Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super review

The GeForce RTX 2060 Super cuts the performance cost of the 2070 by $ 100.

pros:

• Excellent 1080p and 1440p performance
• Better pricing than other RTX graphics cards
• 8GB GDDR6 outperforms the original 2060

Minuses:

• Few games support ray tracing;
• Didn’t inherit the price of 2060;
• Super boring title;

The GeForce RTX 2060 Super arrived almost a year after Nvidia unveiled its first GeForce RTX graphics cards. It is no coincidence that AMD is planning to release the new Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT graphics cards. They are supposed to replace the existing RTX 2060 and RTX 2070 at relatively similar prices. AMD RX 5700 and Navi architecture could potentially close the gap with Nvidia. So with Nvidia striking a preemptive strike with the GeForce RTX 2060 Super and RTX 2070 Super, and the RTX 2080 Super coming out later this month, every graphics card is motivated to stay on top of the best graphics cards.

Let us step back a bit: we believe that branding built through “Super” may very well be one of the dumbest things we’ve seen in recent years. We look forward to the redundant titles that are sure to come from partners like the EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 Super SSC (Super Super Clocked)! But aside from complaining about the names of the new video cards, we get some improvements.

This review will focus on the RTX 2060 Super, Nvidia has presented us with the Founder Edition with reference frequencies. We have prepared a separate review of the GeForce RTX 2070 Super, although you can see it in some of the graphs. This is what the current RTX lineup looks like with the 2060 and 2070 Super included.

The Turing architecture behind the new Super RTX graphics cards is identical to existing RTX cards. This means that the hardware includes RT cores for DirectX Raytracing (DXR) and Vulkan-RT, tensor cores for DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and other machine learning skills, variable speed shading, network shaders and parallel integer and floating point pipelining. Even if the specs on paper don’t sound like a big leap over 10th Gen GTX cards, RTX cards run on their own unique hardware.

The 2060 Super uses the same TU106 GPU as the RTX 2060 and 2070, but the graphics card is closer to 2070 than to 2060. It is equipped with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, which means 33% more bandwidth – like the 2070 and and the 2070 Super. The TU106 has up to 36 SMs (Streaming Multiprocessors) while the 2060 Super offers 34 SMs. This puts the new graphics card in the right position between previous products, while the 2070 Super gets a TU104 GPU with 40 SM enabled – essentially a minor step up from the original RTX 2080.

The clock speed is slightly lower than the RTX 2060, but the additional cores and memory should noticeably boost overall performance. At the same time, the RTX 2070 still offers a few additional CUDA cores and, depending on which graphics card model you’re looking at, the clock speed could be higher or lower than the 2060 Super. For our testing, we used the Founders Edition models of all RTX graphics cards, which means that the 2070 FE runs at a clock speed higher than the 2060 Super (the reference 2070 has a clock speed of 1620 MHz).

In terms of expected performance, the RTX 2060 Super should be slightly slower than the RTX 2070, but the jump should be significant compared to the original RTX 2060. The price reflects this, the new RTX 2060 Super will sell for $ 399 (RUR 26,000 + VAT), while the RTX 2060 will sell for $ 349 (RUR 22,500 + VAT). This price makes the new video card one of the best in terms of price-quality ratio. At the same time, the new RTX 2070 Super costs over $ 499 (32,500r + VAT), including the Founders Edition.

In our gaming testing, we continue to use the Core i7-8700K overclocked to 5.0GHz to make sure the processor isn’t a bottleneck in our test build. We also use DDR4-3200 memory and fast SSD memory. We benchmarked against the latest drivers available at the time of testing, including retesting older graphics cards to ensure our results were up to date. All Nvidia cards were tested with 430.86 drivers, except for two Super cards that used 431.16. For AMD, we used drivers 19.16.2.

We’ve also updated our gaming benchmarks from last year, although we haven’t enabled ray tracing for the purposes of this review – AMD currently doesn’t offer DXR (DirectX Raytracing) or Vulkan-RT support, and probably won’t until next year. The same goes for testing with DLSS. We’ve already looked at ray tracing (and DLSS) performance in mainstream games and are planning to include new games that support these technologies, but in this case we want to compare apples to apples in graphics card reviews.

This is not to say that ray tracing support is irrelevant. In the last ten months, we’ve gotten three big games that implement ray tracing (Battlefield V, Metro Exodus, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider), plus there’s Quake 2 RTX and the Korean MMO Justice, with more games coming soon. Wolfenstein: Youngblood will be the next title with RTX later this month, Control in August, Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries in September, and then Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in October with Doom Eternal in November.

Are any of these games important enough to buy an RTX graphics card? Possibly, but not required. Bloodlines 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 will certainly top the must-play list next year, and there will be Watch Dogs: Legion, Atomic Heart, and more. The current handful of games that support ray tracing in hardware nine months after software support may not sound like a lot, but for the record, there are more DXR games out there today than there were DX12 games available a year after its availability.

In our GPU benchmarks, we test 11 games, including an equal combination of AMD and Nvidia. DirectX 12 is used in most cases, besides Total War: Warhammer, where the “DX12 Beta” performance is especially sluggish on Nvidia graphics cards. Several of Nvidia’s previous generation GPUs, including the GTX 970 and GTX 1060 3GB, are also tested with DX11 in some games, as DX12 works best with Nvidia graphics cards that have over 4GB of VRAM.

Each graphics card is tested at four settings: 1080p (Medium) and 1080p / 1440p / 4K (Ultra). Each parameter is checked several times to ensure a consistent result, but the best one is ranked. In all tests, starting at 1080p, the RTX 2060 Super performs best as a graphics card for 1080p or 1440p gaming. 4K can be played at lower settings (or with DLSS), but more demanding games like Metro are usually out of reach.

| GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER: PERFORMANCE

1080p benchmarks may seem like a dreadfully low bar for a $ 1,000 graphics card, but keep in mind that ultra-responsive 144Hz games often require lower resolutions and settings even with high-end hardware. Most of the games in our tests passed the mark, although the most demanding games (Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Metro Exodus, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider) still fall short.

Overall, the performance of the video card is at the level that you would expect based on the specifications. The RTX 2060 Super outperforms the RTX 2060 by 10 percent and almost matches the RTX 2070.

1080p at 60fps Ultra is usually not a problem with one of the high-end graphics cards, but if you have a 144Hz monitor, only one of the 11 games tested will hit 144fps (Fortnite). All games continue to maintain an average frame rate of 60 frames per second or more, although Metro Exodus was tested with the High settings.

Again, the 2060 Super offers a nice 11 percent performance improvement over the original 2060. If you look at the Vega 56 and 64, as well as the new RX 5700 and 5700 XT from AMD, you’ll see the main competitors.

Nvidia is introducing the RTX 2060 Super as a graphics card built for gaming at 1440p, so if we’re talking 60 FPS, it promises to be a success. In a few games (Assassin’s Creed and Metro Exodus), the average speed does not exceed 60 frames, but you can always change the settings.

When the resolution is increased, the additional memory bandwidth with two additional gigabytes of GDDR6 relative to the RTX 2060 will show itself. Now the gap will be about 15%, and in some games the performance rises even higher.

Finally, 4K resolution with Ultra settings is not what we recommend when looking for the best gaming experience, as this combination is extremely demanding, and even the fastest video cards are often inferior, but if you plan to play 1080p with Ultra settings in a few years, 2060 Super is a good choice.

The average frame rate for this test drops well below 60, and the 2070 FE continues to hold a 5% performance lead, however, the 2060 Super easily outperforms the RTX 2060, showing a 21% lead. This is because games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Far Cry 5, Fortnite and Shadow of War all support the extra 2060 Super memory bandwidth.

GeForce RTX 2060 Super: High Performance Now More Affordable

Many were not happy with the launch of Nvidia’s 20-series RTX – or, to be fair, were overwhelmed by the high prices. Without games using the new ray-tracing hardware, sales weren’t as good as Nvidia had hoped. The situation is improving a year later, and the 2060 Super is arguably the best graphics card in the RTX lineup in terms of value. But this is still not the best value for money.

There are two approaches to the RTX 2060 Super, and your attitude towards a new graphics card will ultimately depend on which approach you take. One approach is based on the fact that the graphics card is faster than the RTX 2060, but also costs 3500r more. This is not Super-exciting pricing. The other prospect is much more tempting: the card offers RTX 2070 performance levels at 7000r less. (Again, keep in mind that the performance table uses the overclocked 2070 FE, while the 2060 Super relies on reference frequencies).

While graphics cards like the RTX 570 offer amazing value for money, it’s important to remember that the 570 is generally capable of playing games at 1080p with Medium and High settings. The 2060 Super may cost three times as much, but it’s nearly twice as fast, and also more capable when it comes to running games at high frame rates or resolutions.

If you haven’t felt the need to jump to ray tracing with an RTX yet, the 2060 Super won’t make you change your mind. However, the question is rather to get a video card for games with tracing, which will be processed at the hardware level. Metro Exodus looks better with ray tracing, but it looks good without it. Until a game comes out that looks so amazing with tracing that everyone will want RTX, tracing will remain a welcome addition rather than a necessary feature. And, perhaps, it will be so in the future.

The RTX 2060 Super is still a good graphics card. It’s faster than the GTX 1080, but comes at a low price, with new features that promise to be revealed in future games. We wouldn’t recommend upgrading from a GTX 1080 to an RTX 2060 Super, but if you’re using an older graphics card and are willing to spend $ 300 or more on a high-quality graphics card, this is a decent choice. And that makes the prospect of buying AMD’s RX 5700 series more difficult.