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[LectureMaster]

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/110389/nvidia-and-samsung-are-making-new-geforce-rtx-3060-gpus/index.html

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TL;DR: Samsung is resuming production of NVIDIA's 8nm GeForce RTX 3060 at its Pyeongtaek factory, likely targeting the Chinese market due to GPU restrictions. This move addresses chip shortages and memory crises, though the RTX 3060's value in 2026 is questionable compared to faster, newer models like the RTX 5060.


NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 30 Series, built using a custom 8nm process from Samsung, rather than the custom TSMC process for the GeForce RTX 40 and RTX 50 Series, is set to return to production at the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Semiconductor Factory. According to a new report by the Korean publication Hankyung, Samsung is prepping to recommence production of the 8nm GeForce RTX 3060, some two years after the last batch of RTX 3060 chips were manufactured.

The report doesn't set a timeline for production, other than that it'll happen "soon." With the initial media and insider reaction focused on NVIDIA re-introducing the GeForce RTX 3060 as a response to the current memory crisis and chip shortages, the report claims that the RTX 3060's return could be primarily for the Chinese market.

Due to restrictions on high-performance graphics cards sold in China, older GPUs like the GeForce RTX 3060 represent a way out for providing a cost-effective AI and PC gaming solution in the Chinese market. Of course, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang did say "it's a good idea to bring back old GPUs" at CES 2026 as a way to address current shortages, so this move could reflect a broader global strategy for 2026 and beyond.

The GeForce RTX 3060, which leverages NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, is still one of the most popular graphics cards on the market. However, as we're talking about a card that is now two generations old, the value proposition of an RTX 3060 for around $300 in 2026 is questionable, given that the current-gen mainstream option, the GeForce RTX 5060, launched at a similar price in 2025. Not only that, but as our reviews for the GeForce RTX 5060 show, it's around 45-50% faster for 1080p and 1440p gaming than the GeForce RTX 3060.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, and if 8nm production at Samsung opens the door to more GeForce RTX 30 Series cards returning to market. The return of the GeForce RTX 3080 would be an interesting move, as the GPU is still very capable for 1440p gaming; however, its 10GB of VRAM could be a performance bottleneck. In a perfect world, if NVIDIA is bringing back the RTX 30 Series due to chip shortages at TSMC, we'd love to see a SUPER-style refresh with more memory, but that's probably unlikely.

 

[LectureMaster]

 

[Gitaroo]

Intel B580 seems like a better deal to me

 

[Three]

Intel B580 seems like a better deal to me

That was a great bang for your buck card.

 

[Shubh_C63]

I am still so surprised they didn't just made RTX 5060 and inside its just a 3060 bits and pieces. I was sure they were gonna pull this marketing trick.

 

[Autistic_Pancake]

likely targeting the Chinese market due to GPU restrictions.

Were gaming GPU shipments to China restricted even once? I thought it was mainly about the "AI" stuff, like H200. It's just... Well, for example, Russian market is saturated with GPUs thanks to China specifically. No way they'd allow this if there was a huge deficit? It's only 5090 that is hard to find, but on the other hand there are all kinds of scalpers selling it too, often acting as mediators between Chinese suppliers and the consumers (last time I checked, they asked $2800 for 5090 in December 2025, and now it's roughly $3300 for Palit GameRock 5090). So, if China gladly exports lots of RTX 50-series GPUs in a rather shady manner, why would they want those 3060s?

 

[kazuyamishima]

PC Mid range Race.

 

[cormack12]

Damn, PCs really are competing with consoles next gen

 

[pqueue]

 

[winjer]

AI gave us the ability to travel back in time...

 

[ShirAhava]

NVIDIA releasing 96-bit bus RTX 5050 9GB and 3060 cards in 2026

 

[StereoVsn]

This would be funny if it wasn't super sad at this time. The amount of insanity going on is crazy.

Hmm… what are the chances devs and publishers will actually optimize those "amazing" UE5 releases for these older cards?

 

[Shogmaster]

Intel B580 seems like a better deal to me

B580 is 17% better in raster, and prolly better in RT too due to way higher VRAM bandwidth. For $50 less.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Intel B580 seems like a better deal to me

I would just worry about driver support long term

 

[nkarafo]

So it's going to be worse than the regular 3060 12GB?

 

[BloodFree]

 

[Bojji]

I am still so surprised they didn't just made RTX 5060 and inside its just a 3060 bits and pieces. I was sure they were gonna pull this marketing trick.

They would have to explain why this "5060" doesn't support frame generation lol.

If this card will have 12GB of VRAM - it's still not too bad for modern games. It's slower than PS5 but not by a huge margin:

 

[adamsapple]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but other than nvidia's own frame gen, the 3060 will still be compatible with the latest image reconstruction DLSS standards (and will even support at least AMD's version of FSR frame gen), right?

It might not be ideal but I can still see this being a relatively viable GPU for another bunch of years until this whole ram-mageddon issue is sorted out.

 

[Bojji]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but other than nvidia's own frame gen, the 3060 will still be compatible with the latest image reconstruction DLSS standards (and will even support at least AMD's version of FSR frame gen), right?

It might not be ideal but I can still see this being a relatively viable GPU for another bunch of years until this whole ram-mageddon issue is sorted out.

It will be slow with DLSS 4.5 but great with DLSS4 (that looks better in some games).

 

[analog_future]

They would have to explain why this "5060" doesn't support frame generation lol.

If this card will have 12GB of VRAM - it's still not too bad for modern games. It's slower than PS5 but not by a huge margin:

All depends on how much they try to sell it for, of course. Maybe $249?

 

[asdasdasdbb]

They would have to explain why this "5060" doesn't support frame generation lol.

If this card will have 12GB of VRAM - it's still not too bad for modern games. It's slower than PS5 but not by a huge margin:

I have to think it's the 8. After all, figure the whole point is to hit lower price points.

All depends on how much they try to sell it for, of course. Maybe $249?

Yeah, $250. For the 8 GB version. The 5050 8 GB is now $300, so the 9 GB version presumably replaces that.