NVIDIA's RTX 30-series graphics cards are still pretty overpriced, even if their street prices have significantly decreased since last year. However, one card out of that series stands out as the closest to MSRP: the mid-range RTX 3060.
nvidia rtx 3060 evga
According to Digital Trends, the mid-range NVIDIA GPU has been found for as low as $370. This was the asking price of long-time Team Green AIB (add-in board partner) EVGA. Aside from listing the card at that price on their website, the graphics card maker is also offering a $30 instant rebate for anybody who would buy the specific model, the XC Black Gaming 12GB.
This means you can have it for as low as $310 if you got for the XC Black Gaming model. The only catch is that orders are only limited to two per household, as an obvious way to try to fight off scalping.
Nevertheless, this is the lowest price that a 3060 has ever been since it was released way back in February of last year. That includes both the NVIDIA cards' 8GB and 12GB VRAM variations, the latter of which is the example here from EVGA. Team Green originally set the RTX 3060's MSRP at $329, so this insane deal from EVGA is just a tiny markup over its supposed price.
If you're a GPU-starved PC gamer who's been wanting to upgrade to the RTX 30-series for so long, you might take this as a sign from the gaming gods. And maybe you're right - because NVIDIA themselves has announced that their 30-series graphics cards are now "returning to shelves."
Here's their announcement tweet:
GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs are returning to shelves!
— NVIDIA GeForce (@NVIDIAGeForce) April 21, 2022
Keep an eye on our Restocked & Reloaded landing page here as we continue to make more supply available →https://t.co/d0ziJIop64
According to Tom's Hardware, the easing of stock problems is almost in-line with what NVIDIA Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress mentioned late last year. She said that the supply shortages of their cards would start easing around mid-2022, and here we are creeping in to mid-year with GPU prices remaining on the decline.
Read also: Graphics Card Specs 101: The Most Important Ones EXPLAINED
Should You Buy The 3060 Now, Or Wait For Lower Prices?
So the RTX 3060's price is now closes to MSRP than it's ever been. Should you get it now or wait for prices to go even lower?
It depends on what kind of gaming you actually do. If you're someone who primarily plays in Full HD 1080p, for example (still the most popular gaming resolution in the world according to the Steam Hardware Survey), then NVIDIA's RTX 3060 is an excellent choice for high to ultra graphics gaming at 60 FPS or more.
Sure, there's the faster 3060 Ti to try and sway you from getting the 3060. In real-world performance, the 3060 Ti does smoke the 3060 in a lot of games at 1080p. It provides around 10-20 FPS more than the base card, which is a very noticeable performance bump in gameplay, as you can see here in this video:
However, the biggest problem here is price. The RTX 3060 Ti will set you back over $250 more than the base 3060 at its cheapest (based on prices on Newegg). And in truth, it's not a good thing to spend that much money for a 10-20 FPS boost in games. It's way too much.
If you're a 1080p gamer, go for the 3060 as fast as you can - before prices go back to crazy levels again if they do. Better safe than sorry, as they say.
Related: Graphics Card Names EXPLAINED: What Is GTX, RTX, Etc...
Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
