The PC industry, especially its DIY segment, is currently experiencing yet another shock. Just as the recent GPU shortage ended, RAM issues kicked in as manufacturers shifted their production goals to AI companies, neglecting average consumers. With RAM prices going intergalactic, Nvidia is reportedly planning to throw customers a bone by bringing back a five-year-old graphics card, which happens to be the most popular GPU among gamers as of right now.
According to new reports and leaks, NVIDIA is thinking about bringing back the RTX 3060, a two-generation-old graphics card that was initially released nearly five years ago in February 2021. Valve reports that as of early 2026, the desktop RTX 3060 is installed in over 6% of all PCs that participated in the monthly Hardware and Software Survey.
The first news about NVIDIA discontinuing the RTX 3060 appeared back in August 2024. Back then, NVIDIA"s partners were reportedly instructed to place their final orders on the outgoing graphics card. However, the reality turned out a bit different, and NVIDIA"s partners are only now claiming that their stock of the RTX 3060 is running out. Now, according to leaker @hongxing2020, the RTX 3060 is coming back in the first quarter of 2026.
01.05update
— hongxing2020 (@hongxing2020) January 5, 2026
rtx3060 Q1 come back… 🥲
There may be several reasons why NVIDIA may want to bring the RTX 3060 back into production. Since the card uses the older GDDR6 standard, it might be a way to combat the increase in GDDR7 memory and give users more budget-friendly graphics cards, as stocks are drying up. There is no information on what exact variant of the RTX 3060 NVIDIA is aiming to resurrect, though.
If you want to build a budget-friendly PC, you may not hold out until a fresh stock of old NVIDIA cards hits the market. Right now, the RTX 5050 is a better, cheaper, and more powerful alternative to the old RTX 3060, and its price remains relatively adequate despite arguably underwhelming specs. With that said, the current chaos in the PC industry is giving older hardware a new life, as frustrated gamers switch to older platforms, such as AMD"s AM4, where memory is much more reasonably priced.
Source: VideoCardz