Blog Posts » Upgrade from GTX 1060 to RTX 3060 Ti

Upgrade from GTX 1060 to RTX 3060 Ti

The last few years haven’t been great, but at least they gave me chance to save up some money so I could upgrade my PC. The final part, an RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition GPU, arrived yesterday. I have been running a GTX 1060 6GB for many years and it was beginning to show it’s age, especially when running above 1080p.

Stock photo of an RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition GPU

I’ve been biding my time and buying components when they were on offer, so now I have a 1TB NVME hard drive, BenQ 4K HDR monitor (partly paid for by a grant from Barnwood Trust, thank you!), Asus TUF B660 motherboard, 32GB of Crucial DDR4 3000MHz RAM, Intel 12400F CPU, a Kolink Citadel Mesh case and finally an RTX 3060 Ti which I got for MSRP directly from NVIDIA.

The RTX 3060Ti is still selling at much higher prices everywhere else, so I’d definitely advise checking out NVIDIA’s site if you are looking for a graphics card in the UK.

GTX 1060 6GB vs RTX 3060 Ti Benchmark

I didn’t get chance to properly benchmark my old system before upgrading the CPU due to illness, but for the GPU I have. Bear in mind these tests are very unscientific. I haven’t changed any other settings except from installing the GPU, but the PC was used for various tasks inbetween tests. I also did not do a fresh install or optimise services. But the average user can still get a good idea of the improvement they can expect from just plugging in a new RTX 3060 Ti into their system.

System Specs –

Windows 11 insider build 22H2 22622.290
BenQ EW3280U 4K UHD HDRi Monitor
Intel Core i5 12400F
Asus TUF GAMING B660M-PLUS WIFI D4
32GB Crucial Ballistix 3000 MHz, DDR4 (8GB x 4)
WD Blue 1TB M.2 PCIe NVME

All game tests were run using the games Ultra preset with VSync off. The first set of results are from my old MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GT OC and the second are from my new RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition.

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB OC

Screenshot showing benchmark results for Strange Brigade running on a GTX 1060 6GB
Strange Brigade 52 fps
Screenshot showing benchmark results for Forza Horizon 4 running on a GTX 1060 6GB
Forza Horizon 4 55 fps
Screenshot showing benchmark results for Horizon Zero Dawn running on a GTX 1060 6GB
Horizon Zero Dawn 48 fps
Screenshot showing benchmark results for Forza Horizon 5 running on a GTX 1060 6GB
Forza Horizon 5 33 fps
Screenshot showing benchmark results for 3D Mark running on a GTX 1060 6GB
3D Mark 4,452 points
Screenshot showing benchmark results for DaVinci Resolve running on a GTX 1060 6GB
DaVinci Resolve render time 21:57

RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition

Screenshot showing benchmark results for Strange Brigade running on a RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition
Strange Brigade 162 fps
Screenshot showing benchmark results for Forza Horizon 4 running on a RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition
Forza Horizon 4 148 fps
Screenshot showing benchmark results for Horizon Zero Dawn running on a RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition
Horizon Zero Dawn 110 fps
Screenshot showing benchmark results for Forza Horizon 5 running on a RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition
Forza Horizon 5 89 fps
Screenshot showing benchmark results for 3D Mark running on a RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition
3D Mark 10,725 points
Screenshot showing benchmark results for DaVinci Resolve running on a RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition
DaVinci Resolve render time 26:36

Results

Strange Brigade increased by 110 fps, from 52 fps to 162 fps.

Forza Horizon 4 increased by 93fps, from 55 fps up to 148 fps.

Forza Horizon 5 increased by 56fps, from 33 fps up to 89 fps.

Horizon Zero Dawn increased by 62fps, from 48 fps up to 110 fps.

3D Mark increased by 6,273 points, from 4,452 points up to 10,725 points.

DaVinci Resolved render time for the same project increased from 21:57 to 26:36.

It’s a pretty big improvement and definitely a good purchase. I am certain that I can push the system further by overclocking my RAM, enabling Resizable BAR in BIOS and tweaking other settings. But that will only gain a few frames per second.

I have one surprising result and that is that DaVinci Resolve, it’s performance doesn’t seem to have improved. Rendering seems slower as does preview, despite using 100% GPU and around 30% CPU. Maybe I need to change some settings or just reinstall it.

That’s the end of my major PC upgrades. I could still do with some more external hard drives and a gaming NVME, but those can wait. For now it’s time to enjoy the new speed and play some games!

A brief mention for the CPU

Here are two 3D Mark Results that show the difference between my old Intel Core i5-6400 Processor and my new i5-12400F. 3D Mark is a gamer’s benchmark, so the results don’t really show what a huge improvement from just upgrading my CPU made. I did gain a few fps in games, making some unplayable games actually playable. The responsiveness of my system increased hugely though. No lag while multitasking, apps loading instantly etc.

Screenshot showing benchmark results for 3D Mark running on a Core i5-6400
3D Mark 4,033 points
Screenshot showing benchmark results for 3D Mark running on a i5-12400F
3D Mark 4,445 points

Also something to bear in mind is that without the CPU upgrade all the results in the benchmarking section would have been much lower. The i5-12400F and RTX 3060 Ti are a good match that bring out the best in each other.

P.S. – There was no sponsorship for this post, I purchased everything myself.

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  1. Startersss

    Wow, this upgrade from a GTX 1060 to an RTX 3060 Ti seems like a game-changer for improving graphic performance in photography – definitely worth considering!

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