The recently released RTX 3060 Ti, 3070, and 3060 target the mid-range and high-end price range, delivering excellent AAA gaming performance at 1080p and 1440p. This “sweet spot” between $300 and $500 offers the best performance per dollar, as the more expensive RTX 3080 and 3090 show diminishing returns.
But which one to choose? All three hit the sweet spot, but are made for very different players. Spending more will give you better performance, but certain cards are above your price range.
Prices and availability
Although announced at the same time as the RTX 3080 and 3090, the RTX 3070 was released a bit later than Nvidia’s flagship cards, on October 29, 2020. The RTX 3060 Ti was announced and released later, debuting on October 2. December 2020.
In line with previous generations, the 3070 and 3060 Ti launched at an MSRP of $499 and $399, respectively. However, finding any of Nvidia’s Ampere cards in stock, let alone for their MSRP, is another story. If you find one of these cards in stock, expect to pay at least $50 to $100 more. Some retailers even mark the cards higher than what is expected of board member cards. Newegg, for example, will often restock these cards as bundles, which include something like a power supply or a piece of RAM.
The RTX 3060 went on sale at the end of February with a starting price of $329. However, as with other RTX cards, their price and inventory are incredibly low, with some cards selling for as much as $500.
There is no second hand market. There are listings for the RTX 3070 and 3060 Ti on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and the like, but they’re almost exclusively from scammers or used sellers willing to charge exorbitant prices. Expect to pay about double the MSRP if you’re buying on the used market (sometimes more). The latest RTX 3060, for example, is trading for between $800 and $1,200 on eBay as of March 2021.
Specs: What about the 12 GB VRAM of the RTX 3060?
Between the 3070 and 3060 Ti there is a gradual drop in specs. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. However, the 3060 Ti has around 1000 fewer CUDA cores, as well as a slightly lower base and higher clock speed. The recently released RTX 3060 throws a wrench into the system with a whopping 12GB of GDDR6 memory.
| RTX 3060 | RTX 3060Ti | RTX 3070 | |
| CUDA cores | 3584 | 4864 | 5888 |
| turn up the clock | 1.78GHz | 1.67GHz | 1.73GHz |
| Memory | 12GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 |
| memory interface | 192 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit |
| TDP | 170w | 200w | 220w |
That’s 50% more memory than the 3060 Ti and 3070. In fact, the RTX 3060 has 2 GB more than the flagship RTX 3080 (although the 3060 uses GDDR6, not GDDR6X like the 3080). The 3060 also has a higher boost clock than the 3060 Ti and 3070, over 100 Mhz faster than the 3060 Ti.
The bottleneck is the 192-bit memory bus on the RTX 3060. Without getting too technical, a smaller memory interface means less data is going in and out of GPU memory every second. This means that although the 3060 has more memory than the other two cards, its total bandwidth is almost 100 GBps less.
There is little difference in power between these three cards, with the RTX 3060 consuming just 170W and the RTX 3070 consuming up to 220W. However, Nvidia recommends a different power supply for each card. You must use a 550W, 600W, or 650W power supply for the RTX 3060, 3060 Ti, or 3070.
Performance
When it comes to performance, the more expensive RTX 3070 unsurprisingly leads the way. As we saw in our RTX 3080 review, the 3000-series cards perform roughly two steps above the previous generation, putting the RTX 3070 on par with the performance of the $1,200 2080 Ti. And the benchmarks confirm it. The $500 RTX 3070 performs equal to or better than the 2080 Ti in most games at 1440p and 4K.
This puts it above the RX 5700 XT, RTX 2080 Super, and Radeon VII, ranking second behind the more expensive RTX 3080 and 3090.
For $100 less, the RTX 3060 Ti is incredibly close. in games like borderlands 3 and far away 5 at 1440p, the 3060 Ti lags behind the 3070 by about 10 frames per second (fps). The gap narrows to between three and five frames when overclocking the 3060 Ti. That puts the 3060 Ti below the RTX 2080 Ti, albeit above the 2080 Super. At 1080p the difference between the 3060 Ti and 3070 is less, and at 4K the difference is bigger.
Neither card is well equipped for 4K, most titles are below 60fps. For 1440p, the RTX 3070 is a slightly better option. However, if you’re gaming at 1080p, the difference between the 3060 Ti and 3070 is negligible in most games, so you’re better off saving $100.
The RTX 3060 is the latest card in the range, announced during Nvidia’s keynote at CES 2021. Despite a whopping 12GB of memory, the RTX 3060 is much weaker than the 3060 Ti and 3070. Benchmarks show it running slightly better than the RTX 2060 Super at standard speeds and that bumps performance up to the RTX 2070 Super when overclocked.
As mentioned, most Ampere cards perform two steps above the previous generation, which would position the RTX 3060 somewhere between the RTX 2070 and 2080. However, this is not the case. The RTX 3060 sticks to Nvidia’s previously established generational improvement, and performs just as well as the previous generation (in this case, the RTX 2070).
There is no clear winner for performance, but there is a clear loser. The RTX 3060 Ti offers the best value of the three cards, while the RTX 3070 is slightly more expensive for slightly better performance. On the other hand, the RTX 3060 offers decent performance and saves you just $70 compared to the RTX 3060 Ti. It’s hard to recommend Nvidia’s cheapest Ampere card when the next step works so much better.
Aiming for the sweet spot
Between $329 and $499, the 3060, 3060 Ti, and 3070 aim for the sweet spot between price and performance. All three cards should provide excellent performance in esports titles like Fortnite and apex Legends, and around 60fps for most new AAA games at 1080p or 1440p. The range is impressive across the board, so it’s hard to do bad decision when choosing.
However, we do have some recommendations. If you primarily game at 1440p, the RTX 3070 is the better choice. That card will deliver 60+ fps in most AAA games for many years to come, allowing you to run high to ultra settings. The RTX 3060 Ti is still a good option at 1440p, especially if you’re overclocking. However, you may need to turn down some graphics settings after a few years. Now, and for years to come, the 3060 Ti remains a good 1440p option.
At 1080p, the 3060 Ti rules. The 3070 is still a more powerful card, so it will deliver higher frames per second at 1080p. However, the benefits aren’t as noticeable or significant at 1080p, so the 3060 Ti is the better option overall.
We expected the 3060 to unseat the Ti variant as the 1080p champ, but that didn’t happen. Nvidia has delivered on its promise of 2070 performance for the price of a 2060, but it’s not nearly enough compared to the 3060 Ti and 3070. You probably won’t find any of these cards for their MSRP, so you’re better off sticking with best performing cards.
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn