NVIDIA Allegedly Discontinues The Most Popular Gaming GPU On Steam
Amid unofficial chatter that NVIDIA is postponing the launch of its next-generation GeForce RTX 50 series powered by its Blackwell architecture, there's another unconfirmed report stating that the previous-generation GeForce RTX 3060 has just been put on the chopping block. No big deal, right? Sure, except that also happens to be the most popular graphics card on Steam, according to its latest hardware survey.
Steam's monthly hardware and software surveys are not the end-all, be-all when it comes to market penetration, due in part because they only reflect a portion of the platform's total users, and results can be skewed depending on which segment participates (such as pinging Chinese internet cafes, for example). But given Steam's immense popularity, it's one of the best resources available for tracking this sort of thing.
The survey data for July 2024 shows the GeForce RTX 3060 retaining pole position at 5.88%, which is up by 0.22% from the June. In second place is the semi-ancient GeForce GTX 1650, which fell slightly (0.16%) to 4% on the nose. The highest GeForce RTX 40 series entry is the GeForce RTX 4060 at the fifth spot with a 3.47% penetration rate, based on Steam's latest survey data.
It's the same story as usual—by and large, gamers flock to more affordable GPU solutions. You have to scroll down 29 spots to find NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 4090 represented, which is used by 0.92% of Steam users who participated in the survey.
As for the GeForce RTX 3060, a post on the Board Channels forum claims that NVIDIA has notified its add-in card (AIC) partners to prepare for final shipments as it gets ready to send out its last batch of GPUs. We don't have an account registered with the forum, but the folks at Videocardz posted a translated screenshot with some interesting details.
"According to accurate information, NVIDIA has indeed announced the discontinuation of production of the RTX 3060 series, and has notified all AIC brands to plan the final supply order," the post begins.
"Since there is only one batch of GPU supply left for the RTX 3060 series, NVIDIA notified the three core systems of Taiwan, Colorful, Tongde, and Bo Neng to distribute the last batch of GPUs. NV requires AIC brands to place orders for the last planned quantity. According to NV's distribution rules, it will be supplied to AIC brands in batches in the next few months," the Board Channels post states.
This is not unusual, and the GeForce RTX 3060 is not new by any stretch—it released three and a half years ago (February 2021) and is a generation old, soon to be two generations old.
The other reason this isn't cause for panic despite it being the most-used GPU on Steam is because it will take some time before retailers run out of inventory. And when they do, there are plenty of other options to satisfy gamers in need of an affordable graphics card. Generally speaking, street pricing on the GeForce RTX 3060 starts at around $285 for a new (not refurbished) card, like this MSI GeForce RTX 3060 on Amazon. Meanwhile, you find the MSI's GeForce RTX 4060 for $292.97 on Amazon. It has less VRAM (8GB versus 12GB) but is generally the faster card for 1080p gaming.
