The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 is a mainstream Ampere architecture consumer GPU, launched in February 2021. Unusually, it features 12GB of VRAM, more than the higher-tier RTX 3060 Ti's 8GB, providing additional headroom for future games.
The RTX 3060 uses the GA106 die with 12GB of GDDR6 memory providing 360 GB/s bandwidth. It includes 3,584 CUDA cores, 112 third-generation Tensor Cores, and 28 second-generation RT cores. TDP is 170W.
The 12GB memory capacity provides more headroom than expected for a mainstream card, future-proofing against increasing VRAM requirements in modern games. This makes the RTX 3060 attractive even as games become more demanding.
The RTX 3060 targets 1080p high-refresh gaming and entry-level 1440p gaming. While the GA106 die provides less compute resources than higher-tier models, the memory capacity ensures it won't be immediately limited by VRAM in newer titles.