NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3060 Mainstream $300-$400 Ampere Gaming Graphics Cards Rumored To Feature GA106 GPUs, GA107 Entry-Level Ampere GPU Taped Out Too

NVIDIA's Ampere Gaming GPU rumors are heating up and the latest details we've today are for the mainstream GeForce RTX 3060 series. Replacing the GeForce RTX 2060, the NVIDIA RTX 3060 series will be positioned in the mainstream segment with pricing around $300 to $400 US which is pretty much what the existing lineup costs, however, these cards are positioned in a heated segment with AMD also actively working on replacing its mainstream lineup soon.

The latest rumors are once again being tweeted out by Kopite7kimi who has revealed that NVIDIA has taped out two new GPUs in the past few weeks. These include the Ampere GA106 and GA107. Both GPUs are based on the Ampere graphics architecture and focused on the consumer segment which includes entry and mainstream graphics cards.

GA106 and GA107 had taped out a few weeks ago.

— kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) July 8, 2020

If these NVIDIA Gaming GPUs are indeed taped out a few weeks back, then this would suggest that we shouldn't expect these cards to enter the retail segment anytime soon. The same was true for the GeForce RTX 2060 which was introduced four months after the GeForce RTX 2080. NVIDIA may initially be planning to target the high-end enthusiast cards from AMD based on its RDNA 2 GPUs.

Looking at what we know about the GA106 GPU, it is expected to power the GeForce RTX 3060 series graphics cards. By series I mean to say that the GeForce RTX 3060 might include more than just one graphics card.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming Graphics Cards Alleged Specifications:

The reason is that Kopite7kimi's rumor suggests that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 itself is going to feature the GA106-300 GPU. We don't know the exact specifications for this specific chip but we do know that the '300' SKU is usually not the top chip. The Turing TU106 GPU had several variants that included:

In the case of Turing, the GeForce RTX 2070 featured the top TU106 SKU but in the previous rumor, it was stated that RTX 3070 series would be utilizing the GA104 GPU which is a step up from Turing. But that would leave room open for several SKUs in the mainstream segment. It is likely that GA106 300 would power the standard GeForce RTX 3060 but there could be two more SKUs planned out. A GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / SUPER could launch with the full-fat GA106-400 SKU while a lower-end RTX 3050 SUPER could be introduced with the GA106-200 SKU.

But while these are just possibilities, there needs to be a necessity such as competition or demand in a particular segment for such cards to be produced in the first place. The RTX 3060 is a given but the rest of the two SKUs depend mostly on what AMD has up their sleeves. Currently, the RTX 2060 series cards are placed in vastly different segments. NVIDIA had already stated that its GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER doesn't replace the GeForce RTX 2060. The RTX 2060 features a cut-down core, lower 6 GB VRAM, and a much lower price point of $279 US while the GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER features the beefed-up TU106 core with 8 GB VRAM and a much higher price point of $399 US.

Also, it's interesting that most previous rumors pointed to the GA106-300 SKU featuring 6 GB VRAM while the RTX 2060 SUPER features 8 GB VRAM. While the specifications are not set in the stone yet, it will definitely feel like a downgrade in terms of memory size for users upgrading from a GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER to the GeForce RTX 3060 even if the latter offers better performance. So its slightly early to say whether we will once again see 6 GB memory on the RTX 3060 or will NVIDIA finally up the VRAM on its mainstream lineup too.

Maybe, RTX 3070 (Super or Ti?) , GA104-400RTX 3070, GA104-300RTX 3060, GA106-300.Actually, I don't know the codename is GA or A? lol~

— kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) June 9, 2020

A possibility is that the standard RTX 3060 replaces the RTX 2060 with 6 GB VRAM and the RTX 3060 Ti/SUPER replaces the RTX 2060 SUPER with 8 GB VRAM at a much higher price point. Again, these cards will be positioned in vastly different segments like the existing mainstream lineup.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Gaming Graphics Cards Alleged Specifications:

The GeForce RTX 3050 series cards based on the Ampere GA107 GPU will be the last chips to hit the market segment. These cards will be interesting in the sense that they will be positioned in the low-end desktop segment. NVIDIA had quite a rough start with its GTX 1650 series with the Turing GPUs but slightly redeemed its position with the launch of the GTX 1650 SUPER. The cards will be priced at around $150-$200 US but NVIDIA couldn't let the $200-$300 segment open for AMD to dominate since it will also be launching its RDNA 2 entry-level GPUs sometime next year.

Currently, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 series cards are well-positioned within the $200-$300 market segment but unlike Turing, all Ampere cards are expected to feature RTX capabilities. This means that we are unlikely to get a GeForce GTX lineup with Ampere. If we do get one, then we could get some sense of how the lineup will be positioned in the market but if not, then NVIDIA would have to play some pricing games in the sub $300 segment. Once again, a higher tier RTX 3050 Ti / SUPER card based on the GA106 GPU would make sense for a price of around $229-$249 US that replaces the GTX 1660 SUPER.

Also, it's not likely that all of these GPUs and graphics cards will launch at the same time. Certain models will arrive first, followed by mainstream and low-end offerings. The refreshed parts may arrive much later in Ampere's roadmap so most of the lineup can be changed in the future.

We just have to wait and see how NVIDIA goes with the pricing this time around but with AMD adjusting its high-end and mainstream Radeon RX RDNA 2 graphics cards for launch in Q4 2020, we might see some aggressive prices by NVIDIA for its own Ampere lineup this time around. With the first custom GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card already pictured, we are likely to get a launch in the coming months.