Even though we’re seeing early signs of GPU prices returning to normal, the best graphics cards are still hard to find with stock about as dry as a bone. According to ITHome, Nvidia is ramping up production of its budget RTX 3060, which is enough to get anyone jumping for joy, until you realise these extra GPUs are actually headed for internet cafes rather than your gaming PC.
Yes, internet cafes are still a thing across much of Asia, and with more opening back up after the past year, there are many rigs needing a fresh GPU capable of running the best PC games. What better way to entice people back than the ray tracing and DLSS capabilities of an RTX 3000 graphics card?
While this news won’t mean any of Nvidia’s Ampere models will be any easier to source near MSRP just yet, it suggests Nvidia finally has the spare capacity to increase production of its GPUs. This is no doubt helped by China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies, and the Lite Hash Rate update added to Nvidia’s new RTX 3000 models, reducing crypto mining profitability and causing demand from miners to drop.
We’ll have to wait to see if the company can maintain this increased production in the longer term, as that could translate to more GPUs in the hands of consumers.