Introduction
Note: This review was originally published September 8th, 2020 prior to the RTX 30 release. It has since been updated with our charts including the RTX 3080. GALAX cards are grouped and were taken prior to the new chart format but the benchmark is still the same as the new format.
GALAX is one of those companies that outside of their high-end HOF line, still can’t nail down a series that will stick and so they bring out the design shotgun and pump out a wide range of products. This week, we’ll take a look at a couple of RTX 20 series cards from GALAX from their RTX 2070 SUPER, 2060 SUPER and 2060 lineup for review. As the RTX 20 series cards are at their last hurrah, vendors are still being creative with their marketing to push out stocks to gamers that are not intending to jump into the latest generation cards.
That said, in this series of review we’ll take a look at four GALAX cards:
- GALAX RTX 2070 SUPER Work The Frames (WTF) Edition
- GALAX RTX 2060 SUPER Gamer 1-Click OC Edition
- GALAX RTX 2060 SUPER 1-Click OC Edition
- GALAX RTX 2060 EX White 1-Click OC Edition
This review covers the entry-level option from GALAX in their RTX 2060 SUPER line-up, the RTX 2060 SUPER 1-Click OC. Effectively a reference card with a slight OC bump, this card serves as their bargain-basement option (depends on your market region) but is effectively target the market space that Palit and Zotac filled in years past but with both players focusing on their signature gaming lineup, their value segment has been left with a chance where GALAX is happy to fill-in.
About the GALAX RTX 2060 SUPER 1-Click OC
The RTX 2060 SUPER displaced the RTX 2060 when it released and offered a slightly better-performance option versus its previous counterpart. The RTX 2060 SUPER has a default clock of 1470Mhz and a boost clock of 1650Mhz.
The GALAX RTX 2060 SUPER 1-Click OC is one many variants from GALAX, joining the likes of the EX and GAMER line along with a few more, its certainly of their more value-to-performance option out there.
The GALAX RTX 2060 SUPER 1-Click features a light overclock on the boost clock at 1665Mhz. Nothing special but the card is aimed at being a modest RTX 2060. The cooler itself is light and features a relatively light-plastic shroud as well. The 90mm fans feature an idle fan setting which allows the fan to stop at a certain thermal target.
Test Setup and Methodology
Processor: Intel Core i9 10900K
Motherboard: ASUS ProArt Z490 Creator 10G
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-3600 16GB
Storage: Patriot VPN100 1TB M.2 NVme
PSU:Â Seasonic Platinum 1050w
Cooling: Corsair H150i
Monitor: ROG PG27UQ 4K 144hz HDR1000
VGA: Listed
Note: This review was originally published September 8th, 2020. It has since been updated with our charts including the RTX 3080.
For a full-hardware workout, visit https://benchmarks.ul.com for our system warm-up and stress test of choice.
For benchmarking methodology please see our game benchmark method guide.
We’re working with CapFrameX to deliver this review to you.
Since this is a GPU review, we benchmarked the area of the games that put heavy load on the GPU.
All our test runs are repeatable, click the links below for area and details. Read our benchmarking methodology.
- DOTA2 – Kiev Major Grand Finals Game 5: OG vs Virtus.Pro (54:05 – 55:05)
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive: FPS Benchmark Workshop Map
- The Witcher 3 – Woesong Bridge
- Grand Theft Auto V – Palomino Highlands
- Rainbow Six: Siege – Benchmark Mode
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider – Kuwaq Yaqu
- Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 – Fog of War
- Monster Hunter World: Iceborne – Wildspire Waste
- F1 2020: Benchmark Mode (Australia)
See our Youtube playlist for benchmark sequences.
Note: Some proprietary technologies of NVIDIA like PCSS, HBAO+, and HairWorks work on AMD GPU’s BUT to maintain uniformity amongst GPUs, these have been turned OFF.
You can click on any of the benchmark charts enlarge. You can also move forward and backwards to quickly navigate through our charts via gallery view. For this test, only the out-of-box normal mode will be tested.
Power Draw, Clock Speed and Temperature
We’ll switch things up and open with the power and temperature behavior of the graphics card first. We use Final Fantasy XV Benchmark to simulate a gaming workload but for those looking extreme loads, we do put our cards through Kombustor on first installation for stress testing to check for stability. For our reviews though, we use Final Fantasy XV to simulate a true gaming scenario. Power draw is captured inline via PCAT or Powenetics so no other components affects readings. Readings are taken from the average 15 min idle readings for both load and idle. Ambient temperature is kept at 28*C.
Test Setup and Methodology
Processor: Intel Core i9 10900K
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-3600 32GB
Storage: Patriot Viper VPN4100 1TB Gen4 M.2
PSU:Â Seasonic Platinum 1050w
Cooling: Corsair H150i Pro 360mm AIO
Monitor: ROG PG27UQ 4K 144hz HDR1000
VGA: Listed
For a full-hardware workout, visit https://benchmarks.ul.com for our system warm-up and stress test of choice.
For benchmarking methodology please see our game benchmark method guide.
Test results are gathered and produced on CapFrameX.
Since this is a GPU review, we benchmarked the area of the games that put heavy load on the GPU.
All our test runs are repeatable, click the links below for area and details. Read our benchmarking methodology.
- DOTA2 – Kiev Major Grand Finals Game 5: OG vs Virtus.Pro (54:05 – 55:05)
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive: FPS Benchmark Workshop Map
- The Witcher 3 – Woesong Bridge
- Grand Theft Auto V – Palomino Highlands
- Rainbow Six: Siege – Benchmark Mode
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider – Kuwaq Yaqu
- Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 – Fog of War
- Monster Hunter World: Iceborne – Wildspire Waste
- F1 2020 – Benchmark Mode
See our Youtube playlist for benchmark sequences.
Note: Some proprietary technologies of NVIDIA like PCSS, HBAO+, and HairWorks work on AMD GPU’s BUT to maintain uniformity amongst GPUs, these have been turned OFF. The AMD equivalent of these features are disabled as well.
You can click on any of the benchmark charts enlarge. You can also move forward and backwards to quickly navigate through our charts via gallery view. For this test, only the out-of-box normal mode will be tested.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, popularly known as CSGO, competes for Steam’s most popular game. It has found a resurgence in its popularity and has recently peaked in 2020 in the number of players that play the game. Based on Valve’s Source Engine, the game received major asset overhauls during the years since its inception nearly 10 years ago. Still, it’s a light game and can be played on fairly lighter systems but the competitive scene for CSGO has seen average players demand high FPS from their systems thus gaining favorable standing with GPU vendors just from the demand for higher FPS alone. CSGO is a game that can easily go past 500FPS on enthusiast systems on maximum settings. We’re including CSGO as requested by our community.
API: DirectX9 (default)
Maximum In-Game Settings
Texture Streaming Disabled
Vsync OFF
DOTA 2
Note: JUNE 2020 – DOTA2 has recently implemented a transition from DirectX9 to DirectX11 and new install of the game will prompt users to switch from DX9 to DX11. With that said, we are testing DOTA2 in DX11 from now on.
In contention for the most popular game on Steam and the biggest competition in eSports: DOTA 2 is powered by the Source 2 engine. The game is fairly light on low to medium settings but maxed out, with heavy action on screen especially during clashes, can really stress most systems. This is a game where frame times matter as responsiveness is very important in high-stakes competition. We’re looking at consistently low frametimes in this game for the best experience
Our test uses actual game replay, using the segment from game 5 of the Kiev Major 2017 Grand Finals between OG and VP. The clash during the 54:05 to 55:05 of the game is a nice example of how much a system will get punished during intense team fights in DOTA2.
You can watch the replay of the actual game used in the benchmark here in Youtube or download the replay file here for your DOTA2 client: Game 3149572447. (save it to your DOTA2 replays folder)
API: DirectX11 (default)
Best-Looking slider setting (Ultra)
FPS_MAX 240
Vsync OFF
Rainbow Six: Siege
Nearly 4 years later and Rainbow Six: Siege has become a phenomenon after a lukewarm beginning. The massive shift in focus of the game sees it stepping into eSports territory and the excellent mix of gameplay mechanics, good design and a dedicated dev team has put R6: Siege in a position it couldn’t even picture during launch. Rainbow Six: Siege focuses heavily on tactical and creative gameplay and its vertical levels and highly destructible maps encourage players to be quick on their feet so the action is always going. Powered by Ubisoft’s own AnvilNext 2.0 engine which powers some of Ubi’s recent visual masterpieces, R6:Siege also feature excellent graphics and can get very taxing at high detail settings. The game also features an Ultra HD texture pack download for those that want higher resolution textures but will of course demand more from the system.
API: DirectX 11
Ultra Settings
Anti Aliasing: TAA
Ultra HD Texture pack not installed
Ambient Occlusion: SSBC
Vsync OFF
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CD Projekt Red’s latest installment in the Witcher saga features one of the most graphically intense offering the company has to date. As Geralt of Rivia, slay monsters, beasts and men as you unravel the mysteries of your past. Vast worlds and lush sceneries make this game a visual feast and promises to make any system crawl at its highest settings. This game has found great resurgence in its playerbase thanks to the release of Netflix’ Witcher series.
API: DirectX 11
Frame Rate: Unlimited
Nvidia HairWorks: Off
Ultra Settings
Motion Blur: Off
Blur: Off
Anti-aliasing: On
Bloom: On
Sharpening: High
Ambient Occlusion: SSAO
Depth of Field: On
Chromatic Aberration: Off
Vignetting: On
Light Shafts: On
VSync OFF
Grand Theft Auto V
The fifth and most successful installment to date in the highly controversial Grand Theft Auto series brings a graphical overhaul to the PC version of GTA V which many have lauded as a superior approach in porting a console game to PC. Featuring large areas and detailing, GTA V is a highly challenging application in terms of scene complexity.
Our benchmark uses a run from Palomina Highlands running through a lush area to a remote road all the way to a neighborhood in our car to simulate multiple scene changes.
API: DirectX 11
FXAA Off
MSAA 4x
TXAA Off
Very High settings
Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
Motion Blur disabled
Advanced Graphics enabled
Vsync OFF
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
API: DirectX 12
Graphics Settings Preset: Highest
Texture Quality: Ultra
Texture Filtering: 8x Anisotropic
Anti-Aliasing: TAA
DLSS: OFF
Raytraced Shadow: OFF
Vsync OFF
Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019)
Call of Duty Modern Warfare is a reboot of the original Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare storyline, set in a different world where you, along with Captain Price have to stop the world from going to war. Call of Duty Modern Warfare reignites the franchise by introducing full crossplay support where Xbox and PS4 players can play together with PC players. On PC, the game features a new engine pushing photorealism for COD far beyond what their older engine is capable of. The new engine also introduces raytracing and the AI is designed to perceive light as well. With a revitalized multiplayer arena, the game will require fast frame rates.
API: DirectX 12
Render Resolution: 100%
Texture Resolution: High
Texture Filter Anisotropic: High
Particle Quality: High
Tessellation: All
Shadow Map Resolution: Extra
Particle Lighting: Ultra
DirectX Raytracing: OFF
Ambient Occlusion: Both
Anti-Aliasing: Filmic SMAA T2X
World Motion Blur: Off
Vsync: OFF
Shaders Installed before benchmarks*
Conclusion
The RTX 2060 SUPER sits in a tough spot wherein gamers that want a taste of raytracing feels its quite weak for the task but and the performance is not worth it but for gamers that only want a dig at esports games, a GTX 1660 SUPER usually does the job. Still, barring raytracing, an RTX 2060 SUPER is still a performance workhorse for its price. For 1080p gamers looking to max out their 144hz monitor at a sub-Php20,000 price range, the GALAX RTX 2060 SUPER 1-Click OC offers a good starting point. GALAX has plenty of other option, but this model is the most vanilla of them all.
The slight OC does give it some flex but manual OC should take the card further and while the cooling isn’t that extravagant nor ornate, but doesn’t look too bad either. The main highlight here is definitely the pricing which at around PHP20,000 is a very attractive price point for those that would want performance above the GTX line but don’t want to touch on the RTXÂ 2070 margin.
Again, the GALAX RTX 2060 SUPER 1-Click OC is vanilla as they come but performance satisfies and the size lends itself nicely to compact builds. There’s not a lot to gloat about this card but there’s also not a lot you can complain about which makes it a good recommendation for penny-pinching builds that are just one the brink of falling down the GTX line. Simple yet effective, the GALAX RTX 2060 SUPER 1-Click OC is a good, basic card for those who want an alternative from the likes of Palit or ZOTAC graphics cards.
GALAX backs the RTX 2060 SUPER 1-Click OC with a 3-year warranty. I give it a B2G Best Value Award!