So if you thought the RTX 2060 12GB was a cash grab, let me introduce you to something that should make you equally, if not more angry: the NVIDIA RTX 3080 12GB
By bumping the RAM up 20% (from 10GB to 12GB), the MSRP now increases over 75% from $699 to $1,249.
Additionally, the Hardware Unboxed YouTube Channel just released a video explaining how NVIDIA refused to provide drivers to hardware reviewers prior to launch. This effectively delayed all professional reviews by a couple days after launch; of course after which every AIB and retailer will be completely sold out and backordered.
I’ve been searching for a 3080 at MSRP for almost 2 yrs ago without success. Anyone else feel taken advantage of too?
Yes but it really is a case of market demand and not enough stock to satiate said demand, so hence the market will just keep the pricing high until it can equalize which of course means the inflated pricing.
It is still looking pretty grim for the next year or so still so I doubt that the next genration offerings are going to help with the pricing, if anything they will go up again
I guess that’s always been the case when buying something. But now every manufacturer is trying to rip consumers off.
Just like Hardware Unboxed said there’s no MSRP on the device because they want the market to dictate the price since they lost quite a bit with the first batches of 3000 series cards that maybe went out the door at prices near MSRP to scalpers and miners, just to be sold at double the price profiting the retailers and scalpers.
That 1249$ is the price EVGA chose I think, but it’s nowhere to be found on the Nvidia website. There’s no reference design on which to base the price of those GPUs.
It’s a huge mess and what everyone should try to do is not buying. If nobody bought GPUs anymore and didn’t go around chasing them I think there would be a change of some sort.
Thou I must say that I’m biased because I have new-ish working hardware.
Its the sneakiest scummy [mild] refresh, JUST to [likely] bump the MSRP
… And PAST weird, that they’d send out reference 3080s, only to NOT be usable?!
What Nvidia and the partners should be doing is raising market prices transparently during this time of extreme demand while not playing all the cloak and dagger games about it. There’s obviously a price at which GPUs can remain in stock - you need only check any e-tailer to find GPUs in stock way above MSRP. This is how such a market should work. Prices increase until supply can keep up with demand.
That way, there is no scalping - no one is able to buy the product at less than the current market rate, so there’s no incentive to “snipe” and resell product. Then, as demand slows down over time, the price is reduced to match, bringing more consumers into the market as the price starts to hit their willingness to buy. This strategy would reduce scams and eliminate the mad scramble to get product like we see any time a Newegg Shuffle appears or BestBuy gets 100 cards in stock at your local store. And it would even see Nvidia and their partners’ profitability increase without needing to hike the MSRP price on the RTX 3080 Ti right before launch or leave the 3080 12 GB such a mystery product.
I think the perception of what “MSRP” means on these products does more damage to consumers than setting a base price and letting the market even out supply and demand. That’s because now Nvidia can set whatever MSRP they want and consumers will be fooled into thinking they are getting a great deal if they can find anything at that price, no matter the fact that it was artificially set by Nvidia before the product even launched.
When the GPU market finally comes back to sane levels, I wouldn’t be surprised if many consumers who haven’t left PC gaming entirely will take their business to AMD or Intel instead. This is the kind of behavior that destroys brand loyalty and breaks consumer trust. Not to say that AMD and Intel are blameless here either, but Nvidia appears to be the worst offender.
