I went camping...

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JCNiest5

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Okay, so here where I live, there's a local Micro Center like 20 minutes away. Lately, been going there, setting up chairs, and just chill overnight with a bunch of gamers and computer enthusiasts. We were all there for a reason: To see if there are any GPUs in the truck. Sometimes there were few, which were gone by the time the List Master got to me. One time, I had a chance for an RTX 3060, and another time, an RTX 2060. Both times I passed, since both wouldn't be an upgrade to my RTX 2080. Went there again Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I was 6th or 7th in the line, and voila!!! I finally got an RTX 3090, an EVGA FTW3 Ultra!!! Woo hoo!!! Beautiful card. It will be a very special card just because of how hard it was to get one. One time, a guy drove 5 hours only to go back home empty-handed.

It was a great experience. Got to talk to many nice people from all over the city/state and learned what kind of games they play.

Happiest camper! That's me!!!
 
JCNiest5 said:
To see if there are any GPUs in the truck.
Click to expand...
zombieland2_800_451_81_s.jpg

Wow, that's dedication. Congrats.
 
JCNiest5 said:
Okay, so here where I live, there's a local Micro Center like 20 minutes away. Lately, been going there, setting up chairs, and just chill overnight with a bunch of gamers and computer enthusiasts. We were all there for a reason: To see if there are any GPUs in the truck. Sometimes there were few, which were gone by the time the List Master got to me. One time, I had a chance for an RTX 3060, and another time, an RTX 2060. Both times I passed, since both wouldn't be an upgrade to my RTX 2080. Went there again Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I was 6th or 7th in the line, and voila!!! I finally got an RTX 3090, an EVGA FTW3 Ultra!!! Woo hoo!!! Beautiful card. It will be a very special card just because of how hard it was to get one. One time, a guy drove 5 hours only to go back home empty-handed.

It was a great experience. Got to talk to many nice people from all over the city/state and learned what kind of games they play.

Happiest camper! That's me!!!
Click to expand...
How much did you pay for this card?
 
It's the same price listed on EVGA's site. Glad it wasn't marked up. Happily using it now.
 
JCNiest5 said:
It will be a very special card just because of how hard it was to get one.
Click to expand...
I feel the same way about the 3090 FE I have in my system right now. Not only was it hard to get but the unique size and shape of it gives it a "cool factor" unlike any other card I've owned previously. Congrats on getting your card and enjoy!
 
GameLifter said:
I feel the same way about the 3090 FE I have in my system right now. Not only was it hard to get but the unique size and shape of it gives it a "cool factor" unlike any other card I've owned previously. Congrats on getting your card and enjoy!
Click to expand...
How long ago when you got yours?
 
JCNiest5 said:
I read that the FE version is a better binned chip than all others, right?
Click to expand...
I've heard that, too but haven't really looked into it myself to confirm since I usually keep everything at stock settings. The clocks at stock settings on my 3090 FE aren't the most impressive when compared to AIB models but when I tried raising the power target alone it gave me about a 100Mhz boost but caused the fan to get louder particularly when playing games with ray tracing on. My case is a Fractal Design Meshify C and the 3090 FE barely fits in it so that definitely plays a factor in my lower overall clocks.
 
JCNiest5 said:
Okay, so here where I live, there's a local Micro Center like 20 minutes away. Lately, been going there, setting up chairs, and just chill overnight with a bunch of gamers and computer enthusiasts. We were all there for a reason: To see if there are any GPUs in the truck. Sometimes there were few, which were gone by the time the List Master got to me. One time, I had a chance for an RTX 3060, and another time, an RTX 2060. Both times I passed, since both wouldn't be an upgrade to my RTX 2080. Went there again Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I was 6th or 7th in the line, and voila!!! I finally got an RTX 3090, an EVGA FTW3 Ultra!!! Woo hoo!!! Beautiful card. It will be a very special card just because of how hard it was to get one. One time, a guy drove 5 hours only to go back home empty-handed.

It was a great experience. Got to talk to many nice people from all over the city/state and learned what kind of games they play.

Happiest camper! That's me!!!
Click to expand...
Nice.
Micro Center came in clutch during my quest for the elusive 5900x. Bought the last one on the shelf.
 
Mizzer said:
Nice.
Micro Center came in clutch during my quest for the elusive 5900x. Bought the last one on the shelf.
Click to expand...
I waited forever for the 5950X. Finally some came in and I got one then within several days, all were gone. Now, 59xx are nowhere to be found.
 
NattyKathy said:
that was definitely a thing with Turing / RTX 2000 but idk about Ampere, I hadn't heard that...
Click to expand...

It's not. There was the whole power delivery issue with the cards "designed to spec" that were OC'd failing left and right because the spec was bad but that was it.
 
Be glad you have this perk to actually pick one up in a physical store, unfortunately it's just an american perk. That would be easy-peasy way to get one, you just have to show some dedication. I really had wanted a FE 3070 Ti or 3060 Ti card but they were gone as soon as they were launched in this country on the Nvidia store (if they ever where available to begin with, a bit of a mystery. Personally I never even got to see any buy option on the site)
 
OFaceSIG said:
Are you taking time off from work to do this?
Click to expand...
I tried to spend time on Discord, etc, but by the time I got the emails about cards in stock, they were sold out on Amazon. And the Newegg Shuffle is now the Newegg Shakedown. And I'm still on the EVGA list. So ask me again in July.
 
RPGWiZaRD said:
Be glad you have this perk to actually pick one up in a physical store, unfortunately it's just an american perk. [ ... ]
Click to expand...
Not in most parts of America, unless you want to drive for hundreds of kilometers.
 
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GameLifter said:
I've heard that, too but haven't really looked into it myself to confirm since I usually keep everything at stock settings. The clocks at stock settings on my 3090 FE aren't the most impressive when compared to AIB models but when I tried raising the power target alone it gave me about a 100Mhz boost but caused the fan to get louder particularly when playing games with ray tracing on. My case is a Fractal Design Meshify C and the 3090 FE barely fits in it so that definitely plays a factor in my lower overall clocks.
Click to expand...
Hold my beer:
408856_Node804.jpg
I can't fit a fan directly in front of it. To get it even in the case, I had to remove the front case fan, the front panel, and the front filter. I then I had to work it in at an angle, temporarily pushing it through the front fan hole before backing it into its home. The rear mounting bracket on the video card and the lip around the case is what made it a real pain in the ass to get in there.

To aide with cooling, I ended up adding two Noctua 80mm fans at the bottom. There are vent holes and a filter on the bottom, but no fan mounts, so that was a bit of rigged effort to get them to work. But the added fans, while tiny, did help by forcing cooler outside air directly onto the video card. And surprisingly, they are very quiet most of the time. I have them on a fan ramp profile depending on the GPU temp. The rest of the fans on that side of the case (it's a two chamber design) just help ensure adequate air movement for the M.2s, memory, and exhausting the hot 3090 air out quickly so as to not heat everything else up.

I managed to score my RTX 3090 FE on October 1st via Nvidia's site (before they went to Best Buy exclusive) and received it on October 8th. While it took a lot of dedication watching for availability, it was slightly easier to secure a 3090 than the 3080 at the time.
 
VirtualMirage said:
Hold my beer:
View attachment 351500
I can't fit a fan directly in front of it. To get it even in the case, I had to remove the front case fan, the front panel, and the front filter. I then I had to work it in at an angle, temporarily pushing it through the front fan hole before backing it into its home. The rear mounting bracket on the video card and the lip around the case is what made it a real pain in the ass to get in there.

To aide with cooling, I ended up adding two Noctua 80mm fans at the bottom. There are vent holes and a filter on the bottom, but no fan mounts, so that was a bit of rigged effort to get them to work. But the added fans, while tiny, did help by forcing cooler outside air directly onto the video card. And surprisingly, they are very quiet most of the time. I have them on a fan ramp profile depending on the GPU temp. The rest of the fans on that side of the case (it's a two chamber design) just help ensure adequate air movement for the M.2s, memory, and exhausting the hot 3090 air out quickly so as to not heat everything else up.

I managed to score my RTX 3090 FE on October 1st via Nvidia's site (before they went to Best Buy exclusive) and received it on October 8th. While it took a lot of dedication watching for availability, it was slightly easier to secure a 3090 than the 3080 at the time.
Click to expand...

I got mine during the first best buy drop on Oct 9th, where the 3090's were in stock for like 30 minutes (even the 3080's, which went up like 15 minutes later, lasted at least 10 minutes).
I still remember how so many people said "3090 isn't worth it for gamers" and all that other crap that went around.
And now getting a 3090 for $1499 is a complete bargain...
 
JCNiest5 said:
Okay, so here where I live, there's a local Micro Center like 20 minutes away. Lately, been going there, setting up chairs, and just chill overnight with a bunch of gamers and computer enthusiasts. We were all there for a reason: To see if there are any GPUs in the truck. Sometimes there were few, which were gone by the time the List Master got to me. One time, I had a chance for an RTX 3060, and another time, an RTX 2060. Both times I passed, since both wouldn't be an upgrade to my RTX 2080. Went there again Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I was 6th or 7th in the line, and voila!!! I finally got an RTX 3090, an EVGA FTW3 Ultra!!! Woo hoo!!! Beautiful card. It will be a very special card just because of how hard it was to get one. One time, a guy drove 5 hours only to go back home empty-handed.

It was a great experience. Got to talk to many nice people from all over the city/state and learned what kind of games they play.

Happiest camper! That's me!!!
Click to expand...
Congrats on finally scoring that card, I love mine! Is now a bad time to mention I got mine at a MicroCenter as well, but at 2:30pm in the afternoon off the shelf as a walk in? :ROFLMAO: ;)
 
VirtualMirage said:
Hold my beer:
View attachment 351500
I can't fit a fan directly in front of it. To get it even in the case, I had to remove the front case fan, the front panel, and the front filter. I then I had to work it in at an angle, temporarily pushing it through the front fan hole before backing it into its home. The rear mounting bracket on the video card and the lip around the case is what made it a real pain in the ass to get in there.

To aide with cooling, I ended up adding two Noctua 80mm fans at the bottom. There are vent holes and a filter on the bottom, but no fan mounts, so that was a bit of rigged effort to get them to work. But the added fans, while tiny, did help by forcing cooler outside air directly onto the video card. And surprisingly, they are very quiet most of the time. I have them on a fan ramp profile depending on the GPU temp. The rest of the fans on that side of the case (it's a two chamber design) just help ensure adequate air movement for the M.2s, memory, and exhausting the hot 3090 air out quickly so as to not heat everything else up.

I managed to score my RTX 3090 FE on October 1st via Nvidia's site (before they went to Best Buy exclusive) and received it on October 8th. While it took a lot of dedication watching for availability, it was slightly easier to secure a 3090 than the 3080 at the time.
Click to expand...
You definitely have me beat! All I had to do to get mine to fit was move the lip around the back of the case out of the way just a little bit so the PCI-E bracket on the card would clear it. Even though it fits it's still very close. There is maybe a millimeter or two of space between the card and the front fan.
3090Installed.jpeg

I thought about placing one of my extra 120mm fans right under the card to help with cooling but decided not to. Now I'm thinking about mounting it to the front of the case under the two 140mm fans since the case has a spot for one. Really, I want to but I'm not sure if it'll make a big difference in temps so I haven't bothered with it yet.

At the start of January I managed to order a 3080 FE from Best Buy during one of their drops but it never made it to my store. After getting frustrated by that I decided to try and order both a 3080 and 3090 FE from the next drop and keep which one actually made it to me or if both arrived keep one and sell the other. Ordering the 3090 was easy but I wasn't able to order another 3080 so 3090 it was!
 
GameLifter said:
You definitely have me beat! All I had to do to get mine to fit was move the lip around the back of the case out of the way just a little bit so the PCI-E bracket on the card would clear it. Even though it fits it's still very close. There is maybe a millimeter or two of space between the card and the front fan.
View attachment 351643

I thought about placing one of my extra 120mm fans right under the card to help with cooling but decided not to. Now I'm thinking about mounting it to the front of the case under the two 140mm fans since the case has a spot for one. Really, I want to but I'm not sure if it'll make a big difference in temps so I haven't bothered with it yet.

At the start of January I managed to order a 3080 FE from Best Buy during one of their drops but it never made it to my store. After getting frustrated by that I decided to try and order both a 3080 and 3090 FE from the next drop and keep which one actually made it to me or if both arrived keep one and sell the other. Ordering the 3090 was easy but I wasn't able to order another 3080 so 3090 it was!
Click to expand...
I feel that adding the two 80mm fans helped me with my setup.

While peak GPU temp is still the same, around the 68-69c mark (which appears to be the target temp threshold the card permits before cutting back on clock speeds), I noticed I was able to hit and hold a higher clock at the same temps than I was without them. And that is both at stock settings as well as with overclocked and increased power limits while maintaining stock fan profiles.

So if you are able to get a fan underneath to help blow cooler air towards the card and its fans, it may help you too.
 
Falkentyne said:
I got mine during the first best buy drop on Oct 9th, where the 3090's were in stock for like 30 minutes (even the 3080's, which went up like 15 minutes later, lasted at least 10 minutes).
I still remember how so many people said "3090 isn't worth it for gamers" and all that other crap that went around.
And now getting a 3090 for $1499 is a complete bargain...
Click to expand...

I mean in fairness, that's still an accurate statement if 3080s were readily available. In a market where the 3090 is often the most available card and marked up 3080's exceed $2k, then yes, the 3090 is a bargain if you can get one near MSRP.
 
JCNiest5 said:
I read that the FE version is a better binned chip than all others, right?
Click to expand...

I have both a FE and a FTW3. So far the biggest difference for me is the memory overclock. I can get an extra 100 Mhz or so on the FE memory, although the stock cooling on the FTW3 is better for memory. I had to repad the FE (and that might also be why the memory OCs slightly higher.
 
kirbyrj said:
I have both a FE and a FTW3. So far the biggest difference for me is the memory overclock. I can get an extra 100 Mhz or so on the FE memory, although the stock cooling on the FTW3 is better for memory. I had to repad the FE (and that might also be why the memory OCs slightly higher.
Click to expand...
I get +1500 mhz on the memory on my ftw 3 but mine is water cooled.
 
I took a Tuesday off and rolled in a half hour before they opened. I wanted a 3080 but they had the 3090 so i just jumped on it. Got to the counter and said ‘ i don’t suppose you have a 5900x back there, and sob he went into a box and whipped out a 5900X. That was an expensive day. About a week later, they listed the Asus Dark Hero while I was at work and i reserved it. Then filled out the rest of the parts i needed and i finally replaced my Sandy-E
 
Nasty_Savage said:
I took a Tuesday off and rolled in a half hour before they opened. I wanted a 3080 but they had the 3090 so i just jumped on it. Got to the counter and said ‘ i don’t suppose you have a 5900x back there, and sob he went into a box and whipped out a 5900X. That was an expensive day. About a week later, they listed the Asus Dark Hero while I was at work and i reserved it. Then filled out the rest of the parts i needed and i finally replaced my Sandy-E
Click to expand...
Good on you. :)
 
Must be nice to camp in front of a store on a workday...Hey but at least you didn't come back with poison Ivy!

<---bitter.
 
vegeta535 said:
I went to MC yesterday and today and the same 2 people were waiting there. My MC didn't get any cards so far this week. So yea they been camping 2 days for nothing.
Click to expand...
What time did you get to the store? What time do they open?
 
x509 said:
What time did you get to the store? What time do they open?
Click to expand...
This was at 4 pm. I stopped by after work. I works said they been there since Sunday evening. There were 2 new people also there when I stop by today.
 

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vegeta535 said:
This was at 4 pm. I stopped by after work. I works said they been there since Sunday evening. There were 2 new people also there when I stop by today.
Click to expand...
Wait, so those people just sat there in line for two whole days?
 
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