Asus Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Edition Review

If all the pieces had been regular within the desktop GPU world proper now, the launch of the GeForce RTX 3060 would have been met with enthusiasm for bringing ray tracing results to a brand new mass-market worth level in addition to the same old generational efficiency good points. Nonetheless, issues are removed from regular – cryptocurrency miners are as soon as once more inflicting large shortages available in the market, each AMD and Nvidia are unable to produce sufficient chips into the market, and costs have shot via the roof. In India particularly, it is arduous to seek out graphics playing cards based mostly on any of Nvidia’s 30-series or AMD’s 6000-series GPUs at anyplace close to their official launch costs. Issues aren’t anticipated to ease up until at the very least the center of 2021.

The GeForce RTX 3060 drops proper into this chaos, and so we do not actually know at this level whether or not there will likely be sufficient inventory available in the market and whether or not costs will likely be cheap. Judging worth for cash will likely be particularly tough. On prime of that, Nvidia is not going to be promoting a Founders Version graphics card in any respect, so many of the choices available in the market could have increased MRPs than Nvidia’s really helpful Rs. 29,500.

You may discover a number of fashions based mostly on the identical GPU from all of Nvidia’s companion manufacturers. I am reviewing Asus’ ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version, which is a premium implementation of this new GPU.

The Asus Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version has three followers on its outsized cooler

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 structure and specs

Nvidia has had a number of success with its GeForce GPU architectures for the previous a number of years, whereas competitor AMD has only just recently managed to catch up. The corporate describes its present Ampere GPU architecture, which powers the whole GeForce RTX 30-series, as its best generational leap ever. That is saying loads, however it additionally glosses over the truth that RTX 30-series playing cards are extraordinarily costly, and the premium GPUs which have launched up to now are effectively out the attain of most common players.

The goal for the GeForce RTX 3060 is players who’re upgrading from a mid-range card that is two or extra generations outdated, significantly the GeForce GTX 1060 which continues to be so extensively used that it is at the moment on the prime of the Steam global hardware survey over 4 years after it launched. The xx60 tier is often an enormous vendor for Nvidia, and that is the place the majority of the market is concentrated.

In accordance with Nvidia, you may anticipate twice the efficiency of the GeForce GTX 1060 or roughly equal efficiency to that of the GeForce RTX 2070. After all the brand new structure additionally means higher and extra environment friendly ray tracing, which is definitely catching on in fashionable video games. The efficiency goal for the GeForce RTX 3060 is over 60fps with ray tracing enabled at 1080p in at the moment’s common AAA titles. If you happen to’re not significantly focused on ray tracing, you might additionally step as much as increased resolutions and graphics high quality settings at a (theoretically) cheaper price than has up to now been doable.

Nvidia has pared down its Ampere design, and so the GeForce RTX 3060 GPU (codenamed GA106) has 3,584 CUDA execution cores, 28 RT cores for ray tracing, and 112 Tensor cores for AI acceleration, all clustered into 28 clusters known as Streaming Multiprocessors. The bottom clock velocity is 1.32GHz and the increase velocity is 1.78GHz, at the very least for Nvidia’s hypothetical reference design. The chip makes use of an 8nm manufacturing course of and helps PCIe Gen 4.0 velocity. You possibly can run as much as 4 displays at a time. Energy draw is rated at 170W and at the very least a 550W energy provide is really helpful.

As with higher-end GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs that we have already reviewed, the Ampere structure doubles throughput for some forms of floating level operations in addition to ray tracing efficiency, for practical lighting and shadow results. The AI comes into play primarily for Nvidia’s Deep Studying Supersampling characteristic, or DLSS, which upscales rendered graphics permitting the remainder of the GPU to work at a decrease decision, thus decreasing its workload and enhancing velocity.

Asus has gone with two HDMI ports and three DIsplayPort video outputs

All GeForce RTX 3060 graphics playing cards, no matter producer or design, could have 12GB of GDDR6 RAM on a 192-bit bus, delivering 360GBps of reminiscence bandwidth. Apparently, 12GB is far more than the 8GB you may get with the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070, and much more than the 10GB that the premium RTX 3080 is outfitted with. That is a really unusual anomaly within the lineup, maybe motivated by AMD going with 12GB for its RDNA2-based Radeon RX 6000 collection. After all efficiency is not decided by reminiscence capability alone, however it’s price noting.

Ray tracing is at the moment supported by 39 video games and one other 16 are on the way in which. Over the previous 12 months, main titles similar to Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Canines Legion, COD: Black Ops Chilly Conflict, Godfall, and even the extra informal Fortnite and Minecraft have been within the information for committing to ray tracing. It is also been introduced as a characteristic being added to Doom Everlasting, The Witcher 3, Far Cry 6, and Dust 5.

There are additionally advantages to the brand new structure past gaming. You possibly can velocity up 3D and video content material creation in inventive and manufacturing software program. Nvidia has additionally launched its Broadcast suite with this era, which leverages AI efficiency for noise elimination, background alternative and head monitoring whereas livestreaming. AV1 decode assist might help scale back CPU utilization when streaming compressed high-res video from companies that use this codec.

One other advantage of all this processing energy is that fashionable GPUs are uniquely suited to operating the type of repetitive mathematical algorithms which are used to generate or “mine” cryptocurrency. This can be a main issue within the world scarcity of GPUs in retail channels. Nvidia has nevertheless determined that it is time to promote completely different {hardware} particularly for mining, particularly its new CMP (Cryptocurrency Mining Processor). As such, the GeForce RTX 3060 is the primary to be intentionally designed (or handicapped, as you may even see it) to restrict mining efficiency.

It stays to be seen whether or not this can have an effect on the market in any important method, however it does imply that different RTX 30-series playing cards simply bought extra fascinating to bulk patrons – and subsequently doubtless much more tough to purchase. If you happen to’re a gamer who likes casually mining on a single GPU to recoup among the price of your {hardware} or simply earn a small passive revenue, you may be affected by this.

You may want solely a single 8-pin PCIe energy connector

Asus Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version design and options

Asus is considered one of a number of manufacturers that will likely be promoting graphics playing cards constructed across the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU. The ROG Strix household is fairly excessive up on Asus’ product hierarchy, and is aimed toward players who do not thoughts paying a premium for construct high quality, extra elaborate RGB lighting, and a bit of bit of additional potential stability and overclockability in some circumstances.

Avid gamers do like to indicate off and Asus has designed this card to be a lot bigger than it in all probability must be. The cooler and shroud are very generously proportioned and there are three axial followers. The center one spins in the wrong way to the opposite two, optimising airflow and decreasing turbulence. Additionally they spin down fully when the cardboard is not being confused. Asus says they’ve smaller hubs and longer fins to additional enhance airflow.

The Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version will take up three slots’ house in your PC cupboard – Asus lists it as a “2.7 slot” design which is successfully the identical factor. It is almost a foot lengthy at 300mm, which is longer than many enthusiast-class playing cards, and hangs over the sting of an ordinary ATX motherboard. You may wish to examine for clearance and airflow points in your cupboard earlier than shopping for this card.

Predictably, the PCB itself is way smaller than the shroud round it. The backplate has a big gap for airflow to the heatsink fins, and naturally there’s an RGB-illuminated ROG emblem as effectively. You may discover a single 8-pin PCIe energy connector close to the tip. There’s additionally a BIOS swap that permits you to toggle between the usual Efficiency profile and a second Quiet profile with none software program tweaking.

Asus has gone with three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs and two HDMI 2.1 ports on the rear. That is pretty beneficiant and will enable for versatile configurations together with straightforward swapping with a VR headset related. It additionally exhibits that not as a lot house is required for vents as on higher-end playing cards. The cardboard comes with plastic mud stoppers for all of the ports and the PCIe connector, that are all the time appreciated.

There’s an enormous RGB LED strip throughout the whole prime of the shroud, which you’ll customise with numerous lighting patterns via Asus’ Armory Crate software program. The lights shine via the heatsink fins and are seen via the fan blades as effectively, making for an attention-grabbing impact at the very least on my open-air check rig. There are some angular metallic accents on the entrance of the cardboard which will likely be face-down and hidden in most PC cupboards.

The RGB LED lighting will be customised utilizing Asus’ Armory Crate software program

Asus Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version efficiency

After all efficiency in video games is what issues most, and it is time now to see how effectively the Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version does in our artificial exams and in guide gameplay. AMD is predicted to launch equal Radeon RX 6000-series GPUs quickly, however for now the older Radeon RX 5700 and 5600 XT are the closest matches, price-wise. Asus additionally despatched over a TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 Ti for comparability – this card does not have fairly the identical visible aptitude because the higher-end Strix collection fashions, however is aimed toward extra price-conscious patrons and it is the GPU at its coronary heart that we’re focused on evaluating towards.

Each, the Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version and the TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, have been examined on an AMD Ryzen 2700 CPU, ASRock X470 Taichi Final motherboard, 2x8GB of G.Ability F4-3400C16D-16GSXW DDR4 RAM, a 1TB Samsung 860 Evo SSD, and a Corsair RM650 energy provide. The monitor was a 4K Asus PB287Q. . I used Nvidia’s pre-release 461.64 driver, and Home windows 10 was up to date to model 2H20 with all the most recent patches.

Beginning with artificial workloads, the trusty 3DMark now contains devoted exams that spotlight ray tracing in addition to DLS efficiency. We see a reasonably large gulf in efficiency figures between the GeForce RTX 3060 and its beefier sibling, the RTX 3060 Ti. You possibly can anticipate roughly about 70-75 % the efficiency, however going by Nvidia’s reference costs, you do not save a considerable amount of cash.

The brand new GPU is roughly equal to the older GeForce RTX 2060 Super in legacy exams, and will (once more, theoretically) price much less whereas additionally considerably enhancing outcomes with ray tracing. We additionally see the GeForce RTX 3060 buying and selling blows with the Radeon RX 5700 in normal exams. For reference, an MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X graphics card scored 4,273 and three,168 in 3DMark’s Time Spy and Hearth Strike Extremely exams when reviewed on the time of its launch.

Coming to in-game benchmarks, I fired up Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 4K utilizing the Highest high quality preset. With DLSS enabled, I bought a really respectable common of 53fps. Including ray traced shadows at Medium high quality introduced that all the way down to 49fps. With out DLSS or ray traced shadows, the common got here to 44fps and visible high quality wouldn’t be considerably distinguishable to the informal observer. If you wish to keep above 60fps, you may should drop the decision to at the very least 1440p, even with DLSS.

Far Cry 5 managed 49fps on common at 4K utilizing its Extremely preset. Taking the decision all the way down to 1440p resulted in a a lot smoother run averaging 82fps. Equally, Murderer’s Creed: Odyssey averaged solely 36fps at 4K utilizing its Extremely Excessive preset, however that went as much as 53fps at 1440p and 62fps at 1080p. Center Earth: Shadow of Conflict is a bit more forgiving, with averages of 48fps at 4K and 77fps at 1440p.

Metro Exodus’ benchmarking software has an RTX preset which allows DLSS, units ray tracing high quality to Excessive and general sport high quality to Extremely. At 1920×1080, this produced a median of 53.98fps which isn’t fairly superb however nonetheless pretty good. The minimal did drop fairly a bit with one part dipping as little as 28.85fps. These scores think about the 99^th percentile which eliminates essentially the most drastic outliers that might skew averages.

One other sport that makes use of ray tracing and DLSS is Management. I enabled DLSS with the render decision at 1080p and show decision at 4K. With the standard in addition to ray tracing set to Excessive, I used to be in a position to common roughly 45-50fps. As for non-RTX video games, Doom Everlasting is all the time enjoyable and runs very effectively even on modest {hardware}. This sport averaged 75-80fps at 4K utilizing its Extremely Nightmare high quality preset.

One huge benefit of the outsized cooler is that the Asus Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version by no means bought too scorching and the followers by no means bought too loud in use.

The Asus Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version is thick sufficient to want three free slots in your PC cupboard

Verdict

The GeForce RTX 3060 GPU is an efficient mainstream GPU and provides nice efficiency even at excessive settings in barely older video games in addition to the enchantment of ray tracing. Nonetheless, it does not appear to supply nearly as good worth because the RTX 3060 Ti, when it comes to efficiency vs worth. The official worth of Rs. 29,500 is loads increased than what the GeForce GTX 1060 used to promote for. That is a outcome of a better base worth, unfavourable foreign money alternate charges, and excessive import taxes.

After all Nvidia’s official worth of Rs. 29,500 is not even really what firms are charging for his or her playing cards. The Asus Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version has formally been launched for Rs. 48,000 which is kind of frankly a ridiculous quantity. You possibly can choose up a GeForce RTX 3070 Founders’ Version for lower than that – offered you luck out with the Indian distributor’s lottery system on any of the uncommon events that it is in inventory. Sadly, present market forces, and the truth that there is not any Founders Version, imply that retailers don’t have any purpose in any respect to promote these playing cards at decrease avenue costs.

If you happen to do suppose the GeForce RTX 3060 is correct to your wants, and if playing cards based mostly on it do wind up being extensively out there, you must nonetheless search for a lower-priced model from Asus’ TUF or Twin lineups, or think about what different manufacturers are providing. The outsized cooler and RGB LEDs alone don’t warrant such an enormous distinction. This explicit card isn’t the very best worth that you could get to your cash, and it’ll take some legwork and luck to discover a cheap deal.

This case displays poorly on Nvidia as the corporate behind the GeForce model. It appears as if players who’ve very tight budgets should grasp on to their previous-generation playing cards for some time longer.

Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC Version
Worth: Rs. 48,000 + taxes

Execs

• Runs cool and quiet
• Good efficiency at >1080p in lots of video games
• Ray tracing and DLSS ship good outcomes collectively 

Cons

• Extraordinarily costly 
• Outsized cooler

Scores (out of 5)

• Efficiency: 4
• Worth for Cash: 2
• General: 3