RTX 3060 is back in June. Neo Geo returns this November. Am I in a weird gaming tech time machine?

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Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3060 12GB graphics card is rumored to launch this June. No, this isn't an article from 2021; the gaming hardware scene has apparently just started peddling backwards. Rather than releasing the RTX 5050, the company is apparently planning to use Ampere to fill the gap, and having also just covered SNK's '90s Neo Geo console making a return, I feel like I'm in a tech hot tub time machine.

Fresh leaks by MEGAsizeGPU suggest the "Post RTX 5050 9G is delayed," and they describe Nvidia's future launch plans as "pretty uncertain now." The insider's latest tweet then throws a curveball by suggesting "the newly produced RTX 3060 will fill the gap, ETA June 2026."

This ties to existing rumours that the RTX 3060 had re-entered production, but the new rumours somewhat help illustrate why. If the RTX 5050 is being pushed back due to RAMageddon-related costs linked to its suspected 9GB GDDR7 VRAM, it will be easier to make another Ampere GDDR6 12GB card at a reasonable price. Plus, while the memory will be a generation behind, you'll technically get a higher CUDA core count.

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RTX 5050 9G is delayed, launch becomes pretty uncertain now. The newly produced RTX 3060 will fill the gap, ETA June 2026.April 17, 2026

It might feel bananas substituting a five-year-old graphics card for what would have been a more affordable generational jumping on point. However, the strategy makes sense once you realize that has already set the stage. Back in January, all GeForce cards gained DLSS 4.5 tricks, albeit minus elements like Frame Generation that need the FP8/FP4 support provided by new-gen Tensor cores.

Effectively, whether you remotely have any interest in using new AI upscaling models or tapping into Ray Reconstruction, you can technically do it on an RTX 3060. That's not to say it won't come at a performance cost, though, and the GPU could sweat far more than RTX 40-series models or new-gen options like the RTX 5070 and 5060 due to the older architecture. I guess if you do go for the Ampere card, the horrors of DLSS 5 and its questionable can't reach you, right?

I should point out that while bringing back the RTX 3060 is weird, this isn't the first time Nvidia has resurrected an old GPU in times of trouble. In fact, back in 2021, a refreshed version of the RTX 2060 12GB showed up just before the RTX 4090 and its kin as a stopgap, so you could all this all business as usual.

I'm just slightly worried that I'm actually rapidly falling through time and that I'll be talking about the OG Nvidia RIVA GPU re-launch next week. What's that? Sony is also going to try and take on Nintendo with a console? Good luck chumps.

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Phil HaytonHardware Editor

Phil is the Hardware Editor at GamesRadar+ who specializes in retro console setups, choosing the latest gaming handhelds, and navigating the choppy seas of using modern-day PC hardware. In the past, they have covered everything from retro gaming history to the latest gaming news, in-depth features, and tech advice for publications like TechRadar, The Daily Star, the BBC, PCGamesN, and Den of Geek. In their spare time, they pour hours into fixing old consoles, modding Game Boys, exploring ways to get the most out of the Steam Deck, and blasting old CRT TV visuals into their eye sockets.

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