Update: Nvidia has released the following brief statement confirming that there will be no RTX 3060 12GB Founders Edition:

"For cards targeted at the mainstream of the market, the decision to not design a Founders Edition card The decision may be made.

This means that the RTX 3060, which will be available in late February, will consist of only third-party AIB cards. Keep an eye out for these cards as the release date approaches.

Original Article Nvidia may not release the RTX 3060 12GB Founders Edition, French tech site Cowcotland reports. According to the report, the GPU will be released at the end of February, as Nvidia broadly stated in its RTX 3060 announcement stream, and will consist only of third-party AIB graphics cards.

So far, all RTX 30 series graphics cards have featured the Founders Edition, a cooler shroud and PCB design designed by Nvidia. These have proven to be very popular and are therefore often the first to sell out when orders flood in on launch day.

However, reports indicate that no such cards will appear for the RTX 3060 12GB. Translation: although the source of the information is not specified.

The RTX 3060 was pictured in the distance in a PC rendering during Nvidia's announcement stream at CES 2021. Third-party cards were more widely displayed during the show (see header image).

The decision would not be entirely surprising to Nvidia. Certainly, it will alleviate the daunting task of retailing the Founders Edition cards directly. [At the very least, we like the RTX 30 series Founders Edition shrouds quite a bit, so in that regard, it's a shame to see the cards go, which will undoubtedly be the most populated in the entire Ampere generation. But as long as it is replaced by a better performing cooler at MSRP, its loss will remain an aesthetic one.

Its predecessor, the RTX 2060, came with its own compact Turing Founders Edition shroud, and the RTX 3060 Ti also comes with the FE, a light silver variation of the cooler found on the RTX 3070.

The RTX 16 series, however, did not appear in the Founders Edition outfit.

We have asked Nvidia for clarification and will update if we hear anything back.