Editors Liked
- Small, cool, and relatively quiet
- Performs similarly to RTX 2070 Super when ray tracing is enabled
- DLSS can bring ray tracing within reach
- Features two HDMI 2.1 ports
- Full Ampere feature set
- 12GB of memory
Editors Didn’t Like
- Not a great choice for 1440p
- Little headroom in the latest games
- Just 8% faster than RX 5700 at 1080p
- Won’t appeal to RTX 20-series owners
Direct Competitors and Related Products
92
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
75
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
90
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
88
AMD Radeon RX 6800
88
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
86
AMD Radeon RX 5700
86
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
87
Sapphire Radeon RX 6800 XT Nitro+
Expert reviews and ratings
By TechSpot
on
75
The GeForce RTX 3060 isn’t a bad product, it’s technically very good, but pricing is simply not attractive to make it a compelling upgrade — but wait — all of that won’t matter right now as gamers and miners fight over any GPU stock available. Until things improve, we don’t expect Nvidia or AMD to release any good value GPUs while demand remains exceedingly high.
By PCWorld
on
60
Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3060 is an okay graphics card for no-compromises 1080p gaming in a time where being good enough is all it takes to sell out. EVGA’s custom XC Black Gaming version offers no frills but runs cool and quiet.
By The Verge
on
70
If you’ve specifically been waiting for a $300-ish card to replace an aging GPU, you’ll be satisfied with lower settings over the next couple of years, and you can actually find an RTX 3060 at its retail price, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. But I’d set aside $500 for an RTX 3070, and though I settled for a $400 RTX 3060 Ti, I can’t imagine settling for a 3060 instead.
By KitGuru
on
80
RTX 3060 can be described as a perfectly fine GPU, but we wouldn’t go further than that. It does, however, make for an interesting few weeks as we wait and see what AMD can bring to the table with its RX 6700 and RX 6700 XT.
By eTeknix
on
90
MSI has put a lot of expensive hardware on this card. While a lot of it hasn’t made it a faster card, it’s one of the best looking graphics cards, and it’s exquisitely engineered too. It’s got so many features to provide more stable voltages, lower temperatures, lower noise levels and well, that’s exactly what it does. It’s everything a gamer could want, really, but it really down to you if you’re willing to pay extra for such things.
By TweakTown
on
90
MSI’s new GeForce RTX 3060 GAMING X TRIO is in a funky spot… do you get the RTX 3070? Probably. It’s a great card nonetheless, a worthy successor to the popular GTX 1060.
By HotHardware
on
85
Considering Nvidia’s target audience for the GeForce RTX 3060, it hits the mark. Pricing is obviously all over the map right now so any conclusions drawn today may not ring true in the long term, but at the GeForce RTX 3060’s intended price range, it is a solid choice.
By ThinkComputers
on
90
The card is just under 202 mm long and is strictly a 2-slot card which means it is going to fit in pretty much any case out there. On top of that EVGA has given it a nice factory overclock up to 1882 MHz (GPU Boost). The cooling system does a great job and is not all that loud either. One thing you really might like about this card is that it does not have any RGB lighting on it at all!
By EuroGamer
on
While there’s a lot to like here, the RTX 3060 is undoubtedly not as strong a value as the RTX 3060 Ti. That card costs around 20% more ($400 vs $330), yet provides a significant boost to frame-rates — especially at 1440p and 2160p, where the Ti is often 26 to 36% faster. For 1080p gaming, the RTX 3060 is sufficient, but in a world where graphics cards are freely available at their recommended retail price, I’d suggest that people with a bit of flexibility in their budget consider the Ti instead, even if it means accepting a smaller hard drive or less RAM to start out.
By PCPer
on
Let’s pretend that we are living In a world where both the RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti are available at their starting list prices (isn’t it glorious?). In that world I would strongly recommend the RTX 3060 Ti at $399 – $70 above the $329 price level of the RTX 3060 but with performance closer to the RTX 2080 Super.
By Forbes
on
Normally at this time we’d be saying goodbye to previous generations of cards and ushering in the RTX 3060 as the new low-mid range king, at least until we’ve seen AMD’s equivalent in early March, but with the reintroduction of the RTX 2060 to appease gamers, these are strange times. Ultimately, it could be a very good card indeed and a particularly good upgrade for GTX 1060 and RTX 2060 owners. We can only hope prices sit at near normal levels and that you can actually buy one. If you do decide to go for it, Zotac’s RTX 3060 Twin Edge is fantastic. It’s compact, cool and extremely quiet.
By TechPowerUp
on
Personally I would definitely consider RX 5700, RX 5700 XT, RTX 2070, RTX 2070 Super, GTX 1080 Ti as alternatives, possibly used, even if it’s just to keep me gaming for a few months until prices have stabilized some more.
By WCCFTech
on
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 custom models do a great job in bringing out the best of the GA106 GPU and if their prices can be maintained under $400 US, then the RTX 3060 will be a nice option for mainstream gamers.
By Vortez
on
The GIGABYTE RTX 3060 GAMING OC offers an excellent balance of gaming performance, cooling performance and low-noise. If you’re a 1080p gamer that fancies indulging in Ray Tracing – we recommend taking a look at this card.