetheless. You ought to use a 550w, 600w, or 650w PSU for the RTX 3060, 3060 Ti, or 3070, respectively.
Performance
When it involves efficiency, the costlier RTX 3070, unsurprisingly, leads the pack. As we noticed in our RTX 3080 evaluate, the 3000-series playing cards carry out about two steps above the earlier technology, positioning the RTX 3070 on the efficiency degree of the $1,200 2080 Ti. And benchmarks again that up. The $500 RTX 3070 performs as effectively or higher than the 2080 Ti in most video games at 1440p and 4K.
That places it above the RX 5700 XT, RTX 2080 Super, and Radeon VII, taking a backseat solely to the pricier RTX 3080 and 3090.
For $100 much less, the RTX 3060 Ti is remarkably shut. In video games like Borderlands 3 and Far Cry 5 at 1440p, the 3060 Ti trails the 3070 by round 10 frames per second (fps). The hole closes to between three and 5 frames when overclocking the 3060 Ti. That locations the 3060 Ti beneath the RTX 2080 Ti, although above the 2080 Super. At 1080p, there’s much less of a distinction between the 3060 Ti and 3070, and at 4K, the hole widens.
Neither card is effectively outfitted for 4K, sitting beneath 60 fps in most titles. For 1440p, the RTX 3070 is a barely higher choice. If you’re gaming at 1080p, nonetheless, there’s a negligible distinction between the 3060 Ti and 3070 in most video games, so it’s finest to avoid wasting your self the $100.
The RTX 3060 is the most recent card within the vary, and it’ll be a few months earlier than we get any benchmarks. During the CES 2021 announcement, Nvidia supplied efficiency data relative to the RTX 2060 and GTX 1060. Although these numbers are removed from real-world efficiency, they no less than present a glimpse at how the $329 card might carry out.
In Cyberpunk 2077, Nvidia claims the RTX 3060 can attain round 60 fps at 1080p. By comparability, Nvidia’s numbers place the 2060 at round 48 fps and the 1060 round 5 fps, with DLSS and ray tracing enabled. Given that data, we are able to infer that the 3060 will carry out barely beneath final gen’s RTX 2080, sitting above the 2070 — although Nvidia claims in different video games it may very well be as succesful as a 2080 Super.
As ordinary, we suggest ready till third-party benchmarks begin making the rounds earlier than drawing any agency conclusions. That’s particularly vital with the RTX 3060, nonetheless. The curious 12GB of GDDR6 reminiscence makes the 3060 an oddball out of the lineup, making it tough to match to the 3060 Ti and 3070 primarily based on specs alone. Although we anticipate efficiency barely beneath the 2080, it’s doable that the massive reminiscence configuration might place the 3060 above final gen’s flagship in some video games.
Targeting the candy spot
Between $329 and $499, the 3060, 3060 Ti, and 3070 are all concentrating on the candy spot between worth and efficiency. All three playing cards ought to ship glorious efficiency in e-sports titles like Fortnite and Apex Legends, and round 60 fps for many new AAA video games at 1080p or 1440p. The vary is spectacular throughout the board, so it’s exhausting to make a nasty determination when selecting one.
We have some suggestions, although. If you’re gaming at 1440p primarily, the RTX 3070 is the best choice. That card will ship above 60 fps in most AAA video games for a few years to come back, permitting you to make use of excessive to extremely settings. The RTX 3060 Ti continues to be a superb choice at 1440p, particularly if you happen to’re overclocking. However, you might have to show down some graphical settings after a number of years. Now, and for the following few years, the 3060 Ti continues to be a superb 1440p choice.
At 1080p, the 3060 Ti guidelines the roost. The 3070 continues to be a extra highly effective card, so it’ll ship increased body charges at 1080p. The advantages aren’t as noticeable or vital at 1080p, nonetheless, making the 3060 Ti the best choice general. The 3060 ought to change that, however we’ll have to attend for third-party benchmarks to attract any conclusions.
Editors’ Recommendations