I wanted a simple before and after test, so I took the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G, pulled my editing computer into DaVinci Resolve, and compared it against the GTX 1060 that was already in the machine. This was not a benchmark chart. I used the kind of footage that actually slows me down when I am trying to edit.
The test file came from my Panasonic Lumix GH5. It was 5K footage shot at 24 frames per second in anamorphic mode, with a resolution shown as 4992 by 3744. The clip was about 20 minutes long and around 27 GB. That is a heavy file, but it is also a real editing problem: if the computer cannot play it smoothly, I either have to wait on proxies or fight the timeline.
What I tested
I started with the GTX 1060 and dropped the 5K GH5 footage into DaVinci Resolve. I first left the timeline at 1080p, because that is already an easier job than asking the computer to play everything back on a 4K timeline. Then I scrubbed through the clip and played it back while recording with OBS Studio.
After that, I changed the timeline to 4K, or Ultra HD, and tried the same footage again. Once I had that baseline, I installed the Gigabyte RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G. This is the 12 GB version with three cooling fans and the overclock edition branding. Then I went back to the same project, same footage, and checked playback and scrubbing again.
The GTX 1060 result
With the GTX 1060, the 5K footage did not feel usable even on the 1080p timeline. When I hit play, DaVinci Resolve showed about 14.6 frames per second, and the red performance dot was showing. Real time playback should have been 24 frames per second, but it was not getting there.
The footage skipped around and looked jittery. Scrubbing through the timeline was not smooth either. That matters because scrubbing is what I do constantly while editing, and if the computer cannot keep up, the whole job slows down.
Switching the timeline to 4K made it worse. The same 5K clip on a 4K timeline was significantly more choppy. At that point the GTX 1060 was not just a little slow, it was the kind of slow that pushes me toward making proxy files.
Why proxies matter here
Proxies are a workaround. I can convert the camera footage into an easier format for the CPU and GPU, and that gives smoother playback. The problem is time. For a 20 minute clip like this one, I said it could take maybe 40 minutes, an hour, or even longer to transcode it before editing smoothly.
That waiting time is exactly what I wanted to avoid. If a graphics card upgrade lets me work with the original footage directly, that saves more than just playback frustration. It saves the time I would have spent preparing files before I could really edit.
The RTX 3060 result
After installing the Gigabyte RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G, the difference was obvious. I went back into DaVinci Resolve with the same exact footage, and I did not switch down to a 1080p timeline. I left it on the 4K timeline with the 5K file.
Scrubbing through the timeline looked smooth. That is the harder part of the test, because scrubbing usually hits the system harder than just pressing play. Then I played the clip back, and the playback stayed smooth enough that it felt like the upgrade had solved the real problem I was trying to fix.
My verdict
For this DaVinci Resolve test, the Gigabyte RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G was a big upgrade over the GTX 1060. The old card struggled with 5K GH5 footage even on a 1080p timeline, and it got worse on 4K. The RTX 3060 handled the same footage smoothly on a 4K timeline.
If you are editing heavy camera files and you are tired of waiting on proxies just to get smooth playback, this card is worth considering. I think the RTX 3060 with 12 GB of RAM is a fantastic value for this kind of editing workload.
Pros & Cons
What I liked
- Smooth playback with the same 5K GH5 footage on a 4K timeline
- 12 GB of RAM gives it more headroom than the old GTX 1060 setup
- Timeline scrubbing felt smooth after the upgrade
- Helped avoid the proxy workflow that can take 40 minutes to an hour or more
What to watch out for
- The test was focused on DaVinci Resolve editing, not a full gaming benchmark
- The GTX 1060 comparison system struggled so badly that this was not a close match
- No exact RTX 3060 playback frame rate was shown after the upgrade
The Verdict
The Gigabyte RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G is an easy buy-if for me: buy it if your current card struggles with heavy DaVinci Resolve timelines and you want smoother 5K footage playback without waiting on proxies. In my test, it was a clear upgrade over the GTX 1060.
Good pick for: DaVinci Resolve editors working with heavy 5K GH5 footage who want smoother 4K timeline playback.
View Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G on Amazon →
Full Video Transcript
We have right here the Gigabyte. RTX Nvidia RTX 3060 by Gigabyte. 12 GB of RAM. That is it right here. This is the bad boy right here that we are looking at. RTX 3060. So, I am going to do a quick before and after testing with the graphics card. Right now I have an Nvidia I believe it might be a gigabyte uh 1060 right now inside my computer 1060 and we're going to scrub through some 4K footage. Actually it's 5K footage. I recorded it with the GH5 in anamorphic mode and it can record in 5K 24 frames per second without a d without a squeeze. So what you're going to be seeing right now is 5K footage coming straight out of my Panasonic Lumix GH5 camera.
and we're going to scrub that footage on the Da Vinci Resolve video editor. So, let's go to Da Vinci Resolve and we're going to look at this footage and see how smoothly or not so smooth this footage scrubs across the timeline with the current graphics card that I have in my computer right now. And then we're going to install the 3060 by Nvidia, the Nvidia 3060 with 12 GB of RAM, three fans, three cooling fans right there, the overclock edition. So, let's go ahead and test this footage right now live recording with OBS Studio on Da Vinci Resolve. So, here we have Da Vinci Resolve opened up. I'm going to drop some 5K footage onto the timeline. So, right now I have my timeline set to 1080p.
So, we're going to change the settings for the timeline to 4K and see if we can edit 4K footage live. Let's see how it performs right now in the 1080p setting. Our timeline right now is in 1080p. So, we're going to go to the edit tab. We're on the edit tab right now, and we're going to scrub through the timeline, and we'll see how smoothly it plays. But, we're going to stretch it out just a little bit. So, let's go ahead and scrub through it. And as you can see, the performance is just well, it's not there. This is 5K footage. 5K 24 frames per second. 5K footage, 24 frames per second. And I will show you the type of footage that we are using right here.
We can go to the specifications and look at the specs right here on the side. 24 frames per second. Oh, there it is right there. That's the resolution. 4992 by 3744. Now, let's try and play it back. See if it can even play back without issues. So, I'm hitting the play button. So, I just want to do a real quick video. The playback frame rate right now is at 14.6 and we have the red dot indicating that the performance is not so great. Let's mute that. This video right now, we have the red dot indic. So, I did press the mute button on the computer to try and mute out the test footage that we have loaded in Da Vinci Resolve. And it didn't quite work the way I expected it to work.
So, I'm doing the voice over right now. But the footage, as you can tell, the playback is terrible. It's not playing back smoothly. It's skipping all over the place. The frame rate is not 24 frames per second, which it should be at real realtime playback, I should say. We're not at 24 frames per second. And now I only have the timeline set to 1080p. I don't even have the timeline set to a 4K timeline.
So, if I switch the timeline to real 4K performance, which is well the closest I can get, well, I can probably do a custom timeline, but typically you'd want to edit 5K footage in 4K so that you have a a 16x9 aspect ratio or whatever, but editing in real time 1080p, it doesn't even play back smooth. Now, let's see how it plays if we set the timeline to 4K. All right, so that file is 27 GB long. So, a 20 minute video, 27 gigabytes worth of data in that video footage right there. And our timeline cannot play that back with the current GPU that we have, which is the Nvidia 1060. It cannot play that back smoothly.
When you're editing video, you have the opportunity to put your footage into a different format, a video format that's easier on the GPU and the CPU of your computer. You can change the footage to a proxy file, which will be a lot easier for your computer's GPU and CPU to process, and it will give you smooth playback. The only problem with having to do that is that it takes time. It takes a good amount of time.
This 20 minute clip can probably take me maybe 40 minutes, an hour, maybe even longer to transfer or transcode the video as it is from the camera into a different file format that's easier for the GPU to handle and easier for the CPU to handle so that I will have smooth playback and be able to scrub through the timeline rather quickly without experiencing any hiccups. So, right now we are on the 4K timeline. We have switched the settings in Da Vinci Resolve to 4K or Ultra HD. And as you can tell, the playback is pretty bad. Look at that. It's jittery. It's skippy. It's actually even worse than 1080p. A good amount worse.
By far, it's significantly downgraded playback when trying to edit video in 4K. 5K footage. edit it on a 4K timeline. It won't even play back real time. I'm not asking it to play 5K 60 frames per second. I'm just asking it to play barely 5K. This footage isn't even really over 5K. It's like barely 5K. It's 499 2 492 by Well, you saw the numbers. So, let's go ahead and install this 3060 graphics card from Nvidia and see what the difference is with the playback. I really didn't expect that big of a difference. Let me just show you what we got right now. We are in Da Vinci Resolve. The same exact footage. Is it recording my mouse movement? Yes, it is recording my mouth movement. Look at that.
Look at that's crazy. All right, so let me show you the settings right here. 4K. I didn't even switch it to a 12 a 1080p timeline. 4K timeline with 5K footage and the playback is smooth. That wasn't even playback. That was me scrubbing through the timeline. Now, scrubbing through the timeline is more difficult than just playing it. Let's see how it handles playing it back. I'm sure it'll do a fantastic job. Let's close the setting up. I just wanted to show you that the settings we have right there is for that. Take a look at the difference. Let's play it back. So, I just want to do a real quick video. So, I want to do a quick video because that's it. I hope this video was helpful.
I hope this video helped you make a decision on which graphics card to purchase. I think the 3060 I think the RTX 3060 is a fantastic value and you should definitely consider purchasing an Nvidia RTX 3060 with the 12 GB of RAM.
