Modded NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU Gets Memory Boost From 8 GB To 12 GB, Delivers 22% Higher Performance
Modded NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU Gets Memory Boost From 8 GB To 12 GB, Delivers 22% Higher Performance
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB GPU has been modded by enthusiasts with 12 GB memory and gets a significant boost in performance.
YouTuber and tech specialist Paulo Gomes and technician friend Burti modified an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB graphics card with 12 GB memory. This new card showed impressive results in the Unigine 1080p Extreme benchmark, achieving a twenty-two percent increase.
NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card originally launched with 12 GB memory but later received an 8 GB variant which limited the VRAM memory to 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit memory bus. This is a very significant downgrade compared to the original model and can affect gaming at a higher resolution.
Modding team Paulo Gomes and "harteck" have now taken the same GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB GPU and breathed new life into it to regain its 12 GB of memory.
Lucky for this modding team, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB graphics card could be modified back to a 12 GB memory configuration because NVIDIA uses the same PCB design for both graphics cards. This allowed the modding team to add more memory modules to the PCB to increase the memory from 8 GB to 12GB since only four were on the PCB. This would also increase the memory bus of the card to 192-bit like the original variant.
However, the team needed the PCB used for the graphics card to support a more impressive 192-bit memory bus that the original graphics card maintained. This meant that the graphics card would have to change the 8 GB graphics card resistors and replace the BIOS initially seen on the 12 GB variant.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB Before 12 GB Mode (Image Credits: Paulo Gomes)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB After 12 GB Mode (Image Credits: Paulo Gomes)
To evaluate the performance after the mod, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB graphics card was benchmarked in Unigine Superposition, and power limits for the cards were increased to the max. The results of the Uningine Superposition benchmark showed an increase of 22% percent in the 1080p Extreme preset. Now you can get the same and better performance using the regular RTX 3060 12 GB but this is still an interesting mode that shows that the 8 GB and 12 GB variants of the GPU are similar in design and quite easy to make thanks to sharing similar PCBs.
If you are unsure how to perform this type of modification, remember that these two individuals are professionals. This video is a test, not a how-to, on altering the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 8 GB graphics card. It is not recommended to try this yourself unless you know what you are doing. This is a project that only professionals would be capable of achieving, and in the below video, you will see the story unfold of how this project came to be.
News Sources: VideoCardz, Paulo Gomes
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