The GeForce RTX 3060 debuted back in February 2021, but surprisingly, it was still available as a brand new graphics card until the end of 2025. According to supply chain information, the last stocks will be sold out during December, officially ending its life cycle. Almost five years of presence on the market is an exception in the modern GPU industry.
Why did the Nvidia RTX 3060 last so long?
Back in 2024, Nvidia stopped production of the GA106 chip on which the RTX 3060 is based, but graphics card manufacturers had enough supplies to continue delivering it. Most of the brands, including Colorful and Galax, sold out of their stocks by autumn, while Zotac was the last to empty its warehouses during November.
The key reason for the RTX 3060’s longevity lies in the amount of video memory. The 12 GB VRAM version was the first relatively affordable graphics card with more than 8 GB of memory, at a time when games were starting to use VRAM more and more. Although an 8 GB variant was also introduced later, it was the 12 GB model that remained the most sought after.
What makes the RTX 3060 stand out further is the fact that successors like the RTX 4060 and RTX 5060 have again limited it to 8GB of VRAM. Thus, the older model retained a unique advantage, especially in games with high quality textures and when using higher resolutions.
Technical comparison with newer generations
On paper, the RTX 3060 still looks surprisingly competitive today. It has 3,584 CUDA cores, 112 texture units and 48 ROPs. By comparison, the RTX 5060 has 3,840 CUDA cores, 120 texture processors and the same number of ROPs.
Even more interesting is the state of the memory subsystem. The RTX 3060 uses a 192-bit bus, while the RTX 5060 is limited to 128-bit, with only 8 GB of VRAM. In classic raster rendering games, the advantage of the newer model mainly comes from significantly higher operating clocks, and not from the superiority of the newer architecture.
Of course, newer generations bring significant improvements in ray tracing and DLSS MFG technology, interpolation of additional frames and reconstruction of light rays. However, in real gaming conditions, the amount of VRAM proved to be a decisive factor for long-term usability.
The long life of the RTX 3060 with 12 GB clearly shows that the larger amount of video memory is not just a marketing detail, but a key element that can extend the relevance of the graphics card years after its launch, reports PC Gamer.