RTX 3060 graphics cards might be more expensive than expected. Nvidia set the MSRP at $329 when it announced the cards in January and reiterated yesterday that some cards would show up at that pricing on launch, but VideoCardz today reported that some European retailers have listed certain models up to 75% above that price, even though the cards won’t make their official debut until later this month.
The report said that ProShop has some RTX 3060s listed at 499 EUR or 2799 PLN “minimum,“ which are 52 and 75% higher than the MSRP of 329 EUR or 1599 PLN. VideoCardz said that another seller, PCDiga, raised the RTX 3060s to 100 EUR within the last week. It’s not hard to imagine further increases after launch.
Nvidia’s claim that RTX 3060 graphics cards would sell for MSRP always seemed unlikely. When the cards were revealed, we noted that GPU shortages, the cryptocurrency boom, and other factors would lead the latest 30-series graphics cards to sell out quickly, even if they aren’t as powerful as existing offerings.
That was before a European retailer called Alternate said last week that supplies of 30-series graphics cards would get worse throughout the first quarter of 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, and the Chinese New Year’s effect on production. All of those factors will contribute to the RTX 3060’s pricing.
It also doesn’t help that Ethereum mining has once again increased demand for practically anything with a GPU powerful enough to earn some cryptocurrency. Miners, people looking to build an affordable gaming PC, and folks who are sick of waiting for more powerful 30-series cards will all be scrambling for limited supply.
Oh, and RTX 3060 prices will probably also be affected by U.S. tariffs on goods imported from China, too. That should be separate from these increases at European retailers, but it also means things are unlikely to be much better across the pond. Managing to snag an RTX 3060 for its MSRP seems like a matter of luck.
