Only a few hours are left before the GeForce RTX 3060 goes up for purchase at retailers around the world. Given Nvidia's recent launch history, the mid-range Ampere graphics card's stock might be equally limited so legit customers will likely have to fend off cryptocurrency miners and scalpers once again.
If you haven't been following the GeForce RTX 3060, here's quick summary. Built with the GA106 silicon, the GeForce RTX 3060 comes equipped with 3,584 CUDA cores, 112 Tensor cores and 28 RT cores. The reference clock speeds include a 1,320 MHz base clock and 1,777 MHz boost clock, but the more expensive custom models will likely exceed those figures.
Designed to compete with the best graphics cards in its price band, the GeForce RTX 3060 has a generous 12GB of 15 Gbps GDDR6 memory at its disposal. With a 192-bit memory interface, the graphics card delivers a maximum memory bandwidth up to 360 GBps. While its real-world output remains to be seen, the GeForce RTX 3060 could offer performance that's between last generation's GeForce RTX 2070 and RTX 2070 Super.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Pricing
Graphics Card | Pricing | Retailer |
---|---|---|
PNY GeForce RTX 3060 12GB XLR8 Gaming Revel Epic-X RGB Dual Fan | $629.99 | Best Buy |
PNY GeForce RTX 3060 12GB XLR8 Gaming Revel Epic-X RGB Single Fan | $624.99 | Best Buy |
MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming X Trio 12G | $539.99 | Newegg |
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3060 Elite 12G | $519.99 | Newegg |
MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming X 12G | $519.99 | Newegg |
Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC | $519.99 | Newegg |
MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 3X 12G OC | $499.99 | Newegg |
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Vision OC | $499.99 | Newegg |
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 | $499.99 | Newegg |
MSI Geforce RTX 3060 Ventus 3X 12G OC | $499.99 | Best Buy |
Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 Twin Edge OC | $489.99 | Newegg |
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming OC | $479.99 | Newegg |
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Eagle OC | $459.99 | Newegg |
Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 Twin Edge | $399.99 | Newegg |
EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC Gaming | $399.99 | Newegg |
EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC Gaming | $389.99 | Best Buy |
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Eagle | $329.99 | Newegg |
EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC Black Gaming | $329.99 | Newegg |
Best Buy and Newegg are the first retailers to put up the GeForce RTX 3060. While Newegg has seemingly removed the pricing, hardware detective momomo_us took a screenshot of the original listings. Since the launch window is so close, the prices quoted should be the final pricing.
Thus far, PNY's GeForce RTX 3060 12GB XLR8 Gaming Revel Epic-X RGB Dual Fan and Single Fan are listed at Best Buy for $629.99 and $624.99, respectively. It's uncertain if there was a pricing error or Best Buy really intends to sell the PNY models for those ridiculous prices.
Don't expect to find the high-end models, such as the MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming X Trio 12G, Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3060 Elite 12G or Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3060 OC for anything less than $500 though. For comparison, you could end up paying up to 64.1% more than Nvidia's $329 MSRP. Of course, these premium models will come with all the bells and whistles.
Ultimately, budget buyers will find refuge in either Gigabyte's GeForce RTX 3060 Eagle or EVGA's GeForce RTX 3060 XC Black Gaming. These two models are the only ones that retail for $329.99. EVGA hasn't activated the product pages for its GeForce RTX 3060 offerings yet. As far as the GeForce RTX 3060 Eagle goes, Gigabyte listed it with a 1,777 MHz boost clock so it's basically running within Nvidia's reference specification.
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Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
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MarsISwaiting Nvidia should start selling cards online .. IMO a better option then crippling the cards for miners.Reply -
LolaGT It isn't worth the MSRP, realistically. It is a 300 dollar card, in performance.Reply
Too bad the market is so crazy. It would not be a bad card for a secondary PC if one could get it at that.
Anyone spending 500 dollars on one of these is going to deserve the disappointment they receive. -
bigdragon I was all over Best Buy and Amazon earlier. Couldn't get a single card. Granted, I was primarily trying for the 3070 and 3080 again. I was hoping the launch of the 3060 would be joined with lots of stock for the other cards too.Reply
Nope. What a huge waste of time, AGAIN. My 1070 is just going to have to keep going. Can't help but be furious with Nvidia, BestBuy, Newegg, Amazon, and AMD. The great GPU shortage is getting worse, and no company is bothering to learn any lessons from the situation. -
Heat_Fan89
Someone commented on another thread that they were able to snag an RTX 3090 on Best Buys website and had the chance of buying an RTX 3060 or 3080. When I went to Best Buy several times today, all I saw was out of stock for the RTX 3080 and 3090 and coming soon for the RTX 3060.bigdragon said:I was all over Best Buy and Amazon earlier. Couldn't get a single card. Granted, I was primarily trying for the 3070 and 3080 again. I was hoping the launch of the 3060 would be joined with lots of stock for the other cards too.
Nope. What a huge waste of time, AGAIN. My 1070 is just going to have to keep going. Can't help but be furious with Nvidia, BestBuy, Newegg, Amazon, and AMD. The great GPU shortage is getting worse, and no company is bothering to learn any lessons from the situation.
Some people are always at the right place at the right time. I still haven't snagged a Playstation 5 or Xbox series x. -
bigdragon
II was on Best Buy at exactly the right time, sat through the "please wait", and then got yellow "add to cart" buttons. Only problem was that the add to cart always failed. 7 different GPUs. 0 added to cart even though ADD TO CART and IN STOCK was shown. Same BS with Amazon. Click "add to cart" and then see "your Amazon cart is empty."Heat_Fan89 said:Someone commented on another thread that they were able to snag an RTX 3090 on Best Buys website and had the chance of buying an RTX 3060 or 3080. When I went to Best Buy several times today, all I saw was out of stock for the RTX 3080 and 3090 and coming soon for the RTX 3060.
Some people are always at the right place at the right time. I still haven't snagged a Playstation 5 or Xbox series x.
I seriously, seriously hate Nvidia, BestBuy, Amazon, and friends right now. I'm going to be moving into a new house in a month and a half from now, and I'm absolutely making appliance purchasing decisions based on GPU frustrations.. Products I would have bought from BestBuy or Amazon are being sourced elsewhere.
EDIT: And Newegg Shuffle fails to deliver, again. I have zero luck.