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Return of the popular graphics card
According to the latest reports, NVIDIA may be planning to restart the production of one of its most popular graphics cards, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060. Interestingly, Samsung Electronics will assist in the production of the chips, as its semiconductor division will be responsible for manufacturing them. The RTX 3060 debuted in 2021 and quickly gained immense popularity among computer gamers, offering very good performance in games at 1080p resolution and basic 1440p.
At first glance, the return of a several-year-old graphics card may seem unusual. However, in practice, this is related to the current situation in the semiconductor market. In recent years, a significant portion of production capacity has been allocated to chips for artificial intelligence and data centres. As a result, companies producing GPUs have had more difficulty accessing the latest technological processes. This is precisely why NVIDIA may decide to utilise an older manufacturing process.
Samsung and the 8 nm Process
The graphics chip in the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 is produced using the 8 nm technological process developed by Samsung Electronics. This same process was utilised at the launch of the Ampere architecture. This allows Samsung to relatively easily restart chip production without needing to employ the most advanced and burdened production technologies, which are currently used mainly for building AI accelerators.
The resumption of RTX 3060 production could also be a way to maintain the availability of affordable graphics cards for gamers. In recent years, NVIDIA has increasingly focused on the artificial intelligence and server markets, where margins are significantly higher than in the consumer segment. The return of an older model could therefore help sustain the GPU offering for gaming computer users. According to unofficial information, refreshed versions of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 may reappear on the market as early as 2026. However, neither NVIDIA nor Samsung have officially confirmed these plans yet.
If the reports are confirmed, the return of the RTX 3060 could be good news for gamers looking for an affordable graphics card. The older architecture still offers solid performance at popular resolutions, and utilising an older manufacturing process helps avoid issues with the availability of the latest semiconductor factories.
source: digitaltrends.com
