Nvidia confirms new RTX 2060 Super 12GB in new driver release

An RTX 2060 Super against a pink background
(Image credit: Future)

Nvidia confirmed this week that its RTX 2060 Super 12GB is on the way, though the chip maker was pretty low key about it.

On page four of the release notes for its Windows driver version 497.09 that Nvidia just posted, listed under the "New Features and Other Changes" subhead says the update "added support for the GeForce RTX 2060 12GB".

What the new release notes doesn't do is say anything else about the new card, and as Videocardz notes, neither does the official blog post that goes along with the new driver release.

The RTX 2060 Super 12GB will sport the same TU106 GPU as the original RTX 2060 Super, so will stick with 2,176 CUDA cores, as opposed to the 1,920 in the original RTX 2060. The new RTX 2060 Super 12GB will have 4GB more RAM than the previous 2060 Super, which had 8GB VRAM. That puts the new 2060 Super SKU with double the VRAM as the original RTX 2060.

Given that is listed in this latest driver release, the expected release date of December 7 looks to be on track, though there is no official word either way.


Analysis: well, it's something?

With all of the trouble we've had over the past year trying to find a new graphics card, you could be forgiven for feeling a certain amount of bitterness over the rerelease of an older graphics card as a consolation for not being able to buy the newer ones.

Still, for a lot of people who skipped the Turing-era graphics cards entirely and have been playing on older GTX chips while they waited to upgrade their systems, this might be something that could tide them over until stock becomes more plentiful (assuming that cryptominers don't buy up all these cards, too) .

Still, it's pretty cold comfort for PC gamers out there. We really don't know what to tell you, other than the RTX 2060 Super is a fantastic graphics card, especially if you're coming from the older GTX models, it just might not be what you really want. 

John Loeffler
Components Editor

John (He/Him) is the Components Editor here at TechRadar and he is also a programmer, gamer, activist, and Brooklyn College alum currently living in Brooklyn, NY. 


Named by the CTA as a CES 2020 Media Trailblazer for his science and technology reporting, John specializes in all areas of computer science, including industry news, hardware reviews, PC gaming, as well as general science writing and the social impact of the tech industry.


You can find him online on Threads @johnloeffler.


Currently playing: Baldur's Gate 3 (just like everyone else).