GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Bratic was planning on picking up a new rig sometime in Q3 of last year—still nothing to show for it, and honestly, it feels like this saga might never end...

I swung by ADM a few weeks back, clicked over to the graphics card section, and they literally had 19 items listed in the shop... if you subtract those bottom-tier cards $233, there were only 12 left, and don't even get me started on the prices 😵

Prices took another jump about a week ago—it feels like they're constantly climbing. Last time I checked, the cheapest RTX 3080 was sitting around $1,600 and an RX 6700 was about $850. Today, I checked those same filters and retailers have hiked them up again: the RTX 3080 is near $2,200 and the RX 6700 is hitting $1,100.

A buddy of mine picked up his RX 6700 just a few days ago for $900, and now that exact same model at the store is listed at $1,100. Good luck to anyone holding out for "better" prices. 😵
Honestly, just grab whatever is available locally for that $1,100 mark right now. The folks here are a bit slow to catch on—they're lagging behind the market trends—but don't let that fool you. Prices will inevitably spike here too, just like they do everywhere else...

So, if anyone is actually considering picking up a new graphics card, you might want to jump on these deals over at Best Buy immediately:

It seems our local retailers have finally decided to set prices that are actually lower than the cheapest options you'd find in Germany. I suppose you could say you can grab some hardware at a genuinely great price here for once. I mean, if you look abroad, the absolute cheapest RX 6700 you can find is sitting around $1,000, and once you factor in sales tax and about $30 for shipping, you’re looking at a massive difference compared to the $600 range we're seeing here. I honestly can't wrap my head around how these clowns running the pricing models over here even come up with their numbers. 🤦 😵

Look, when it's expensive, it sucks. When it's cheap, it also sucks. 😁

wiredotter14 said:It’s never a good time when things are overpriced, and it’s never particularly great when they’re cheap either. 😁

I suppose it depends on how you look at it; I picked up an RTX 3080 for about $1,100 back then, but even that felt like just the beginning. Nowadays, it seems like prices are just steadily climbing month after month. It strikes me that most people complained incessantly about the cost of the RTX 3000 series when it first launched, yet I suspect maybe 99% of them would drop that same amount of cash in a heartbeat if they had to right now, but well... 😛

I really just want to point out that these are actually phenomenal prices at Best Buy considering today's market, yet some folks are still sitting there hesitating... wondering how it might get any cheaper. I mean, I guess they think once the RTX 4000 or 5000 series arrives, the price of the 3000 series will magically plummet, but who knows. 🤣

It feels like people don't quite grasp that the gaming PC market is likely going to remain firmly in the premium tier for at least the next three or four years.

Those three GPUs you linked last night are already gone—and honestly, those other two will probably be snapped up by this afternoon too...

This whole saga isn't ending anytime soon. Maybe we'll get some relief if crypto takes a massive dive into the red—that might finally chill out these mining poachers.🙏

Michael Morris29 said:Look, if anyone is actually planning on picking up a new GPU, you might want to snag one at Best Buy right now:

https://www.bestbuy.com/graphics-card...m_medium=click

https://www.bestbuy.com/graphics-card...m_medium=click

https://www.bestbuy.com/graphics-card...m_medium=click

Our local retail clowns have finally decided to set prices lower than the absolute cheapest deals you'd find in Germany. I mean, you can actually grab hardware at a decent price for once! If you look abroad, the cheapest RX 6700 you can find is sitting around $1,100 plus sales tax and about $30 in shipping, which puts you way higher than the current local deal. Honestly, I have no clue what kind of logic these geniuses use when they decide on their pricing strategies. 🤦 😵

The first shop I checked out had them for $880.

https://www.newegg.com/p/product_i...-_1401817.html

And that’s without even hunting for deals... if you actually know how to track prices, you can do much better; I personally managed to find a 3060 for $440. Quite frankly, I am genuinely curious about the kind of brilliant minds who are willing to shell out that much cash for a card in this performance tier.

Sent from my Android

goldencanyon89 said:My first shop opened at 820 bucks

https://www.mindfactory.de/product_i...-_1401817.html

And that’s without even paying attention... if you actually watch the market, you can do way better. I snagged a 3060 for $410. Honestly, I just want to know what kind of geniuses are dropping this much cash on a card in that tier.

Sent from my Android

Where and when did you find a 3060 for $400?
I sold an RX580 for $450 two weeks ago.

Amazon US, just before the price alerts kicked in

Nancy Carter62 said:This whole saga is definitely going to drag on—maybe? Is there any hope that crypto finally hits those "big red" numbers just to shut these mining poachers up once and for all? 🙏

As if mining was the only thing to blame for this shortage... seriously?

goldencanyon89 said:Amazon US—before the price alerts hit.

Did you just pull the trigger on that order, or has it actually shown up yet?
I recently stumbled upon some insane deals over on Amazon—honestly, I almost lost it and went on a massive shopping spree.
Watch out—even Amazon isn't safe from the scammers. Honestly, who can you even trust anymore?

goldencanyon89 said:The very first shop I checked, it was 820 euros.

https://www.mindfactory.de/product_i...-_1401817.html

And that’s without even keeping an eye on the market... though if you actually pay attention, things can be much better; I personally saw an RTX3060 for 410 euros. Honestly, I find myself wondering what kind of geniuses would actually drop that much cash on a card in that specific tier.

What a completely abrasive response...
They don't even ship to the US. You have even better prices right there in the States, so why don't you just go ahead and grab one from there then. 😵

I am talking about graphics cards that are actually accessible and obtainable. Besides, that isn't even the final price, because if you don't account for their 19% tax but instead factor in a realistic 25%, plus shipping starting at $30, the math changes significantly. 🤦

On top of all that, you seem to have picked out one of the absolute worst pieces of hardware available; it runs hot, and those dual fans with that diameter are honestly just a terrible design choice.

Terry Collins9 said:Oh, so it's just crypto mining's fault for the shortage...

Did you just place the order, or has it actually arrived yet?
I happened to stumble upon some decent deals on Amazon recently myself, so I nearly fell for them too.
And let's not forget, there are plenty of scams to be found on Amazon.

He's just spouting nonsense; the shortage is real, and prices are climbing week after week, yet here he is claiming he's picking up an RTX3060 for 400€. For heaven's sake, maybe try reading what everyone else is saying before chiming in as some sort of "expert"—it's funny how we're all supposedly incompetent while he's somehow finding prices that didn't even exist on launch day. Total troll...

Next, he'll probably suggest buying from Alibaba, since apparently, he found his bargain wonderland over there.

Terry Collins9 said:Oh, please. If only we could pin all our economic woes solely on the crypto miners... wouldn't that just make life so much simpler?

So, did you just pull the trigger on that order, or has the package actually landed on your doorstep already?
I recently stumbled upon some absolutely ridiculous deals over on Amazon, and I have to admit, I nearly lost all self-control and blew a significant chunk of my budget.
Honestly, you have to watch your step because even on Amazon, there are scammers out there looking to pull a fast one.

It arrived about two weeks ago, and honestly, there’s zero need to stress over verification if you’re sticking strictly to items that are actually sold and dispatched by Amazon. I know there are certain third-party sellers floating around right now trying to peddle graphics cards at what they claim are "incredible" prices, but let’s be real—you can see from a mile away that those are fakes. In my opinion, it’s just an unnecessary headache to even look their way; given how things are working right now, there isn't a prayer of a third-party seller actually delivering anything legitimate.

Michael Morris29 As I was saying:
What a truly pathetic attempt at an answer...
Don't even bother trying to ship that over to the US. Honestly, you'll find much better deals right here on American soil if you just look around. Just grab it from a local supplier instead; it’s going to be way more cost-effective. 😵

I’m talking about the graphics cards that are actually out there and within your reach right now. But let me be clear: don't go looking at those listed prices and thinking you've found a steal. You can't just look at their 19% margin and call it a day; you really need to factor in a 25% markup if you want to be realistic. Plus, once you account for shipping, which starts at a cool $30 minimum, that "bargain" starts looking a lot less tempting. 🤦

Honestly, I don't even know where to start with you. You’ve gone and picked the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel trash when it comes to graphics cards—it’s a total disaster waiting to happen. It runs hot enough to cook an egg, and frankly, those dual fans? In that specific diameter? They are nothing short of a design catastrophe. Truly, it's just bad engineering.
.

Mindfactory ships to standard mailboxes without any drama, and honestly, that’s how everyone over there handles their shopping. You end up paying about an extra 13 bucks in shipping fees just to get a package sent from Germany to the US, and you're stuck paying German VAT since the order is coming from Germany anyway. But if you look at Mindfactory, they offer free shipping between midnight and 6 AM, if I recall correctly, so you're basically just throwing those extra 13 dollars down the drain for no reason. As for the hardware models, you literally just repeated exactly what was written above... and seriously, take a breath. It seems like being rude and acting like a know-it-all is the only thing you actually bring to the table.

You actually bought an RTX3060 straight from Amazon? Their algorithm is designed to find the absolute sweet spot for pricing. It’s highly unlikely you got that deal unless you stumbled onto some massive system glitch.

Oh sure, just me and fifty other people, apparently. There are plenty of folks out there consistently picking up 3080s for around $850 or $900, and 3070s for about $650. If you actually bothered to check the PartAlert Discord, you'd find an entire channel dedicated to people posting their successful buys. Anyway, here is the receipt since you’re busy accusing me of lying, though frankly, I really don't have the energy for this back-and-forth anymore. If you all want to go right ahead and overpay for your hardware, be my guest; I couldn't care less. I was simply trying to point out that you don't have to throw money down the drain when you can snag a much better price if you put in even a modicum of effort. Besides, now that Nvidia has released the LHR cards and eip-1559 is dropping in a month, miners are going to struggle to justify buying cards at these ridiculous prices.

I didn't say you were lying, just that it seems highly unlikely.
Glad to see someone actually snagged one at a decent price for once.
Luckily, I'm not in the market for a GPU right now, so I don't really care. Honestly, I'm just happy I managed to flip my brother's RX580 for $451 over in Germany to some guy from Denmark.☕

goldencanyon89 said:Look, it isn't just me; there are probably fifty other people out there consistently picking up 3080s for around $850 or $900, or 3070s for maybe $650. If you check the PartAlert Discord, there's an entire channel dedicated to people posting their successful buys. Anyway, here is my receipt—since you seem convinced I'm lying, though I really don't have any reason to be. If you all want to keep overpaying, go right ahead; I don't particularly care. I just wanted to point out that you don't have to throw money away when you can get a much better price if you put in even a little bit of effort. Besides, now that Nvidia has released LHR cards and eip-1559 is coming in about a month, it seems unlikely that miners will be buying up cards, especially at these inflated prices.

I've got this set to auto-refresh every 30 seconds, and honestly, I haven't seen prices this low in three or four months.

https://www.gputracker.eu/en/search/...A%20RTX%203080

Honestly, it’s just not worth the hassle. I took a look at that myself a while back, but the scraping speed is way too sluggish to be useful; you aren't going to find those kinds of prices sitting on a shelf at Best Buy. You're basically looking at Amazon, and even then, local retailers only get those deals when they're offloading open-box returns or high-end Founders Edition cards—and even if you do find one, you can't just order it unless you have a contact living in one of the supported states, because they won't touch package forwarding services. Part alert is definitely your best bet for staying ahead, though. Right now, you really have to keep an eye on Twitter, since Discord has been effectively locked down for over two months ever since the server hit 25k people. From what I can tell, Twitter’s feed lags by about a second anyway, which makes it a bit of a nail-biter when you're actually trying to snag something before it's gone.

And how exactly do you plan on profiting when the bots jump in first and place their orders automatically?

You have to be incredibly fast and relentless, honestly. Out of fifty different links you might click through, you’ll be lucky if you actually manage to pull the trigger on a single order—and even then, it’s only if you hit that button at the exact millisecond it becomes available, praying to the gods that Amazon doesn't just instantly cancel your transaction. But the real headache isn't even the bots; it's the Amazon cache. It feels like some people see the product listed while others are staring at an empty page. Still, I suspect things will stabilize eventually. Now that most of those cards aren't LHR anymore, the scalpers won't be able to flip them to miners quite as easily as they used to, which should dampen the frenzy. My only gripe is that about 90% of what's sitting on Amazon right now is Nvidia; if you're hunting for an AMD card, you're going to have a much harder time finding anything.

So, my friends, have you noticed how much has shifted in just about a week? It feels like everything is happening all at once.

I’ve been tracking this market constantly since August 2020—and I have to admit, flipping GPUs and mining during this stretch has definitely padded my wallet quite nicely.

I used to hunt for deals on eBay, Amazon, and various retailers across the US, UK, and Europe. The bottom line is that for over six months, if anything actually hit the shelves in any shop, the quantities were tiny, and prices just kept climbing. Trying to snag something as an individual consumer was an absolute nightmare.

Even if you had the cash ready, supply simply wasn't there. A few units or a specific model would drop, and they’d be gone in minutes.

Local big-box retailers were mostly just selling pre-built PCs or individual cards at absolutely insane markups. Then, suddenly, in the span of a week, it’s like a miracle occurred.

Every single shop I’ve checked has restocked—there are tons of GPUs available. They’re sitting in stock for days now, which is wild compared to a few weeks ago when they vanished in minutes. Even our local guys have inventory—we're talking 10, 20, even 30 units of the same model. To make it even more surreal, prices have actually dropped at several shops here and abroad. This is the first time since the new RTX and RX series launched that we've seen prices actually trending downward. 🤔

What exactly changed? Did I miss something huge? Are the major players just manipulating our market out of nowhere? I can't tell if it's a direct move from AMD and Nvidia or their massive distributors. Mining hasn't died off, after all. People are still buying for both mining and gaming. Sure, profitability has dipped, but it’s still very much worth it. So, I'm back to the same question: what the hell happened???

It went from a slow drip to a wide-open faucet with water rushing in from every direction. What a bad joke. 🤦 😵
Market manipulation on this scale feels borderline criminal...