Is the RTX 3060 worth buying this Holiday Sale?

The RTX 3060 is the best-selling Ampere-based RTX 30 series GPU. This graphics card is the successor to the RTX 2060 and the GTX 1060, GPUs that topped the Steam Hardware Survey for years.

Thus, it is no surprise that it is currently the sixth-most popular graphics card, according to recently published data. Its laptop equivalent has ranked even higher, occupying the fourth spot in the latest hardware survey results.

Therefore, many gamers want to get their hands on the RTX 3060, both in the desktop and laptop frontiers. However, gamers should evaluate a few more factors before finalizing their decision. Following the hype train is not always the best idea.

---

The RTX 3060 is a promising card but there are some trade-offs

Nvidia launched the 3060 as a performance-focused mainstream entry into the Ampere series. The card is a significant step down from the much more capable RTX 3060 Ti that is built for non-compromised 1080p gaming.

On paper, the 3060 packs the GA106 graphics processor. It is much smaller than the 392 mm² GA104 found in the 3060 Ti, measuring in at just 276 mm². Under its hood, the GA106 packs 3,584 CUDA cores, 112 Texture Mapping Units (TMUs), 48 Render Output Units (ROPs), and 12 GB of GDDR6 memory that is based on a comparatively narrower 192-bit bus.

The 12 GB VRAM on this card makes it future-proof as new games demanding more and more video memory keep launching every other year. This decision is commendable as it will allow budget gamers to stick to this GPU for quite a few years before running into insufficient video memory problems.

The budget $329 3060 can play every modern game at 1080p without hiccups. In several games, it can handle 1440p with a few compromises in visual fidelity. Some older PS4-era games can also be played in 4K, albeit the card can barely touch 30 fps in most titles.

The RTX 3060 was marketed as an RTX 2070 killer. Thus, it can be assumed that the graphics card is as powerful as the GPU found in the PlayStation 5. Since the PS5 and the Xbox Series X mark the baseline of gaming hardware requirements these days, the 3060 fills in the gap pretty well.

Most gamers can buy this card now that it has dropped in price and call it a day. However, it is worth noting that the 3060 is only enough for baseline ninth-generation gaming without hiccups and significant drops in visual fidelity.

Anyone who wants a polished gaming experience, at the highest settings or higher resolutions like QHD or UHD, should look at the more powerful options in the market.

In addition, the average of the three cheapest RTX 3060 listings on Newegg works out to be $334.97. Thus, the graphics card has almost touched its $329 MSRP mark. Buyers can also get a free copy of a video game with select purchases.

The MSI RX 6600 Mech 2x graphics card (Image via Newegg)

In comparison, AMD's Radeon RX 6650 XT, which is much faster than the 3060, has an average price of $293.33 on the website. The Radeon RX 6600, which is the direct competitor to the RTX 3060, is priced at just $239.99, almost $100 cheaper than the Team Green counterpart.

Thus, despite being a solid card, the RTX 3060's value proposition is blown off by the competition. The green camp needs to drop the prices of the RTX 3060 cards to make them a universal recommendation. At this point, gamers can consider the GPUs now that they are almost hitting the MSRP mark. However, AMD gets away with far better value-for-money products.