Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 12GB GDDR6

The RTX 2060 12GB scores in the 2nd percentile for raster performance and efficiency, which is about as bad as it gets. The 12GB of GDDR6 is the one bright spot, landing at the 50th percentile for VRAM. At 799 EUR in Europe, it's a terrible value unless you find it used for way less.

Let's talk numbers. The raster performance score is 2nd percentile. Two. That means 98% of the GPUs in our database render traditional games faster than this card. For 1080p gaming specifically, the score drops to 16.6 out of 100, which is a weak spot by any measure. The 12GB of GDDR6 helps with texture-heavy titles and some productivity tasks, but the Turing architecture underneath just can't push frames the way modern cards do. The dual fan cooler keeps thermals at the 43rd percentile, which is about average, so at least it won't cook itself.

Efficiency is another sore point, also sitting at the 2nd percentile. You're getting very little performance per watt compared to anything from the RTX 40 or 50 series. Connectivity is the 5th percentile, so don't expect a rich port selection. The AI score of 32.8 out of 100 puts it at the 49th percentile, which sounds okay until you realize that's middle of the pack for a card that was never designed for AI workloads in the first place. It's fine for tinkering, not for anything serious.

Stacked against the competition, this card gets embarrassed. The ASUS PRIME RTX 5080, MSI Ventus RTX 5070 Ti, ZOTAC APOCALYPSE, Sapphire NITRO+, and PNY ARGB OC are all in a completely different universe. Those cards sit at the top of our raster and RT charts while this 2060 sits at the 2nd and 7th percentiles respectively. The 12GB of VRAM is the only spec where it doesn't get completely lapped, and even then it's just average. The MSI Ventus 5070 Ti has 16GB and vastly better efficiency. The Sapphire NITRO+ brings AMD's raster strength to the table. There's no matchup here where the 2060 wins. It's not a fair fight, and that's the point.

Pricing is all over the place. In Europe you're looking at 799 EUR across Spain, France, and Italy, which is frankly absurd for a card this old. That's mid-range RTX 40 series money for bottom-tier performance. In Japan it's listed at 168,800 JPY, which is a different conversation entirely given the currency difference. The affordability score of 43.7 out of 100 puts it at the 51st percentile, so it's not even a standout budget option. You're paying for the 12GB of VRAM, not for speed. If you can find this card used for a fraction of the list price, maybe. At these numbers, no.

The Gigabyte RTX 2060 12GB is a weird little card. It's got more VRAM than the original 2060, which is nice, but the rest of the package feels dated. Our database puts its 1080p gaming score at a rough 16.6 out of 100, which lands it in the bottom 2% of all cards we've tested. That's not a typo. The 12GB of GDDR6 is the one spec that keeps it from being completely forgettable, sitting right at the 50th percentile for VRAM. But memory alone doesn't save a card when the silicon behind it is showing its age.

Ray tracing is technically here, but it's more of a checkbox than a feature. The RT score sits at the 7th percentile, meaning you can flip the switch in a few games and then immediately flip it back off when the framerate tanks. If you're hunting for a budget card in 2025, this thing is priced like a mid-range option in some regions and performs like a card from 2019. Because it is one.

Skip this card if you care about gaming performance, efficiency, or ray tracing. The 2nd percentile raster score means it lags behind nearly everything we've tested. The 2nd percentile efficiency means it draws more power than it should for the frames it produces. And the 7th percentile RT score means ray tracing is a slideshow. If you're building a new system, even a budget one, there are better options. The only reason to consider this card is if you specifically need 12GB of VRAM on the cheap and you find it used at a fraction of the 799 EUR list price.

The Gigabyte RTX 2060 12GB is a card for a very specific buyer: someone who needs more than 8GB of VRAM, doesn't care about ray tracing, and finds one used at a steep discount. The 2nd percentile raster score and 2nd percentile efficiency make it hard to recommend at the listed prices. The 12GB of memory is genuinely useful for texture mods and some workstation tasks, but the workstation score of 31.2 out of 100 tells you it's not a productivity champ either. If you're building a budget gaming rig in 2025, save your money for something newer, even if it means less VRAM. This card's best days are behind it.