Current graphics chips are in great demand, but they are a rare commodity. If you want to get hold of one of the cards from the Nvidia RTX 3000 series, you need a lot of patience and a little luck. An overview of dealers and availability.
Anyone looking for a new graphics card has had a miserable existence so far in 2021. But improvement seems to be in sight: specialist retailers such as Alternate or Cheap Notebooks have popular models from Nvidia’s RTX-3000 series in stock again. This is an improvement compared to the first half of the year – although many models are offered at significantly more expensive than the manufacturer’s recommended retail price. Nevertheless, interested parties can hope that prices will relax a little in the future, because the crypto boom of the first half of the year seems to have been suspended for the time being. China also banned the mining of digital currencies.
The so-called “miners” in particular bought up graphics cards en masse and thus ensured a shortage of the popular chips. A scarcity that scalpers took advantage of. As a reminder: These are middlemen who take advantage of the situation of high demand and low availability by programming automation software that buys graphics chips when they are in stock at a dealer, only to sell them on to end users many times over. And it is precisely these middlemen who are likely to be the reason why dealers offer the coveted cards above the RRP. As soon as this business model no longer works, gamers should get hold of the chips at reasonable prices.
Graphics cards: prices are down
After months of chip shortage, the graphics card market seems to have eased somewhat. Whereby the relaxation is relative: While RTX 3070 Ti and 3080 Ti were offered far too expensive by all retailers at the market launch in early June, the price trend is now downwards, as reported. Therefore, gamblers should not yet fire cheers: The current price (June 30, 2021) is still well above the recommended retail price communicated by Nvidia.
Nvidia RTX 3000 series: The graphics cards at a glance
If you want to get hold of one of the popular cards, you have to be patient and quick to think. You should avoid price comparisons such as Geizhals or Idealo. Actually, they’re a great tool for finding the best price. However, scalpers take advantage of the sites by scanning their software Geizhals & Co. in order to strike cheap offers immediately. For this reason, some dealers no longer send data to the price comparisons.
Unfortunately, you cannot be put on a waiting list at the merchants, for example if you put an unavailable card in the shopping cart and pay. So you have no choice but to go back to the dealers manually over and over again. This is why this article shows different models and provides a tabular overview of which dealers carry the chips for each card.
One thing should be said in advance: As soon as one of the models is available, it is sold out within a few minutes for the normal price – regardless of which online shop the graphics card is in stock. So it’s worth keeping an eye on the various shops on a regular basis.
1. Nvidia RTX 3060
The is the chip manufacturer’s entry-level model. The recommended retail price (RRP) is 330 euros for the version with 16 gigabytes of video memory (VRAM). Curious: The slightly more powerful Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti “only” has 8 gigabytes. Nvidia has already announced that it will also bring its RTX 3060 with less memory onto the market. In terms of performance, it is at the level of the RTX 2070 – i.e. the next stronger model of the previous generation. If you want to play the latest game titles on a monitor with 4K resolution, you will not be happy with the card. Gamers who rely on full or UHD, on the other hand, do.
Availability on June 30th: The RTX 3060 is currently available.
2. Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti
The RRP of the . It offers about 36 percent more computing units, but only half as much VRAM. But it doesn’t matter as long as the games flicker across the screen in Full HD or UHD. The “Ti” in the name stands for “Titanium” at Nvidia. This is no different than marketing speech, which tells the end customer that a “Ti” chip is a little faster than the “normal” graphics card.
Availability on June 30th: The RTX 3060 Ti is either overpriced or out of stock.
3. Nvidia RTX 3070
On the Most end users should squint because it offers the most interesting mix of price and performance. The RRP of the graphics card at market launch was around 500 euros. Buyers are currently paying at least 400 euros more for them. Its level of performance is impressive: it is on par with the top-class model of the previous generation, the RTX 2080Ti. Incidentally, it came on the market in the third quarter of 2018 and cost 1250 euros. The RTX 3070 comes with 8 gigabytes of VRAM, three less than the RTX 2080 Ti.
A circumstance that is more than manageable because the new chip still achieves the same performance in games – originally at almost half the price. The Nvidia RTX 3070 also manages to quickly compute performance-hungry games in 4K resolution on the screen. If you are toying with the card, you can do the same with a high-resolution monitor. Incidentally, an RTX 3070 Ti is not yet on the market. It’s only a matter of time before Nvidia brings it out, though. Rumor has it that the chip manufacturer is doubling the VRAM of the Ti version to 16 gigabytes.
Availability on June 30th: The RTX 3070 is available from specialist retailers like Alternate for a reasonably reasonable price compared to Amazon.
4. Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti
The Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti was launched on June 10, 2021. Nvidia itself declared the graphics card with a recommended retail price of around 600 euros. Because the chip market is still overheated, only very few interested parties are likely to have received one of the coveted graphics cards. After all: If you accept the now hefty surcharges on the RRP, you can currently get the RTX 3070 Ti for around 1000 euros. And that’s only marginally more expensive than a new RTX 3070.
Availability on June 30th: Specialist retailers such as Alternate have the card on offer. In terms of price, it is a bit higher than the RTX 3070.
5. Nvidia RTX 3080
If you want no compromise 4K gaming, this is the the path you should be treading. Compared to its direct predecessor (RTX 2080), it offers up to 50 percent more performance. Such an increase between two generations is a rarity in the field of PC hardware. At the market launch, a few happy buyers got hold of the graphics card for 699 euros. A bargain compared to the current prices, which are around 1600 euros.
Availability on June 30th: The RTX 3080 is either overpriced or out of stock.
6. Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti
The RTX 3080 Ti appeared in stores on June 3, 2021. Of course, the graphics card suffered a similar fate as its predecessor: As soon as it was released, it was immediately sold out and then only available for a hefty surcharge compared to the recommended price. Nvidia announced a price of around 1200 euros for the RTX 3080 Ti. It currently costs a good 500 euros more.
Availability on June 30th: At specialist retailers such as Alternate or Mindfactory, you pay around 1700 euros or more for the RTX 3080 Ti – but it is available.
7. Nvidia RTX 3090
The is not suitable for the mass market . With the absolute upper class graphics card, Nvidia is aimed at individual luminaries – at least in the gaming scene. According to the manufacturer, the RTX 3090 is the first 8K graphics card. Only true pixel fanatics with bulging wallets feel the need to build a computer for 8K gaming. The resolution doubles compared to 4K. Means: Either you have a gaming setup with three UHD screens and thus get the 8K or you name a monitor like that Your own for the proud price of currently 3740 euros.
If so, don’t be put off by the MSRP of around 1500 euros or the current prices of around 2500 euros. For this you get the currently fastest chip from the manufacturer with 24 gigabytes of VRAM. One thing should be said: With the RTX 3090, Nvidia is of course not only aimed at hobby gamers, but above all at professional users who use the card to perform complex calculations, such as editing extremely high-resolution videos.
Availability on June 30th: The RTX 3090 is in stock and currently a good 500 euros more expensive than the recommended retail price.
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