The ‘Old’ RTX 3060 Instead of a New RTX 5050: NVIDIA Has a Surprise in Store for Gamers

A graphics card that first appeared back in early 2021 will soon be back on the market. Several sources are reporting that NVIDIA is resuming production of the GeForce RTX 3060 with 12GB of VRAM. Chip production kicks off in June, with mass production of finished cards by partners expected around July.

The first partners to receive the new GPU batches will be Colorful, ASUS, MSI, and GALAX. That said, supply volumes are said to be limited, and quotas for different vendors will vary significantly. The return of the RTX 3060 12GB is directly linked to a gap in the budget segment. Earlier, the RTX 5050 with 9GB of memory was expected to fill that niche, but its fate remains up in the air: according to MEGAsizeGPU, the launch has been postponed, and some insiders are even suggesting a complete cancellation.

Technically, the RTX 3060 12GB is still the same card: Ampere architecture, 3,584 CUDA cores, a 192-bit bus, and 12GB of GDDR6 memory. The card originally launched at an MSRP of $329 (around 25,000 rubles), but today, according to Board Channels’ sources, the production cost of such a chip is quite high, so don’t expect rock-bottom retail prices. The “new” card will be pricier than you’d expect from an outdated model, and in terms of price-to-performance, it still loses out to the current RTX 5060.

Rumors of the 3060’s return have been circulating since early 2026 — first talking about a Q1 launch, then about possibly filling the gap after the RTX 5050 was delayed. NVIDIA has ignored official comment requests from tech media, which is unusual for a product that’s long been phased out of its current lineup.

Now we just have to wait for the cards to actually show up in stores and see the real price tags. If interest turns out to be high, the industry wouldn’t rule out repeating the same trick with other proven older-gen models. If the market gives the revived RTX 3060 a cold reception, though, this episode might only speed up NVIDIA’s transition to mass-producing more modern budget solutions.

What do you think — is bringing back the RTX 3060 12GB a justified move given the newer models, or a sign of failure to cover the budget segment with a current product? Share your thoughts in the comments.