Update: The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 could be available in two desktop versions in January

GPU supply may be so tight that Nvidia has resorted to bringing back the three-year-old RTX 2060 in a new configuration, but that doesn't seem to stop the company from launching three new GPUs in January

The information comes from Videocardz, which claims to have obtained a list of dates for the desktop GPU announcements and subsequent launches

According to the site, the first release will be the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 16GB card, which will be announced on December 17 and then available for purchase on January 11, 2022

Then both the entry-level RTX 3050 8GB (previously rumored as Nvidia's defense against the upcoming Intel Arc Alchemist GPU) and the top-of-the-line RTX 3090 Ti 24GB card will be announced at the end of the month, January 27

Interestingly, of the pair, only the 3050 has an announcement date listed: January 4 This date could be very significant, as it is also the date that Nvidia is scheduled to give its executive keynote at CES 2022 in Las Vegas

The site also mentions a 12GB RTX 3080 card, but so far no date has been confirmed However, it is possible that Nvidia will actually announce four RTX 30 cards in January

However, with the RTX 3070 Ti announcement coming in eight days, we should know soon enough how seriously we should take the rest of the information

But perhaps the better question is whether it will make a material difference to our chances of getting a new GPU

The perfect storm of chip shortages, Covid-based supply chain disruptions, and the enduring appeal of high-end graphics cards to cryptocurrency miners means that cards are bought the moment they hit the virtual shelves of retailers; even the re-release of the RTX 2060 ran out of stock instantly and low-level cards are not immune from the massive demand-supply imbalance

And while the situation has worsened to the point where the US government could intercede, the reality is that it is a difficult problem to solve with no apparent end in sight Indeed, according to Nvidia's own projections, supply is not expected to ease until 2023, at which point even those cards that have yet to be announced are rumored to have been superseded by the Nvidia RTX 40 series