The Nvidia RTX 3060 is one of the most popular GPUs Team Green is selling this generation. According to the Steam Hardware and Software Survey conducted in June 2022, the laptop variant of this GPU is the most popular RTX 30 series GPU, with a market share of 2.99%. The GPU is enjoying a market share growth of +0.31%. The desktop variant is a couple of positions behind, with a market share of 2.62%. The desktop variant is also experiencing a market share growth of +0.26%. These GPUs are the fastest in terms of capturing market share. We recently reported that modders soldered an RTX 3060 Mobile GPU onto a PCB to repurpose it as a desktop graphics card. This raises the question: is the much-hyped RTX 3060 good for gaming is it just a bluff?
The RTX 3060: 1080p Gaming at an Affordable Price
With falling prices, the RTX 3060 now starts at $410. Some cheap mini ITX-optimized cards can be found for as low as US$ 390. With 12 GB of VRAM, these cards are the best bet for the majority of the casual, budget, and esports gaming crowd. Part of this decision is also pushed by the stupid pricing of the RTX 3050 8 GB card.
However, the value proposition falls apart when you look at the competition. The RX 6600 is the direct competitor to the RTX 3060. You can easily find this card for less than $300 on the market. But, it is worth noting that the RX 6600 is about 5-10% slower than the RTX 3060 in modern-day AAA games. But, the 100-150$ price difference is enough to justify the performance gap.
The significantly more powerful Radeon RX 6600 XT can be easily found for around $350. This card beats the RTX 3060 consistently in every title and is meant to be a competitor to the RTX 3060 Ti. At almost $60 cheaper than the 12GB RTX 3060 card, the RX 6600 XT is the most sensible choice as it is a superior card.
AMD cards have come down to MSRP much faster than Nvidia cards. The current market situation, thus, hugely prefers Team Red’s cards. This makes it extremely difficult for us to recommend an RTX 3060 to gamers while they can get a better card and save some money in the process. This extra budget can be put behind a better CPU or more memory, which might result in a more balanced system.