Nvidia RTX 3080 is about to get EVEN harder to find - here's why

How deep can the stock crisis get surrounding Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPUs? A never-ending cycle of updates, sightings, and price hikes. Nobody really knows. One thing we do know is that any sign of the situating easing in 2021 is glaringly absent.

Such is this peculiar state of affairs that even the most joyous of occasions, like Chinese New Year, get wrapped up and become complicit in this worsening whirlwind of GPU shortages. That's right, you heard it: Chinese New Year, so-usually an innocent bystander, is now a culprit.  

The celebrations, which variously fall between January and February, and are being celebrated this year on February 12, are worsening the issue due to the knock-on factory closures.

Despite some premature pre-release sightings of the Nvidia RTX 3060 in select, but as yet unnamed shops, frustrated gamers across the globe simply can’t get hold of a GPU. Such is the need of our Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti tracker; even better, T3’s Nvidia RTX 3080 tracker, or the Nvidia RTX 3070 inventory tool, to keep abreast of fleeting restocks that simply dissipate into thin air when stock rolls in.

• Forget Signal, WhatsApp to launch trailblazing sign-out feature
• Forget LG, Sony launches 100-inch TV colossus that you can't even buy
• Apple iPhone Flip's colorful clamshell will change everything - here's how

The globally entrenched GPU stock crisis, it seems, is under attack from all angles. The SCAN stock status page says: “Due to Chinese New Year we expect shipment quantities to be much lower over the coming weeks. We are still awaiting full details from all the brands on exactly what will arrive and will share this as soon as we have it.”

A further statement from ALTERNATE, a hardware distributor serving the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium name-checks the Chinese New Year festivities as a contributing factor, going some way to explain recently suspended orders of the Nvidia RTX 3080 (via Reddit). With no signs of the Nvidia RTX 3080 card calamity easing, people are looking for the next best thing.

But the retailer’s expectations don’t bode well for gamers, though. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 3060 Ti stock will reportedly be impaired for a long time with ‘very little supply and deliveries’, which puts those with pre-orders on unstable ground as well, no longer guaranteeing order fulfillment. It leaves a lot of users who thought they'd secured a card, not just rudderless, but in the same boat as many others. 

Meanwhile, the Nvidia RTX 3090 and Nvidia RTX 3070 will be less scarce, but probably no less tough to find amid the scalpers, price hikes, and general chaos that has ensued over the past few months. The retailer expects ‘only small quantities’ of these GPUs, but doesn’t elaborate on the specific numbers.

It would seem, at least, your best bet lies with the Nvidia RTX 3070. It has the least amount of outstanding orders, while also receiving a small but steady supply. In the interim, check our best graphics card guide to plug the gap from stock shortages. We'll keep you posted through our trackers with any more updates should they hopefully come.

Source: SCAN UK