Our Verdict
86%
The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti rewrites the mid-range GPU rules, with fantastic frame rates and smooth ray tracing performance for a surprisingly low price, as long as you can find it in stock.
If you want to be able to play the latest games with ray tracing enabled, but without spending a small fortune, then Nvidia may well have the answer with its latest affordable gaming GPU, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. It has a launch price of just $399 for the Founders Edition we’re testing here.
At Custom PC, we’ve been reviewing the latest gaming GPUs since 2003, and we run a number of grueling benchmarks in order to gauge performance. Our game tests include measuring the frame rate in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Doom Eternal, and Metro Exodus, and we also test with Battlefield V. For more information, please read our How we test page.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GA104 GPU
Based on the same GA104 Ampere GPU that powers the GeForce RTX 3070, the 3060 Ti has 38 of the GPU’s potential maximum of 48 streaming multiprocessors (SMs) enabled, compared with 46 on the RTX 3070. That gives you a grand total of 4,864 CUDA cores / stream processors, along with 38 2nd-gen RT cores and 152 3rd-gen Tensor cores. That’s a formidable spec for a card that costs just $399 / £369.
It’s also good to see 8 GB of memory coming with this GPU as standard, compared to the paltry 6 GB that came with the GeForce RTX 2060. Like the memory on the RTX 3070, the 3060 Ti’s GDDR6 memory has an effective clock speed of 14 GHz and it’s attached to the same 256-bit wide memory interface, giving you a total memory bandwidth of 448 GB/sec.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition
The RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition card we’re reviewing is basically the same as the GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition. It has two fans mounted on its front, which push air over the components, and out through a vent in the I/O plate, as well as through a vent on the right-hand side of the top edge. You also get a 12-pin power connector in the middle of the card, along with an 8-pin adaptor in the box, which only has metal contacts in six of the 12 pins that plug into the graphics card.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti performance
The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti completely rewrites the mid-range GU performance rules. Of course, it’s slower than the RTX 3070, though not by much, and it’s still enormously powerful for the normal retail price.
It even (usually) beats the GeForce RTX 2080 Super, which was a high-end $800 / £800 card just a few months ago. The Radeon RX 6800 is quicker in terms of raw shading power but, like the RTX 3070, it’s also a fair bit more expensive. Our game tests include measuring the frame rate in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Doom Eternal, and Metro Exodus, and we also test with Battlefield V.
Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti Shadow of the Tomb Raider frame rate
If you’re gaming at 1,920 x 1,080, then this is a fantastic card if you want to enable all the bells and whistles in your games. Not only are games playable with ray tracing at high settings at this resolution, but our Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark stayed above 60fps at all times in this game with high ray traced shadows, producing an average frame rate of 98fps, and that’s without any help from DLSS.
If you enable DLSS, then you can also get some great frame rates at 2,560 x 1,440 with ray tracing, with Shadow of the Tomb Raider producing a 99th percentile frame rate of 58fps and an average of 76fps.
Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti Battlefield V frame rate
The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti makes light work of Battlefield V at 1080p, even if you enable ray tracing. Its 1080p average frame rate with ray tracing set to High was a massive 89fps, only dropping down to 76fps.
Without ray tracing, its frame rate stayed above 100fps in Battlefield V at 2,560 x 1,440 as well, and its average frame rate of 60fps at this resolution with ray tracing enabled is also a decent result for a card at this price.
Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti Metro Exodus frame rate
Our highly demanding Metro Exodus test with Ultra settings (including Ultra ray tracing) dropped down to a 99th percentile frame rate of 42fps with the RTX 3060 Ti, and an average of 71fps, but that’s still a stellar result for a card at this price – run the game at High settings, rather than Ultra, and it will be smooth.
Metro Exodus still averaged 60fps at Ultra settings at 2,560 x 1,440 with DLSS and ray tracing enabled, although it did sometimes drop down to 37fps. This is a very demanding test, though – you’ll only need to drop the settings a little to make it smooth with ray tracing at 2,560 x 1,440.
Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti Doom Eternal frame rate
At 1,920 x 1,080, the RTX 3060 Ti produced an amazing average frame rate of 323fps in Doom Eternal, with a 99th percentile result of 213fps – great if you have a high-speed monitor. You can comfortably run this game at 4K at maximum settings too, with a 99th percentile frame rate of 77fps and an average of 116fps. It’s only at 4K that the RTX 2080 Super has an advantage over the RTX 3060 Ti, it’s otherwise largely beaten by Nvidia’s new mid-range contender.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti power draw
The only oddity we noticed was strangely high power draw when our test system was idle, with our rig drawing 85W from the mains – nearly 30W more than with the RTX 3070 installed. However, at full load our system drew just 307W from the mains, which is again a great result showing solid performance per watt.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti pros and cons
Pros
- Amazing retail price
- Beats the RTX 2080 Super
- Decent 1080p ray tracing performance
Cons
- Sometimes hard to find in stock
- Struggles at 4K
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti specs
The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti specs list is:
| Stream processors / CUDA cores: | 4864 |
| RT cores: | 38 (2nd-gen) |
| Tensor cores: | 152 (3rd-gen) |
| Base clock | 1410 MHz |
| Max boost clock: | 1665 MHz |
| Memory: | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory clock: | 1750 MHz (14 GHz effective) |
| Memory bandwidth: | 448 GB/sec |
| Memory interface: | 256-bit |
| Card interface: | 16x PCIe 4 |
| Power connectors: | 1 x 12-pin / 1 x 8-pin |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti price
The price of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is $430, making it fantastic value for the performance on offer, although partner cards cost a little more than the Founders Edition.
Price: Expect to pay $430 (£430)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti review conclusion
If you can find it in stock, the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a superb mid-range gaming GPU, largely beating the RTX 2080 Super, which cost the best part of a grand earlier this year. It doesn’t just enable you to turn on ray tracing in games, but you can even enable ray tracing at well above 60fps at 1,920 x 1,080, and still get a smooth frame rate at 2,560 x 1,440 with DLSS enabled.
Meanwhile, its rasterized gaming results are superb at 2,560 x 1,440, and you can even squeeze some 4K gaming out of this card in less demanding titles. Partner cards cost a bit more money than the Founders Edition card we tested, which is often out of stock, but if you can find this GPU for under $430 / £430 then it’s a brilliant buy for the money. If you’re looking for a cheaper GPU, or maybe a graphics card with a bit more gaming power, check out our best graphics card guide.