Final Thoughts
So is the RTX 3060 for you? I think if you are still on a GTX 1060 then yes for sure! You are going to see a massive increase in performance, an increase worth upgrading to. In terms of performance in our testing the RTX 3060 has about the same performance as an RTX 2070 as it was creeping up on our RTX 2070 Super in many of the tests. With this type of performance it is going to be an excellent 1080p card where you are going to see well over 60 FPS in current titles with the settings maxed out. You’ll also be able to game at 1440P with very respectable frame rates.
Another thing to think about is that the RTX 30 Series features 2nd generation RT cores and 3rd generation Tensor cores so you’ll have better real-time raytracing performance and DLSS performance. On top of that you can take advantage of NVIDIA-specific features. If you are a serious gamer NVIDIA Reflex will help decrease input lag. If you are a streamer or content creator NVIDIA Broadcast has a bunch of tools to help make your streams / videos more professional.
I do have to point out one of the big headlines about the RTX 3060 is that NVIDIA was basically gimped the card for cryptocurrency mining in hopes it will deter miners from purchasing the card and open up more inventory for gamers. This is not just software or a driver that is doing this, NVIDIA states, it “is a secure handshake between the driver, the RTX 3060 silicon, and the BIOS (firmware) that prevents removal of the hash rate limiter”. While I do like the idea of having more inventory for gamers, I am not a fan of any company limiting what I do can with their product. I know plenty of gamers that will load up NiceHash at night to offset the cost of their graphics card and possibly earn a little extra cash. It will be interesting to see just how available these cards are going to be a launch.
So what has EVGA done with their RTX 3060 XC Gaming card specifically? Well first it is going to be one of the smallest non-stock RTX 3060’s you are going to be able to buy. It is like EVGA designed this card for those super-small ITX kits. 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!
EVGA will be selling this card for $389.99, which gives it a $60 premium over NVIDIA’s MSRP of $329.99. It is definitely not the most expensive RTX 3060 that we’ve seen. Overall ThinkComputers gives the EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC Gaming Graphics Card a 9 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Great 1080P 60 FPS performance
– Small and compact design
– Good cooling and noise performance
– Amazing upgrade for GTX 1060 users
– Can take advantage of RTX and DLSS
– NVIDIA-specific features like Reflex & Broadcast
Cons:
– No RGB lighting
– Not as big of a performance increase over the previous generation as other 30-series cards
– Gimped for mining
