You've probably heard about the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, and you've probably heard about low-end Ampere cards with 12GB of VRAM. Such a configuration may seem a bit over-the-top for a low-key mainstream gaming setup, so you'll be pleased to hear that graphics card maker Palit has registered a 6GB version.

These 6GB configurations posted on the Korean National Radio Research Institute (via harukaze5719 on twitter) are possibly the first 6GB configurations we have seen under an official manufacturer name to date.

Rumors were flying last year about a possible 6GB SKU for Nvidia's mainstream Ampere GPU, which is further evidence that more cards with reduced memory capacity may be on the way. And it appears that Palit will be the first board manufacturer to officially register the RTX 3060 in this toned-down configuration.

To be honest, 12 GB certainly seems unreasonable. Perhaps it was a bit of flexibility on Nvidia's part in the face of the memory-heavy AMD RX 6000 series cards. But more reasonable configurations are certainly on the horizon, and the 6GB card could be the most popular of the RTX 3060 SKUs. Or it was supposed to be the most popular card until we discovered something odd.

Another registration suggests that Gainward, a subsidiary brand of Palit, may be up to something else.

The mixed registration (below, right) appears to be an 8GB version with Palit listed as the manufacturer, but the "GW-" prefix on the serial code and the "Ghost" naming scheme suggest it will be released under the Gainward brand in a middle-order RTX 3060 configuration GW-" prefix on the serial code and the "Ghost" naming scheme suggest that it will be released under the Gainward brand in a middle-order RTX 3060 configuration.

So while the memory configurations may be a bit fuzzy at this point, the changes made to these adjusted AIBs may not just be memory; it is even possible that the number of CUDA cores will change, and if so, we will see a number of very different performance figures. However, we will have to wait a while, perhaps until the summer months, to find out what each of Nvidia's manufacturing partners are producing in the name of lighter memory cards.

It is also finally worth noting that not all of these types of GPU registrations will be actual released products. We also found an early listing for the RTX 3080 20GB, but that design was dropped before it materialized, potentially overshadowing the popularity of 6GB cards as the natural sweet spot between 6GB and 12GB.