GPU prices have gone mad!

Mekonrider · Nov 30, 2020

My 1080 just died and I've just sold my RX580 I had as a backup......

Thought I'd maybe get one of the new 3xxx cards.....err...no. You either can't get or they are stupid prices.

Used prices are equally mad, people paying £450 for 5700XTs and the like.

I really can't justify getting scalped but I've read that it'll be February before any real supply is available!

AAARRRGGGGHHHH!

DrRob · Nov 30, 2020

IF you can get one that is. I'm trying to get a 3080 to no avail.

Emery · Nov 30, 2020

Mekonrider said:
I really can't justify getting scalped but I've read that it'll be February before any real supply is available!

Very likely. Sorry. Best advice I can give is to get in a couple queues ASAP and wait them out. I only had to wait a month for my 3090.

papa john · Dec 1, 2020

If you want a 3080 i suggest you order a less popular 3080. There is almost no difference between a Strix and something else.

DrRob · Dec 1, 2020

papa john said:
If you want a 3080 i suggest you order a less popular 3080. There is almost no difference between a Strix and something else.

Absolutely! The trouble is that any of these are available from the trustable resellers here in Germany.
I saw one coming up in stock yesterday only to be sold out again after 5 minutes or so before I could even check if it would be a suitable candidate for me. In hindsight it was not, so not a big problem (Gainward Phantom GS for ~1050€).

I would like to purchase an Asus TUF 3080 or similar base version. The gains ingame of the OC cards I saw in reviews was in the range of 5-10% at best under ideal conditions. Not worth spending an extra buck in my book.

Ben Lee · Dec 1, 2020

I refuse to pay £400+ plus for a high end GPU.

That kind of cost 10 years ago would have got you the highest end card available, now that costs have just been driven up by scalpers and bitcoin miners.

I currently have a pretty modest 1070ti, but i'd upgrade, however I was hoping to upgrade to something more low power, but still offer a performance boost. That doesnt seem to be the case though, as all the new cards are virtually 50-60% more power hungry than my current card.

DrRob · Dec 1, 2020

Funnily enough I was hoping for a price competition with the Big Navi cards to bring prices down to the normal advertised retail prices. Instead they priced the new 6800 accordingly to their Nvidia competitors.

Which means I will go the Nvidia way....

Guido Trampe · Dec 1, 2020

“We have had a private conversation with AMD. They assured us that in 4 to 8 weeks there will be AIB cards available at MSRP. They said they enabled the AIBs to achieve the 649 dollars [RX 6800 XT] MSRP and they expect that to happen within 8 weeks.”
– Steve Walton, Hardware Unboxed

Clover11 · Dec 1, 2020

Hangloose said:
“We have had a private conversation with AMD. They assured us that in 4 to 8 weeks there will be AIB cards available at MSRP. They said they enabled the AIBs to achieve the 649 dollars [RX 6800 XT] MSRP and they expect that to happen within 8 weeks.”
– Steve Walton, Hardware Unboxed

Am I the only one that reads that from AMD as, "We launched over 4- 8 weeks early and our sucker partners won't be able to get anything out for the holiday season. Perfect! Now, please forward my bonus check to my winter house, I am will be taking the rest of the year off."

Ryan Soucy · Dec 1, 2020

Yeah, I don't know when things are going to be back in balance. It is scary. Sorry for the OP's situation. Having a failure now is sub-optimal to say the least. Thankfully my 2016 build is still holding up...

Mekonrider · Dec 1, 2020

3060 ti is out tomorrow. Got signed up for stock alerts and will try and beat the bots. If I can get on for £400 -420 that will do but that's about as much as I want to pay.

Just been watching a benchmark video and it's impressive. Almost twice the speed of the 1080 in some games. At least for VR it will be a welcome boost. Here's hoping I'm lucky tomorrow.

DrRob · Dec 2, 2020

Just yesterday I ordered the Inno3D RTX3800 iChill X3. It is a base card, no real OC potential, but on the lower end of prices (..still too high of course). Will see if I was really able to snatch one of the few cards that came online and went within 5 minutes or so....

Mekonrider · Dec 2, 2020

Well I got a 3060ti. Paid £500 for a Palit one as that was all I could get. I had about 8 retailer windows open and stock went in about 5s. Box was the only place with any left.

Mekonrider · Dec 6, 2020

The card arrived but sadly I then had to get my cat put to sleep so I didn't feel like driving for a few days and it remained boxed.

Got it installed this afternoon and it's benchmarking about 2 twice as fast (almost) as the 1080 so worthwhile I guess.

RobPhoboS · Dec 13, 2020

Sorry to hear about your cat

When you do feel like getting around to it, I'd like to hear any thoughts.

I've got a 1070ti that I'm using with my Rift S, my whole machine needs to be upgraded next year but the gpu is the main area which is tricky for VR and sim racing!

Terry Rock · Dec 13, 2020

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-and-amd-graphics-cards-sales-threatened-by-new-bitmain-asic/

Lets face it, OEM and AIB partners have engaged in some rather shady and despicable practices in the past.
This time out, they've taken it to a whole new level.
Both manufacturers looked at the level of anticipation for these cards and took advantage of the situation.
They've used Covid-19 almost exclusively for lack of production and shortages.
Sure!...that'd have some effect on units produced but not to the levels most believe.
Just look at the sheer number of chips Nvidia have been exposed of selling to mining farms.
As to the MSRP fiasco...that's now been fully exposed for what it is... pure greed, while 'mind screwing' consumers.
Put out an attractive MSRP with little to no product to keep folks F5 refreshing and interested.
Increase the kit prices to AIB and reap higher profit there, while not looking like the bad greedy guys.
AIBs can then add their margins and pass the cost on to consumers willing to pay 'stupid' increases due to the lack of availability.

Mekonrider · Dec 13, 2020

RobPhoboS said:
Sorry to hear about your cat

When you do feel like getting around to it, I'd like to hear any thoughts.

I've got a 1070ti that I'm using with my Rift S, my whole machine needs to be upgraded next year but the gpu is the main area which is tricky for VR and sim racing!

Well it's a step up from the 1080. I ran the benchmark test in AC and it almost doubled my fps. It's got temperature sensitive LED lighting but it's never been beyond the 2nd stage yet. I've only got a 1080p monitor and could have lived with my old RX580 if not for VR (can't go back!) so most games on ultra aren't remotely taxing. Looking at other benchmark videos on Youtube seems about the same as the 2080S. #Feel like I should at least get a 1440p monitor now.

ACC still looks like crap though. AMS2 looks great, PP on with effects turned on but AC doesn't even look good even with the fancy option on. Dirt Rally is good but still not just turn it all on, you still have to be selective. I just wanted enough to run ground cover as it's bare without it.

ao1977 · Dec 13, 2020

I recently was luck to get a 3070 as a step up from my 1080 to feed my Rift S.
In comparison it's a hefty beast. It even brought me back to leisure controller gaming, as RTX and DLSS are nice to watch and quite a treat on our 4K TV.
Still it won't satisfy ACC in VR, I couldn't get stable 80 FPS.
So I did the same thing as with the 1080: Forced AWS with stable 40 FPS, but wayyyy higher details and supersampling settings than before.

Maybe I'm lucky to get a 3080 at a reasonable price in 2021, but until then I'm happy with the "little brother".