Nvidia RTX 3060 Pricing Skyrockets Before Launch

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Here the gougers go again

MSI RTX 3060 Gaming X Retail Boxes
(Image credit: Coreteks)

According to a report, what was supposed to be Nvidia's most "value-oriented" RTX 30-series GPU to date has succumbed to severe price gouging before launch. Like all new Ampere and RDNA2 products, it appears the RTX 3060 will be nearly impossible to purchase near MSRP.

News outlet Corteks has revealed sticker prices for RTX 3060 AIB partner models at select (but unknown) retail stores. On average, pricing for each RTX 3060 model is inflated by a whopping 50%.

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Retail Pricing for Select RTX 3060 AIB Partner Cards
RTX 3060 ModelPrice:
MSI Gaming X Trio$514.99
MSI VentusX2$484.99
Zotac Gaming$499.99
Asus Strix$499.99
Asus TUF$489.99

With the current silicon and other computer-related shortages, it's very doubtful that this situation will change anytime soon. Even with Nvidia planning to handicap the mining performance of the 3060, that's only a weak measure to help ensure RTX 3060s will go to their intended customer base.

If you are in the market for the RTX 3060, you'll have to think outside the box if you want your wallet to be unscathed, whether that be going to a brick-and-mortar store every day to check one out or going to an AIB partner like EVGA and waiting for months before a card is supplied to you. Either way, you'll have to sacrifice somewhere to get your card at a good price.

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Aaron Klotz
Aaron Klotz
Contributing Writer

Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

35 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Dj0gany
    A totally unexpected turn of events i must say...
    Reply
  • Makaveli
    Djoza said:
    A totally unexpected turn of events i must say...

    lol in other news water is wet.
    Reply
  • Tharkhold
    Makaveli said:
    lol in other news water is wet.

    Let's all make water wetter again. lol

    but yeah, what a big surprise this is. /s
    Reply
  • LolaGT
    Add another couple hundred to that in the reseller market, as that will be where most cards turn up.
    There will be plenty of foolish people willing to spend that too, which is the real issue.
    I am tempted to pull out my gpu and sell it in this crazy market, but I don't see any break in this storm for 2021 and the current(?) gpus will be old by then.
    Remarkable.
    Reply
  • bigdragon
    I predict we're going to see stories about how there are few to no 3060s available on launch day at MSRP or the elevated MSRPs. Then we'll see stories about how many of them are on Ebay and StockX and Amazon third party marketplace. Next, Nvidia will be breached and the 3060 firmware and driver source leaked.

    There is a silver lining to all this. Maybe game developers will spend more effort on the non-graphical parts of their games. AI could certainly use more attention.
    Reply
  • phenomiix6
    So much for the pathetic mining nerf PR stunt...
    Reply
  • 57Stew
    I hope these miners all had variable rate pricing with their power company and end up with 10k electric bills. I met a few that have the audacity to claim to be environmental conservationists while supporting a system that rewards you for wasting electricity.
    Reply
  • LolaGT
    Mining is a plus money operation. There would be no point to it if it cost more in electricity than gained from mining. Like any business operation, one has to cover the overhead.

    That is101 stuff.

    Sounds like anti-mining angst, which is misplaced and inane.

    57Stew said:
    a system that rewards you for wasting electricity.
    Reply
  • RemmRun
    Makaveli said:
    lol in other news water is wet.
    water is not wet but the object you put in the water would be wet :) but i agree, not a surprise. The vid card I bought last year for $130 is now $400.
    Reply
  • RemmRun
    LolaGT said:
    Mining is a plus money operation. There would be no point to it if it cost more in electricity than gained from mining. Like any business operation, one has to cover the overhead.

    That is101 stuff.

    Sounds like anti-mining angst, which is misplaced and inane.
    I'd say it's the promise of money that is the big draw, plenty of gold miners lost everything back in the day of mining for real gold, just for the lure of getting rich. Plenty of business 101 was thrown out the window, and few cared.
    Reply