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Choosing between 3060 cards.

rainedrained Posts: 27
in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

I have a budget of between $500-700 CAD. I'm looking for a video card that will play nice with DAZ and other 3D programs should I decide to take up ZBRUSH or Blender at some point later. From what I understand, my best bet according to my research is a 3060 12 GB card. The only problem is there are A LOT of 3060 12 GB cards listed on memoryexpress in that price range and I have no idea what differences I should care about other than making sure it's a 12 GB card.

Any advice?

My old card died in the height of the GPU shortage so I rebuilt my machine but all I could get was a GT 1030 which is barely good enough for Photoshop, so I haven't bothered reinstalling DAZ since the upgrade. Now that prices and availability are better I'd like to get something better but I have no idea what I'm looking for. For reference, this is the rest of what's in my box at the moment:

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/RxtFPV

Comments

  • AgitatedRiotAgitatedRiot Posts: 4,220
    edited July 2022

    Straight from the manufacturer. 553.23 CAD If you can afford it go to 32 GBs of ram.

    EVGA - Products - EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC GAMING, 12G-P5-3657-KR, 12GB GDDR6, Dual-Fan, Metal Backplate - 12G-P5-3657-KR

    Post edited by AgitatedRiot on
  • rainedrained Posts: 27

    Sorry, I'm confused. Isn't that a 12 GB card you linked? Unless I'm not thinking of the right thing as ram? Also, that site is in USD and converted it's actually cheaper to buy that one from a local shop if they can get it in stock than to buy from the manufacturer if we're talking CAD.

     

    Also, that doesn't tell me the answer to my question of what is the difference between 3060 cards that have the same memory (i.e. 12 gb) between different manufacturers that I should care about? Like, if I search a Canadian vendor like memory express:

    https://www.memoryexpress.com/Category/VideoCards?FilterID=62a59415-2c7a-0b28-fb46-3578c8b98c99&InventoryType=InStock&Sort=Price

    There are 12 possible cards here ranging from 500-600 but I have no idea what if anything is worth paying more for aside from VRAM.

    Any advice?

  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 9,420
    edited July 2022

    As long as the card is a RTX 3060 12GB, the only things that should be considered are the manufacturer and number of fans, otherwise choose the cheapest.

    I went with Asus which I consider a good quality manufacturer and chose the dual-fan version as it is considerably shorter than the three-fan versions.

    Edit: The RAM is memory that's installed to your motherboard. The memory on the GPU is called VRAM

    Post edited by PerttiA on
  • prixatprixat Posts: 1,585
    edited July 2022

    The extra is for the manufacturer to do the overclocking and cooling, so you don't have to.

    The more expensive cards use better components, better fans, more fans, bigger heatsinks etc. nVidia's standard frequency for this card is 1777MHz, some of the 'OC' models offer 1887MHz.

    But PerttiA is right the extra you get with a 3060 is not very much. If this was about a basic or high-end 3090 it would make more sense to pay extra for a better 3090.

    I went for a basic, dual fan EVGA 3060 Black (I say that as if I had a choice at the time laugh) and with just a couple of extra case fans and some tweaks in BIOS and Fan and Power curves I render at 2050MHz.

    Post edited by prixat on
  • AgitatedRiotAgitatedRiot Posts: 4,220

    prixat said:

    The extra is for the manufacturer to do the overclocking and cooling, so you don't have to.

    The more expensive cards use better components, better fans, more fans, bigger heatsinks etc. nVidia's standard frequency for this card is 1777MHz, some of the 'OC' models offer 1887MHz.

    But PerttiA is right the extra you get with a 3060 is not very much. If this was about a basic or high-end 3090 it would make more sense to pay extra for a better 3090.

    I went for a basic, dual fan EVGA 3060 Black (I say that as if I had a choice at the time laugh) and with just a couple of extra case fans and some tweaks in BIOS and Fan and Power curves I render at 2050MHz.

    I like to buy from the manufacturer. That's how I roll. The card is sent in one box. Not in a crate or a big box full of cards. Less chance of it getting damaged by forklifts and the haul or big outlet store employees tossing them around. Thinking about pulling the plug and buying a 3090. Wonder What I Can Do With My EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC GAMING, 12G-P5-3657-KR, 1

  • SevrinSevrin Posts: 6,301

    I think you'll find that manufacturer's don't lovingly ship cards one by one as they come off the assembly line.  In most cases, that's farmed out to third-party logistics firms.  Third-party logistics firms that use forklifts.

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