Nvidia recently launched a trio of RTX Super graphics cards and one of them has sold out in the US. Can you guess which one?
It’s actually the most expensive of the three new Lovelace GPUs, namely the RTX 4080 Super, which is out of stock at all major online retailers in the US. VideoCardz noticed for the first time.
Keep in mind that these are online stocks we’re talking about, and in some cases it’s still possible to get an RTX 4080 Super from your local brick-and-mortar store. But even then, it’s more than likely you’ll end up paying more than MSRP (for third-party custom cards, which isn’t unusual, as many of these models are overclocked and charge a little more premium).
At the time the VideoCardz article was published, there were still RTX 4080 Super GPUs available above MSRP online at Newegg, but we just checked and right now there are no models at all – not even the more expensive custom boards – up for grabs.
Stock levels for both of Nvidia’s other refreshes introduced last month, the RTX 4070 Super and 4070 Ti Super, appear to be holding up (relatively) for now – although getting a model at MSRP still involves some hunting (at the moment of writing), especially for the RTX 4070 Super.
Analysis: High or low cause?
As for the cause of stock depletion, it could of course be one of two things: high demand, which means RTX 4080 Super GPUs are coming off the shelves, or low inventory, which means the graphics cards aren’t available in large quantities. hit the shelves. in the first place.
So, what is it? Well, we can’t say that (obviously enough), but what we can do is make a reasonable guess based on past rumors. Before all these RTX Super innovations came out, there were rumors that most of Nvidia’s production volume would be pumped into the RTX 4070 Super. That made sense, as it’s the most affordable GPU, so purely based on that it’ll shift more units. The theory was that the RTX 4080 Super (and 4070 Ti Super) could be quite thin on the ground in terms of stock.
Is it mainly a lack of stock? Wait a minute – there’s another side to this coin, which is that we feel like there was a pent-up demand for a high-end graphics card, which has been growing lately due to several factors. Firstly, the price of the RTX 4090 went through the roof (due to the situation in China, which affected prices worldwide – we explain more here). And secondly, as the next rung in the flagship Lovelace series, the RTX 4080 has been poorly regarded since launch.
The RTX 4080’s unpopularity is indeed part of the reason Nvidia introduced a Super refresh, to give gamers a graphics card with a little more oomph, but it was mostly about dropping that price by the best part of 20 % – finally delivering something like a decent high-end value proposition.
So gamers unable to buy a top dog 4090 due to ridiculous prices, and 4080 avoiders who have been waiting for something better – namely the Super replacement (or perhaps big price cuts, which never actually happened) – are all now in the draw to convince.
Overall, we feel like it’s a bit of both here: decent demand for the reasons mentioned above, combined with somewhat low production levels. We could focus our guesswork on a net lower supply level, but we are only speculating.
The RTX 4070 Ti Super may also be quite slim in stock terms, but it may not be as popular as the RTX 4080 Super was initially (file that under ‘s’ for speculation too). Either way, we expect RTX 4080 Super stock to rise quickly, as any modest spike in demand, as noted, will likely calm down soon enough.
In the meantime, though, you’ll be hard-pressed to get your hands on one in the US – although the picture is rosier elsewhere, such as Europe. For example, there’s some RTX 4080 Super stock online in the UK, but not at the recommended retail price – you’ll pay around 10% more for the custom models available, but that’s fair enough (on balance for a faster card).