Palit is re-releasing a 5-year-old graphics card. There is a hard calculation behind it: When new memory is not available, one relies on older memory. This also shows how little capacity is currently available for gaming.
Officially, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 was released on February 25, 2021. That is now over 5 years ago. Since then, games at Nvidia have enjoyed 2 more generations of graphics cards: the 4000 and 5000 series.
Manufacturer Palit is now bringing the RTX 3060 back to the market, even though the graphics card belongs to the old generation. This was reported by the magazine Videocardz.com. But this also shows that the hardware market currently has hardly any meaningful options, as prices are being eaten up by AI.
Old graphics cards rely on cheap memory that is not needed by data centers
PALIT has officially announced the GeForce RTX 3060 Infinity 2 OC and is bringing the old graphics card back to the market. By the way, there is no new, improved version. It is the same graphics card from 2021 and does not have features that the newer generations possess. Therefore, there is no upgrade, but truly old hardware from 2021. At its release, the RTX 3060 was especially sought after by crypto miners.
Why is the manufacturer re-releasing an old graphics card? Newer graphics cards of the current generations use the very new, scarce, and expensive GDDR7 memory. The RTX 3060 uses the older, cheaper, and much more readily available GDDR6 standard.
Additionally: The latest Blackwell chips (RTX 50 series) and AI processors for data centers block a large part of the most modern chip production lines. The RTX 3060 can be manufactured using the older 8-nm process without burdening the production of flagship models. Nvidia can thus continue to make money with AI while still servicing gamers in the entry segment.
The severity of the current situation is also shown by the rush for even older hardware: Some users are going so far as to buy hardware that is 18 years old: DDR3 RAM and suitable processors are indeed significantly cheaper. Dealers report that sales of old hardware have reportedly increased rapidly: Users are currently buying 18-year-old hardware out of desperation because modern memory is way too expensive
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