Minor gains over previous (RTX 2060) generation
Pricey for its performance class
With the launch of its new "Ampere" GPU architecture, Nvidia has pushed a torrent of great new graphics card releases in recent months, from a rare five-star entry (the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition, last October) to the more recent, also stellar GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition. Cards like those bring the new GeForce RTX 3060 (tested here in the $329.99 EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC Black Gaming 12G) into some pretty tough company.
Our test card, focused squarely on the needs of gamers playing at either 1080p or 1440p, is a better successor to the GeForce RTX 2060 Founders Edition. It does the job, but it doesn't wow us as much as the rest of the Ampere line. For PC builders obsessed with keeping their desktops compact, the compact profile of EVGA's card is its primary selling point. Most other shoppers will be better served in gaming with a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or even an RTX 2060 (on discount, if you can find one) instead. Sure, 2020 was a crazy year, but with the Patriots failing to make the Super Bowl and Nvidia releasing its first ho-hum RTX 30 Series card, could this be a harbinger of an even