[Hardware] This RTX 3060 Uses a Massive 3080 Cooler, With Impressive Results

[Sxynix]

 

MSI's new RTX 3060 Gaming X Trio is one of the coolest, yet strangest, Nvidia graphics cards we've ever seen. As discussed by YouTube channel BPS Customs, the card comes equipped with an RTX 3080 cooler. That allows this RTX 3060 to reach the lowest temperatures we've seen out of any factory-built Nvidia GPU in a very long time. 

Guru3D reports that the Gaming X Trio features a 1320Mhz Base Clock and a 1852MHz Boost frequency. (The base clock appears incorrect, as that's the reference base clock, but perhaps Nvidia changed the way it handles base clocks.) The more important boost clock nets you an additional 72MHz overclock relative to the reference card, which still seems tame when looking at the Gaming X Trio cooler. By way of comparison, the Asus ROG Strix OC variant features a 1882MHz boost clock, plus a higher power limit.

There are benefits to going with modest specs and a massive cooler, of course.

MSI RTX 3060 Gaming X Trio

(Image credit: YouTube)
With its beefy triple-fan cooler, BPS Customs reports a peak temperature of just 47C with the 3060 Gaming X Trio, and a fan speed of just 48%, all while running Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K resolution for over an hour. Even if other games or settings reach slightly higher temperatures, that's still a phenomenal result.

Unfortunately, BPS Customs did not test any overclocking on the card whatsoever. Modern Nvidia GPUs scale very well when you keep temps very low, so we'd expect very good overclocking performance out of this card. That's assuming the restrictive power limit doesn't get in the way.

MSI RTX 3060 Gaming X Trio

(Image credit: YouTube)
Regarding actual performance, BPS Customs compared the Gaming X Trio to the older RTX 2060 Super and RTX 1650 Super. On average the RTX 2060 Super was just 3-4% slower than the MSI RTX 3060. That's similar to what we saw in our RTX 3060 review, and suggests relatively unimpressive stock performance. But those thermals make up for some of that. But then there's the price.

At $519 MSRP (yeah that's right: MSRP), the RTX 3060 Gaming X Trio is absurdly expensive. We'll have to see what actual street prices look like, and whether you can find one available for purchase. We all know that GPU prices are fantasy land right now, but that MSRP seems impossible to recommend under any normal circumstances.