Tom’s Hardware’s December 31, 2018 report was substantially right about the GeForce RTX 2060. It predicted a January 15, 2019 retail launch, a $349 U.S. price, 6GB of GDDR6 and performance around the GTX 1070 Ti. NVIDIA announced the card one day earlier than the leak predicted—January 6—and confirmed the main specifications and price. The leaked frame rates, however, were alleged NVIDIA reviewer-guide results reproduced from VideoCardz, not independent Tom’s Hardware testing.
What the December 2018 leak claimed
The report described the RTX 2060 as a lower-priced Turing card using NVIDIA’s TU106 GPU. According to the leaked material, NVIDIA would announce it on January 7, 2019, sell it from January 15, and price both the Founders Edition and custom cards at $349. The $349 figure was a U.S. launch MSRP, not a current price.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
GPVHOSO RTX 2060 8GB Super Graphics Card 256Bit GDDR6, | $239.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
msi Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDRR6 192-bit HDMI/DP 1710 MHz Boost Clock Ray Tracing Turing... | $338.00 | Buy on Amazon |
- 1,920 CUDA cores, 240 Tensor cores and 30 RT cores
- 6GB of GDDR6 memory at 14Gbps on a 192-bit bus
- A single 8-pin power connector on the reported Founders Edition design
- Two DisplayPort 1.4 outputs, HDMI 2.0b, DVI-D and USB-C/VirtualLink on that reported design
- Performance broadly comparable to a GeForce GTX 1070 Ti
For Battlefield V, the leaked figures ranged from 65 frames per second at 1080p with ray tracing enabled and DLSS disabled to 88 fps with DLSS enabled. Those numbers were presented as a demonstration rather than a universal result for every system or setting.
Leak versus the final launch
| Leaked claim | What happened | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| January 7, 2019 announcement | NVIDIA announced the card on January 6, 2019, during CES | Nearly correct |
| January 15 retail availability | Global availability began January 15 | Confirmed |
| $349 price | Founders Edition launched at $349 in the United States | Confirmed as launch MSRP |
| 6GB GDDR6 | The standard RTX 2060 launched with 6GB GDDR6 | Confirmed |
| 1,920 CUDA, 240 Tensor and 30 RT cores | NVIDIA confirmed all three counts | Confirmed |
| GTX 1070 Ti-class performance | NVIDIA claimed the RTX 2060 could outperform the GTX 1070 Ti | Directionally confirmed, but the claim was first-party |
| 65–88 fps Battlefield V ray tracing/DLSS results | NVIDIA promoted 60-fps-class ray tracing performance | Directionally consistent, not independently verified |
NVIDIA’s official announcement confirmed the $349 MSRP, January 15 availability, 6GB memory, 1,920 CUDA cores, 240 Tensor cores, 30 RT cores and a 1.68GHz reference boost clock. It also confirmed ray tracing and DLSS support and availability through add-in-board partners, system builders and OEMs. See NVIDIA’s launch announcement and its specification announcement.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →#1 Best Overall
- Enhanced Performance: The RTX 2060 Super delivers exceptional gaming performance with 8GB of GDDR6 memory and a boost clock speed of up to 1650 MHz. It efficiently handles modern gaming titles at high settings, making it ideal for gamers seeking an immersive experience.
- Real-Time Ray Tracing: Equipped with Turing architecture, the RTX 2060 Super supports real-time ray tracing technology. This feature allows for realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections, enhancing visual fidelity in supported games and applications.
- VR Ready: The RTX 2060 Super is optimized for virtual reality (VR) experiences, providing low-latency and high-performance rendering. Gamers can enjoy an immersive VR environment with smooth graphics and responsive gameplay.
- DLSS Support: The graphics card supports Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), which utilizes AI rendering to produce sharp images and increase frame rates without compromising quality. This technology ensures smoother gameplay, particularly at higher resolutions.
- Multiple Display Outputs**: With support for up to three displays, the RTX 2060 Super offers versatile connectivity options. It includes DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0b outputs, enabling multi-monitor setups for enhanced productivity or gaming immersion.
What the leaked benchmark table showed
Tom’s Hardware reproduced alleged NVIDIA reviewer-guide results comparing the RTX 2060 with the GTX 1080, GTX 1070 Ti, GTX 1070 and GTX 1060. The reported test platform used an Intel Core i7-7900X and 16GB of DDR4 memory.
Selected 1080p results
| Game or test | RTX 2060 result |
|---|---|
| Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation | 55 fps |
| Battlefield 1 | 154 fps |
| Battlefield V, ray tracing off | 110 fps |
| Battlefield V, RT Medium | 66 fps |
| Battlefield V, RT Ultra | 58 fps |
| Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | 81 fps |
| Doom 4 | 154 fps |
| Far Cry 5 | 101 fps |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 59 fps |
| The Witcher 3 | 94 fps |
| Wolfenstein II | 138 fps |
Selected 1440p results
| Game or test | RTX 2060 result |
|---|---|
| Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation | 48 fps |
| Battlefield 1 | 114 fps |
| Battlefield V, ray tracing off | 85 fps |
| Battlefield V, RT Medium | 53 fps |
| Battlefield V, RT Ultra | 43 fps |
| Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | 55 fps |
| Far Cry 5 | 77 fps |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 38 fps |
| The Witcher 3 | 70 fps |
| Wolfenstein II | 94 fps |
How much confidence should you place in those numbers?
The figures are useful historical evidence for the RTX 2060’s performance tier, but they are not a substitute for an independent review. The report attributed the table to an NVIDIA reviewer guide obtained by VideoCardz and reproduced by Tom’s Hardware. The published material does not fully establish driver versions, game patches, image-quality settings, BIOS or power limits, clock behavior, minimum frame rates or frame-time consistency.
DLSS results also should not be compared directly with native-rendering results without noting the image reconstruction involved. “Up to” results, including the Battlefield V DLSS figure, describe a favorable test condition rather than a guaranteed frame rate. NVIDIA’s later performance messaging is valuable for launch positioning, but it is also first-party marketing.
What NVIDIA said at launch
NVIDIA positioned the RTX 2060 as a 1080p, maximum-settings card capable of around 60 fps and as a strong high-settings 1440p option. The company said it was approximately 60 percent faster than the GTX 1060 in current titles and could exceed GTX 1070 Ti performance. Its driver announcement explains that positioning at NVIDIA’s GeForce News page.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →The card brought first-generation hardware ray tracing and DLSS below the RTX 2070. NVIDIA also offered Anthem or Battlefield V as a limited-time launch bundle; that promotion was not a permanent feature of the hardware. The exact connector and port layout could vary among board partners, so photographs of one Founders Edition should not be treated as the specification for every custom card.
Rank #2
- Memory Speed:14 Gbps.Digital Max Resolution:7680x4320
- Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
- Video Memory: 6GB GDDR6
- Memory Interface: 192-bit
- Output: DisplayPort x 3 (v1.4a) / HDMI 2.0b x 1
What the RTX 2060 means for a buyer in 2026
As of August 18, 2026, the RTX 2060 is a discontinued, legacy-generation GPU. Its 6GB frame buffer is increasingly restrictive in newer games, especially at 1440p, high texture settings or with ray tracing. Its first-generation RT hardware is also far slower than current generations, and it does not support newer RTX 50-series capabilities such as DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation.
When a used RTX 2060 can make sense
- You need an inexpensive upgrade for older games at 1080p.
- The card is substantially below its $349 launch MSRP and well below the price of a new current-generation card.
- The listing identifies the exact model, cooler, power connector, condition, warranty and return terms.
- You can check for mining wear, fan noise, thermal throttling and sustained-load stability.
When to choose a newer card
NVIDIA lists the RTX 5060 with a $299 starting price and explicitly presents it as an upgrade path for RTX 2060 owners. It uses Blackwell, 8GB of GDDR7, 3,840 CUDA cores, fourth-generation RT cores, fifth-generation Tensor cores and DLSS 4, with a stated 145W total graphics power and 550W recommended system power. See the RTX 5060 launch information and family specifications.
The RTX 4060 is another possible alternative when discounted below the RTX 5060. It has 8GB of GDDR6 and Ada Lovelace features, including DLSS 3-era frame generation, but lacks Blackwell’s newer feature set. NVIDIA’s comparison material is available in its RTX 4060 guide.
Important limits on the original report
- The January 7 announcement prediction was one day late.
- $349 described the U.S. launch MSRP, not every factory-overclocked or premium-cooled custom card.
- Speculation about 3GB or 4GB variants did not describe the standard launch RTX 2060.
- The Battlefield V results were leaked guide figures, not independent retail-card tests.
- The RTX 2060 should not be confused with the later RTX 2060 SUPER, which had different specifications and a $399 starting price.
- Old 2019 benchmark results cannot predict performance in current games with newer engines, patches and VRAM requirements.
Verdict
The Tom’s Hardware leak was unusually accurate on the RTX 2060’s launch window, price and core hardware. Its January 7 date became January 6, while January 15 availability and the $349 MSRP were confirmed. The benchmark table correctly indicated a GTX 1070 Ti-class performance tier, but its reviewer-guide provenance and incomplete methodology mean the individual frame rates should be treated as attributed pre-release evidence, not independent test results. In 2026, buy an RTX 2060 only as a heavily discounted, verified used card; near the RTX 5060’s stated $299 starting price, the newer GPU is the more sensible default.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
