Getting your hands on an Nvidia RTX 3080 has been a nightmare since Nvidia launched its newest series of graphics cards. Not only has demand for the product been insane, making it hard to find them in stock, but the prices for the GPUs have also blossomed to insane levels.
Now, though, we could be looking at an impending Nvidia RTX 3080 price drop. That could be good news for PC gamers.
Nvidia RTX 3080 price drop hit overnight, but not everywhere
As TechRadar reports, rumors about price drops for Nvidia’s RTX 3080 have been circling the mill for quite a while now. Many have been struggling to get their hands on one of the newer graphics cards since its release back in September of 2020. Unfortunately, due to supply line issues, the card has remained relatively hard to come by.
But stock isn’t the only issue plaguing perspective RTX 3080 buyers. Instead, one of the main culprits keeping people from enjoying the latest tech Nvidia offers is price. Upon its launch, the Nvidia RTX 3080 was set to retail at $699. That made it fairly affordable, especially compared to previous high-end RTX series cards.
That price quickly blossomed into something much higher, though as demand for the cards grew and supplies to make them dwindled. It didn’t help that for months scalpers took over the market with listings on third-party reselling sites like Ebay. A few days ago, Wccftech shared reports from sources that the current prices would see a drop relatively soon.
Those reports seem to have been corroborated thanks to an Nvidia RTX 3080 price drop reported on March 15. Hardware Unboxed tweeted on Tuesday that stock for the ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 had dropped overnight. The price, previously $2299 AUD, had been slashed to $1499 AUD. It’s a substantial drop for sure, but does it mean it’s time to finally buy a new GPU?
The GPU market isn’t normal again just yet
The Nvidia RTX 3080 price drop is noteworthy, sure. But, it isn’t exactly a firm confirmation that the prices are being slashed all around. Wccftech’s sources say that Nvidia plans to lower the cost of the cards to retailers and builders, but that doesn’t mean we’ll see any immediate results worldwide.
While the price is dropping, retailers may still have older stock that they purchased at the original, higher prices. That means they’ll be less likely to drop their prices just yet. As such, you may not see the insane price slashes that you’re hoping to see.
Furthermore, it’s almost time for GPU companies like Nvidia and AMD to launch the next set of GPUs. We’ve already heard rumors about the new cards. Those new GPUs could lead to even more of an Nvidia RTX 3080 price drop if AMD or Nvidia announces them. There’s also Intel’s new discrete graphics offerings to take into account, too.
Of course, nobody is going to blame you for taking the chance to grab a new graphics card while the prices are lower than we’ve seen them. Especially if you’ve been waiting since the initial release in 2020. But, if you really want to get the best Nvidia RTX 3080 price drop, you’re better off giving it a little while longer so the market can equalize a bit more.
