Recently, graphics card modder and YouTuber Paul Gomes Video published So he converted one of the best GPUs, the RTX 3060 8GB, into its faster, higher-capacity RTX 3060 12GB sibling. The modifications required adding two more memory ICs to the PCB and adjusting some capacitors to enable the desired memory channels. Ultimately, the 12GB configuration significantly improved his GPU’s performance.
Last year, Nvidia quietly released a second iteration of the RTX 3060 for the desktop market known as the RTX 3060 8GB. This model downgraded the memory configuration from 12GB running on a 192-bit wide bus to 8GB running on a 128-bit bus, presumably to reduce cost. But despite this, current GPU prices for 8GB versions are generally no cheaper than 12GB. That’s despite the fact that the 8GB is noticeably slower than his 12GB version due to reduced memory bandwidth.
Apart from the mod adding two more memory ICs to the PCB of the RTX 3060 8GB, some transistors need to be manipulated and the BIOS needs to be swapped to be able to recognize the new module. Gomes first prepares two of his four empty slots on the PCB and then he adds two ICs. He then attaches the IC by pressurizing and heating the contact points between the chip and his PCB.
Gomes next melts down some of the registers that control the card’s memory system so that the GPU can detect the new memory module. Then install a new BIOS on the RTX 3060 that supports the new module. Presumably Gomes is using his BIOS on his RTX 3060 12GB version of the card.
Even in situations where the extra 4 GB of VRAM was not used, the extra memory IC significantly improved performance. Gomes tested the newly modified GPU on his Unigine. Superpositionand The Last of Us Part 1, which improved performance by 22% and 12%, respectively. Especially with The Last of Us Part 1, VRAM usage jumped from 7.6 GB on the original 8 GB configuration to 10.29 GB on the modified 12 GB configuration.
Modifying the RTX 3060 8GB with 12GB of VRAM would not be the best way to get the performance of the RTX 3060 12GB. Especially if both cards cost the same (at least in the US). But this mod is pretty cool, and if you play with the right equipment and the right GPU model (with various BIOSes with multiple supported memory configurations), Nvidia’s GPUs are actually It shows how customizable it is.
