Tuesday, January 5th 2021

NVIDIA Readies GeForce RTX 3060 Ultra: 12GB, ASUS TUF OC Pictured

NVIDIA is reportedly preparing a new GeForce RTX 30-series SKU positioned around the RTX 3060 Ti and the RTX 3070, as the company looks to fine-tune its lineup against the Radeon RX 6700 series. Called the GeForce RTX 3060 Ultra, the SKU is reportedly carved out from the same 8 nm "GA104" silicon as the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070; but with a different core-configuration, and 12 GB of GDDR6 memory. At this point, it is not known if the memory bus width is narrowed to 192-bit, or if the same 256-bit wide memory bus is used (with mixed memory chip density). WCCFTech posted a picture of the first custom-design RTX 3060 Ultra card, an ASUS TUF Gaming product, which it reports to be faster than the RTX 3060 Ti. The publication also reports the card's MSRP pricing to be USD $449.
Source: WCCFTech
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69 Comments on NVIDIA Readies GeForce RTX 3060 Ultra: 12GB, ASUS TUF OC Pictured

#26
renz496
as confusing as it might be nvidia does not really care about that as long as 7 people out of 10 people buy their GPU. and new talk from VCZ talking about 6700 XT will not launch until late march instead of late january like we heard before. meaning the card will not be widely available until Q2 (if AMD able to sort out their supply issue). if this is true.....9 out of 10 people probably will get nvidia GPU this time.

videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-6700-series-rumored-to-launch-by-the-end-of-march
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#27
AusWolf
We've had Ti, SUPER, and now Ultra is back in the game? Aren't these suffixes a bit too much?

Though I admit, I'd be glad if the 20-series was the last time we've seen the childish SUPER suffix.
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#28
watzupken
While the specs is not mentioned, I believe this card to be a further cut down GA104 chip that powers the RTX 3070 and 3060 Ti. I feel this is the case because I expect the memory BUS to be 192 Bit to power the 12GB of VRAM. The last time Nvidia used some bespoke memory config on their GTX 970 and it did not end well, so I don't expect them pull the same trick.

As to the increase VRAM, I feel its nice to have, but I am not sure if it will be utilized in the first place. Most games only demand between 6 to 10GB of VRAM to date when gaming at 4K. So for a card that is likely a good fit for 1440p, the extra 4GB VRAM over the existing RTX 3060 Ti may not be useful if they further cut down on the CUDA cores. And because it has more VRAM, the price may be close to the RTX 3060 Ti if not higher.
renz496as confusing as it might be nvidia does not really care about that as long as 7 people out of 10 people buy their GPU. and new talk from VCZ talking about 6700 XT will not launch until late march instead of late january like we heard before. meaning the card will not be widely available until Q2 (if AMD able to sort out their supply issue). if this is true.....9 out of 10 people probably will get nvidia GPU this time.

videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-6700-series-rumored-to-launch-by-the-end-of-march
I rather AMD be realistic and move launch dates if they cannot provide any supply. Looking at the mess of a launch with Zen 3 and Navi21, both are "launched" in Nov, but to date, trying to get your hands on either is a challenge even now. If you manage to order one from the likes of Amazon, the estimated shipping date is sometime in late Feb or Mar. So that pretty much tells you that supply to retail is not trickling, it basically stopped. At least I would say that Nvidia's RTX 30xx supply is trickling because you see drops from time to time.

Anyway, I agree that people will still buy Nvidia cards for now regardless of the naming convention. However that does not mean that I like it. I feel in face of stiff competition this generation, they are creating way too many SKUs, for example, currently we have RTX 3080, then there are rumors of 3080 Super, 3080 Ti and also 3070 Ti, all expected to use the GA102 chip that is already in very tight supply. Not sure if all these SKUs will become a reality, but its a mess. Now at the mid end, we are seeing an "Ultra" SKU is just mind boggling. They should just get rid of the "Super" naming because it sounds super cheesy.
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#29
cst1992
It's $449, definitely higher than the Ti.
It's also supposed to be faster(If it isn't I wonder what'd be the use case of adding an extra 4GB of RAM on a card that's either slower or the same speed as a 3060 Ti).
I really wonder what they'll keep the speed of this card, only 10% more than the 3060 Ti and it's already cutting into 3070 territory.
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#30
Deadshot1982
TheLostSwedeDoes this even matter if there won't be any stock?
Apart from 3090's, there's almost no stock left, even here.
Thats by design so you can buy the most expensive part. It makes no sense se for a large chip to have higher stock than smaller ones.
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#31
Hyderz
RTX 3060
RTX 3060 Ti (gpu went to the gym)
RTX 3060 Ultra (gpu went to the gym + steroids)
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#32
TheLostSwede
News Editor
Deadshot1982Thats by design so you can buy the most expensive part. It makes no sense se for a large chip to have higher stock than smaller ones.
There was plenty stock of all cards here, until recently. I guess the local resellers wised up and decided to sell them on to other countries where people have deeper pockets.
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#33
highq_ee
ZoneDymoso my friend JUST ordered a 3060ti on my recommendation.... kinda feel I need to tell them to cancel now....
don't. If it's a part like described with 192bit memory interface and with 3840 cuda cores, then it'll be far inferior to 3060ti. larger VRAM doesn't matter. It will be slower card, much slower actually. 25% less cores AND less memory bandwidth. larger memory pool won't help at all and it's especially important with cut down memory interface: you still need the speed to feed the VRAM. it's like stupid decision anyway, just to lure ppl to buy one. i bet that they made 6GB version with less cores just to show that 12GB card is faster, because without more cores it wouldn't be, haha.
There are games and scenarios, where 6GB is too low (watch dogs 1440p ultra + RT), but thats way beyond capability of the card anyway, not even because of VRAM shortage. Or maybe GA-106 yields are so bad, that they need a lower binned part right from the start.
it's like saying, we "hey! We remove electronic speed limiter and put a 200mph speedo on the dash, but yeah, engine is still 1,5L". But now its ultra-mega edition.

i understand idea of 3060ti and 3070ti, both are just bad bins from their upper product. it's just happens that some gpus do not pass full spec, but still are not completely bad, so they could disable small part of defective cores and then stick it to "bigger" brother card, so 3060ti-s are pretty much 1:1 to 3070 and 3070ti to 10GB 3080. Easy to manufacture, same coolers, same memory config and chips, VRM, same components and PCB, just slightly inferior GPU core. Just change the badge on the box (some cards don't even have product name on the card/shroud itself) and thats it. Depends on the yields, but this badly binned stock grows as more gpus are produced and it's smart and easy way to utilize those slightly faulty cores.

stupid and confusing naming. should have named just 3060, with 6GB and 12GB option, preferably with similar core count. Then peeps would decide, whether pay 50usd more per card for higher VRAM or not. It's not like the cards would actually differ anyway for manufacturers. Even amount of mem chips would be the same, just 16Gbit instead of 8Gbit ones.
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#34
Cybrshrk
DammeronWhen 3060 has more memory than 3070 and 3080...
And we already know a 3080 ti with 20gb is coming. Remember MEMORY size isn't EVERYTHING.

I've had 0 problems with 4k gaming on my 10gb 3080 but will also upgrade to the 3080 ti as soon as it's pushed out. Not because I NEED the extra ram but more that I want the extra performance but not enough to spend 50% or more for a 3090.

As long as it's around 1000 USD I'm game.

And it needs to come before Feb 22nd as my step up ends then! lol
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#35
RandAlThor
And I am here still waiting for something affordable in the 300 EUR range (about $363).
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#36
highq_ee
3060 ultra def won't be 300€ card, at least not AIB. A single double density 14Gbps 16Gbit chip costs about 15€ net. And you need 6 of them. So 90€ is just for memory chips. 6GB version (with 8Gbit chips, these are far more common too) would pretty much be half-60% of that. That's a bad side of the going 12GB route. Maybe regular 3060, esp slightly "simpler" versions of it (not those FTW3-s and RoG Strixes). But the virus and demand matters a lot, distribution is more difficult and more expensive lately.
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#37
djuice
In regards to stock of the 3000 series, in Australia, 3060 Ti, 3070 and 3090s are readily available from resellers. Yet the 3080 has been missing since late November, if stock does come, it's usually 1-3 cards from AIB and they are gone within a minute of posting. So I don't think there will be a stock issue of this new card in Australia.
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#38
THANATOS
cst1992VRAM use increases with resolution and AA.
If the person is not going to use a very high resolution(e.g. >=4K) then there is no point getting lots of RAM.
What might happen in the future when 4K gaming becomes more mainstream is that he may end up leapfrogging 12GB altogether and get a 16GB card, like I did - my 970 was 4GB and it's starting to get constrained at 1080p in newer games so I jumped directly to an 8GB 3060Ti which should set me up for a long time for 1080p and 1440p.
For now It's enough, but we don't know how long will It be enough for 1080p and 1440p. The new consoles have 16GB instead of 8GB(PS4 Pro) and 12GB(XBX) and that's a lot more than before, so I expect that the upcoming games will require more Vram than they used to.
So If he want's to keep his card for more than 2 years then 8GB Vram could be a problem at a later time even in lower resolution.
I personaly would choose a card with 12GB.
On the other hand, in his case we are talking about RTX 3060 12GB and RTX 3060Ti 8GB, where Ti will be 20-25% faster, so It's better to keep the faster card.
Popperr2I think you're mistaken, the 3060 Ultra is expected to be faster than the ti.
The one who is mistaken is actually you.
12GB Vram means 192bit gddr6 bus.
3060Ti has 256bit and 8GB Gddr6 Vram and from that we know which one is faster.
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#39
highq_ee
up until devs start to utilize SFS aka Sampler Feedback Streaming, which is part of DX12 ultimate standard (so XBOX S/X, CGN2, turing/ampere). The idea is to pull texture data much more efficiently and not always in large chunks. the current issue is lots of textures are pulled full size, even for actual small size objects and it wastes resources. Properly utilized SFS means VRAM requirement reduction by upto 2,5-3 times. Effectively, your 6-8GB ampere/turing card has equivalent of 16-24GB VRAM of pascal/maxwell.
ofc, it has to be developed, but it's very much GoTo for new gen XBOX titles and it defintely applies to PC as well, as we have hardware that supports it.

the issue with larger VRAM pool is you need to feed it and it's needs to be both fast and wide to be effective. There is no point of putting muchos gigabytes to slow card with slow interface, it'll be just starved.
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#40
N3M3515
djuiceWhat's the point of this? Isn't the 3060Ti just 10% slower than the 3070, now with the Ultra version its only 5% slower?
This. WTF is nvidia smoking?
THANATOSThe one who is mistaken is actually you.
12GB Vram means 192bit gddr6 bus.
3060Ti has 256bit and 8GB Gddr6 Vram and from that we know which one is faster.
So the ultra will be slower but $50 more expensive?
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#41
Gameslove
Looks very good, this card can be the best price/performance, but going to be huge The BUT - this means: availability, availability, availability.... and price to be high over 449.00$ (449.00 EUR)?
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#42
ymbaja
RandAlThorAnd I am here still waiting for something affordable in the 300 EUR range (about $363).
Newegg has some rx580 ‘s available ;)


(I joke so I don’t cry)
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#43
highq_ee
449 is AIB price, not nvidia MSRP. MSRP prices were unreal targets anyway for manufacturers. it doesn't work that way. how can be same "level" manufactured card be 1/3 cheaper than year before, esp considering risen distribution costs. it's not like 3000 series cards/PCB/components/cooling are way less demanding than 2000 series and covid doesn't help either.

so more likely, 3060U will be 375-450 actual price (cheaper versions high 300s, better ones like TUF at 450 and top ends like rog strix even more), 3060ti will be somewhere 550-650 depends on the board, 3070 650-800. 3080 most probably into 4 figures. regular 3060 will be somewhere 300-375. that's my "regular" pricing, the ones you actually could buy from regular retail/e-tailer. There will be deals lower, but these well be into "unobtanium" for casuals.
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#44
ExV6k
GeorgeManEventually there will be, for God's sake! Not everyone is rushing into these, they will be nvidias line-up for next few years. :)
Reading about mixed memory densities made me wonder if any other GPU of the past was launched with such memory, hmmm...
I can think of a few cards. The GTX 660 had 2 GB of VRAM on a 192 bit bus thanks to the use of mixed size memory chips. Same for the GTX 550 Ti, which had 1 GB of VRAM on a 192 bit bus.
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#45
Androne
One day NVIDIA is gonna sell the cards without the cooling fans.
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#46
InVasMani
It's expected to launch at USD $449 retail pricing tomorrow sell out immediately and not be restocked for a year.
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#47
Max(IT)
djuiceWhat's the point of this? Isn't the 3060Ti just 10% slower than the 3070, now with the Ultra version its only 5% slower?
Yep. Nvidia is filling price gaps even if there is little performance gap in between (like for 3080 Super vs 3090). This is when marketing and not engineering is dictating policies.
GamesloveLooks very good, this card can be the best price/performance, but going to be huge The BUT - this means: availability, availability, availability.... and price to be high over 449.00$ (449.00 EUR)?
Unfortunately nowadays $449 would mean 600€... it is crazy to buy hardware in EU
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#48
owen10578
12GB will probably mean a 192-bit memory bus. Unlikely mixed memory chips is going to ever be used again considering its using GDDR6.
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#49
cst1992
Max(IT)Yep. Nvidia is filling price gaps even if there is little performance gap in between
They could also just use a higher binned GA104 with a higher core clock, or have 4 instead of 5 SMs out of 24 disabled on the 3060 Ultra.
It's weird, they even have 1 out of 24 SMs disabled on the RTX 3070, which should have the full GA104 chip available to it.
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#50
medi01
TheLostSwedeDoes this even matter if there won't be any stock?
Why people keep complaining about stock is beyond me.
Where are you from?

Shit from both GPU manufacturers is in stock, although, nowhere at promised prices:

Stinky Green:
3060Ti - mkay, this one is MIA
3070 - 729€+ (MSRP: $499)
3080 - mkay, this one is MIA
3090 - 1779€+ (MSRP: $1499)

Shameless Red:
6800 - 839€ (MSRP: $579)
6800XT - 949€ (MSRP: $650) oh, wait, MIA now
6900XT - 1279€ (MSRP: $999)

Where: mindfactory de
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