NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB is a GeForce 30-series graphics card built on the Ampere architecture, using the GA106 chip fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It packs 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, with a transistor density of 43.5M per mm². The card operates at a base clock of 1320 MHz and a boost clock of 1777 MHz, with memory running at 1875 MHz (15 Gbps effective). It features 3584 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. Memory is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 240.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, it scores 1577, placing it in the 8th percentile of all GPUs. This score is closely matched by its nearest rivals, with deltas of -0.8%, 0.8%, -0.8%, and 1.1% relative to four other cards.

Power and Cooling

The RTX 3060 8 GB has a TDP of 170 W. The suggested power supply is 450 W. Power is delivered through a single 12-pin connector. The card is dual-slot and measures 242 mm in length (9.5 inches) and 112 mm in height (4.4 inches). The 8 nm process node and 12,000 million transistor count suggest a moderate power density. The 170 W TDP is the thermal design power that the dual-slot cooler must dissipate. The 450 W PSU recommendation provides headroom for the rest of the system, including the CPU and peripherals. The 12-pin connector is a single point of power delivery; users with older PSUs may need an adapter, though the card's end-of-life status means it is no longer in production. The physical dimensions are within standard ATX form factor; the 242 mm length fits most mid-tower cases, while the 112 mm height requires attention to CPU cooler clearance. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides adequate bandwidth for the card's memory and compute capabilities. The transistor density of 43.5M per mm² is a measure of the manufacturing process efficiency. The die size of 276 mm² is relatively small, which contributes to the compact cooler design. The combination of a 170 W TDP and a 450 W PSU suggestion leaves a 280 W margin for the rest of the system, which is typical for a card in this performance class. The dual-slot cooler is designed to handle the thermal output, and the 112 mm height ensures compatibility with most standard CPU coolers.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The RTX 3060 8 GB is equipped with 28 RT cores and 112 tensor cores. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (feature level 12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The FP32 compute throughput is 12.74 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 12.74 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). Pixel fill rate is 85.30 GPixel/s, and texture fill rate is 199.0 GTexel/s. Display outputs include 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The memory operates at 1875 MHz (15 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, delivering 240.0 GB/s. The 28 RT cores and 112 tensor cores are part of the Ampere architecture, but the benchmark data provided does not separate their individual contributions. The API support ensures compatibility with modern graphics libraries, including the DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set. The 1:1 FP16/FP32 ratio indicates that the card does not have a separate half-rate FP16 path, which is a design choice. The memory bandwidth of 240.0 GB/s is a key specification for texture and framebuffer performance. The card's pixel and texture fill rates are derived from the core clocks and ROP/TMU counts, providing a baseline for rasterization throughput. The presence of 28 RT cores and 112 tensor cores is notable, but their actual performance in ray tracing or AI workloads is not quantified by the 3DMark Steel Nomad score, which is a rasterization benchmark.

How It Compares

The RTX 3060 8 GB scores 1577 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon HD 7650A, scores 1589, which is 0.8% higher. A negative deltaPct indicates the rival scores higher, so the RTX 3060 8 GB is slightly behind. The AMD FirePro V3900 scores 1564, which is 0.8% lower than the RTX 3060 8 GB, giving the RTX 3060 8 GB a marginal advantage. The NVIDIA Quadro K600 scores 1590, also 0.8% higher, again a negligible gap. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 620 scores 1560, which is 1.1% lower, the largest delta among the four rivals. In all cases, the performance differences are less than 1.1% in either direction, indicating that the RTX 3060 8 GB delivers essentially the same level of performance as these parts in this specific benchmark. The percentile ranking of 8 means that the RTX 3060 8 GB outperforms only 8% of all GPUs in the database. This is a low position, suggesting that the card is not competitive with the majority of modern graphics cards. The nearest rivals themselves have scores within 1.1% of the RTX 3060 8 GB, which implies they are also low-performing parts. Thus, the RTX 3060 8 GB occupies a niche at the bottom of the performance spectrum. The deltaPct values are consistent across all four rivals, reinforcing the conclusion that this card's performance is tightly clustered with these legacy or entry-level products.

FAQ

Q: What is the TDP of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB?

A: The TDP is 170 W.

Q: What power supply is recommended for this card?

A: The suggested PSU is 450 W.

Q: What is the memory configuration?

A: It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, with 240.0 GB/s bandwidth and an effective memory speed of 15 Gbps.

Q: Which APIs are supported?

A: It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: How many RT cores and tensor cores does it have?

A: It has 28 RT cores and 112 tensor cores.

Q: What is the release date?

A: The release date is 2022-10-11.

Who Should Consider It

The RTX 3060 8 GB's benchmark score of 1577 and 8th percentile standing indicate that it is positioned at the low end of the GPU performance range. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit bus, it can handle 1080p gaming at lower settings, but the data does not support high-refresh or high-resolution scenarios. The card's performance is within 1.1% of several legacy parts, such as the AMD Radeon HD 7650A and NVIDIA Quadro K600, which suggests it offers no meaningful advantage over those older products in the Steel Nomad workload. For users who require DirectX 12 Ultimate support, the card meets that requirement, though the overall compute throughput (12.74 TFLOPS FP32) is modest. The 240.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is a limiting factor for high-resolution texture streaming, but it is adequate for 1080p gaming with medium settings. The 170 W TDP and 450 W PSU recommendation make it suitable for compact systems, but the 242 mm length and dual-slot footprint must be accommodated. Given its end-of-life status and low percentile ranking, this card is best suited for light gaming, media playback, or as a display adapter for productivity tasks. It is not recommended for demanding AAA titles at high settings, as the benchmark results place it far below the majority of contemporary GPUs. The 8 GB memory capacity is sufficient for modern titles at 1080p with reduced texture quality, but the overall performance ceiling is low. Users seeking ray tracing or AI acceleration should note that while the hardware exists (28 RT cores, 112 tensor cores), the benchmark data does not demonstrate any advantage over the rival cards, which lack these features.