![NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB Review (1) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB Review (1)](https://i0.wp.com/www.techpowerup.com/review/nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-12-gb/images/small@1x.png)
by
W1zzard,
on ,
in Graphics Cards.
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Introduction
We have with us the "new" NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB. This is for all intents and purposes a new GPU model released by the green team just a few weeks ago, at the start of December 2021. The GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB is based on the 12 nm Turing graphics architecture that debuted way back in 2018. This isn't just a memory capacity bump for the RTX 2060 that originally shipped with 6 GB, but also a cross between the original RTX 2060 and newer RTX 2060 SUPER, in that it has the GPU core configuration of the latter, but with the memory bus width of the former.
The RTX 2060 12 GB is based on the same 12 nm TU106 silicon as the original. This GPU chip physically has 2,304 CUDA cores and a 256-bit wide GDDR6 memory bus, which are maxed out on the RTX 2070. The original RTX 2060 was carved out by enabling just 1,920 CUDA cores and reducing the memory bus width to 192-bit. Faced with competition from AMD's RX 5700, NVIDIA refreshed its product-stack with the RTX 2060 SUPER, which had 2,176 CUDA cores and a 256-bit wide memory bus. The new RTX 2060 12 GB in this review has 2,176 CUDA cores, which is the same as the RTX 2060 SUPER, but with a 192-bit wide memory bus that now holds double the memory amount, at 12 GB.
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Having the same CUDA core count as the RTX 2060 SUPER means the RTX 2060 12 GB has more RT cores (34 vs. 30) and Tensor cores (272 vs. 240) than the original RTX 2060. Interestingly, the card's typical board power is higher, at 185 W, as opposed to 175 W with the RTX 2060 SUPER. This probably has to do with the double-density memory chips, or NVIDIA simply giving it more boosting headroom. The maximum boost frequency is set at 1650 MHz, which is the same as the RTX 2060 SUPER.
Why NVIDIA had to resort to this move is anyone's guess. AMD's Radeon RX 6600 XT and RX 6600 offer nice levels of performance compared to the current-gen RTX 3060 Ampere, and at least on the desktop segment, NVIDIA didn't further cut down its 8 nm GA106 silicon. The company probably had some 12 nm inventory to go around, and 16 Gbit 14 Gbps GDDR6 memory chips are probably priced similarly to what 8 Gbit chips cost back in 2018. The PCB complexity is kept to a minimum with just six memory chips across the 192-bit bus, while enabling a handful more CUDA cores costs practically nothing for NVIDIA.
Also, it may seem like a 3-year old graphics architecture, but Turing is still contemporary. It meets the full DirectX 12 Ultimate feature-set, including real-time ray tracing. We've been testing the RTX 2060 and RTX 2060 SUPER through all these years and find them to be formidable at 1080p with ray tracing, or even 1440p with fairly high settings, on today's games.
NVIDIA has no reference-design or Founders Edition card for the GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB. The card was stealthily launched on December 8, 2021 through its board partners. We have with us a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB graphics card we bought in retail. The card sticks to NVIDIA-reference clock speeds and has a typical board power of 185 W, which lets Zotac make do with a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, a configuration rated for 225 W. ZOTAC's card features a compact board design with a simple twin-fan cooling solution. Pricing of the card varies. I bought mine in retail for €599 including 19% VAT, so that converts to roughly $599.
Price | Cores | ROPs | Core Clock | Boost Clock | Memory Clock | GPU | Transistors | Memory | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GTX 1650 Super | $400 | 1280 | 32 | 1530 MHz | 1725 MHz | 1500 MHz | TU116 | 6600M | 4 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit |
GTX 1660 | $480 | 1408 | 48 | 1530 MHz | 1785 MHz | 2000 MHz | TU116 | 6600M | 6 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit |
RX Vega 56 | $800 | 3584 | 64 | 1156 MHz | 1471 MHz | 800 MHz | Vega 10 | 12500M | 8 GB, HBM2, 2048-bit |
GTX 1660 Super | $550 | 1408 | 48 | 1530 MHz | 1785 MHz | 1750 MHz | TU116 | 6600M | 6 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit |
GTX 1660 Ti | $500 | 1536 | 48 | 1500 MHz | 1770 MHz | 1500 MHz | TU116 | 6600M | 6 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit |
RX 5600 XT | $700 | 2304 | 64 | 1375 MHz | 1560 MHz | 1500 MHz | Navi 10 | 10300M | 6 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit |
RTX 2060 | $570 | 1920 | 48 | 1365 MHz | 1680 MHz | 1750 MHz | TU106 | 10800M | 6 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit |
RTX 2060 12 GB | $600 | 2176 | 48 | 1470 MHz | 1650 MHz | 1750 MHz | TU106 | 10800M | 12 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit |
RX 5700 | $950 | 2304 | 64 | 1465 MHz | 1625 MHz | 1750 MHz | Navi 10 | 10300M | 8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit |
RTX 2060 Super | $800 | 2176 | 64 | 1470 MHz | 1650 MHz | 1750 MHz | TU106 | 10800M | 8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit |
RX Vega 64 | $850 | 4096 | 64 | 1247 MHz | 1546 MHz | 953 MHz | Vega 10 | 12500M | 8 GB, HBM2, 2048-bit |
RX 5700 XT | $1000 | 2560 | 64 | 1605 MHz | 1755 MHz | 1750 MHz | Navi 10 | 10300M | 8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit |
RTX 2070 | $750 | 2304 | 64 | 1410 MHz | 1620 MHz | 1750 MHz | TU106 | 10800M | 8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit |
RX 6600 | $570 | 1792 | 64 | 2044 MHz | 2491 MHz | 1750 MHz | Navi 23 | 11060M | 8 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit |
RTX 3060 | $750 | 3584 | 48 | 1320 MHz | 1777 MHz | 1875 MHz | GA106 | 13250M | 12 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit |
RTX 2070 Super | $800 | 2560 | 64 | 1605 MHz | 1770 MHz | 1750 MHz | TU104 | 13600M | 8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit |
Radeon VII | $800 | 3840 | 64 | 1400 MHz | 1800 MHz | 1000 MHz | Vega 20 | 13230M | 16 GB, HBM2, 4096-bit |
RX 6600 XT | $600 | 2048 | 64 | 2359 MHz | 2589 MHz | 2000 MHz | Navi 23 | 11060M | 8 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit |
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