Review of Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti: Ampere Power at an Affordable Price

In Shorts: 

• At $399, the RTX 3060 Ti offers a significant upgrade over the 2060 Super, which is on par with or even better than the $699 Super RTX 2080 in a plethora of games.
• Optimal performance for ultra-high frame rate games at 1080p and 1440p
• Backing for DLSS, Reflex, Broadcast, and Ray Tracing

The performance of Nvidia’s RTX 30-series graphics cards marked a significant generational jump. However, the more expensive versions, such as the RTX 3080 and 3090, were also highly high-end. With the more reasonably priced RTX 3060 Ti, Nvidia now hopes to make Ampere’s capabilities available to a wider audience. This mid-range graphics card, priced at $399, is expected to perform on par with the $699 RTX 2080 Super from a generation ago. Let’s examine whether the RTX 3060 Ti actually offers excellent gaming at 1080p and 1440p resolutions at a fair price.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Specs

What is In The Box?

• The graphics processing unit (GPU) is the showpiece of this RTX 3060 Ti bundle.
• The Quick Start Guide is an illustrated little booklet that comes with the card. It explains how to set it up and gives you a rundown of its main functions.
• Warranty terms, safety instructions, and software/driver download links are all part of the support guide.
• The new 12-pin power connection may be connected to a regular 8-pin PCIe cable from your power supply unit (PSU) via an adapter cable.
• An RTX 3060 Ti thank-you card with a message from Nvidia’s CEO expressing gratitude to buyers.
• The RTX 30 series cards are only one example of the many Nvidia products showcased in the company’s compact product catalogue.
• Sticker Sheet—A collection of decals and stickers showcasing the Ampere trademark and the GeForce RTX logo.
• Get the latest drivers, optimise your games, record your screen, and more using Nvidia’s GPU software package, GeForce Experience, which you can download from this website.

Overview of Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti

Nvidia’s Ampere architecture, which powers the 30-series family, is utilised by the RTX 3060 Ti. It has 38 RT cores for ray tracing, 152 tensor cores for AI, and 4,864 CUDA cores.

Important specifications consist of:

• 1.67 GHz boost clock for 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM
• 200W power consumption
• DisplayPort 1.4a and HDMI 2.1 outputs on the PCIe 4.0 interface

Nvidia positions the 3060 Ti between the RTX 3070 and 3060 (non-Ti). It uses the same GPU as the RTX 3070 but disables a few cores. With a little performance drop, the 3060 Ti costs $100 less than the 3070 at $399. The Founders Edition 3060 Ti has the same sleek, small, cooler design as the more expensive 30-series versions. Nvidia provides an adaptor however, a 12-pin power connector is still needed. The 3060 Ti FE provides the superior looks and sounds one would anticipate from a Founders Edition.

Artificial Benchmarks

The 3060 Ti received a score of 7,306 in 3DMark’s Time Spy Extreme test for 4K DirectX 12 performance. At 5,285 MHz, that is a significant 38% faster than the previous generation RTX 2060 Super. The 3060 Ti received an 8,870 Port Royal score. With a 39% improvement over the 2060 Super’s 6,367 scores, the new Ampere RT cores demonstrate the cards’ ability to trace rays under pressure in this benchmark. In comparison, the $399 3060 Ti is genuinely competitive with the $699 RTX 2080 Super (MSRP). While it’s dead even in Port Royal, it’s just 7% slower in Time Spy Extreme.

Actual-World Gaming

Real-world games are where the 3060 Ti really shines. When tested on a variety of challenging games at maximum settings and 2560 x 1440 resolution, it averaged 55–110 frames per second, depending on the title. Ray tracing and DLSS enabled the 3060 Ti to achieve 69 frames per second in Metro Exodus. That barely beats out the RTX 2080 Super’s 71 frames per second. When ray tracing was disabled, frame rates were much closer, at 113 vs. 115 for the 2080 Super.

While the difference in frame rates between the 3060 Ti and 2080 Super was greater in some titles, such as Horizon Zero Dawn, it was still more than 60 fps for fluid 1440p gaming. Even though it’s not a true 4K card, the 3060 Ti can nonetheless achieve 3840 x 2160 resolution. It reached a very playable 55 frames per second in Red Dead Redemption 2 at medium 4K settings.

Features and Technological Advancements

Beyond its quick rendering times, the RTX 3060 Ti is packed with the newest technologies from Nvidia.

• Ray Tracing

With compatible games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Fortnite, real-time ray-traced lighting, reflections, and shadows are made possible by the specialised RT cores, greatly enhancing visual immersion. Ray tracing remains possible even at 1440p, thanks to the 3060 Ti.

• DLSS

DLSS Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) uses AI to produce crisper images at higher frame rates. It changes the game for ray tracing that is playable. In games like Control, the 3060 Ti’s DLSS performance option outperforms native resolution.

Competitive esports players benefit from reduced system latency thanks to Nvidia Reflex technology. For instantaneous response, the 3060 Ti provides end-to-end latency reductions.

• Send out

Even in applications like Zoom, Nvidia Broadcast improves streaming and video conversations with artificial intelligence (AI) effects like background noise reduction, auto framing, and virtual backdrops.

• AV1 Decoder

With the 3060 Ti, you can stream 4K video in improved quality by decoding next-generation AV1 video codecs, which Netflix and YouTube utilise.

Is the RTX 3060 Ti Worth It?

Ampere’s enormous performance leap across a generation is now affordable at $399 with the RTX 3060 Ti. It outperforms the previous 2060 Super, offering fluid gaming at a high frame rate of 1440p while getting close to the 2080 Super performance. Even at maximum settings, the 3060 Ti provides amazing headroom for 1080p gaming.

The RTX 3060 Ti is an excellent choice when you take into account its support for ray tracing, DLSS, and cutting-edge features like Reflex and Broadcast. A few years ago, it would have been unimaginable to get this amount of 1080p/1440p gaming power for only $399. Finding one for sale is the main problem, as there is little supply compared to strong demand. However, the RTX 3060 Ti is unquestionably the new option for exceptional mid-range performance if you can get it at its affordable MSRP.

Note: You can even get a good 4K experience if you reduce the intensity of some of the demanding settings. Amid strong demand and limited availability, the RTX 3060 Ti—an excellent mid-range card—may be hard to come by.

Final Words Regarding the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti

AMD’s aggressive new RDNA 2 graphics cards put pressure on Nvidia. Nvidia reinforces its supremacy over the mid-range market once again with the RTX 3060 Ti, thanks to its great price-to-performance ratio. Targets for resolution and refresh rate have increased for standard GPUs in this generation. The 3060 Ti produces frame rates so high that 1080p gaming becomes less and less beneficial. At just $399, smooth gaming at 1440p at 120+ Hz is finally a reality. Additionally, more players may now use ray tracing effects thanks to the RTX 3060 Ti. With playable frame rates, its third-generation RT cores let you enjoy ray-traced images at 1440p, providing an excellent balance between performance and visual appeal.

As is customary, Founders Edition models—such as the 3060 Ti—are more difficult to locate than designs created by third parties. However, Nvidia’s own FE version triumphs in terms of cooling, acoustics, and looks. It perfectly captures the elegant yet understated style. Without a doubt, the RTX 3060 Ti ranks among the greatest mid-range GPU deals ever for anyone looking to get the most fps per dollar. It makes the quantum jump in power of the Ampere architecture affordable for the general public. The RTX 3060 Ti is a very alluring bundle for high-definition 1080p and 1440p gaming.

FAQs

How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to the 2060 Super?

The RTX 3060 Ti outperforms the 2060 Super. Its improved Ampere architecture boosts benchmarks and games by 30-40%.

Can RTX 3060 Ti ray trace?

The 3060 Ti’s specialised ray-tracing cores provide ray-traced lighting and reflections in compatible games. Performance drops but is playable with DLSS.

For what resolution is the RTX 3060 Ti best?

This 3060 Ti is ideal for 1080p and 1440p gaming. Most titles have 60+ fps at 1440p extreme settings and good frame rates at 1080p.

Does the 3060 Ti support streaming and content creation?

NVENC encoder on 3060 Ti provides high-quality, low-latency streaming. Nvidia Encoder and Broadcast improve streaming and recording. The 3060 Ti can accelerate content production tools that use CUDA cores.