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On January 15th the RTX 2060 from Nvidia goes on sale. We have put together an overview of all upcoming custom models to help you decide!

RTX 2060 – probably the most reasonable Turing graphics card

At CES 2019 Nvidia has finally released the cat from the bag. The company launched the RTX 2060, the smallest Turing graphics card with raytracing hardware. It is based on the TU106 chip, which is also used in the RTX 2070. However, this chip is somewhat trimmed and still has 1,920 CUDA cores, 120 TMUs and 48 ROPs. The raytracing hardware consists of 30 RT and 240 tensor cores. The graphics memory used is 6 gigabytes of GDDR6. Also versions with 3 and 4 gigabyte GDDR6 and also GDDR5 are allegedly planned, but there is still no confirmation on this of Nvidia.

However, the special thing about the graphics card is the actual gaming performance. While in the higher classes the RTX 2070 and RTX 2080 only achieve the performance of the GTX 1080 resp. 1080 Ti at the same price, the RTX 2060 is even faster than a GTX 1070 Ti at a slightly lower price. In some benchmarks, it even achieves the performance of the GTX 1080, which makes it relatively strong for a price of 349 US dollars or 369 euros. For us, the RTX 2060 is probably one of the most reasonable Turing graphics cards in terms of performance increase apart from raytracing. For the market launch on January 15th, we have already collected all custom models in an overview with pictures.

The custom models in the overview

Nvidia Founders Edition

This year Nvidia has designed the Founders Edition in a very different way than the years before. In the past, practically every generation used a cooler with a single radial fan, but with Turing the manufacturer has reoriented itself considerably. The new cooler comes as a Vapor Chamber cooler with two axial fans and is therefore not only quieter, but also keeps the GPU significantly cooler.

This is no exception with the RTX 2060. The only difference to the larger graphics cards is the shorter PCB and thus also the somewhat shorter cooler. It’s the same cooler that’s already used on the RTX 2070 and is a good 40 mm shorter at 228 mm. The 8pin connector is also on the back and not on the front. As a reference version, the graphics card naturally clocks to the reference values of 1.365 MHz standard and 1.680 MHz boost clock. It is the only card where a price is already known. The Founders Edition is available for $349 directly at the Nvidia store.

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Asus

Asus releases eight models for the launch of the RTX 2060. In addition to the ROG Strix version, the Dual design is also part of the game again. These two series each have three models: a basic model, one with the “OC” label and one with the “Advanced” label. Asus doesn’t reveal yet how the chip clock looks like, but the Strix models are usually the best clocked models and with the cooler with two slots and three fans also the best cooled models. The portfolio is rounded off by a Turbo version with radial fan and a Phoenix version, which is particularly short with a fan and is intended for Mini ITX systems.

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EVGA

EVGA starts selling many small models of the RTX 2060. The preliminary top model is the EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 XC Ultra. It comes with the same cooler as the models of the higher RTX series and has a boost clock of 1,830 MHz. It is also available as a cheaper version with the same cooler, but the reference clock of 1,680 MHz. There are also four other EVGA models called XC, XC Black, SC and simply EVGA GeForce RTX 2060. It is interesting to note that these are exclusively models with a short cooler and only one fan. The cooler is three slots high. Which approach EVGA pursues with this is not quite known yet. However, in terms of clock rates, the manufacturer only uses the reference clock for two models. The XC and XC Black models have a boost clock of 1,755 MHz above the reference value, the model with the addition SC has a boost clock of 1,710 MHz. But EVGA has saved on the connections for the smaller models. There is only one DisplayPort, one HDMI port and one DVI-D port.

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Gainward

Also Gainward is represented with two models directly to the start. The board partner relies on the Phoenix brand, but does not equip the RTX 2060 with the coolers of the bigger brothers. This smaller cooler is equipped with two transparent axial fans. The height of the cooler has also shrunk to two slots. While the Gainward GeForce RTX 2060 Phoenix runs with the reference clock, the slightly stronger Golden Sample version gets a boost clock of 1,830 MHz. As with the smaller versions of EVGA, Gainward unfortunately only uses one HDMI and one DisplayPort as well as one DVI-D port each.

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Gigabyte

Gigabyte launches six different models of the RTX 2060 on January the 15th. The board partner relies on practically all designs of its current RTX series. The top model is the Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 2060 Xtreme. Interestingly, Gigabyte does not use the same design as with the larger models, but the same design as its predecessor of the GTX 10 series. Technically this is in no way inferior. The boost clock is 1,845 MHz. Gigabyte has also turned the memory clock here and offers 14,140 MHz. The AORUS Xtreme is also the only model that still has the USB-C port for VirtualLink installed. All other models use three DisplayPorts and one HDMI port.

In addition to the top model, there are also other well-known designs. The models Gaming OC Pro and Gaming OC as well as Windforce are part of the game. However, the last-named comes with only two fans instead of three. The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 OC marks the entry. With the GeForce RTX 2060 Mini ITX OC there is also a short version with only one fan. The Gaming OC and Gaming OC Pro have the highest clock rate with 1,830 MHz boost clock. The Windforce comes with 1,770 MHz clock rate, the entry-level model GeForce RTX 2060 OC sets to 1, 755 MHz boost clock rate. The Mini ITX OC version with 1,695 MHz clock rate is only slightly overclocked.

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Inno3D

Inno3D only sends one model into the race at the beginning of the RTX 2060 series. This is called the Inno3D GeForce RTX 2060 Twin X2 and is almost boring compared to the custom models of the higher series. The board partner relies on a rather short PCB and a two slot high cooler with two close fans. The cooler cover and the fans are in black. The Inno3D keeps to the reference specifications for the clock rate. Three Displayports and one HDMI ports are used as connectors.

KFA2/GALAX

Like many other manufacturers, the GALAX/KFA2 RTX 2060 is based on the larger models when it comes to design. For the start there are two models of the RTX 2060. As an introduction there is a version with radial fan. Above it KFA2/GALAX positions the GALAX GeForce RTX 2060 1-Click OC. The cooler is similar to the larger models and comes with two slot heights and two transparent fans. The graphics card is only slightly overclocked to 1,695 MHz, but with their own 1-Click OC technology it clocks up to 1,710 MHz. However, KFA2/GALAX has saved on the connection side and only uses one Displayports, one HDMI and one DVI-D connection each. Also in the version with radial fan there are only these connections, the clock rate corresponds to the reference values.

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MSI

MSI launches the RTX 2060 series with five models. The new Ventus graphics cards released this year, once as Ventus 6G OC and once as Ventus 6G, are also in the game. The gaming Z design known from the RTX 2070 has also found its way into the 2060 segment. The MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Aero ITX 6G and Aero ITX 6G OC with one fan are available as particularly short Mini ITX variants. The top model GeForce RTX 2060 Gaming Z achieves the highest clock rate with 1,830 MHz boost clock. The Ventus OC and Aero ITX OC are each clocked at 1,710 MHz, the Ventus and Aero ITX (without OC) are clocked at the standard value of 1,680 MHz. MSI uses three Displayports and one HDMI port for the connections on all models.

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Palit

Like its sister brand Gainward, Palit has launched a new cooler for the RTX 2060 models. The two models are called GeForce RTX 2060 GamingPro OC and GamingPro and come each with a two slot high cooler with black cover and two slightly transparent fans. The GamingPro OC variant uses a boost clock of 1,830 MHz, while the GamingPro only comes with the standard clock of 1,680 MHz. Palit also dispenses with the full number of ports on the two graphics cards and only uses one DisplayPort, one HDMI port and one DVI-D port each.

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PNY

PNY will launch only one version of the RTX 2060 on January 15th. It is called PNY GeForce RTX 2060 XLR8 Gaming OC Edition and is based on the design of the bigger XLR8 brothers. PNY uses a two slot high cooler with a black cover and two shiny black fans with the XLR8 logo in the middle. On the side there is a separate GeForce RTX lettering. The boost clock is at 1,830 MHz and thus well above the default. PNY uses one DisplayPort, one HDMI port and one DVI-D port as display connections.

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Zotac

Zotac is following a similar path as the other board partners when it comes to the cooler design of their own RTX 2060 models. There will be two versions on the market at the start. They carry the names Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 Twin Fan and AMP and are based on the same cooler. Funnily enough, this is the same as the mini cooler of the RTX 2070 models and is even a good two millimetres shorter. Two black fans cool the two slot-high graphics card. Zotac uses the reference clock for the Twin Fan card, while the AMP version is clocked up to 1,800 MHz. Zotac uses the full three DisplayPort and one HDMI port for both cards.

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Custom designs that are not available in Europe and America

Outside Europe and America, there are also manufacturers who have specialised in the Chinese market, for example. They also bring their own designs of the RTX 2060 onto the market, but they will never be available in our region. For the sake of completeness, we have nevertheless inserted them here.

Colorful

In recent years, Colorful has become a manufacturer with extremely distinctive designs. In the past, the graphic cards were mainly designed for the Chinese market, but today they are also available in the USA, but not in Europe. Colorful also offers four models for the RTX 2060. These come from the iGame and Colorful series. In the iGame series there are two models with three fans each and a correspondingly long cooler. These are called Ultra and Ultra OC. The Ultra version works with the reference clock, but can be overclocked to 1,710 MHz via One Key OC. The Ultra OC version comes with a 2.5 slot high cooler and can be clocked to 1,755 MHz via One Key-OC. It also offers the full three DisplayPort and one HDMI connection. There is also a USB-C port for VirtualLink. The two smaller Colorful models each work with the reference clock and have slightly different fans . They are called V1 and V2. The V2 version also has one less DisplayPort.

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Manli

With the Manli GeForce RTX 2060 Gallardo, the manufacturer Manli is also launching a graphics card from the new series onto the market. The board partner relies on a short two slot high cooler, which is kept in black and equipped with two fans. The fans have the golden Gallardo logo in the middle. The boost clock is 1.770 MHz and thus above the reference. The full three DisplayPort and one HDMI ports are used as connectors.

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