A strange new RTX 3060 squeezes 12GB of VRAM into a single-slot, low-profile card aimed squarely at local AI workloads.
According to Tom’s Hardware the SRhonyra RTX 3060 12GB Low Profile has appeared at Newegg for $495.59, which is an impressive amount of cash for five-year-old silicon. Its trick is packaging Nvidia’s Ampere GPU into a one-slot design that draws only 70W from the PCIe slot.
It has no external power connectors, making the card easier to fit into compact machines or systems running several GPUs. SRhonyra reckons the card is “capable of local AI” and suitable for running 7B to 13B large language models.
The attraction is its 12GB of VRAM. Memory capacity has become increasingly useful for running local models, even when the GPU itself is hardly cutting-edge. A conventional RTX 3060 can draw up to 175W, so chopping power consumption to 70W is unlikely to do wonders for performance.
The standard RTX 3060 launched in 2021 as a mainstream gaming card, but its relatively generous 12GB memory configuration has given the old GPU an unexpected second life. Nvidia recently revived production of the 12GB model as component shortages and rising memory prices pushed graphics card costs upwards.
Standard new RTX 3060 cards that sold for about $339.99 two months ago now sell for roughly $489. That leaves SRhonyra’s $495.59 asking price looking less barking than it otherwise might, although buyers are paying RTX 3060 money for substantially restricted power.
The card’s single-slot format may make more sense in multi-GPU AI boxes, where several units can fit in one system without consuming two or three expansion slots each. Users could employ multiple cards to increase the total VRAM available to local AI workloads, although applications need appropriate software support rather than magically pooling GPU memory.
The 70W power limit reduces demands on the power supply and removes the usual collection of PCIe power cables. Its low-profile design means the card could fit into small-form-factor machines where a normal RTX 3060 would have no hope of getting through the door.
That shrinkage comes at a price. Another 75W single-slot RTX 3060 recently tested from China suffered severe throttling, with clocks dropping to around 900MHz and GPU hotspots exceeding 90C. That card scored 4,821 points in 3DMark Time Spy, illustrating what happens when an Ampere GPU designed for roughly 170W is put on a brutal power diet.
SRhonyra seems less interested in convincing gamers that its miniature RTX 3060 is a performance monster and more interested in customers who want 12GB of Nvidia-compatible VRAM in as little space as possible.
