RTX 3060 8GB, RTX 3060 Ti GDDR6X Allegedly Arrive In October

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Clearing Ampere inventory for Ada Lovelace GPUs.

GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (Image credit: Nvidia)

Nvidia and partners are purportedly concocting at least three more GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards, according to Twitter leakster Zed Wang, aka MEGAsizedGPU. In the pipeline, according to this latest green team rumor, are an RTX 3060 8GB, an RTX 3060 Ti with GDDR6X, and an RTX 3070 Ti based on the GA102 GPU. However, we think adding these cards shortly would signal that there are still several months to wait for mid-range GeForce RTX 40-series (Ada Lovelace) cards to hit the market.

If true, introducing a new GeForce RTX 3060 with 8GB of RAM might make the biggest splash, as the X060 is often the most popular SKU of any generation. Of course, this new model will have less VRAM than the original (12GB cut to 8GB), but there is no light shone on any other spec changes. In the worst-case scenario, Nvidia might cut the bus from 192-bit to 128-bit for 8GB, reducing both memory quota and bandwidth. Without rebalancing in some other way (CUDA cores, clocks, memory speeds), it will simply be inferior to the currently marketed RTX 3060 and be a change that would draw heavy fire from enthusiasts.

A more positive change might be coming to the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti refresh if Zed Wang’s info is correct. This model is said to be getting a significant memory speed upgrade. It will move from 8GB of 14 Gbps GDDR6 to the same quota, using 19 Gbps GDDR6X. Given this info, we should expect about a 35% boost to memory bandwidth.

Last but not least, the source reckons there will be a GeForce RTX 3070 Ti leveraging the GA102 GPU. This GPU powers Nvidia’s flagship cards which it seems keen to shift recently. Perhaps there are bins full of GA102 GPUs with just enough working cores for this new RTX 3070 Ti. Such economics are often the reason behind production re-jigs like this.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Header Cell - Column 0 RTX 3060RTX 3060 8GB*RTX 3060 Ti GDDR6X*RTX 3060 TiRTX 3070 Ti*RTX 3070 Ti
GPUGA106GA106GA104GA104GA102GA104
Die Size276 mm²276 mm²392 mm²392 mm²628 mm²392 mm²
Memory Bus192-bit128-bit256-bit256-bit256-bit256-bit
Memory Size12GB GDDR68GB GDDR68GB GDDR6X8GB GDDR68GB GDDR6X8GB GDDR6X
Memory Clock15 Gbps15 Gbps19 Gbps14 Gbps19 Gbps19 Gbps

*Specifications are unconfirmed.

It is almost certain that Nvidia will launch the first Ada Lovelace architecture GPUs during a GeForce Beyond special broadcast a week from Tuesday. However, it is hotly tipped and customary for Nvidia to start at the premium consumer end of things and then work its way down over the following months. With Ampere, things were highly protracted, with the journey from GeForce RTX 3090 to RTX 3060 launches taking five months, and it’s best not to mention the RTX 3050 (add a further 11 months).

So, at GeForce Beyond on September 20, we expect the RTX 4090 launch and probably some details about pricing and availability. If we are lucky, we have similar information about the GeForce RTX 4080 and RTX 4070.

Tom’s Hardware’s graphics editor has recently warned not to buy into the high-end Ampere series. Meanwhile, Nvidia and partners push the RTX 3080 and above harder with price drops and the new Spider-Man Remastered promotion.

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    If the rumors about the RTX 4050 and 4060 being PCIe x8 only, these might be the cards to buy if you're still rocking PCIe 3.0.
    Reply
  • LokkenJP
    Another maybe less probable alternative, but a much more appealing one, is for the future 3060 8Gb moving instead to a 256-bit wide bus. The gap between the vanilla 3060 and the 3060Ti is quite big, (bigger than usual in fact), and this change might help with that.

    The cost of a wider bus can be absorbed by the lower memory count instead, and this will result in a better performing 3060 GPU for any case in which the 8Gb frame buffer is not completely filled, (which is the most probable use case scenario for this mainstream card). A better performing GPU for about the same mone is always a win...
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    The GPU changes that draw the most heavy criticism are quasi-stealth ones that aren't obvious from model name or description. 12GB vs 8GB is a pretty obvious change, shouldn't be particularly controversial unless AIBs and retailers try to foist them for the same prices as 12GB variants.
    Reply
  • renz496
    Alvar Miles Udell said:
    If the rumors about the RTX 4050 and 4060 being PCIe x8 only, these might be the cards to buy if you're still rocking PCIe 3.0.
    Only an issue if the card have low amount of VRAM.
    Reply
  • renz496
    LokkenJP said:
    Another maybe less probable alternative, but a much more appealing one, is for the future 3060 8Gb moving instead to a 256-bit wide bus. The gap between the vanilla 3060 and the 3060Ti is quite big, (bigger than usual in fact), and this change might help with that.

    The cost of a wider bus can be absorbed by the lower memory count instead, and this will result in a better performing 3060 GPU for any case in which the 8Gb frame buffer is not completely filled, (which is the most probable use case scenario for this mainstream card). A better performing GPU for about the same mone is always a win...
    Except hardware maker will design their cards around maximum profit. The move to use 8GB is most likely so they can use 128bit instead of 192bit on the original 3060 12gb.
    Reply
  • btmedic04
    Nvidia really needs to call it an RTX 3050 Ti if they are dropping it down to 8gb on a 128 bit bus. Any other name is a scummy marketing tactic
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    btmedic04 said:
    Nvidia really needs to call it an RTX 3050 Ti if they are dropping it down to 8gb on a 128 bit bus. Any other name is a scummy marketing tactic
    Why? A 3060 with 8GB of VRAM would still be 50-70% more powerful than a 3050. which is too much of a step up for typical non-Ti vs Ti variant. You just need to be a little more wary of VRAM load if you want to prioritize frame rates. If you aren't willing to make that sacrifice, you are free to pay $70-100 more for a 12GB model.
    Reply
  • btmedic04
    InvalidError said:
    Why? A 3060 with 8GB of VRAM would still be 50-70% more powerful than a 3050. which is too much of a step up for typical non-Ti vs Ti variant. You just need to be a little more wary of VRAM load if you want to prioritize frame rates. If you aren't willing to make that sacrifice, you are free to pay $70-100 more for a 12GB model.

    why? because changing core specifications such as memory bus bandwidth while leaving the model name the same is predatory towards people who aren't as tech savvy as us. you're losing a third of the memory bus width meaning a 128-bit bus 8gb 3060 is going to be a fair bit slower than a 12gb model when bandwidth limited but will still be called a 3060. While not as egregious as the gt 1030 ddr4 vs gddr5 variants, it still falls in the same vein of shiesty and scummy marketing on nvidias part.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    btmedic04 said:
    While not as egregious as the gt 1030 ddr4 vs gddr5 variants, it still falls in the same vein of shiesty and scummy marketing on nvidias part.
    Anyone with a working brain should be able to tell that a 8GB version of a product will likely not perform as good as a 12GB version in some if not all circumstances, especially when the 8GB version is $70+ cheaper. No need to be particularly tech-savvy for that, just plain old "bigger numbers are generally better." DDR4 vs GDDR5 is far worse since the difference can be as little as "D4" vs "G5" in the name which most people have no clue what they mean when present at all, many manufacturers mislabel DDR4 as GDDR4 to make things more confusing and the price difference between the two is only ~$10 on 2GB models.
    Reply
  • btmedic04
    InvalidError said:
    Anyone with a working brain should be able to tell that a 8GB version of a product will likely not perform as good as a 12GB version in some if not all circumstances, especially when the 8GB version is $70+ cheaper. No need to be particularly tech-savvy for that, just plain old "bigger numbers are generally better." DDR4 vs GDDR5 is far worse since the difference can be as little as "D4" vs "G5" in the name which most people have no clue what they mean when present at all, many manufacturers mislabel DDR4 as GDDR4 to make things more confusing and the price difference between the two is only ~$10 on 2GB models.

    again, that is not always the case, a 3060 ti is a much faster card than a 3060 despite it having 8gb of ram compared to 12gb on the vanilla 3060.

    the article made no mention of price, so im curious to know where youre getting a $70+ difference from. such a price difference will put the msrp of the 8gb version at $240 if we go off of the 12gb versions launch msrp of $330. Thats $10 cheaper than the launch msrp of the 3050. Going off of actual prices on the market, youd be looking at around $330 for an 8gb, or right about what a 3050 costs.
    Reply