Hide your rigs, as the RTX 3060 is back for revenge. Yes, it looks like Nvidia is making good on supposed plans to resurrect its 2021 Ampere card, and it's now sitting at German retailers with a €333.64 price tag. Hang onto your PC gaming butts, as if we keep falling through time at this rate, the 3DFX Voodoo may end up back on store shelves (Am I even joking at this stage?)
In a report highlighting "new" RTX 3060 availability in Germany, Hardwareluxx shares various links starting at 333.64 euros. That will get you an Asus GeForce Dual OC V2 that looks almost like the brand's RTX 5060 graphics card at Amazon for $340.24, featuring dual fans and a 2.5-slot shroud design. Yes, that means German gaming PC builders are paying more for the Ampere GPU from two generations ago since it works out at around $380.
RTX 5060 | from $340 at Amazon
RX 9060 XT | $369.99 at Amazon
RTX 5060 Ti | $399.99 at Amazon
Of course, that's for the 12GB version, but I honestly don't want to hear anyone trying to cut the RTX 3060 some slack here. Yes, it's technically less than what many cards with more than 8GB VRAM are going for in 2026, a year where you can have nothing and like it if you're looking to play your little PC backlog. But we can't just keep saying "I guess that's ok" while AI datacentres continue to smother the gaming realm in the name of nonsense.
In case it wasn't clear, I don't think you should buy an RTX 3060 if it hits your region or you're already in Germany. Extra VRAM is handy for higher-resolution textures and those releases that require much extra memory (usually as an early launch bug), but ultimately, the latest GPUs will boost fps in the way you'd expect from a card that's two generations newer.
I'm not particularly happy about having to pay around $50 more on average for an 8GB RTX 5060 either, but I'm sure bringing back the RTX 3060 isn't the right call. This is a tactic Nvidia has tried on numerous occasions, having dug up its RTX 2060 12GB back in 2021 when the 30-series was actually relevant. Rather than laying down over $300 on a card that should be history, it might be better to simply weather the storm, but I do feel for anyone on an extremely tight budget who is now stuck behind a bigger financial barrier than ever,
If you need me, I'll be in my attic with my freshly built Windows 98 rig trying to get it running games using 3DFX's Glide API. Just don't tell them I also have a Windows XP machine with DDR1 RAM, as that might give someone bright ideas.
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