Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti could launch in October to fight AMD Radeon 6000

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Nvidia could have a new midrange graphics card on the way

GeForce RTX 3080
(Image credit: dertpert88 via Reddit)

A mid-range Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 is almost certainly on its way to compliment the high-end graphics cards in the GeForce RTX 3000-series. And it looks like an RTX 3060 Ti could arrive late October to battle AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs. 

At least that’s according to Videocardz, which claims two sources have told it that a mid-range Ampere GeForce graphics card is on its way. With AMD Big Navi set to target the GeForce RTX 3080, a second Navi 22 GPU is also expected, potentially for mid-range gaming. So Nvidia will need a new next-generation GeForce GPU to keep it at bay. 

With Nvidia’s Turing-based GeForce RTX graphics cards, the graphics giant released a trio of high-end GPUs first, then followed it up with the GeForce RTX 2060, a solid mid-range graphics card that offers solid performance and ray-tracing support. So it’s almost a given that Nvidia will do the same for the RTX 3000-series. 

However, it would seem a little odd for Nvidia to release the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ahead of a vanilla RTX 3060. But stranger things have happened. 

Incidentally, October is the month the GeForce RTX 3070 launches, so there's an argument that someone may have got confused between that and an RTX 3060 Ti. But as our colleagues over at TechRadar explained, the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is set to use a downgraded version of the GPU found at the heart of the RTX 3070, so it could make sense for them to launch in the same month. The RTX 3060 is expected to use a different GPU chip, and that may not yet be in production, meaning the Ti variant could lead the mid-range charge. 

And charge it will need to do, as it’s looking likely that AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series of graphics cards — set to be revealed in full on October 28 — could be rather powerful. Team Red’s new RDNA 2 architecture promises a significant hike over the older RNDA GPU architecture; RDNA 2 graphics are also at the heart of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. 

As such, we’re not only expecting to see a graphics battle between the high-end Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and AMD’s Big Navi, but also a potential scrap in the mid-range graphics arena. This is all good news for PC gamers, as it means better graphics cards and more attractive prices, as competition breeds innovation and price-cuts. 

Roland Moore-Colyer
Roland Moore-Colyer

Roland Moore-Colyer a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he’s also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face.