# One-slot, low-profile Nvidia RTX 3060 12 GB with two monitor outputs breaks cover at Newegg for $496 — bus-powered model looking for a use case in local LLM work — retained record > Retained news record from news:toms-hardware. Canonical: https://highsignal.app/data/records/f1ba4d38c8b6f435 [← sources](https://highsignal.app/data) source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:toms-hardware) published 2026-09-08 10:15 ingested 2026-09-09 02:53 [original source ↗](https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/one-slot-low-profile-nvidia-rtx-3060-12-gb-with-two-monitor-outputs-breaks-cover-at-newegg-for-usd496-bus-powered-model-looking-for-a-use-case-in-local-llm-work) ## retained text ``` One-slot, low-profile Nvidia RTX 3060 12 GB with two monitor outputs breaks cover at Newegg for $496 — bus-powered model looking for a use case in local LLM work 12 GB of VRAM wasn't supposed to be a lot, but these days it's a luxury. Not that long ago, we reported that Nvidia was dusting off the blueprints for the RTX 3060, in its 12 GB form. At the time, we'd spotted it in stores for about $339.99, but just like with ever-climbing memory, hard drive, and SSD prices, two months passed is an eternity. The same cards are now selling for $489 new, and one particular specimen is the SRhonyra RTX 3060 12 GB Low Profile card, for $495.59. - SRhonyra RTX 3060 12 GB Low Profile card - $495.59 This card and its price may raise more than a few eyebrows, but there are reasons why it exists. First off, it's a one-slot model, making it easy to put many of them to work in the same machine with relatively little concern for airflow. They have no power inputs and rely on 70 W delivered by the PCIe slot alone, eschewing the need for a high-end PSU and lots of cables. Third, the low-profile form factor makes it possible to place them in potent puny personal computers. Attentive readers might surmise that one (or more) of these would be good candidates for an entry-level local LLM rig. That's precisely how SRhonyra is pitching the card, calling it "capable of local AI" and "running 7B [to] 13B LLMs." A standard-dimensioned, fully powered RTX 3060 is capable of drawing a maximum of 175 W, so it's fair to assume the performance of the diminutive variant will sit below that of its full-sized brethren, given it ought to only draw 70 W of juice from the PCIe slot. Even then, it's likely that people interested in these cards are looking to use them either as secondary GPUs, or use more than one in the same box to be able to virtually pool their VRAM and use larger models than you'd otherwise be able to. The low power draw also means they're a simple, thoughtless drop-in to an existing system, whereas larger, more power-hungry cards require careful consideration with physical spacing (or lack thereof), power supply sizing, and ever-annoying cables. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Bruno Ferreira is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has decades of experience with PC hardware and assorted sundries, alongside a career as a developer. He's obsessed with detail and has a tendency to ramble on the topics he loves. When not doing that, he's usually playing games, or at live music shows and festivals. - me-three Reply Yep, multi-GPU setup is one way to break the 24GB VRAM barrier of individual GPUs. Below, the YT'er DigitalSpaceport is using a single EPYC server board, modded with PCIe 4 risers, to accommodate quad-3090's, mounted in an open-frame setup.Admin said:Attentive readers might surmise that one (or more) of these would be good candidates for an entry-level local LLM rig. That's precisely how SRhonyra is pitching the card LLMs would have layers split over across all cards via CUDA device offloading via llama.cpp. Or using vLLM to serve with tensor parallelism across the GPUs. Yep, the power draw cap is a deal breaker, along with the cooling issues. You're better off using standard (used) 3060s for a poor-man's version of what DigitalSpaceport built. 4x12GB=48GB is sufficient for mid-sized models, but even full-power 3060 has too weak compute to run such sized models. AI power users tend to opt for 3090s in either 2/3/4 setups.Admin said:Even then, it's likely that people interested in these cards are looking to use them either as secondary GPUs, or use more than one in the same box to be able to virtually pool their VRAM and use larger models than you'd otherwise be able to. This 3060's high asking price does highlight a real demand imbalance for local AI use. It's the likely reason why 16GB GPUs are priced disproportionately high--especially 5060 Ti 16GB--because AI users are scarfing them up to use in multi-GPU rigs. This demand won't abate, but will only rise with time, as local AI use is trending upward, away from API use. Before the latest price craze, a used 3090 commands $1K, and a 5060 Ti 16GB goes for $500. On a bang/GB basis a quad-5060Ti setup is more cost effective, albeit with a lower VRAM ceiling. Some people think that if the AI bubble will only burst, then GPU pricing will return to normal, but the opposite will be true, as AI use will shift onto local models, and GPU pricing will jump even higher. The likely outlook is that Nvidia/AMD/Intel will expand AI-specific accelerators to encompass the prosumer and eventually consumer market, to meet the burgeoning demand. Intel at least will likely forgo the (gaming) GPU market altogether, and the same economic rationale exists for AMD or Nvidia to abandon or "freeze" gaming GPUs to serve AI-GPUs. We'll see what companies have in store for 2027. The local AI demand is definitely there. PC gamers may well be left out in the cold. So7tqRSZ0s8View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So7tqRSZ0s8 ``` document fetched 2026-09-09 02:53 · canonical https://tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/one-slot-low-profile-nvidia-rtx-3060-12-gb-with-two-monitor-outputs-breaks-cover-at-newegg-for-usd496-bus-powered-model-looking-for-a-use-case-in-local-llm-work