When Nvidia first announced its GeForce RTX 30 Series of graphics cards, many were immediately concerned about the new 12-pin proprietary connector Nvidia put on the cards. Now that the GeForce RTX 3060 is here, there are once again questions popping up regarding power supply (PSU) connectors.
Though the company clarified that you don’t need to get a new power supply in order to connect the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 cards, it still has been something in the minds of consumers with each release. Fortunately, it once again appears that users will be able to use their existing PSU units with the RTX 3060.
The new 12-pin connector from Nvidia is for the company’s Founders Edition graphics cards. The GeForce RTX 3060 isn’t getting a Founders Edition release from Nvidia though. That means AIB variants will allow users to utilize what they already have.
Getting the most from the GeForce RTX 3060
As far as power requirements are concerned, the GeForce RTX 3060 has a TDP of 170W, 30W less than the RTX 3060 Ti. In order to get the most stable performance with the card, Nvidia recommends a minimum PSU of 550W for the GeForce RTX 3060. Should you decide you want to boost the GPU, your best option will be to jump to at least a 650W PSU.
Lastly, if you decide to go with overclocked cards like the ROG Strix OC from ASUS, you will want at least 700W, depending on the rest of the components in your machine.
Nvidia RTX GPUs offer impressive lighting and performance boosts in games like Minecraft.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 is available now starting at $329.99 USD, though it’s likely to cost you more for various reasons. Hopefully, you’re one of the lucky ones to get your hands on the card before it’s inevitably sold out. With Nvidia including a BIOS update that limits the viability for crypto mining on the RTX 3060, availability may be a bit better. However, I wouldn’t expect a plethora of cards to be available due to component shortages.
