NVIDIA RTX 3060 rumored to return in June with unchanged 12GB VRAM

Recent reports suggested that the RTX 3060 12GB could make a comeback as early as June, and now there’s more evidence supporting that claim. According to Chinese Board Channels, NVIDIA is indeed planning to bring the five-year-old GPU back to market, with availability expected no later than July.

The latest information indicates that NVIDIA will resume supplying RTX 3060 GPUs to its board partners in June. This would allow manufacturers to begin mass production, with finished cards likely reaching retailers sometime in July.

Major partners such as ASUS, MSI, Colorful, and GALAX are expected to be part of this relaunch. Since these companies already have existing RTX 3060 designs, they can likely reintroduce those models with minimal changes, keeping costs down and speeding up production.

Rumors of the RTX 3060 12GB returning have been circulating for a while. Earlier reports pointed to a Q1 2026 release, while more recent ones shifted the window to mid-year. Some analysts believe this move could position the card as a replacement for the rumored RTX 5050 9GB, especially as NVIDIA’s newer Blackwell-based budget GPU appears to be delayed. While the 3060 still targets the same entry-level segment, it lacks many of the newer features expected from next-gen architectures.

One key factor behind this decision is manufacturing. Both RTX 40 and RTX 50 series GPUs rely on TSMC’s 4nm process, meaning producing more of them would compete for the same fabrication capacity. In contrast, the RTX 3060 is built on Samsung’s 8nm node, allowing NVIDIA to increase supply without affecting production of its newer cards.

Although bringing back the RTX 3060 may seem unusual, it reflects the current state of the GPU market. The additional supply could help ease shortages, even if the card itself is showing its age. While its 12GB of VRAM remains useful for modern titles, its overall performance still falls behind newer options like the RTX 4060 and RTX 5060.

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