We are currently in the midst of a generational shift in PC gaming hardware, and with new GPUs like the Nvidia RTX 4090 Founders Edition (opens in new tab), what we consider top-of-the-line hardware is currently changing. Still, you are not alone in not being able to afford the new 40 series cards. Between price and availability, the dream of getting a brand new machine with the latest kit will remain just a dream for many.

Thankfully, re-burning older cards is still quite common and a much more affordable option. Currently, the RTX 3060 GPU (opens in new tab) looks set to get the treatment, with two brands releasing 8GB variants of the 2021 card. These should be a cheaper upgrade for those in need.

According to VideoCardz (opens in new tab), both Manli and Asus have released GPUs based on the same RTX 3060 8GB SKU. These appear to be essentially the same as the brand's 12GB variant, but with only 8GB of memory. This uses a 128-bit memory bus as opposed to 192 bits, which results in a narrower bandwidth and loses the future potential that the 12GB offered. This card will undoubtedly be a cost-cutting card, but with a price tag to match.

The Manli card (opens in new tab) takes its cues from the brand new RTX 3060 LHR model, while Asus is adding a new 3060 8GB to its Dual series of GPUs (opens in new tab). Aside from that, both should be fairly similar with 3584 Nvidia CUDA cores, 240GB of memory bandwidth, and the typical 170-watt TDP we're used to with RTX 3060s.

Of course, whether this card is worth a look all depends on the price. If this budget spec GPU comes at a cost to match, it could be a really nice little upgrade for those still using 10-series cards; in Steam's hardware survey (open in new tab), the good old 1060 remains top spot, with the RTX 3060 not far behind as the sixth most popular card. [Given that the current RTX 3060 card is about $400, it's already a bit of a hard sell; the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti (open in new tab) often sells for about the same price, so it's worth upgrading if you can get one. The lesser 8GB RTX 3050 doesn't often go below the $300 mark, and that's where we'd like to see this 8GB 3060 if it gets any attention. Hopefully we'll be pleasantly surprised and these will really be a budget building option to get us through.