Nvidia goes super: RTX refresh for RTX 2060 and 2070
Nvidia has given the RTX 2060 and 2070 more computing power. The RTX 2060 also has more graphics memory. The new mid-range graphics cards will be released on 9 July.
With the refresh, Nvidia is making the RTX 2070, which is almost nine months old, and the RTX 2060, which is only six months old, fit for the battle against AMD. The underdog is known to be launching the new RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 Navi cards on 7 July. The mid-range cards are in direct competition with the RTX 2060 and RTX 2070.
What the updated mid-range offers
The TU106-410 GPU of the RTX 2060 Super now has 2176 CUDA cores. That's an increase of over eleven per cent. There are also more ROPs, RT and Tensor cores and texture units. Nvidia has added 2 GB of RAM. The base clock is 1470 MHz, the boost 1650 MHz.
The RTX 2070 Super now comes with the TU104-410 GPU. With 2560, the 2070 also has over eleven per cent more CUDA cores. However, the ROPs remain the same. Instead, there are more RT and tensor cores and texture units. The base clock is 1605 MHz and the boost is 1770 MHz.
Both cards are more power-hungry than their predecessors. The TDP of the 2070 Super is 215 W, which is 30 watts more than the non-Super version. At 175 watts, the 2060 Super is 15 watts more.
Here is the whole thing in tabular form:
| Modell | GPU-Typ | ROPs | GPC / TPC / SM | Cuda-Kerne | Textureinheiten | Tensor-Kerne | RT-Kerne | Basis- / Boosttakt | Memory / Memory Data Rate | TDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 2060 | TU106-300 | 48 | 3 / 15 / 30 | 1920 | 120 | 240 | 30 | 1365 MHz / 1680 MHz | 6 GB GDDR6 / 14 Gbps | 160 |
| RTX 2060 Super | TU106-410 | 64 | 3 / 17 / 34 | 2176 | 136 | 272 | 34 | 1470 MHz / 1650 MHz | 8 GB GDDR6 / 14 Gbps | 175 |
| RTX 2070 | TU106-400 | 64 | 3 / 18 / 36 | 2304 | 144 | 288 | 36 | 1410 MHz / 1620 MHz | 8 GB GDDR6 / 14 Gbps | 185 |
| RTX 2070 Super | TU104-410 | 64 | 6 / 20 / 40 | 2560 | 160 | 320 | 40 | 1605 MHz / 1770 MHz | 8 GB GDDR6 / 14 Gbps | 215 |
What do the reviews of the Founders Edition say?
Nvidia's aim with the refresh is clear: the new 2060 Super and 2070 Super are intended to close a potential performance gap with AMD's RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT. Possibly because there are no independent benchmarks out yet for these cards. Nvidia is faster here - even if we are only talking about the Founders Edition models. Incidentally, the partners' custom cards are due to be released on the same day, i.e. 9 July.
But now to the reviews. The German portal Golem attests to the RTX 2070 having 12 per cent more speed. And writes that Nvidia has reduced the price of the card. For the Founders Edition of the 2070 Super, Nvidia is asking 530 euros instead of 520 for the non-Super card. According to Golem, the situation is similar with the RTX 2060 Super: 15 per cent more performance and 8 GB of memory instead of 6 GB for a relatively less expensive RTX 2060 Super compared to the non-Super version. The RTX 2060 Super is therefore slightly faster than the Radeon RX Vega 64 from AMD. Golem recommends waiting to see how the new AMD Radeon RX 5700 and 5700 XT perform.
Bit-tech comes to a similar conclusion as Golem. In a direct comparison between the RTX 2070 Super and the RTX 2060 Super, the 2070 is 17 per cent more powerful. In comparison with the RTX 2080, the 2070 Super is only six per cent faster across all games tested. And in comparison with the more expensive Radeon VII from AMD, the RTX 2070 Super performs more or less the same. Bit-tech also adds that both cards are best suited for gaming at 1440p.
Finally, Wccftech also comes to similar conclusions. The RTX 2070 Super is around 13 per cent faster than the non-super RTX 2070, while the performance increase for the RTX 2060 Super is around 14 per cent.
What else does Nvidia have to offer?
According to Nvidia, a Super version of the RTX 2080 is coming soon, with which Nvidia wants to protect itself against AMD in the higher classes. The card will have 3072 Cuda cores and clock at 1650 MHz. According to the manufacturer, the boost is 1815 MHz. The memory speed is said to be 15.5 Gbps, which would be more than the RTX 2080 Ti. Speaking of the 2080 Ti: The 2080 Super explains Nvidia's new super naming scheme. The 2080 Ti already exists, so a different suffix is needed. Otherwise the 2080 Super would stand alone with the suffix. So Nvidia can't call the 2060 and 2070 refresh Ti. Those responsible at Nvidia apparently thought Super was a great idea. Be that as it may, as soon as the first reviews of the RTX 2080 Super are out, you'll read about it here too.
Our colleagues from Category Management will let you know soon when the cards will be available and how much they will cost.
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