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As part of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021, Nvidia presented the Geforce RTX 3060 last Tuesday. The special thing about the so far smallest graphics card from the line-up of the RTX-3000 series based on the ampere architecture is the very large video memory of 12.0 GB.
Video storage raises questions: In the comments below our article, many of you understandably asked what the point is to equip the RTX 3060 with larger graphics memory than the RTX 3080. Nvidia answered questions during a Q&A session.
Hardware guide on GameStar Plus: Have you spent all your money on an RTX 3080 or even an RTX 3090 and now it’s time to save electricity? Find out more in our plus guide:
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RTX 3000: reduce volume and power consumption
RTX 3060 with 12.0 GByte VRAM – why?
The answer to this is relatively simple: A 192-bit wide memory interface was chosen, which in turn only allows 6.0 and 12.0 GB of video memory. In order to guarantee the best balance between performance and price, the decision was made in favor of 12.0 Gbyte GDDR6-VRAM.
In addition, it is not just about the size of the graphics memory. The RTX 3080 is only equipped with 10.0 GB of VRAM, but with fast GDDR6X modules (19.0 Gbps, effectively 19.0 GHz) with a 320-bit connection. This results in a memory bandwidth of 760 GB / s.
The RTX 3060, in turn, comes with GDDR6 modules (15.0 Gbps, effectively 15.0 GHz) and the above-mentioned 192-bit interface at 360 GB / s. The data transfer on the RTX 3080 takes place more than twice as fast due to the memory connection alone. In addition, the GPU is much faster anyway and can therefore process the data faster, or rather bring the transfer rate to the road better.
CES 2021: You can find out what else there is to see at the fair besides the RTX 3060 in our collective article with further links:
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All hardware highlights every day
RTX 3060 versus RX 6700 (XT)?
Nvidia has not revealed whether possible new graphics cards from AMD are a reason for the large video memory of the RTX 3060. Nevertheless, the expected 12.0 GB GDDR6 of the upcoming, new Radeon middle class, which will very likely be named RX 6700 and RX 6700 XT, played a role in the decision.
GameStar-Talk: It is not every day that Nvidia attacks – as we suspect – through the size of the video memory. But AMD has clearly caught up with Big Navi and is now at eye level with its arch rival:
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AMD versus Nvidia – That’s how strong the Radeon RX 6800 XT is compared to the RTX 3080