Preorders for NVIDIA’s newest GPU, the GeForce RTX 3080, launched last Tuesday to unprecedented demand. Online outlets like Amazon, Best Buy, and Newegg were set to open order pages at 9am Eastern Time. Unfortunately, many were met with “out of stock” messages almost immediately, with one Reddit user claiming the card was never actually available on NVIDIA’s webite. High volume traffic temporarily took down servers for online outlets like Overclockers Novatech, and Newegg. The official Twitter account for Newegg acknowledged the issues, attributing them to the RTX 3080 launch.
NVIDIA has shared a blog post to their website apologizing for the fiasco and answering submitted question. It reads, “We expected the best ever demand for the RTX 30-series, but the enthusiasm was overwhelming. We were not prepared for this level, nor were our partners. We apologize for this.” In response, they have confirmed that the GPU is in full production, and that their partners have increased capacity to meet demand. The post also links to product finder that will locate available cards at local retailers. In the meantime, the company discourages purchasing from scalpers, saying “As we race to build more GeForce RTX 3080s, we suggest not buying from opportunistic resellers who are attempting to take advantage of the current situation.”
Some individuals have received confirmations for orders made through the use of bots, to which NVIDIA says they have manually cancelled hundreds of orders before shipping the product. Going forwards, they have implemented new measures to combat these new levels of bot scale and sophistication. To read the full post, click here.