The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 has been on the market since February 2021, but the mid-range graphics card remains popular and widespread among gamers.
According to the latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey, the venerable Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 is currently the most widely used graphics card on Valve’s platform — and with good reason. In particular, it still offers an outstanding price-performance ratio for PC gamers.
But that’s not the only reason. What makes the GeForce RTX 3060 so successful, and is the mid-range graphics card still worth buying in 2024? Let’s take a look at this in detail.
Further reading: The best graphics cards for PC gaming
GeForce RTX 3060 in detail
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 is based on Nvidia’s GA106 “Ampere” graphics processor, which achieves a computing power of 12.74 TFLOPS (“FP32”) with a total of 3,584 shader units. That amount of power reaches the performance level of the current PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X game consoles, so it’s no slouch.
Nvidia’s GPU is supported by either 8 or 12GB of GDDR6 graphics memory, depending on the model you buy. Most models have 12GB.
The memory configuration of the RTX 3060 is surprising at first glance. It has 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM, which is even more than the significantly faster GeForce RTX 3080, which originally only had 10GB of GDDR6X. With some cutting-edge games requiring more than 8GB of VRAM to run Ultra settings even at 1080p resolution — especially with ray tracing active — the extra capacity is welcome in 2024.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 – Specifications
- GA106 graphics processor (“GA106-302”)
- 3.584 shader units with up to 1.77 GHz
- 12GB GDDR6 graphics memory at 15 Gbps
- Memory interface with 128-bit and 240 GB/s
- Up to 170 watts of power loss (“TDP”)
Though it has since been surpassed in efficiency by newer RTX 40-series GPUs, the RTX 3060’s power consumption (TDP) of 170 watts is comparatively low for a graphics card in this performance class.
These technical specifications paired with a comparatively favorable price versus current-gen GeForce and Radeon graphics cards are what make it so successful even at this later stage of its life.
At the level of current game consoles
The RTX 3060’s moderate power draw means it can be powered by a single connector.
Brad Chacos/IDG
As already mentioned, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 has computing power on a par with the currently available generation of games consoles, so it’s suitable for all games.
It is primarily aimed at gamers who play in 1080p resolution (1,920 × 1,080 pixels) at medium to high details. This opens up a huge market for Nvidia, as the manufacturer is particularly targeting gamers who want to spend $250 to $300 on a graphics card.
AMD’s rival Radeon RX 7600 and Intel’s Arc A750 graphics cards also exist in this price range, but both top out at 8GB of memory and consume more power, while the RTX 3060 holds a firm lead in ray tracing performance. Nvidia also offers a compelling suite of software features; while alternatives exist, Nvidia technologies like DLSS upscaling, the latency-reducing Nvidia Reflex, video-assisting Nvidia Broadcast, and RTX Video Super Resolution lead the pack and make the raw hardware inside the RTX 3060 even faster and more useful.
The GeForce RTX 3060 is still worth considering in 2024
In conclusion, we can say that the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 is still a solid choice in 2024 if you can get hold of a good custom design for under $300, especially if you prioritize Nvidia features and a large memory capacity.
Right-click and open in new tab to enlarge. See how the RTX 3060 and Radeon RX 7600 compare in a range of games, against other affordable GPUs.
Games with Nvidia DLSS support will run faster with that feature active.
Brad Chacos/IDG
If you don’t mind dropping back to 8GB of VRAM, the $270 Radeon RX 7600 runs a good clip faster than the 3060 at 1080p, while Intel’s Arc A750 does as well at a much lower $209 price, though its software features aren’t as advanced as Nvidia’s. The current RTX 4060 can also be found for around $300, but it only has 8GB of VRAM as well. We’d recommend skipping the 8GB RTX 3060 for one of those options and only focusing on 12GB models of the card.
Here are some of the best prices we’ve found on custom RTX 3060 graphics cards with 12GB of memory:
The basic prerequisite for you to be happy with a GeForce RTX 3060 is your requirements for the graphics settings. You should play in Full HD with medium to high details and aim for 45 to 60 frames per second.
This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.
