CES 2019: Nvidia's RTX 2060 Revealed With Release Date And Price

Nvidia revealed a new video card, the GeForce RTX 2060, during its live press conference to kick off CES 2019 on Sunday evening. It joins the RTX 20-series family next week--its release date is set for January 15--and pricing for RTX 2060 cards will start at $350, though exact prices will vary depending on model and manufacturer.

Many claims were made at CES about the performance of the RTX 2060, and it is said on par with or better than the GTX 1070 Ti (see our review of the 1070 Ti to get an idea of its performance). According to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, the GeForce RTX 2060 can handle Battlefield V at 1440p resolution with an average of 60 FPS. Several benchmarks and metrics were shown; compared to the GTX 1060, last generation's mid-range card, the RTX 2060 can perform between 1.4 to about 1.9 times better at 1440p with high settings (depending on the game).

Nvidia's RTX line of video cards boasts the ability to efficiently perform real-time ray tracing, which translates to reflections, lighting, shadows that more accurately resemble the real world. Previous video cards have difficulty with ray tracing because of how demanding it is, but GeForce RTX cards feature RT Cores that specifically perform ray tracing as to not impact overall framerate. RTX cards can also use an AI-based antialiasing method called DLSS, which offers a cleaner image with minimal performance loss.

To sweeten the deal, Nvidia is included some high-profile games along with the purchase of an RTX video card. If you buy an RTX 2060 or RTX 2070, you can choose either Battlefield V or the upcoming shooter Anthem in a bundle. Those who buy an RTX 2080 or RTX 2080 Ti will get both games bundled.

The GeForce RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti were first launched in September last year, and we reviewed both cards. Be sure to check out our RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti review to see how these new cards stacked against the previous generation's GTX 1080 Ti.