Gigabyte confirms Nvidia’s RTX 2060 resurrection plans with 12GB EEC listings

Nvidia’s Reviving its RTX 2060 – Gigabyte has basically confirmed it

Neither AMD nor Nvidia can build enough graphics cards to keep up with demand. Gamers and creators are demanding new graphics cards to handle the latest workloads, with the launch of a new console generation and the onset of AI accelerated computing driving more demand than ever for consumer GPUs. 

Rumour has it that Nvidia plans to resurrect its last-generation RTX 2060 graphics card to help increase its supply of graphics cards, upgrading it with 12GB of memory to better handle modern workloads. 6GB is no longer enough VRAM for high-end gaming, and while some analysts will call 12GB overkill or unnecessary, it is the right amount of VRAM for this graphics card while retaining its 192-bit memory bus size. 

Thanks to @momomo_us on Twitter, we have gotten a look at a new EEC (Eurasian Economic Commission) listing that features several 12GB RTX 2060 graphics card models from Gigabyte. This validates rumours of an RTX 2060 12GB revival. 

Why a 12GB RTX 2060 is necessary

Nvidia’s RTX 20 series was built using TSMC’s 12nm lithography technology, an older process technology than the Samsung 8nm node that is used to create their RTX 30 series products. This allows Nvidia to build RTX 20 series silicon without impacting RTX 30 series silicon manufacturing using Samsung’s 8nm node, allowing Nvidia to create more RTX silicon for the GPU market. 

While Nvidia’s RTX 2060 is a last-generation product, it remains competitive within today’s GPU market. It supports all DirectX 12 Ultimate features, Nvidia’s DLSS technology and can sit under Nvidia’s RTX 3060 to give the PC market a lower cost RTX product offering. The only problem with re-releasing the RTX 2060 is its 6GB frame buffer. 

While Nvidia could create a graphics card like their RTX 2060 Super with 8GB of VRAM, doing so would build a GPU with a 256-bit memory bus, giving Nvidia’s revived RTX 2060 more memory bandwidth than an RTX 3060, which features 12GB of memory on a 192-bit memory bus. 6GB of VRAM is not enough for modern gaming workloads, especially at high/ultra quality settings. Using 12GB of GDDR6 memory on an RTX 2060 is an ideal solution for Nvidia, as it negates their 6GB frame buffer issues while keeping their RTX 2060 firmly below their RTX 3060 in terms of performance in all workloads. 

Creating a 12GB RTX 2060 accomplishes three things for Nvidia: it gives them a “new” graphics card to market, increases their GPU supply, and gives them a sub-RTX 3060 desktop graphics card. Reviving their RTX 2060 graphics card only presents upsides for Nvidia.

Without a revived RTX 2060, Nvidia would need an RTX 3050 Ti, a graphics card that would use Samsung’s 8nm lithography. Such a decision would take away 8nm wafers from Nvidia’s other GPU designs, doing little to reduce Nvidia’s supply issues. Recreating their RTX 2060 with a 12GB frame buffer is a clever move from Nvidia. As said previously, this move has no downsides. In today’s GPU market, Nvidia’s RTX 2060 12GB graphics card will sell well. 
  

  

Is Nvidia’s RTX 2060 12GB a counter to Intel’s GPU plans in early 2022? 

Intel plans to enter the discrete GPU market in early 2022, and AMD likely has plans to launch an RX 6500 series graphics card during the same timeframe. With their revived RTX 2060, Nvidia can counter both Intel and AMD within the mid-range GPU market without creating a wholly new product or impacting the production of their existing RTX 30 series GPU models.  

Nvidia’s RTX 2060 is still a good product in 2021, and relaunching it can reduce the supply constraints on the GPU market. Let’s hope that Nvidia can produce enough of these GPUs to bring a little normalcy back to the GPU market. 

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