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The GPU market seems to have descended into turmoil with the recent crypto crash. What was a slow trickle of GPUs back into the market has turned into a deluge in the past few weeks. Although it was encouraging to see prices creep back towards MSRP, we’ve now blown way past that marker. At least, that’s true for some models. Case in point is Nvidia’s flagship GPU; the RTX 3090 Ti. This GPU was impossible to find when it first launched, despite costing over $2,000. At some points, it was even being scalped for over $3,000. Those days are over, as Nvidia is having a fire sale right now on the RTX 3090 Ti.
Nvidia’s MSRP for this top-of-the-line GPU is $1,999. Best Buy is currently offering the Founder’s Edition for just $1,599. That’s obviously a lot of money for a GPU, but $400 off MSRP signals a titanic shift in the market. Even wilder, EVGA is selling its hybrid-cooling version for $700 off. It’s only $1,499, instead of $2,199. This seems like a clear case of Nvidia being desperate to clear the shelves. After all, it’s 40-series is coming up soon, and who in their right mind would want to drop this much money on a GPU now? Especially when all rumors indicate the 3090 Ti will be outpaced by a 40-series card that will probably cost half the price.
The other issue is it seems obvious Nvidia made a mistake in the timing of this card’s release. Waiting until the very end of the architecture’s lifestyle to drop the flagship GPU might have made sense in the past. But that was only because previously there was still nine months or longer before a new family was released. That was not the case this time, partly because Nvidia had to delay the launch of the 3090 Ti. The other issue is the 3090 Ti is barely faster than the RTX 3090. Despite minimal gains, it was offered to gamers at an outrageous $500 price premium. Everyone knew it was a ridiculous pricing then, and it seems even more crazy now. Although, $1,599 does seem more reasonable with the vanilla 3090 going for $100 less, if you can find one.
These offers make for an interesting conundrum for PC upgraders. That hybrid-cooled EVGA card is a killer deal, as it includes a 360mm AIO cooler. That is hard to pass up, assuming you have the budget for it. But then again, what if Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace GPUs launch in August? And the new RTX 4080 is twice as powerful, for around $900? You’d be kicking yourself if you pulled the trigger on that deal. Unless, you were totally satisfied with the performance it offers. But if you were hoping for 4K at 144Hz, you might want to sit tight until the 40-series drops.
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