Galax RTX 3060 EX White Graphics Card Review

The RTX 3060 is one of the most awaited GPUs since the release of the RTX 30 series as the RTX 3060’s $329 price tag attracts enthusiasts especially budget builds. The RTX 3060 is the successor to the RTX 2060 with numerous improvements brought by the Ampere architecture. Unlike its bigger brothers and its predecessor, the RTX 2060 does not have a Founders Edition model leaving brand partners free to design its reference cards and customs cards. As such, we are using the Galax RTX 3060 EX-White as our first RTX 3060 graphics card review.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Specs

The RTX 3060 has the second-largest VRAM in the RTX 30 lineup next to the RTX 3090 which sports double the amount of the RTX 3060. The RTX 3060 is aimed at 1080p gaming but its 12GB GDDR6 VRAM allows the card to game on 1440p and 4K resolutions on some games, especially Esports titles. Its 170W TGP spec requires at least a 550W power supply to run.

A Closer Look

The Galax RTX 3060 EX White shares a similar packaging design with the previous generation of GPUs albeit updated with the RTX logo marking and features. The label also includes a shroud picture of the GPU that indicates the number of fans as there are variants that have three fans. The back shows Galax-centric features found on the RTX 3060.

The Galax RTX 3060 Ex White’s shroud is an improved design over the RTX 20 series counterpart with the cream/dirty white reinforcement across the shroud making it a two-tone design. There are also more fans to help with cooling.

Hands down, the Galax RTX 3060 EX White has one of the coolest backplates on a graphics card, and it’s one of the few that extends to the side of the GPU. The backplate also acts as a passive heatsink. The black bars on the backplate are not only for design as they are actually cutouts for airflow that are somewhat camouflaged.

The Galax RTX 3060 EX White is a 2.25-inch slot thick GPU with a length of 285 mm. Its total dimension size of  285 x 124 x 50 MM which is pretty standard for aftermarket GPUs. Case compatibility won’t be an issue or the Galax RTX 3060 EX White as its size will fit most cases.

The PCI-E 8-pin connector on the Galax RTX 3060 EX White is reinforced, not something you’d usually see on budget graphics cards. The Galax RTX 3060 EX White has a rated TGP of 170W. There’s also an RGB and three-pin fan header next to the reinforced 8-pin connector. When connected to these headers, fan control and lighting will sync with the Galax RTX 3060 EX White’s fan and lighting setting which can be configured via the Galax Xtreme tuner plus software.

Ports selection on the Galax RTX 3060 EX White is pretty standard with three DisplayPort 1.4a, and one HDMI 2.1 port.

Test Bench Setup and Benchmark Methodology

Gadget Pilipinas’ testing philosophy is to provide detail-oriented results as accurately as possible that our readers can replicate our tests given that these conditions are met. Different benchmarking apps and sequences are used depending on the component or device being tested.

We use CapFrameX 1.6.6 as our primary FPS capture and analysis tool for all our gaming benchmarks. The latest build versions of Windows 10, Windows 11, and WHQL certified drivers are used for our benchmarks. Readings such as temperatures and power draw are recorded using HWINFO64, and other relevant software for cross-checking.

Galax RTX 3060 EX White Benchmarks

COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE

Counter-Strike Strike: Global Offensive aka CSGO is a 10-year old first-person shooter title that’s still widely popular despite its old Source Engine. CS:GO is a great game to test out CPU performance as the game is heavily CPU-dependent like any other FPS title. Our CS:GO benchmark process uses ULLETICAL’s FPS Benchmark workshop mod to measure the hardware’s performance.

DOTA 2

Most gamers play at least one of the following free-to-play titles: League of Legends, CS: GO, Dota 2, and/or Fortnite. Dota 2 is a good representation of the F2P titles as it is the most demanding game in the spectrum. The benchmark will give you an idea of the graphic card’s relative performance on other lesser demanding titles. Our benchmark sequence is based on a replay of OG vs. Liquid in the TI9 grand finals from the team fight that happened from 28:30 to 29:30.

Far Cry 5 & Far Cry 6

FarCry 5 is an FPS game published by Ubisoft and uses the Dunia engine. It heavily relies on and takes advantage of DirectX 11 to render a realistic environment that makes it taxing to both the CPU and GPU. Far Cry 6 is the latest installment in the franchise which utilizes DirectX 12 to run the virtual world of Yara.

Rainbow Six Siege

Rainbow Six Seige is one of the few popular AAA games that’s still popular in 2021 due to its competitive gameplay mechanics. R6S uses the AnvilNext game engine, which the game’s publisher, Ubisoft, developed. As of writing, Rainbow Six Siege is currently the most popular Tom Clancy title beating out Wildlands, Breakpoint, and even Division 2.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is arguably the most hyped game of 2020. Developed by CD Projekt Red, the dystopian open-world, action-adventure RPG sports is one of the most demanding titles to date. Cyberpunk 2077 also supports three Ray Tracing settings as well as DLSS which makes the game a great tool to measure Ray tracing performance for both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Shadow of The Tomb Raider or SOTR is the latest installment of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider franchise. Developed by Square Enix, SOTR uses the Foundation engine and is further enhanced by Eidos Montreal. SOTR is also one of the first games to come out with Ray Tracing and DLSS support.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus is the third Metro game trilogy based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels. The game is a first-person shooter with survival horror and stealth elements. The post-apocalyptic game uses 4A Engine by 4A games. Released last 2019, Metro Exodus remains to be one of the most graphically pleasing and demanding games that’s popular to date.

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is the latest franchise installment from Ubisoft. It’s by far the most popular and stable Assassin’s Creed title since AC IV: Black Flag. It uses the AnvilNext 2.0 game engine, an updated version of Rainbow Six Siege’s game engine, and uses the DirectX 12 API.

F1 2020

F1 2020 is the official video game of the 2020 Formula 1 and Formula 2 championships developed by Codemasters. F1 2020 is the twelfth installment in the franchise and uses the Ego Engine 3.0. F1 2020 is a good representation of racing games thanks to its realistic graphics and fairly demanding spec requirements.

HORIZON ZERO DAWN

Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the most popular console-port RPG developed by Guerilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Horizon Zero Dawn is a multi-award-winning action RPG, and its popularity resulted in an exclusive Complete Edition game bundle in Steam.

Galax RTX 3060 EX White Temps and Power Draw

The Galax RT 3060 EX White performs well in terms of temps as its idle temp of 37.6°Csits in between all the GPUs tested. Moreover, it’s also the coolest RTX 3060 in our test suite measuring only a peak temp of 68.8°C compared to the Palit RTX 3060 StormX and the EVGA RTX 3060 XC’s 75.5°C and 72°C respectively.

The Galax RTX 3060 EX White has the highest power consumption among the three RTX 3060 albeit very minimal as the difference is less than 1-watt. The small difference could be attributed to the Galax RTX 3060 EX White’s prominent RGB lighting and slightly larger fan blades compared to the two RTX 3060s.

Conclusion

The Galax RTX 3060 EX-White is a formidable graphics card with superb build quality that surpasses the even higher-tier graphics card. Despite being a budget GPU as it houses the GA106 chip, we consider the Galax RTX 3060-EX a premium GPU model with its consistent frame rate output, low temperatures, robust build quality, and competitive price. At PHP 30,000(PCHub Pricing) you’re not only getting the cheapest RTX 3060 available in the market, but you’re also getting one of the best RTX 3060 in terms of build quality and arguably in terms of aesthetics. If you’re a fan of white graphics cards then there’s almost no other white-themed RTX 3060 that performs better than the Galax RTX 3060 EX White.

Grant Soriano

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Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.