26 DECEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 382
NVIAINAÛA’Sendless GPU tango
continues with the GeForceRTXSuper series.
These upgraded refreshesof the RTX2060,
2070 and 2080 are Nvidia’s responseto
AMD’s excellent Radeon RX 5700 and 5700
XT (Shopper380), with theRTX2060 Super
targeting mid-range system builders that
might otherwise betempted by the RX 5700.
This Zotac model we’ve beentesting is a
beauty.It’s short enoughto fit in most
microATX and Mini-ITX cases, but still crams
in two good-sized open airfans forbetter
cooling. Mostof the casing is plastic, but has
aconvincing matt metaleffect, and there’s a
strong aluminium backplatecovering the
circuit board. Besides contributingto acleaner
look, this backplateprotects the PCB and
makes it easierto wipe awaydust.
All of this puts it in good stead nextto the
RX 5700, which is still mainlyavailable in
AMD’s reference design–one that’salot
longer than theRTX2060 Super Mini, and has
aless appealing blower-style cooler as well.
However,ify ou can make roomforit, the
Radeon GPU hasagigantic price advantage:
you can buy it directly from AMDforjust
£290, whereasZotac’s customised card is a
full £100 more expensive.
NEWTRICKS
At least hardware-wise,the RTX2060 Super is
significantly souped upover the standardRTX
- It has 8GBof GDDR6 memory insteadof
6GB, bringing it in line with the RX 5700, and
has 256 additional CUDAprocessor cores,
bringing thetotal up to 2,176. Base clock
speeds have been raised from 1,365MHzto
1,470MHz, and theRTX2060 Super also has
more RT cores –34i nstead of 30 –for
improved performance when enabling
ray-traced graphicaleffects.
VERDICT
TheRX5700ischeaperandtheRX5700XTisfaster ,but
thisisstillapowerfulandwell-designedgraphicscard
GAMING GRAPHICSCARD
The end result is
that theRTX2060 Super Mini
has aperformance advantageover
the RX 5700, but the extent will depend on
the game.Dirt: Showdown,forinstance,runs
so quickly on both cards that ourtest rig’s
CPU became the bottleneck before eitherof
the GPUs did; as such, theRTX2060 Super
Mini produced completely identical scoresof
111fps at 1,920x1,080, 111fps (again) at
2,560x1,440 and 97fps at 3,840x2,160.
Metro: Last LightRedux, which is more
GPU-dependent, allows Nvidia’s GPUto open
up alead, producing 95fps at 1080p,57fps at
1440p and 26fps at 4K. This last result might
make it look as if 4K is beyond theRTX2060
Super Mini’s capabilities, but disabling SSAA
boosts itto 51fps, which is enoughto enjoy.
The RX 5700 sits between 3fps and 7fps
behind, which isn’tahuge amount but can
make foravisible difference below 60fps.
InTombRaider,there’salsoonlyasmallgap
at4K:theRTX2060SuperMiniaveraged62fps,
the RX 5700 58fps.At lower resolutions, the
RTX2060 Super Mini is the clear winner,with
187fps at 1080p and 129fps at 1440p.The RX
5700 was quick,too, with 168fps and 113fps
respectively–we’re not convinced you could
even tell the difference at 1080p–but for
smooth 1440p,the Nvidia card has it beat.
BIGGER FISH
Both GPUs tied in theSteamVRPerformance
Test, scoring 11, but theRTX2060 Super Mini
is inarguably the more powerfulof the two.
Now thatafew more games have begun
supporting ray-tracing and DLSS, its Nvidia-
exclusivefeature set is also more attractive
than it once was, although don’t expect
ray-traced performanceto be anywhere near
as high as thatof the RTX2070 Super,RTX
2080 Super orRTX2080 Ti.
These advantages make the
£100 premiumalot easierto
stomach, unless you’re likelyto
be playing older or less
demanding games that won’t
take full advantageof the GPU’s
strength. That said, it’s stillalot of cash for
what can sometimes beasingle-digit
advantage,ast here’s also the matterof the
RX 5700’s big brother,the RX 5700 XT.
At £329 forthe re ference model, this is still
cheaper thanZotac’s GeForce GPU, and while
it lacks ray-tracing or DLSS support it does
overtake it in core performance.Tomb Raider
provides the best exampleforthis: the RX
5700 XT produced 199fps at 1080p,166fps at
1440p and 67fps at 4K, beating theRTX2060
Super Mini on all three counts.
SUPER POWERS
Consequently,it’s stuck between the superior
value of the RX 5700 and the superior
performanceof the RX 5700 XT.Int erms of a
strictly logical purchasing decision, then,
either AMD GPU could be the better option.
Yetitw ouldbeunfairto leavetheRTX2060
Super Mini outof the running entirely.It’s not
cheap,but it’s alsoacapable 1440p card, and
it’s easierto live with interms of quietness
and coolness: with coretemperatures ranging
from 28°C at idleto 69°C at load, this is a
much better-ventilated graphics card than
AMD’s reference models.Keep it in mind,
especially if you’re planningamore compact
PC, or wantto try ra y-tracing and DLSS.
JamesArcher
ZOTAC GeForce
RTX2060SuperMini
★★★★★
£390•From http://www.ebuyer.com
DirtShowdown
MetroLastLight
TombRaider
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
Seepage84f orperformancedetails
GPUNvidiaGeForceRTX2060Super•MEMORY8GB
GDDR6•GRAPHICSCARDLENGTH210mm•
WARRANTYFiveye arsRTB•DETAILSwww.zotac .com•
PARTCO DEZT-T20610E-10M
111fps
187fps
95fps
SPECIFICATIONS
The RTX2060 Super Mini hasaperformanceadvantage
overthe RX 5700, but theextent will depend on the game
