VIK-on is a Russian modder and repair specialist, renowned for upgrading RTX 2070 and RTX 3070 graphics cards to 16GB of VRAM. And this time, he has used his wizardry to double the VRAM capacity of an RTX 2060.
Nvidia is supposed to be releasing a true RTX 2060 12GB SKU shortly, so his timing is ideal. VIK-on has given us a sneak peek at what the RTX 2060 12GB’s additional memory may bring with the 12GB mod.
VIK-on opted to modify an Asus RTX 2060 Turbo that had its power supply system restored with a new phase. He used Samsung K4ZAF325BM-HC14 ICs with a capacity of 2GB for memory. The regular card already has 1GB ICs, so all you have to do now is swap out the 1GB ICs for the Samsung 2GB Ics.
Do note that the memory IC changes like this aren’t compatible with every memory chip available. This is because each GPU can only use a certain amount of memory chips, and those specs are rarely made public. This helps to understand why memory conversions like this are so uncommon.
Reportedly, VIK-on ran Superposition and an Ethereum miner after reassembling the card to test if there were any performance advantages above the 6GB model, which there weren’t. The 6GB device performed as well in both the Superposition and mining tests.
However, the extra 6GB of RAM is only a capacity boost and won’t improve performance if GPU memory remains below 6GB. However, you should see a speed boost in programs that use more than 6GB of VRAM.
The extra 6GB of VRAM might be useful for gaming as well, depending on the games you play. AAA games from 2021, like Battlefield 2042, are already driving the current 6GB 2060 to its knees if the visual settings are cranked up too much. As a result, increasing VRAM size would address the problem.
This might be the reason Nvidia is believed to be re-releasing the RTX 2060 with a new 12GB option, although this is just wild speculation. It’s rumoured that the card will be available in January 2022 and will serve as a replacement for the RTX 3050/3050 Ti in the entry-level GPU market, due to TSMC’s largely underused 12nm process, which makes the RTX 2060 cards relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
