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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GA104

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GA104: Review and Analysis of the Graphics Card for Gamers and Professionals

Current as of April 2025

Introduction

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GA104 is an upgraded version of the popular RTX 3060 model that maintains a balance between price and performance. Despite the release of new generations of GPUs, this card remains in demand due to its support for modern technologies and availability. In this article, we’ll delve into its architecture, gaming capabilities, professional potential, and practical usage nuances.

1. Architecture and Key Features

Ampere Architecture

The graphics card is built on the Ampere architecture (NVIDIA 2nd Gen RTX), released in 2020. The GA104 chip, manufactured using Samsung's 8nm process technology, ensures high transistor density and energy efficiency.

RT Cores and Tensor Cores

- RT Cores are responsible for ray tracing, creating realistic lighting and shadows.

- Tensor Cores accelerate the operation of artificial intelligence algorithms, including DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling).

DLSS 3.0 and Compatibility with FidelityFX

- DLSS 3.0 boosts FPS in games by generating frames and upscaling images. For example, in Cyberpunk 2077, enabling DLSS yields a gain of up to 40-50%.

- AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) is supported via API, expanding the list of optimized games.

2. Memory: Type, Size, and Speed

GDDR6 and Bandwidth

- 12 GB GDDR6 with a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 360 GB/s.

- The memory size is adequate for rendering 3-layer scenes in Blender or working with 8K video in DaVinci Resolve.

Impact on Performance

In games with high textures (Horizon Forbidden West, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024), 12 GB helps avoid stuttering at ultra settings in 1440p. For 4K, memory may be insufficient, especially with RTX enabled.

3. Gaming Performance

Average FPS in Popular Titles (1080p / 1440p / 4K):

- Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra, RT Ultra, DLSS Balanced): 65 / 45 / 28 FPS.

- Alan Wake 2 (High, RT Medium, DLSS Quality): 70 / 55 / 35 FPS.

- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare V (Ultra, DLSS Performance): 110 / 85 / 60 FPS.

Ray Tracing

Activating RTX reduces FPS by 30-40%, but DLSS 3.0 compensates for the loss. For instance, in Control with RTX High and DLSS, the card delivers a stable 60 FPS at 1440p.

Recommended Resolutions

- 1080p: Maximum settings in any game.

- 1440p: High settings with DLSS/FSR.

- 4K: Only for less demanding titles or medium presets.

4. Professional Tasks

Video Editing and 3D Rendering

- In Adobe Premiere Pro, rendering a 4K clip takes 25% less time compared to the RTX 2060.

- Blender (CUDA): Cycles rendering of a BMW scene takes about 7 minutes compared to about 10 minutes with the 8 GB RTX 3060.

Scientific Calculations

Support for CUDA and OpenCL makes the card suitable for machine learning (TensorFlow, PyTorch) and simulations in MATLAB.

5. Power Consumption and Heat Generation

TDP and Cooling Requirements

- TDP 170W: A power supply of at least 550W is recommended.

- Temperatures: Under load — 65-75°C (reference design).

Cooling Tips

- A case with 2-3 fans for air intake.

- For overclocking, models with 3-fan coolers (ASUS Dual OC, MSI Gaming X) are suitable.

6. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT

- Price: $320-350.

- Pros: Better performance in 4K without RTX.

- Cons: Poor performance in ray tracing and no equivalent to DLSS 3.0.

Intel Arc A770

- Price: $280-300.

- Pros: Cheaper, supports AV1 encoding.

- Cons: Unstable drivers for older games.

Conclusion: The RTX 3060 GA104 outperforms its competitors in RTX+DLSS scenarios but falls short in "raw" performance at 4K resolution.

7. Practical Tips

Power Supply

- Minimum 550W with 80+ Bronze certification.

- Recommended models: Corsair CX550M, EVGA 600 BQ.

Compatibility

- PCIe 4.0 x16 (backward compatible with PCIe 3.0).

- Suitable for builds on Ryzen 5000/7000 or Intel 12-14 Gen.

Drivers

- Game Ready — for gamers (optimized for new releases).

- Studio Driver — for work in Adobe and Autodesk.

8. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Support for DLSS 3.0 and RTX.

- 12 GB of memory for demanding tasks.

- Low noise levels in models with improved cooling.

Cons:

- Limited performance in 4K.

- Competitors offer better price-to-"base" performance ratios.

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the RTX 3060 GA104 Suitable For?

This graphics card is an ideal choice for:

- Gamers playing at 1080p/1440p with maximum settings and RTX.

- Professionals needing CUDA for editing or 3D modeling.

- Enthusiasts with a budget of $300-350 who appreciate NVIDIA’s technologies.

As of 2025, the RTX 3060 GA104 remains relevant due to its availability and optimizations in drivers. However, if your priority is 4K performance without compromises, it is worth considering more powerful models like the RTX 4070 or RX 7700 XT.

Prices quoted are for new devices as of April 2025. Check with retailers for current pricing.

Basic

Label Name

NVIDIA

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

September 2021

Model Name

GeForce RTX 3060 GA104

Generation

GeForce 30

Base Clock

1320MHz

Boost Clock

1777MHz

Bus Interface

PCIe 4.0 x16

Transistors

17,400 million

RT Cores

Tensor Cores

Tensor Cores are specialized processing units designed specifically for deep learning, providing higher training and inference performance compared to FP32 training. They enable rapid computations in areas such as computer vision, natural language processing, speech recognition, text-to-speech conversion, and personalized recommendations. The two most notable applications of Tensor Cores are DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and AI Denoiser for noise reduction.

112

TMUs

Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) serve as components of the GPU, which are capable of rotating, scaling, and distorting binary images, and then placing them as textures onto any plane of a given 3D model. This process is called texture mapping.

112

Foundry

Samsung

Process Size

8 nm

Architecture

Ampere

Memory Specifications

Memory Size

12GB

Memory Type

GDDR6

Memory Bus

The memory bus width refers to the number of bits of data that the video memory can transfer within a single clock cycle. The larger the bus width, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted instantaneously, making it one of the crucial parameters of video memory. The memory bandwidth is calculated as: Memory Bandwidth = Memory Frequency x Memory Bus Width / 8. Therefore, when the memory frequencies are similar, the memory bus width will determine the size of the memory bandwidth.

192bit

Memory Clock

1875MHz

Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate between the graphics chip and the video memory. It is measured in bytes per second, and the formula to calculate it is: memory bandwidth = working frequency × memory bus width / 8 bits.

360.0 GB/s

Theoretical Performance

Pixel Rate

Pixel fill rate refers to the number of pixels a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render per second, measured in MPixels/s (million pixels per second) or GPixels/s (billion pixels per second). It is the most commonly used metric to evaluate the pixel processing performance of a graphics card.

85.30 GPixel/s

Texture Rate

Texture fill rate refers to the number of texture map elements (texels) that a GPU can map to pixels in a single second.

199.0 GTexel/s

FP16 (half)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy.

12.74 TFLOPS

FP64 (double)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy, while single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

199.0 GFLOPS

FP32 (float)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

12.485 TFLOPS

Miscellaneous

SM Count

Multiple Streaming Processors (SPs), along with other resources, form a Streaming Multiprocessor (SM), which is also referred to as a GPU's major core. These additional resources include components such as warp schedulers, registers, and shared memory. The SM can be considered the heart of the GPU, similar to a CPU core, with registers and shared memory being scarce resources within the SM.

Shading Units

The most fundamental processing unit is the Streaming Processor (SP), where specific instructions and tasks are executed. GPUs perform parallel computing, which means multiple SPs work simultaneously to process tasks.

3584

L1 Cache

128 KB (per SM)

L2 Cache

3MB

TDP

170W

Vulkan Version

Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API by Khronos Group, offering high performance and low CPU overhead. It lets developers control the GPU directly, reduces rendering overhead, and supports multi-threading and multi-core processors.

1.3

OpenCL Version

3.0

OpenGL

4.6

DirectX

12 Ultimate (12_2)

CUDA

8.6

Power Connectors

1x 12-pin

Shader Model

6.6

ROPs

The Raster Operations Pipeline (ROPs) is primarily responsible for handling lighting and reflection calculations in games, as well as managing effects like anti-aliasing (AA), high resolution, smoke, and fire. The more demanding the anti-aliasing and lighting effects in a game, the higher the performance requirements for the ROPs; otherwise, it may result in a sharp drop in frame rate.

Suggested PSU

450W

Benchmarks

FP32 (float)

Score

12.485 TFLOPS

3DMark Time Spy

Score

8719

Compared to Other GPU

FP32 (float) / TFLOPS

GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB GA104

12.995 +4.1%

GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile

12.642 +1.3%

GeForce RTX 3060 GA104

12.485

RTX A3000 Mobile 12 GB

12.036 -3.6%

Radeon 890M

11.642 -6.8%

3DMark Time Spy

GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

14965 +71.6%

GeForce RTX 4060

10778 +23.6%

GeForce RTX 3060 GA104

8719

GeForce RTX 2070 Max Q Refresh

6879 -21.1%

Radeon Pro W5500

4802 -44.9%