a hard time keeping up with the seemingly insatiable demand for its cutting-edge Ampere GPUs.
The RTX 30-series is starting to become synonymous with “sold out” as stock of Nvidia's next-generation GPUs are often plummeting just moments after release. Despite the company's efforts to ramp up production, the demand from consumers, not to mention bots and scalpers, has been overwhelming attempts to produce enough units. Demand for the RTX 3080 alone led to Nvidia's website being bombarded with enough traffic to disrupt orders. The paucity of Ampere GPUs is forcing buyers to seek out alternatives, and as a result, even the number of Nvidia's older models are starting to dwindle as well.
While stocks of Nvidia's latest GPU continue to disappear, a number of GPUs from the GTX 10 and RTX 20-series have been spotted resurfacing online. According to PCWorld, Nvidia is apparently alleviating the shortage dilemma by improving the availability of certain cards, in particular, the RTX 2060 and GTX 1050 Ti. When an Nvidia spokesperson was asked to confirm the information, they explained that the mentioned GPUs were technically never phased out. The representative added that the company was simply “meeting market demand,” which was described as still being “extremely high” at the present time.
Will This Help Nvidia's GPU Shortage Issues?
Nvidia isn't the only one struggling, as this seems to be a recurring problem for other companies as well, but that doesn't mean it's not employing measures to help with the issue. For starters, the resurfacing of older Nvidia GPU stock benefits consumers who are looking for a GPU upgrade without spending quite as much as they might otherwise have to. It also aids partners in constructing specific hardware builds, and at the same time, helps the company recuperate from its latest GPU shortage. However, both the RTX 2060 and GTX 1050 Ti are more dated, compared to Nvidia's latest RTX 30 lineup.
In improving the availability of these older GPUs, Nvidia is not only saving resources for its more complex Ampere GPUs, it's also satisfying a portion of the market, all while giving itself more time to resupply and prepare the next batch of next-gen GPUs for distribution. Furthermore, the company previously implemented a number of security measures to help combat bots and scalpers, and has even delayed launches to improve availability. It doesn't seem like Nvidia's stock shortages will be ending soon, but at least the continuous production of older stock is better than having to buy from a reseller, at unreasonably high prices.
Source: PCWorld