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A GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card is harder to find than a PS5 or Xbox Series X.
Lori Grunin/CNET
On the hunt for an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 series graphics card? Get in line. Between the pandemic forcing people to stay home and game more and the explosion in cryptocurrency mining, demand is sky high for Nvidia’s new Ampere GPU. Finding a new RTX 3000 card is next to impossible; the GeForce RTX 3060, RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 have been perpetually out of stock since they were released. You’d have better luck tracking down a PS5 or locating an Xbox Series X console than finding a new RTX GPU for your gaming rig.
The RTX 3000 series card that you might have the best odds of finding is the entry-level RTX 3060 that was released on February 25. Nvidia tweaked the RTX 3060’s driver to discourage crypto miners from snatching up the card. If the card detects you are mining using the Ethereum algorithm, it throttles back performance. Nvidia reassures gamers that the GPU will run at full speed for games.
Watch this:
Nvidia’s RTX 3060 aims to deter crypto-miners
3:41
Despite Nvidia’s efforts to get the RTX 3060 into the hands of gamers, it’s out of stock everywhere right now — along with the rest of its RTX 3000 series siblings. You can find it on eBay or StockX, but be prepared to pay three or four times its $330 retail price. If you aren’t willing to shell out $1,000 and up for an RTX 3060, then keep this page bookmarked.
To aid your efforts in finding an RTX 3060 card that’s actually in stock and available to purchase, we’ve linked below to product pages at major retailers for the cards from the various manufacturers — namely Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, PNY and Zotac. There is no Founders Edition of the card from Nvidia, but you can check Nvidia’s site to see the different flavors of the RTX 3060 sold by its partners and check inventory.
Read more: The best graphics card for 2021
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (starts at $330)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 OC models (starts at $480 to $550)
RTX 3060 vs. RTX 3060 OC
There are many variants of the RTX 3060 across the manufacturers, but the biggest differentiators are the size/length of the card determined by whether it has two or three cooling fans. In addition, there are OC versions of the RTX 3060 that are factory overclocked (read: faster) and therefore pricier.
RTX 3060 (starts at $330): This is the baseline model — running at stock speeds and cooled by two fans.
RTX 3060 OC (starts at $480 to $550): This is the factory overclocked version, which often sports three fans.
Newegg has the most product listings for the RTX 3060, while Amazon and Best Buy have very few. B&H has listings only for OC versions, and GameStop has nothing for the RTX 3060. Again, there are currently no RTX 3060 cards in stock at any of these retailers, with the exception of a few exceptionally overpriced OC versions on Amazon; you can do better on eBay and StockX.
We will update this story as soon as we find any retailer with inventory of any of the cards from any manufacturer. Until then, you can click about and check for yourself in the hopes that you time it just right and find an RTX 3060 suddenly in stock.
Read more: GeForce RTX 3060 is a solid video card, if the price is right
What about the RTX 3060 Ti?
The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is one rung up on the RTX 3000 series ladder from the RTX 3060. With a retail price of $400, it costs $70 more than the entry-level RTX 3060. The RTX 3060 Ti has more cores and a larger memory pipe than the RTX 3060 and draws a bit more power. The RTX 3060 actually has more memory (12GB versus 8GB) and a higher boost clock speed (1.8GHz versus 1.7GHz) than the RTX 3060 Ti, but its smaller memory pipe (192-bit versus 256-bit) gives the performance edge to the RTX 3060 Ti.
One other difference between the two? There’s a Founders Edition of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti.
Both cards deliver excellent value, but the RTX 3060 Ti is the better pick if you want fast frame rates at 1440p.
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