Where is this urgency for new GPUs coming from?

Because 3xxx series pricing was essentially cut in half, from what they had dictated the previous generation, the demand went through the roof.
This in itself is enough to explain what is happening. Once you add pandemic, yadda yadda... it's quite clear. The fact that a 3060 will likely offer the performance of a 2080 is exactly the value that I, like many, I'm waiting for. It's why I bought my 1060, which itself was similar to a 980.
 
Then - as has been mentioned, Covid... which is actually bringing PC gamers back. People who have not gamed in a decade are saturated with Netflix and looking for something 'new' like PC games (they remember enjoying back in the day).
I have to say I'm in that boat. I haven't FPS video gamed in a LONG time; last time I really played FPS games was about 2009 or so. Had a kid, drastic lifestyle changes, didn't really see video gaming as good use of my time, etc. Buiilt a rig back in 2018 for the boy to play Minecraft, got stuck playing it with him, but the game got boring fast.

Now that I'm stuck at home, and truly massive bordeom had set in, I decided to give FPS gaming a go again, since I did enjoy it long ago. I'm running a lousy GTX 1050 vanilla, since the rig I built was optimized for Minecraft, not FPS games. I'd like to upgrade, but since the games I am playing right now in a fit of nostalgia (Halo Master Chief collection, Battlefield 2) aren't that demanding, that low grade 1050 isn't a handicap. But eventually I'm going to want to upgrade, and man is the GPU market ever screwed up and good.
 
As a RX480 owner I was really ready to go for this gen. The previous gens were either just too incremental in performance but quantum leap in price for me. I am quite happy to invest a couple of hundred extra this time to get some decent new features and a big leap in performance. Especially as I now settle on a GPU for 3-4 years. Back in the day it was a new GPU/CPU every 6 months. That time is long gone.
 
Last time I saw this was Cabbage Patch dolls in the 80s.
Tickle me elmo comes to mind.
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This in itself is enough to explain what is happening. Once you add pandemic, yadda yadda... it's quite clear. The fact that a 3060 will likely offer the performance of a 2080 is exactly the value that I, like many, I'm waiting for. It's why I bought my 1060, which itself was similar to a 980.
Makes sense.

And think about the climate of the past few GPU gens since Maxwell. Unless you are an "upgrade every generation" type of person, if you had a high end Maxwell card meeting your needs, then you probably skipped Pascal thinking we'll see what the next gen brings. Turing was such poor uplift and value that perhaps you said screw it, we'll see what thee next gen is again. And here we are. That's what happened to me. Still on my 980 with a 1440p monitor I bought last year prepping for new build that I can't do.
 
Agreed... this has been going on long enough now that it's hard to even deal with GPUs that are legitimately getting old and failing. People with old GPUs need new GPUs. I had a guy in my shop just yesterday we were doing some other maintenance on his system and his 1070 Ti was found to have one dead fan. It would have been a good time to just buy a new $300-400 card that's faster than his current one but that's completely impossible right now so something had to be MacGuyver'd onto it to blow air in the other half of the card so he can keep gaming with it for now.

The alternative is... what? Nothing unless he wants to spend weeks searching for a replacement and pay too much for it. Even if you find a card somewhere the average cost is $500 just to get something with about the same performance as the 1070 Ti. Maybe.
 
I can tell you that i was looking for the next card from a 1080 ti for awhile that was worth it to upgrade. Take your pick as the reason they all have been mentioned above. I have more time to game and being stuck working from home plus having the finances to do so means that making that decision to slightly overpay on my 6900 xt an easy one. The card is 60 percent or better then my 1080 ti at 1440p. I have always gamed as my main leisure activity and being a hardware nut means buying the best i can afford. I am not surprised that everything to do with "finding your own fun @ home" is out of stock. Pools etc are also in this catagory.

I think regardless of reason its safe to say no one ever needs new hardware, (unless it breaks). It is entirely a subjective purchase. That is what is means to be an hardware enthusiast.
 
Agreed... this has been going on long enough now that it's hard to even deal with GPUs that are legitimately getting old and failing. People with old GPUs need new GPUs. I had a guy in my shop just yesterday we were doing some other maintenance on his system and his 1070 Ti was found to have one dead fan. It would have been a good time to just buy a new $300-400 card that's faster than his current one but that's completely impossible right now so something had to be MacGuyver'd onto it to blow air in the other half of the card so he can keep gaming with it for now.

The alternative is... what? Nothing unless he wants to spend weeks searching for a replacement and pay too much for it. Even if you find a card somewhere the average cost is $500 just to get something with about the same performance as the 1070 Ti. Maybe.
It's tin foil hat time. Maybe this all a membership drive for GeForce Now/Stadia/Luna and their ilk? :borg:
 
It's nuts that these new cards are in such short supply. It's making me not even consider a new build. I'll just wait until whenever in 2021 that this supply issue isn't so acute. I know a game like Cyberpunk is making folks want to upgrade ASAP but hell that game will be a bug-filled mess for the better part of 2021 I will wager...so, without wanting to come off like a troll, what is fueling this sense of urgency for the impossible-to-find new cards from both AMD and NVIDIA? Like, folks waiting in long lines, etc. Don't get me wrong...I am really looking forward to gaming in 4K but it seems like you pay a hefty price - both in cash and in time and in troubleshooting/headaches (like with the LG CX48) - to join that club. So why not wait it out until said cards are available and the overall situation has stabilized?

I am not dunking on anyone and I know this is after all [H] but the supply>demand reality is nuts right now.

It is due to a combination of several factors. In some parts of the country, lockdowns are more draconian and people are at home more than ever. Plus, its also the winter time when people are often stuck at home due to the weather. As a result, they have more time to play computer games. Several people are upgrading their computers for the first time in a long time or building new ones. The previous generation was lackluster to say the least. Only the RTX 2080 Ti was a significant upgrade over the previous generation and it was priced way too high for most people. The RTX 2080 Ti was nearly twice what the GTX 1080 Ti was. Yet, it didn't offer anywhere near twice the performance. It was also the only card fast enough to do ray tracing at anything but 1920x1080. Even if there were more titles that supported it, ray tracing was largely useless in the RTX 20 series. There were no features that made upgrading to the 20 series seem like a worthwhile endeavor. Hell, the entire series was too expensive for what it was with the 2080 / 2080 Super being priced more like the GTX 1080 Ti without being significantly faster.

Add to that the fact that the RTX 30 series and AMD Radeon 6000 series are vastly improved over previous generations (and cheaper), there is going to be more demand for them. This is also at a time when supply is short, again due to COVID-19. You also have the usual mining demands and other people see economic opportunity and if they have the means, they'll buy as many of these cards as they can and scalp them. It's a perfect storm of circumstances which have led to the climate of poor availability we find ourselves in now.

Now, to address some of the other things you brought up. 4K gaming (or any high resolution gaming) does demand a hefty price premium. This was the case back in 2007 with 2560x1600 displays or when Eyefinity/NVSurround became a thing. Increased pixel counts have always demanded beefier hardware since the dawn of gaming. However, that's it. There is no additional troubleshooting involved in 4K gaming. If you are using a TV, then you do add some extra steps in there because you are using something that's a multi-purpose device rather than a dedicated computer monitor. But, it isn't necessarily troubleshooting in most cases. It's also optional as you don't have to use a TV for that. It is often desirable because of the cost and image quality vs. a computer monitor.
 
It is due to a combination of several factors. In some parts of the country, lockdowns are more draconian and people are at home more than ever. Plus, its also the winter time when people are often stuck at home due to the weather. As a result, they have more time to play computer games. Several people are upgrading their computers for the first time in a long time or building new ones. The previous generation was lackluster to say the least. Only the RTX 2080 Ti was a significant upgrade over the previous generation and it was priced way too high for most people. The RTX 2080 Ti was nearly twice what the GTX 1080 Ti was. Yet, it didn't offer anywhere near twice the performance. It was also the only card fast enough to do ray tracing at anything but 1920x1080. Even if there were more titles that supported it, ray tracing was largely useless in the RTX 20 series. There were no features that made upgrading to the 20 series seem like a worthwhile endeavor. Hell, the entire series was too expensive for what it was with the 2080 / 2080 Super being priced more like the GTX 1080 Ti without being significantly faster.

Add to that the fact that the RTX 30 series and AMD Radeon 6000 series are vastly improved over previous generations (and cheaper), there is going to be more demand for them. This is also at a time when supply is short, again due to COVID-19. You also have the usual mining demands and other people see economic opportunity and if they have the means, they'll buy as many of these cards as they can and scalp them. It's a perfect storm of circumstances which have led to the climate of poor availability we find ourselves in now.

Now, to address some of the other things you brought up. 4K gaming (or any high resolution gaming) does demand a hefty price premium. This was the case back in 2007 with 2560x1600 displays or when Eyefinity/NVSurround became a thing. Increased pixel counts have always demanded beefier hardware since the dawn of gaming. However, that's it. There is no additional troubleshooting involved in 4K gaming. If you are using a TV, then you do add some extra steps in there because you are using something that's a multi-purpose device rather than a dedicated computer monitor. But, it isn't necessarily troubleshooting in most cases. It's also optional as you don't have to use a TV for that. It is often desirable because of the cost and image quality vs. a computer monitor.
a tad elaborate for the 3 or 4 reasons you mention... o_O
 
People are bored and have a lot of leftover cash they couldn't spend on holidays.
Not sure about the last part about couldn't spend enough on holidays. That shit is always expensive for me. I feel like some business geniuses sat down a long time ago and created holiday season for gift buying and shit lol. I can never get away from that haha.
 
Not sure about the last part about couldn't spend enough on holidays. That shit is always expensive for me. I feel like some business geniuses sat down a long time ago and created holiday season for gift buying and shit lol. I can never get away from that haha.
We solved that part by only getting the kids one gift (and I mean ONE, not eighteen like so many people do these days). Adults don't get presents, they just get to enjoy the holidays. It liberated a lot of money for other things! Although we end up spending it on yummy food and alcohol :) I'd spend it on hardware, but I can't buy any! Well I only need a new GPU at this point, the rest is up to date. Kinda wish we had GPUs separate from DXR accelerators - I'd definitely buy one of the latter to at least have the novelty for a while.
 
We solved that part by only getting the kids one gift (and I mean ONE, not eighteen like so many people do these days). Adults don't get presents, they just get to enjoy the holidays. It liberated a lot of money for other things! Although we end up spending it on yummy food and alcohol :) I'd spend it on hardware, but I can't buy any! Well I only need a new GPU at this point, the rest is up to date. Kinda wish we had GPUs separate from DXR accelerators - I'd definitely buy one of the latter to at least have the novelty for a while.
It does seem at times like Christmas is an arms race. Worst thing we did when we were young was talk to other parents about what they were getting their kids. Fell into the whole 'are we doing enough' trap.
Kids are older now - and it's nice to get a few targeted items they will appreciate. Adults get cards / bottles of cheer. Much less stressful - and actually more fun
 
It does seem at times like Christmas is an arms race. Worst thing we did when we were young was talk to other parents about what they were getting their kids. Fell into the whole 'are we doing enough' trap.
Kids are older now - and it's nice to get a few targeted items they will appreciate. Adults get cards / bottles of cheer. Much less stressful - and actually more fun
We've adopted the following in our family for the kiddo -

Something they want
Something they need
Something to wear
Something to read


Boom. Done. We go quality over quantity for the kiddo. Wife's family just LOADS each other with gifts. They spend thousands. I've convinced my wife to avoid doing that and just what we want when we want it. She was hesitant at first, then spent several thousand on a long arm sewing machine. Now she's on board. So outside of a thing of chocolates or some hand knit socks, gifts are for the kiddo.
 
It does seem at times like Christmas is an arms race. Worst thing we did when we were young was talk to other parents about what they were getting their kids. Fell into the whole 'are we doing enough' trap.
Kids are older now - and it's nice to get a few targeted items they will appreciate. Adults get cards / bottles of cheer. Much less stressful - and actually more fun
Yeah, it's an all out war. Have you ever tried to shop for gifts in December? I stopped about a decade ago. Not that I'm agoraphobic, or fear masses of people, but the effervescent atmosphere with people crawling out of everywhere like roaches would ignite this rage within me that forced me to leave the place. I hated it, everyone was consumed in their own race to buy a ton of shit, while I was just trying to get any one simple thing. I stopped playing the game. It's much worse now that kids want all the same expensive gifts: a Switch, videogames, any other tech-gadgets like iPads, whatever. We're talking $300 minimum when we're thinking about anything that's not a single videogame. It makes me laugh when I think my grandfather was set for months with a cheap wooden train (OK, they were a mid-low class, bordering on poor family), and my dad was happy by just getting a comic in xmas or every other month, and they were middle class - though raising him and his 6 siblings can't have been cheap). In our case, our generation, we avoid the late craze by having the kids tell us what they're interested in this year around summer, so we have plenty of time to decide on one gift. And when your 7 year old asks for an iPad, you explain its cost, its value, its fragility, and establish a plan to earn money until they can buy it. Then for Xmas you get them a Kindle Fire because they're going to play similar shit games anyway and they really don't care - though they don't know that yet. Usually anywhere between ~6-12 months, they've earned enough savings (by doing extra chores, not tidying up your room or cleaning after yourself, but other things that are everyone's responsibility: take out trash, rake the leaves, paint this or that...) at $10 per chore, and they understand that iPad costs a lot more than just "I want it". Further, it delays gratification, teaches patience, and provides them with the pride of achieving a goal: capacity, tenacity, success.

I see some parents buying their kids a 3070, 3080, 3090... I'm not judging, everyone parents how they see fit. But I wouldn't be caught dead with such a gift, even though I could buy them many times over. The point is: if it's hard to get a kid to understand the meaning of the cost of a $300 iPad, good luck getting the same point across when you don't feel like spending another $700-1500 in the 4080 (or, possibly, can't spend that money anymore) because they "want" an upgrade they don't even need at all. And it's not just kids who need financial education - as a professor, I see more and more young people who spend with abandon like life ends tomorrow. Do all my students need $140 AirPods when decent $30 bluetooth earbuds are practically the same? (We have both at home, I can barely tell the difference, and I don't think your regular 18 year old is any sort of connoisseur audiophile). Same thing with *some* (not all, by a long shot) people here justifying a 3090 to play X game at 4K 144hz... unless they're all swimming in cash, that's an "I want it" mentality that throws value and fiscal responsibility out the window. These people clearly don't understand delaying pleasure for a greater reward later on - like opening an IRA, or maximizing your ROTH every year (you can put up to $19500 in that thing every year that'll give you tax free interest for life!!). I put about %30 of my paycheck into my retirement, which is starting to guarantee I'll literally be a millionaire when I'm 65, and won't have to worry about my final decades (maybe then I'll buy an x90 card every year :D). What's left pays for all my bills, and still have a bunch to spare. Even then, I don't buy a 3080 with what I have left on any given month, just because I can doesn't make it good value or a good financial decision (if I could even buy one right now), and seeing people paying insane quantities over MSRP blows my mind even more.

I find it funny that when I was 20 I wanted the best GPUs but I couldn't afford them, and had to work quite hard at my meh jobs to earn enough to buy what I wanted (would usually take 2-3 months of salaries). Now at nearly twice the age I have plenty of money to buy these things (not swimming in it, but you know, enough to live with some comfort and save some amount without ever worrying about getting to the end of the month), and I rarely consider spending more than a x60 tier (and this year I'm considering going down to the 50 series, unless AMD offers better value and brings out Super Resolution already...). Considering we're at gen 2 of DXR, you know these cards aren't going to age well, and DXR - if not raster - performance is going to improve by leaps and bounds in the next 4 years.

We go quality over quantity for the kiddo. Wife's family just LOADS each other with gifts. They spend thousands. I've convinced my wife to avoid doing that and just what we want when we want it. She was hesitant at first, then spent several thousand on a long arm sewing machine. Now she's on board. So outside of a thing of chocolates or some hand knit socks, gifts are for the kiddo.
Ha, well done. It can be really hard to get people to go against what they're used to, or even question it. My family wasn't as cost conscious as I have become (my mother jokes that I became worse than my father ever was in this respect). You should have seen their faces when I first showed up with gifts wrapped in magazine and newspaper pages (I find wrapping paper to be the stupidest waste of money: buy pretty paper to destroy it the first time it's laid eyes on). That evolved into making good natured fun at me. After a few years, they all now say I have a point - though none of them have adopted my style :)
 
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Honestly, as long as people are brainwashed that its too dangerous to leave home, continue to buy GPUs well over MSRP, nVidia and AMD do not meet the supply needs of the demand, the population keeps getting tax payer money held on the backs of people three generations from now, BitCoin at something like $60k, and gaming companies producing games where graphics dominate actual gameplay, you won't see $400 GPUs. Just like cell phones. Ten years ago you'd never convince me people would be lining up to spend $1000 on a phone. Yet every time a new series comes out, there's the line.
 
Built my last gaming PC entering my 40’s. I think it’s my last. All I do with my sig rig is play L4D2 when I’m drinking.
 
Built my last gaming PC entering my 40’s. I think it’s my last. All I do with my sig rig is play L4D2 when I’m drinking.
You got a 1080 Ti...nothing to sneeze at. I wish I could be content with my 980 for a while longer, but it just doesn't hold up with modern games and a 1440p monitor.
 
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You got a 1080 Ti...nothing to sneeze at. I wish I could be content with my 980 for a while longer, but it just doesn't hold up with modern games and a 1440p monitor.

No, it doesn't. I had to retire a Maxwell Titan X in my girlfriend's machine. In games, the two are very similar. It was starting to struggle in games with higher settings so I switched it out for a 1080 Ti that used to be in my machine.
 
We've adopted the following in our family for the kiddo -

Something they want
Something they need
Something to wear
Something to read


Boom. Done. We go quality over quantity for the kiddo. Wife's family just LOADS each other with gifts. They spend thousands. I've convinced my wife to avoid doing that and just what we want when we want it. She was hesitant at first, then spent several thousand on a long arm sewing machine. Now she's on board. So outside of a thing of chocolates or some hand knit socks, gifts are for the kiddo.
My sister in law's husband's family is like that. They do a huge 'Grandma's Special Christmas' on Christmas Eve. Each kid gets thousands of dollars of stuff (I-pad pro for the kindergartener, newest iPhones / watches & etc for the older ones). Then we show up for Christmas Brunch with one present per kid - and each kid has a literal pile of stuff they're ignoring. Come back for New Years Dinner - and the piles have not moved

Edit - I asked my 3d grade nephew what his best Christmas present was... He said 'Clay'
 
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My sister in law's husband's family is like that. They do a huge 'Grandma's Special Christmas' on Christmas Eve. Each kid gets thousands of dollars of stuff (I-pad pro for the kindergartener, newest iPhones / watches & etc for the older ones). Then we show up for Christmas Brunch with one present per kid - and each kid has a literal pile of stuff they're ignoring. Come back for New Years Dinner - and the piles have not moved

Edit - I asked my 3d grade nephew what his best Christmas present was... He said 'Clay'
Wow. Yeah we don't do Christmas like that in my immediate family. We largely adopted a no gifts philosophy or if we do, should be something small no more than ~$50 spent. Instead Christmas is spent together, good food, doing something fun, etc.
 
Why I want a new GPU? Skipped the 2080ti and am still on a 1080ti. Had no need for an upgrade until my HP Reverb G2 arrived last week. I have to dial settings down to medium. That’s a good time to upgrade. Also need to upgrade my CPU. Nice to do a whole new built and prevent glaring bottle necks. Not going to pay over retail so I could be on medium settings for a while.
 
Why I want a new GPU? Skipped the 2080ti and am still on a 1080ti. Had no need for an upgrade until my HP Reverb G2 arrived last week. I have to dial settings down to medium. That’s a good time to upgrade. Also need to upgrade my CPU. Nice to do a whole new built and prevent glaring bottle necks. Not going to pay over retail so I could be on medium settings for a while.
I'm a fan of your club - not a cent over MSRP. 900p on high is still possible at 60fps on my 1060 3GB with new games. If I must go down to 720p for a few months to play on high quality at 60+fps, so be it. There's worse situations we could be in.
 
Wow. Yeah we don't do Christmas like that in my immediate family. We largely adopted a no gifts philosophy or if we do, should be something small no more than ~$50 spent. Instead Christmas is spent together, good food, doing something fun, etc.

This. So much this. Family gifts capped at $100/each since I was young. The family time is what matters.

No huge need to upgrade constantly unless your priorities dictate otherwise. I'm still running twin GTX 680s + 2600k for God's sake. Amazingly, still runs plenty of newish games on medium settings (excluding CP2077). New build happening this w/e after 8 years of running this rig.
 
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Pleasantly surprised how my 1080ti is holding up in DCS, Il2 and Elite Dangerous. Was planning on upgrading but am playing at the same settings I use with my 4K monitor and having smooth gameplay with the G2. Looks like I’ll get a 3080 when the 4080 drops.
 
Still rocking a 1070. Plays all the games I throw at it just fine on a 3440x1440 monitor. Even BP'77 looks decent on medium settings, although some heavy fight scenes drop my fps to under 20. Was going to upgrade to this gen, but oh well.
 
Sold my 5700xt. Didn't think it made sense to keep it when I bought it for 300+ and it could be sold for 500+. Now stuck on a i7 4770 iGPU looking for 2d games to play :(
PS5 ordered, not sure when I will get it. No TV or monitor that can make the most of it. HDMI really took its sweet time getting up to 4k >60hz. sheesh.
My sister in law's husband's family is like that. They do a huge 'Grandma's Special Christmas' on Christmas Eve. Each kid gets thousands of dollars of stuff (I-pad pro for the kindergartener, newest iPhones / watches & etc for the older ones). Then we show up for Christmas Brunch with one present per kid - and each kid has a literal pile of stuff they're ignoring. Come back for New Years Dinner - and the piles have not moved

Edit - I asked my 3d grade nephew what his best Christmas present was... He said 'Clay'
Any female in that family single looking for a husband?
 
Canadacomputers slowly making its way onto my shitlist

They haven't put a single card on sale in like 6 months, not a 1030, not a single dime discounted

Everyone's profiting
 
DarkSideA8 said:
My sister in law's husband's family is like that. They do a huge 'Grandma's Special Christmas' on Christmas Eve. Each kid gets thousands of dollars of stuff (I-pad pro for the kindergartener, newest iPhones / watches & etc for the older ones). Then we show up for Christmas Brunch with one present per kid - and each kid has a literal pile of stuff they're ignoring. Come back for New Years Dinner - and the piles have not moved

Edit - I asked my 3d grade nephew what his best Christmas present was... He said 'Clay'

The universe, without question, sees that. One day everything will be set right.

Anyways, put on some Bob Marley Natural Mystic or Legend album and tunnnee out man.
 
Sold my 5700xt. Didn't think it made sense to keep it when I bought it for 300+ and it could be sold for 500+. Now stuck on a i7 4770 iGPU looking for 2d games to play :(
PS5 ordered, not sure when I will get it. No TV or monitor that can make the most of it. HDMI really took its sweet time getting up to 4k >60hz. sheesh.

Any female in that family single looking for a husband?
With a bit of patience, you will be able to buy it back for $200 or less in the not so distant future.
 
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