NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 12GB Confirmed With These Upgraded Specs And Release Date
Following months of speculation, leaks, and rumors, the re-release of the GeForce RTX 2060 with double the amount of memory and some other key upgrades is now official. NVIDIA's latest GeForce driver package seemingly confirmed the card's existence, and leaving little doubt, the specifications are plastered on NVIDIA's website.
All that's missing is a formal announcement in the form of a press release or blog post. No matter though, because its listing on the GeForce RTX 2060 product page erases any and all doubt to the authenticity of previous leaks. The upgraded card is real, and if we're being optimistic, it will hopefully ease the shortage of GPUs by a small margin.
That much remains to be seen. Like the GeForce RTX 2060 6GB we reviewed nearly three years ago, the refreshed GeForce RTX 2060 12GB is based on Turing, which is manufactured on a 12-nanometer FinFET process. Presumably TSMC can free up more capacity to go along with its 7nm production, which itself is what underpins NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4000 series based on Ampere.
The upgraded card arrives with twice as much memory linked to the same 192-bit memory bus, resulting in the same 336GB/s of memory bandwidth. Having more GDDR6 on board could help with higher resolution gaming, though by itself probably won't have a monumental impact on performance.
At least equally interesting is the beefed up CUDA core arrangement. The refreshed card features 2,176 CUDA cores, which amounts to a 13.3 percent increase over the 1,920 CUDA cores found on the original 6GB model. It also has a higher base clock at 1,470MHz versus 1,365MHz, but a slightly lower boost clock at 1,650MHz versus 1,680MHz.
When we reviewed it, we awarded the GeForce RTX 2060 6GB our Editor's Choice award for offering strong performance per dollar and, at the time, its bleeding edge feature support. It essentially brought real-time ray tracing to the mainstream.
Things have changed since then, and graphics cards today command a hefty premium because of the shortage. For reference, the 6GB model debuted at $349 (MSRP), with add-in board partners charging a little more for custom cooled and overclocked models.
We asked NVIDIA how much the 12GB model will cost and were told, "Check with [AIB] partners on pricing," as there will not be a Founder's Edition model. NVIDIA also said, "It's a premium product so will be priced accordingly by them based on their SKU."
So there you have it, we'll just have to wait and see how much these cards end up costing, as well as what kind of supply there will be and how performance shakes out. We should find out soon—NVIDIA tells us the GeForce RTX 2060 12GB launches to retail on December 7 (next Tuesday).
