Shortage Abating? GPU Supplies Have Gotten Better, But Pricing Can Still Stink
If you gave up on buying a PC graphics card because of bots and the chip shortage, there’s some good news: In recent weeks, the supplies for both Nvidia and AMD GPUs have gotten substantially better, making them easier to buy in the US.
No, you probably won't find your ideal GPU on the first try. Nor will you see the best prices. However, many graphics cards are remaining in stock for hours over online retailers including Newegg and Amazon. That’s a huge change from a year ago when the products consistently sold out in seconds.
The better supplies become apparent if you use an online restock tracking service, which will monitor when the products are back on sale at retail pricing. Over the last week, we’ve seen Nvidia’s RTX 3050, 3060, 3060 Ti and 3070 Ti units remain available on Newegg for hours, enough time for an average consumer to nab one.
The same has been true for AMD's GPUs. In addition, the graphics cards we found in stock were sold by the retailer itself, not some third-party merchant with an unknown record on honoring refunds.
One GPU restock tracking service, Falcodrin Stock Alerts, said it began noticing the improved supplies about three weeks ago. “Yea it's getting way easier. You can buy basically any tier of card from an authorized reseller, same day,” the service said.
That’s especially true for the pricier graphics card models from third-party vendors, such as Asus, Gigabyte and MSI. “The most expensive of each tier are just staying in stock. Lower priced ones are selling out between 10 minutes to a few hours,” Falcodrin added.
A separate GPU restock tracking service, Fixitfixitfixit, agreed that the supplies have gotten better over the past month. “Yes, things are definitely becoming more
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