The GeForce RTX 2060 is the mid-range performance class RTX graphics card from Nvidia. It shares the same GPU with the RTX 2070 but with of course, lower core count and the likes. On this review, we are taking a good look at the GALAX RTX 2060 1-Click OC. Essentially one of the most budget friendly models of the said graphics card with a few notable features up its sleeves.
The GALAX GeForce RTX 2060 1-Click OC is a dual 90mm fan model with a maximum of 1710MHz boost clock with the 1-click OC option enabled. Cooling is supplied by two heat-pipes bolted on the PCB, while power is provided via a 8-pin power connector.
Table of Contents
Technical Specifications
| GPU | |
| Model | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 |
| Cores | 1920 |
| Core Clock | 1365MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1695MHz, 1710MHz |
| Architecture | Turing, TU106 |
| Manufacturing Process | TSMC 12nm |
| TDP | 160W |
| Memory | |
| Memory Clock | 2000MHz |
| Memory Bus Width | 192-bit |
| Memory Capacity | 6GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 |
| Connectivity | |
| Display | DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, Dual-Link DVI-D |
| Power | 8-Pin |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 228mm |
| Width | 131.5mm |
| Height | 41.5mm |
| Weight | 750g |
Packaging and Accessories
The GALAX GeForce RTX 2060 1-Click OC comes with a standard sized packaging. The product comes with the following items inside:
- Molex to 8 pin adapter
- Quick Setup Guide
Design, Layout and Build Quality
The GALAX GeForce RTX 2060 1-Click OC is a standard sized graphics card. Styling is pretty much edgy and all over the place; but for the price, I’m not going to complain much.
The other side of the card had a perforated plate to keep the PCB protected from the elements. GALAX even went the extra mile to put a notice on how hot this side is when the card reaches its operating temperature.
Power on the other hand is provided by a single 8-pin connector. Also note that the VRM, together with the VRAM and GPU, are also cooled by the dual heat-pipe cooling solution. It’s just nice to see a thermal pad in there for good measure.
There are only 3 display options to choose from: A DisplayPort, an HDMI port and a single DVI port. In exchange for the few display options are the large rectangular array of holes for the ventilation.
Test Setup and Methodology
The system performance shall be evaluated by various benchmarking tools and applications. We are testing this system with the high-performance settings enabled at the OS, with the default UEFI configuration. Background processes such as anti-viruses and third-party applications are disabled as well.
| Test System Specifications | |
| CPU | Intel Core-i5 6600K |
| Motherboard | ASUS Z170-A |
| Cooler | Noctua NH-L9i |
| Memory | ADATA Premier DDR4 |
| GPU | ASUS ROG Strix GTX 1060 OC |
| Storage | Crucial BX200 480GB |
| Case | Thermaltake Core P3 |
| PSU | CORSAIR RM850X |
| Display | DELL U2715H |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 10 Pro |
Outlined below are the applications and benchmark tools for reference:
- Aida64 Extreme Edition – Stability Test
- 3DMARK 2013 – Firestrike Presets.
- Luxmark – OpenCL benchmark.
- Aida64 Extreme Edition – GPGPU Benchmark
- Overwatch – Ultra Settings, Render Scale 100%, V-SYNC off
- Battlefield 4 – Ultra Settings, V-SYNC off
- DIRT: Rally – Ultra Settings, V-SYNC off
- Project CARS – Maximum Settings, V-SYNC off
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Ultra Settings, FXAA off, V-SYNC off
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Ultra Settings, HairWorks off, V-SYNC off
Temperature, Power and Noise
The graphics card thermal figures are taken during a 15 minute idle and a 15 minute load via the AIDA64 Extreme Edition Stability Test. The ambient temperature is checked at 27°C (±1°C), with values extracted via HWiNFO and GPU-Z.
The total system power consumption are taken during a 15 minute idle and a 15 minute load via the AIDA64 Extreme Edition Stability Test. The measurements are taken by a watt-meter.
The graphics card noise levels are taken during a 15 minute idle and a 15 minute load via the AIDA64 Extreme Edition Stability Test. The ambient sound level is 34dBA (±1dBA), with measurements taken by a sound level meter situated exactly 12 inches away from the card.
Temperature wise, the GALAX GeForce RTX 2060 is among the least favorable cards we’ve got on the test bench at least when it is idling with a 48°C idle temperature. Load temperature is good though at 69°C. Power figures on the other hand are good – though I must say it is within the realm of the GTX 1070. As for the noise levels, thing’s are good when the card is idling but not so much when it is at full load. A good fan curve will at the very least, allow for better lower operating temperature with an acceptable noise level to boot.
Synthetic Performance
3DMark 2013 is a suite of benchmarks catered for the gamers and enthusiasts. The total system scores from each presets will be used.
LuxMark is an OpenCL cross-platform benchmark tool. The software has become one of the most popular OpenCL benchmarks over the past years.
The Aida64 Extreme Edition GPGPU Benchmark is designed to measure GPGPU computing performance via different workloads. Every benchmark methods are designed to work on up to 16 GPUs, including AMD, Intel and nVIDIA GPUs, in any combination.
At 3DMark Firestrike, the GALAX GeForce RTX 2060 showed that it could beat the GTX 1070 and the GTX 1070 Ti. Luxmark is same situation, while at AIDA64, it remained in-line with the GTX 1070’s performance.
Gaming Performance
Overwatch is Blizzard Entertainment’s critically acclaimed First Person Shooter, running on a custom game engine utilizing the DirectX 11 API. Settings are set to Ultra with a Render Scale set to 100%.
Battlefield 4 is Electronic Art’s popular First Person Shooter, running on the Frostbite 3 game engine developed by DICE utilizing the DirectX 11 and the Mantle API. Settings are set to Ultra.
DIRT: Rally is CODEMASTER’s take on the rally racing game genre. It utilizes the EGO game engine with support for the DirectX 11 API. Settings are set to Ultra.
Project CARS is Slightly Mad Studios’ latest simulation racing game, running on the Madness game engine utilizing DirectX 11 support. Settings are set to maximum.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda’s critically acclaimed Action Adventure RPG. Skyrim utilizes the Creation Engine with DirectX 10 support. Settings are set to Ultra with V-SYNC turned off.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is CDProjekt RED’s award winning Action Adventure RPG. The Witcher 3 utilizes the REDengine 3 with DirectX 11 support. Settings are set to Ultra.
Gaming wise at all resolutions tested, the GALAX GeForce RTX 2060 1-Click OC featured a better performance over the GTX 1070 at Overwatch, Battlefield 4 and the Witcher 3. It even managed to beat the GTX 1070 Ti at the latter – cumulatively. Project: CARS, Skyrim and DiRT: Rally showed lower performance results though.
Software and Features
The GALAX GeForce RTX 2060 1-Click OC comes equipped with a downloadable GALAX XTREME TUNER software. This is basically like any other GPU tweaking software with a one click solution for automated overclocking. Pressing the button alone will let the card reach a boost clock of 1710MHz. Not that far from the default boost frequency but it works nonetheless.
As for RGB lighting, the RTX 2060 from GALAX had a LED bar on its side, lighting up the company’s slogan. It defaults to a color cycle which is nice if you like RGB lighting.
As for the real-time ray-tracing and AI enhanced super-sampling, I have yet to take a plunge as far as testing goes. These are the GeForce RTX series’ most prominent features yet there aren’t many titles to choose from as of date.
Both features also had some issues with certain games and due to that, initial reception is not really what I expected in spite of their game changing attributes. We just have to wait a little more, I guess.
Final Thoughts
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 in the form of the GALAX RTX 2060 1-Click OC is a good proposal for those who are looking for a graphics card that could handle 1440P gaming without spending an extra. It is just as capable at 2160P at lower settings and is of course, more than enough to enjoy most titles at 1080P with a change to spare.
Product stacking wise, the RTX 2060 slots right in-between the GTX 1070 and the GTX 1070 Ti with an SRP of $349 USD. Undoubtedly, the lowest you could get to enter the realm of real-time ray tracing. To make things even better, this particular unit from GALAX retails for about 19480 Pesos. Among the cheapest, locally.
Of course, there are areas that could be improved upon. Fan curve could be a little better and that’s about it really. If you’re the kind of guy or gal who likes to tweak things, then this shouldn’t be a problem with a capable software in tow.
GALAX GeForce RTX 2060 1-Click OC
Summary
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 in the form of the GALAX RTX 2060 1-Click OC is a good proposal for those who are looking for a graphics card that could handle 1440P gaming without spending an extra. It is just as capable at 2160P at lower settings and is of course, more than enough to enjoy most titles at 1080P with a change to spare.
Pros
- Excellent 1440P gaming performance
- 2160P capable
- Excellent price point
- 1-Click OC is a plus
Cons
- Noise level at load
- Styling
