NVIDIA is relaunching the RTX 3060 in 2026: why it's good (and bad) news

June 2026. NVIDIA is preparing to relaunch production of the GeForce RTX 3060 12GB . Yes, you read correctly. A card released in February 2021, based on the Ampere architecture and manufactured by Samsung in 8 nm, will be back in action even though we are already in the fifth generation of GeForce.

The reason? TSMC is saturated. The Blackwell chips (RTX 50) monopolize all the production capacity of the Taiwanese foundry, and GDDR7 memory costs an arm. So, NVIDIA is turning to Samsung and good old GDDR6 to fill the huge hole that is the budget segment of the GPU market.

And the most absurd thing in all of this: the RTX 3060 remains the most used graphics card on Steam in 2026. Not the 4060, not the 5050. The 3060. That says a lot about the state of the market.

To understand, you have to go back a few months. NVIDIA was working on a RTX 5050 9 GB supposed to fill the entry-level segment. The project was shelved — probably because 9GB of GDDR7 is too expensive to produce to sell the card at an acceptable price.

Result: below $350, there is almost nothing new on the NVIDIA side. The RTX 5050 8GB desktop exists, but it is hard to find and its 8GB is already starting to show their limits on some recent games. The RTX 5060? Same, 8GB and random stocks.

According to the leaker MEGAsizeGPU — relayed by Tom's Hardware, PCGamesN, and Igor's Lab — NVIDIA would have therefore decided to restart the production of RTX 3060 12GB at Samsung. The 8nm process is available, GDDR6 costs almost nothing compared to GDDR7, and supply chains have been running smoothly since 2021.

In short, it's conscious recycling. But recycling that makes sense — on paper.

No surprise here, it's exactly the same chip as in 2021. Here's what we find under the hood:

• GPU — GA106, Samsung 8 nm
• CUDA Cores — 3 584
• VRAM — 12 GB GDDR6, 192-bit bus
• Boost clock — 1 777 MHz
• Ray tracing — 2nd gen RT Cores
• DLSS — Upscaling only (no Frame Generation)
• TDP — 170 W

The obvious strong point: 12 GB of VRAM It is more than the RTX 5050 (8GB) and the RTX 5060 (8GB). For games that consume memory - and there are more and more of them - this is a real argument.

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NVIDIA has not officially confirmed anything, but analysts and leakers are converging on a fairly clear range. The original MSRP was $329 in 2021. Given the current context, here's what we can expect:

If NVIDIA really manages to place the relaunched card around $200 to $250, it completely changes the game for the gaming budget. But be careful — European prices include VAT and importers' margins, so count more on 220 to 280 € in practice at Amazon.fr or LDLC. In the United Kingdom, targets 190 to 240 lbs at Scan or Overclockers UK.

For Canadians and Australians: add 30 to 40% to the US price, as usual.

Let's be honest: the RTX 3060 is not a bad card in 2026. At 1080p, it runs almost all games in High or Ultra. At 1440p, you have to lower the settings a bit, but it's still playable on most titles.

And its 12 GB of VRAM are a real asset. Games like Crimson Desert , GTA 6 (when it comes out on PC) or The Last of Us Part II Remastered can easily exceed 8GB of VRAM in high textures. Here, the RTX 3060 breathes when the RTX 5050 starts to suffocate.

For homelab and local AI as well, 12GB of VRAM is the minimum to run language models locally (LLaMA, Mistral). Used RTX 3060s are already the favorites of DIYers in AI — a new and guaranteed version is a bonus.

Now, the flip side. NVIDIA, the global leader in GPUs, worth $3 trillion on the stock market, is bringing back a card that is five years old to fill the gaps in its range. It's still a pretty big admission of failure on the product strategy side.

No DLSS 4. No Multi Frame Generation. No correct ray tracing - 2nd gen RT Cores are slow and recent ray tracing games make the 3060 kneel. No hardware AV1 decoding either in some variants. Basically, you're buying hardware from two generations ago, with the limitations that come with it.

And then there is the fundamental question: why is the budget segment so empty in 2026? The short answer: AI devours everything. TSMC manufactures chips for data centers as a priority, memory prices soar because server farms buy everything that is produced, and gamers end up with crumbs. NVIDIA prefers to sell H100 for $30,000 each rather than RTX 5050 for $300. It's brutal, but it's the reality of the market.

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According to the benchmarks compiled on YouTube and the tests by Tom's Hardware, here is the hierarchy in raw performance:

RTX 5060 > RTX 3060 > RTX 5050 in pure raster (without upscaling or frame gen).

The RTX 5060 is clearly faster, especially in 1440p. But as soon as we talk about heavy games in VRAM, the 3060 and its 12 GB take the lead over the two Blackwell cards and their 8 GB. And if we activate DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation on the RTX 50, the gap widens — but well, it's a bit like comparing a car with and without a turbo. The technology is not available on the 3060, period.

The real question is: do you want VRAM or recent technologies? If you play in 1080p on titles that consume texture (modding Skyrim, Unreal Engine 5 in Ultra), the 3060 will be more comfortable. If you want frame generation and clean ray tracing, the RTX 50 series remains ahead.

Hard to talk about GPU budget without mentioning AMD. Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB is probably the best alternative in this price range. 16GB of GDDR6, a price that ranges from 350 to 400 € (up 14% since its release due to the market), and solid performance in 1440p.

The 8GB version of the RX 9060 XT is around €300, which would place it in direct competition with the relaunched RTX 3060. In terms of raw performance, the 9060 XT is ahead. But the 3060 retains the advantage of DLSS (NVIDIA's upscaling remains superior to AMD's FSR, even in 2026) and NVENC encoder for streaming.

AMD is also working on some Multi Frame Generation for Radeon — internal documents leaked in April. If that happens, the situation could seriously change.

It depends on where you are.

You don't have a GPU and you want to play now: look at used RTX 3060 between 140 and 230 €. It's the same card, you get it right away, and the price is often unbeatable. Check the warranty and the condition of the fan.

You can wait until June 2026: the relaunched version in new with manufacturer's warranty, potentially around 200-250 €, it's interesting. Especially if you want new guaranteed for 2-3 years of peace of mind.

Do you have the budget for 350+ €: goes directly to an RX 9060 XT 16GB or an RTX 5060. Faster, more modern, and upscaling technologies will improve with drivers. The relaunched 3060 is a band-aid — not a long-term solution.

The rumor points to June 2026, but NVIDIA has not officially confirmed anything. The first leaks come from the leaker MEGAsizeGPU, relayed by Tom's Hardware and PCGamesN.

Yes. Same GA106 chip, same 12GB GDDR6, same specs. It's a production restart, not a refresh or a new version.

No. It only supports DLSS upscaling (Super Resolution). Multi Frame Generation is exclusive to RTX 40 and RTX 50.

Estimates revolve around €220 to €280 in France (Amazon.fr, LDLC, TopAchat). This is below the price of the old new RTX 3060 which are still selling for €330 to €380.

If you prioritize VRAM (12GB vs 8GB) and mainly play in 1080p, the RTX 3060 has the advantage. If you want the latest technologies (DLSS 4, Frame Gen, better energy efficiency), the RTX 5050 is ahead despite its 8GB.

Because the RTX 50 uses TSMC 4N and GDDR7, two rare and expensive resources. Lowering prices would mean selling at a loss. The RTX 3060 on Samsung 8 nm with GDDR6 is much cheaper to produce.

In 1080p, yes, easily. Most games run in High or Ultra. In 1440p, compromises need to be made on the settings. In 4K, forget it — that's not its target.