This article we will see the review of the Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti OC. A video card that has managed to surprise us on several occasions
Asus has always accustomed us to respectable custom VGAs , but with this RTX 3060 Ti it really did a great job of engineering . The board in question, as you will discover during the review, could really agree with a considerable crowd of users. Imagine now being able to have a video card that is as strong as the flagship of the previous series, which costs half, which consumes about 20% less and which is freezing even under stress. This, and more, is what the TUF version offered by the Taipei-based giant offers .
Now stop imagining why all of this is reality. We don’t want to go around it too much, the 3060 Ti signed Asus TUF surprised us, and it did it in a positive way . Let’s find out why!
Design and specifications | Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti review
Before we start talking about the design choices, let’s take a look at the technical specifications of this Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti.
- Architecture: NVIDIA Ampere
- Memory: 8GB GDDR6
- Memory bus: 14 Gbps on 256-bit bus
- Bandwidth: 448 GB / s
- PCI Express: v4.0
- Engine Clock;
- OC Mode – 1785 MHz (Boost Clock)
- Gaming Mode – 1755 MHz (Boost Clock)
- CUDA Core : 4864
- TMUs / ROPs : 152/80
- Tensor / RT Core : 152/38
- Video outputs : HDMI 2.1 (x2) – DisplayPort 1.4a (x3)
- Dimensions: 30.1 x 14.3 x 5.4cm
With Nvidia Ampere we are facing the most important generational leap ever made by the green team. He proved it with the flagship RTX 3090, and in the mid-to-high range, this RTX 3060 brings you the performance banner high. With the previous generation Nvidia had managed to do a great job with the 20 series, introducing the RTX architecture for the first time, and with very good performance. We think that today this new mid-range architecture is able to reach, and in some cases exceed, the performance of its direct “opponent”, the 2080 Super , with lower list prices . A sign of how Nvidia always seeks the best in terms of engineering.
This card boasts the same chip as its older sister RTX 3070, we are talking about the GA104 that Nvidia has slightly “neutered” in terms of CUDA Core, to differentiate the two. We therefore find 4864 CUDA core as you will have read from the specifications, with a “native” TDP indicated by Nvidia for 200W. We have in this sheet the 8nm production process of Samsung, with an advanced Die produced at 392 mm2 . A truly complete and certainly long-lasting chip, thanks to your 17.4 billion transistors.
As you may have seen from the dimensions just above, we are faced with a fairly generous card , also thanks to the three fans made available by the card for cooling. Which boasts a respectable sector, and precisely with regard to the fans, a peculiarity (which we had already seen and appreciated in the past) is that relating to the rotation of the blades. Asus has decided to spin one of the three fans (the central one) in the opposite direction to the other two . This is a motion, which helps to convey the flow of air effectively, ensuring homogeneous air recirculation throughout the architecture, this option eliminates turbulence and excessive noise. A system that recalls along the lines of what Nvidia has patented for its Founders, the “flow through” design, with the air flowing along the PCB.
Connections are also not lacking, in fact we find 2 HD 2.1 outputs and three DisplayPort 1.4a . The design of the board is very sober and there are no LEDs whatsoever except a small plate at the height of the power connector. Here too there is a small clarification to make; contrary to the choice made by Nvidia with its Founder Edition we find an 8 Pin connector and not a 12 Pin. Thanks to this choice we would also be facilitated in cable management. In fact, only one cable will be enough to power our VGA. To want to be extremely picky, it all has repercussions not only on the aesthetic factor, but also on the dissipation of the same. Heat that can be dissipated and, better expelled, from your case.
Furthermore, we also find a subtle difference between the fans themselves, as anticipated at the opening. In fact, the two lateral ones (left and right) boast a CFM value (product air flow) equal to 44.16 CFM, unlike the central fan, equal to 46.03 CFM , all despite all spinning at a maximum speed of 3600 RPM. The last difference between the three lies in the logo, present on them. In fact, instead of finding the TUF logo (as happens for the side ones) we find the Asus writing in the central fan.
Returning to the design of the board, the colors chosen are the classics of the TUF series. In fact, we find a great preponderance of gunmetal blacks and gray that give authority and style to the Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti.
What else does Asus add compared to the Founders Edition?
While the 3060 Ti itself is a great card in the Founders Edition, we can’t help but appreciate the build quality, and the improvements that Asus has applied to this video card. The experience of the Asus engineers can be seen, and above all it is appreciated in the use of the same. Those looking for the best cannot fail to consider such an architecture .
Starting from the cooling system, which is profoundly different in terms of quality compared to the FE which in this TUF version of the 3060 Ti shows a back plate made entirely of metal . A rear opening structure, which allows greater air flow and improves the cooling of the heat pipes . Also on the back plate there is a small switch that will allow us to make a switch between the two bios made available by Asus . A function that was once intended only for top-of-the-range models. The cooling system allows this GPU to flex its muscles in all conditions, without worrying about temperatures.Asus used proprietary Max Contact technology to ensure maniacal assembly . And to polish the heatsink surface and improve smoothness. All in favor of a better contact, with huge benefits on thermal transfer.
The components chosen for this VGA only really excellent quality, exactly in pure Asus style. In fact, we find double ball bearings, capacitors and MOSFETs of the highest quality , which marry perfectly with the Auto-Extreme manufacturing process, for a PCB with incredible signal cleanliness . In short, we can only congratulate Asus for the choices of materials, engineering and design. But now it’s time to start talking about field tests!
Here is our test setup | Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti review
In order to understand how this video card runs in the gaming field, we have worked to test it on various resolution formats. We tested the card in FHD, 2K and 4K.
For our tests we used the following configuration:
- Processor : Intel i5 10600K
- Card Mother : MSI Gaming Z490 Plus
- RAM : Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro SL 16GB 3600MHz
- Storage : Corsair MP600 CORE M.2 2TB
- Power supply : Enermax Triathlor ECO 650W
- Heatsink : Noctua NH-D15 chromax.Black
- Display : ACER Predator XB273K
- Operating System : Windows 10 64-bit
All video card results are obtained from the same system with exactly the same configuration. All games are set to their highest quality settings, unless otherwise noted. We would like to specify that the performances may vary according to the type of configuration , we therefore send you to take these data inherent to our own system, and not as absolute values.
Every single game is tested at these screen resolutions:
- 1920 × 1080: Most common widescreen resolution for larger displays (22 “- 26”).
- 2560 × 1440: 2K resolution for commonly available displays (27 “-32”).
- 3840×2160: 4K Ultra HD resolution, available on the latest high-end monitors.
Performance at stake | Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti review
Starting from the tests we carried out at the resolution of 1080p, we observe a truly excellent behavior of the 3060 Ti from Asus . We get a great result of 182 FPS on Forza Horizon 4 , around 146 FPS with Shadow Of The Tomb Raider , and a whopping 228 FPS with Doom Eternal , without ever falling into GPU overheating, and with the fans never touching significant noise levels. . With Assassin’s Creed Valhalla instead we got 70 FPS and, with the Flight Simulator title we got about 55 FPS .
But let’s move on to the tests performed at 1440p instead . Where even in this scenario TUF Gaming defended itself very well, with performances that compared to a 2080 Super are truly incredible. We get 153 FPS on Forza Horizon 4, around 99 FPS with Shadow Of The Tomb Raider , and 183 FPS with Doom Eternal . Moving to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla instead we got 55 FPS while with the Flight Simulator title we score 44 FPS . Performance drops with 4K resolution but always keeping the general level high. With Doom Eternal we got 97 FPS , which drops to about24 FPS instead the performance on Flight Simulator . With Assassin’s Creed Valhalla we got 40 FPS , with Shadow Of The Tomb Raider 53 FPS , while finally, with Forza Horizon 4 we got 105 FPS .
We didn’t stop there, as we also ran the built-in benchmarks found in the Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, Battlefield V, and, Control titles . At the resolution of 1080p, 1440p and lastly in 4K. With RTX and DLSS active , here is the data summarized in this slide.
Always freezing temperatures | Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti review
As a demonstration of the great thermal management carried out by Asus , the data collected on temperatures highlighted the excellent management of the TUF in all conditions. The perception is that of an always reactive card, able to support any type of application, without hesitation, and without failing. The excellent dissipative management means that the GPU itself lasts longer over time , and above all allows the chip to maintain high frequencies .
Speaking of data, however, the temperatures measured during daily use never exceeded 40/43 degrees . To go down to idle conditions at 38 degrees . But the surprising data is that relating to gaming, where even after long gaming sessions , we have never exceeded 60 degrees , truly an incredible result. Only during the benchmarks did we hit 65 degrees, but those conditions are relatively difficult to replicate in everyday life. Not to mention that even 65 degrees is an incredible figure. Congratulations certainly go to Asus for these great results.
The conclusions
So what to say about this Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti, we certainly consider it a much better choice than the Founders Edition , certainly (the latter) will not give you these temperatures and this structure also allows you to apply overclock profiles present in this one without problems TUF. Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti boasts in our opinion a really interesting value for money, for a silent, efficient card, excellent for work with professional software, and that does not fear resolution, and always comes out with head held high from every test.
Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 Ti is a model to consider in the medium-high range. This is a card that we would like to recommend to those looking for safe and stable performance, without spending too much on superior models . For a GPU that offers better performance than the previous generation RTX 2080 Super. But above all it is a card that should also be considered for professional applications , given the number of cores it offers. Asus has been able to exploit the best of the Ampere architecture, improving the performance compared to the FE
