LABS TEST / GRAPHICS CARDS
T
he GeForce RTX 2060 is the
cheapest entry point to the world of
proper hardware-accelerated ray
tracing. As the switch from GTX to RTX
naming implies, this card provides you with
dedicated RT cores for completely offsetting
those calculations from the CUDA cores,
providing a massive leap in ray-tracing
performance. Originally launching at £329 inc
VAT, recent price drops have brought it under
£275, making it appear a very tempting
option, if your budget allows.
Based on the TU106 GPU that also powers
the RTX 2060 Super and RTX 2070, the RTX
2060 uses a considerably stripped-down
version, with six SMs disabled, resulting in
noticeable drops in capability across the board.
The total number of CUDA cores drops from
2,304 to 1,920, the number of ROPs from 64
to 48, TMUs go from 144 down to 120 and
RT cores drop from 36 to 30. The memoryNVIDIA GEFORCE
RTX 2060 /£ 273 inc VAT
SUPPLIER Ebuyer.cominterface also drops from 256-bit to 192-bit
and total memory maxes out at 6GB.
The back-end limitations mean that while
this card can cope with the extra graphical
richness of more complex scenes – both
with and without ray tracing – it isn’t quite as
capable as faster cards when it comes to higher
resolutions and frame rates, at least in theory.
One big advantage of this reduction in
processing capacity, though, is that you
don’t need any extra power over the other
cheaper cards we’ve looked at. Just a single
8-pin power connector is required to keep
this card ticking over, while RTX 2060 Super
and other more powerful cards require
another 6-pin cable or more.
This card really is all about its ray tracing,
though, and sure enough in our testing, it
proved just how much extra oomph those
RT cores provide. In Battlefield V with DXR, it
hit a genuinely playable frame rate average
of 55fps, with a 99th percentile drop of just
46fps. Those represent big leaps over the
40fps and 32fps scores of the GTX 1660 Ti.
Even at 1440p you get 33fps average while the
GTX 1660 Ti struggles to 26fps. That may not
be truly playable but could be fun to explore.
What’s more, we can really see how much
of a difference those RT cores make when
we compare games without ray tracing. In our
other tests, we see an average rise in frame
rate of 17 per cent, whereas in Battlefield V with
DXR we see a 38 per cent difference.
As such, while this card does generally
impress across the board, its appeal in many
ways comes down to how important ray
tracing is to you. If you just want to be able toplay around with it and see what it looks like,
you can do that on the much cheaper GTX
line-up. If, however, you genuinely want to
play games with it enabled, you’re going to
need at least an RTX 2060. Perhaps crucially,
though, you may need an even faster card,
as otherwise you’ll be stuck having to play
resolutions often lower than 1080p.Conclusion
The RTX 2060 is the ideal mid-range card
for most buyers – it offers excellent all-round
1080p gaming performance and generally
reliable 1440p gaming too. Add in genuinely
playable ray-tracing performance, Tensor
cores, DLSS support and a competitive price
and you have a winner.SPEC
Graphics processor Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060,
1365MHz base clock, 1680MHz boost clock
Pipeline 1,920 stream processors, 48 ROPs
Interface PCI-E 3
RT Cores 30
Tensor Cores 240
Memory 6GB GDDR6, 14GHz effective
Memory interface 192-bit
Bandwidth 336GB/sec
Outputs/inputs 2 x DisplayPort
1.4, 1 x HDMI 2b, 1 x DVI-DL
Power connections 1 x 8-pinVERDICT
An ideal all-rounder for those seeking
a mid-range graphics card.RTX
+ Good gaming
performance
up to 1440p
+ Playable ray-tracing
performance
+ Competitive pricingARTEX- Limited to 1080p
or lower resolution
for ray tracing - Not a huge
upgrade for non-
ray-tracing games
PERFORMANCE
43 / 50RAY TRACING
6 / 10OVERALL SCORE
83 %
EFFICIENCY
8 / 10VALUE
26 / 30c
us
tom P
C
ccuuss
stommPP
CCP
R
E
M
IUM GRA
D
E
LABS TEST / GRAPHICS CARDS
T
heGeForceRTX 2060 isthe
cheapestentrypointtotheworldof
properhardware-acceleratedray
tracing.AstheswitchfromGTXtoRTX
namingimplies,thiscardprovidesyouwith
dedicatedRTcoresforcompletelyoffsetting
thosecalculationsfromtheCUDAcores,
providinga massiveleapinray-tracing
performance.Originallylaunchingat£329inc
VAT,recentpricedropshavebroughtit under
£275,makingit appeara verytempting
option,if yourbudgetallows.
BasedontheTU106GPUthatalsopowers
theRTX 2060 SuperandRTX2070,theRTX
2060 usesa considerablystripped-down
version,withsixSMsdisabled,resultingin
noticeabledropsincapabilityacrosstheboard.
ThetotalnumberofCUDAcoresdropsfrom
2,304to1,920,thenumberofROPsfrom 64
to48,TMUsgofrom 144 downto 120 and
RTcoresdropfrom 36 to30.Thememory
NVIDIA GEFORCE
RTX 2060 /£ 273inc VAT
SUPPLIER Ebuyer.cominterface also drops from 256-bit to 192-bit
and total memory maxes out at 6GB.
The back-end limitations mean that while
this card can cope with the extra graphical
richness of more complex scenes – both
with and without ray tracing – it isn’t quite as
capable as faster cards when it comes to higher
resolutions and frame rates, at least in theory.
One big advantage of this reduction in
processing capacity, though, is that you
don’t need any extra power over the other
cheaper cards we’ve looked at. Just a single
8-pin power connector is required to keep
this card ticking over, while RTX 2060 Super
and other more powerful cards require
another 6-pin cable or more.
This card really is all about its ray tracing,
though, and sure enough in our testing, it
proved just how much extra oomph those
RT cores provide. In Battlefield V with DXR, it
hit a genuinely playable frame rate average
of 55fps, with a 99th percentile drop of just
46fps. Those represent big leaps over the
40fps and 32fps scores of the GTX 1660 Ti.
Even at 1440p you get 33fps average while the
GTX 1660 Ti struggles to 26fps. That may not
be truly playable but could be fun to explore.
What’s more, we can really see how much
of a difference those RT cores make when
we compare games without ray tracing. In our
other tests, we see an average rise in frame
rate of 17 per cent, whereas in Battlefield V with
DXR we see a 38 per cent difference.
As such, while this card does generally
impress across the board, its appeal in many
ways comes down to how important ray
tracing is to you. If you just want to be able toplay around with it and see what it looks like,
you can do that on the much cheaper GTX
line-up. If, however, you genuinely want to
play games with it enabled, you’re going to
need at least an RTX 2060. Perhaps crucially,
though, you may need an even faster card,
as otherwise you’ll be stuck having to play
resolutions often lower than 1080p.Conclusion
The RTX 2060 is the ideal mid-range card
for most buyers – it offers excellent all-round
1080p gaming performance and generally
reliable 1440p gaming too. Add in genuinely
playable ray-tracing performance, Tensor
cores, DLSS support and a competitive price
and you have a winner.SPEC
Graphics processor Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060,
1365MHz base clock, 1680MHz boost clock
Pipeline 1,920 stream processors, 48 ROPs
Interface PCI-E 3
RT Cores 30
Tensor Cores 240
Memory 6GB GDDR6, 14GHz effective
Memory interface 192-bit
Bandwidth 336GB/sec
Outputs/inputs 2 x DisplayPort
1.4, 1 x HDMI 2b, 1 x DVI-DL
Power connections 1 x 8-pinVERDICT
An ideal all-rounder for those seeking
a mid-range graphics card.RTX
+ Good gaming
performance
up to 1440p
+ Playable ray-tracing
performance
+ Competitive pricingARTEX- Limited to 1080p
or lower resolution
for ray tracing - Not a huge
upgrade for non-
ray-tracing games
PERFORMANCE
43 / 50RAY TRACING
6 / 10OVERALLSCORE
83 %
EFFICIENCY
8 / 10VALUE
26 / 30cc
uuss
tommPP
CCP
R
E
M
IUM GRA
D
E