How To Get a RTX 3080/3090 Practical Advice (Updated 22/09/20)
OK fellow consumers and friends. I've been well-invested in this 3080 launch debacle, probably more than most since I already sold my RTX 2080 Ti so I'm now using an i9 9900K integrated graphics, GeForce Now, PS4 and Xbox Cloud Gaming for my kicks. As you may or may not know, Nvidia have acted pretty naively with the 3080 launch considering they should have expected bots and scalpers to take all the stock, and high demand after their own hype. However, thankfully they are revoking suspicious orders manually. You can see a stock checker for Digital River (European handlers) which seems to be rising hourly because this process obviously takes time. The issue now then is how does Nvidia move forwards in announcing stock availability? They surely can't expect people to sit on their website and press F5 all day. How do they prevent the bots from taking all the stock again? In their statement, they did mention emails being sent out when stock becomes available, however faith in that system seems low considering the email notifications for the launch were sent out 1 hour after the launch time previously, by which time the stock was long gone. Perhaps then this will be the only way to buy from them via the email link so make sure you sign-up to be notified. There's some reason to be encouraged though. Nvidia are looking into ways to prevent bot/scalper purchases even if adding a captcha to the store front. But bots can pass those checks, so I hope they figure something else out. Either way, I expect a 3080 relaunch in the coming days rather than them trickling out stock. How they handle it though is anyone's guess. Some retailers are taking pre-orders now but in a queue system, so you can take the gamble of pre-ordering now and waiting your turn. It could be weeks or months though. There's light at the end of the tunnel, as Nvidia is resupplying vendors daily. Yes, that's right, "daily" using their own words. This is encouraging then and means the wait might not be as long as you think. My advice though moving forwards then and especially if you are after a 3090 next week is to not put all your faith in getting the Founder's Edition cards and go for an aftermarket version. There is decidedly less interest in the 3090 though from my research, but stock levels are likely to be much less than the 3080. The problem I see with the Nvidia website is I think stock will naturally be extremely limited so even if you're not competing with Bots, your competing with like-minded consumers en-mass. I also don't believe Nvidia will have a tangible solution to the bot/scalper issue by next-week (but they have said they've improved things in a recent update to the store). Sure, it's easy to code re-captcha into a store-front but I am not confident this method can eliminate bots entirely. There is also no guarantee that their website won't "break" again like it did yesterday. In my experience monitoring the 3080 launch, I found that alternative retailers offered the best chance of securing cards. Several hours after launch I saw pre-orders open for next day, and even a couple of cards in stock. Some might suggest it's prudent to have more than one store page open in your browser. This might help. Getting alerts might help as well. There are several sites which offer this. Either way, the bottom line is Nvidia wants your business and if the bots/scalpers get them all, then the negative press shrouds them, so it's not a case of they are happy because they got the money anyway. There's enough legitimate customers to buy all the stock, and I would wager they prefer that and moving forwards against AMD who are poised to announce their own wares at the start and end of October. Now, some folks might want to wait for that and then make an informed choice (depending on the RX 6000 series specs). Also this is day one. Expect things to level-out over the coming weeks. Sure, the supply chains have been affected by COVID-19, but manufacturing still continues and there's plentiful resources available to large companies such as Nvidia. Some people are concerned they won't have a new card for the release of Cyberpunk 2077. That's one of this year's most anticipated titles (and showcased during the 30 series reveal). I strongly believe that by the game's November 19th launch there will be plenty 30 series cards available. So a bit of patience will calm your nerves. Also, word is that a greater amount of inventory will be available in October. - Keep an eye on EVGA Jason's Twitter feed as he seems to announce when EVGA have stock US or EVGA have stock EUR. They are getting new drops every few days I believe. They are also manually reviewing orders and cancelling bot orders. Happy Hunting.
