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Picture of Nvidia GPU as stock shortages begin to ease.
Lori Grunin/CNET
Two frustrating years for gamers hot to get GPUs to make their rigs sing may be coming to an end.
Websites such as Best Buy, Overclockers and Micro Center are showing the latest Nvidia and AMD GPUs in stock, as reported earlier Monday by PC Gamer. This means that as long as stock is available for buyers near their local stores, they can go in and pick one up.
Asus, a company that makes boards for GPUs, said it will begin cutting prices by 25% starting in April. A change in US tariff policy on Chinese imports is behind the price drop, the company told Tom’s Hardware. Asus didn’t respond to a request for comment from CNET.
The loosening of supply may spell an end to the scalpers, bots and Best Buy Totaltech memberships that stood between GPUs and gamers over the course of the past several years, though prices will remain elevated. Supply chain issues affecting other components are likely contributing to costs at board makers, who pass some of it on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
For example, an Nvidia-branded RTX 3080 reference card has a suggested retail price of $699. Board makers such as Gigabyte and MSI add power delivery and cooling modules that contribute to the price tag. For example, a Gigabyte RTX 3080 carries a price of $1,249, or 79% more than the GPU alone.
Many GPU buyers have been waiting for Nvidia cards to come back in stock, which has increased prices for the company’s products.
Nvidia didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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