TECH NEWS – If Nvidia, the dominant player in the GPU market, is preparing to take such a step, then the PC hardware market is in a rather sad state.
Nvidia began phasing out production of the GeForce RTX 3060 in 2024. The original product line, introduced in 2021, remains the most popular graphics card on Steam. Although the RTX 4060 and RTX 5060 are gaining ground, Nvidia may reopen production lines for the RTX 3060. According to @Hongxing2020, who has reliable information about Nvidia GPUs and their production plans, Nvidia informed its partners on January 5 that the RTX 3060 will return in the first quarter of 2026. It is unclear whether production will resume for both the 12 GB and 8 GB models or just one of them, but the RTX 3060 will be available in stores once again.
01.05update
rtx3060 Q1 come back… 🥲— hongxing2020 (@hongxing2020) January 5, 2026
This demonstrates the extent to which the DRAM shortage has impacted consumer GPUs. The GeForce RTX 5060 uses GDDR7 memory, and with rising DRAM prices, both pricing and availability could be affected, as memory procurement is also constrained by limited supply. The 60-series lineup targets mass-market consumers, meaning Nvidia needs to provide partners with an alternative.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 was available in both 12 GB (192-bit) and 8 GB (128-bit) versions. While the 12 GB model was generally well received, the 8 GB version faced criticism for offering significantly weaker performance under the same product name, similar to the later RTX 3050 variant that shipped with just 6 GB of VRAM.
If Nvidia were to reintroduce the RTX 3060, it would need to be priced below $200 to make sense for gamers. However, it is almost certain that the company will not take this approach.
Source: WCCFTech
