Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU is already on sale – but you can’t buy one
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Nvidia’s RTX 4090 won’t hit shelves until October 12, which is still a few weeks away, and yet it seems at least one person was able to buy the GPU early.
As VideoCardz (opens in new tab) reports, in Hong Kong, a retailer is selling the Gigabyte RTX 4090, with evidence provided at: LikHK (opens in new tab) (an online forum in Hong Kong, which is essentially like Reddit). This includes photos, and a lot of it, with the Gigabyte Gaming OC 4090 graphics card in question.
Obviously, remain skeptical of such a leak, but we already know flagship GPUs are being sent to reviewers – who obviously need the cards in time to prepare their evaluations for release at launch.
But even if you could get your hands on an RTX 4090 – if you’re in Hong Kong and can find the shopkeeper who popped the gun – it’s a pointless purchase at this point, because without the new graphics driver supporting the next-generation Lovelace , the product simply won’t work.
Though you could get a head start when it comes to seeing how this chunky GPU fits into your PC case, maybe?
Chatter from the rumor mill points out that the Gigabyte card will sell for 20,000 Hong Kong dollars or thereabouts, which translates to about $2,500 in US currency (or £2,300, AU$3,800); far above the official suggested retail price of course (more than 50% even).
But what a person is willing to pay to get a pre-release card clearly has no real meaning, and furthermore, third-party models have their own recommended prices (although the Gaming OC variant has historically not been one of the more expensive ones). Gigabyte brands is ).
Analysis: A hopeful hint for the other Lovelace GPUs then?
What may have some significance is the fact that third-party RTX 4090 graphics cards have been shipping to retailers well ahead of that official launch date. And with any luck, that means we can expect a decent amount of stock from the get-go.
There are caveats to this, of course, and because the price tag is so high, the RTX 4090 GPU will be a niche proposition, so Nvidia will barely produce them through the bucketload. Team Green won’t feel like selling out is a bad thing either – it makes the tickets look popular, and indeed if they don’t sell out it could be seen as negative for the perception of the flagship launch. from Lovelace.
Still, this is still a hint that Team Green is well prepared for its first launch, and that bodes well for RTX 4080 stock, the slightly more affordable high-end GPUs (there are two, including a 12GB model that a dirty secret). Those products will follow the RTX 4090 and go on sale in November.
As for the really important GPUs, let’s face it, the RTX 4070 and 4060 – they’ll have a lot more palatable price tags – there’s probably plenty of time left before they launch, so hopefully Nvidia should be able to cut back considerably. stock to build. It’s very likely we won’t see any of those mainstream graphics cards until 2023, and we’re guessing a January reveal for one of them, or maybe even both.