The big picture: Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3050 officially went on sale this week and promptly sold out within hours. In the US, Newegg, Best Buy and Micro Center all had cards on sale but saw inventory dry up shortly after launch.
Over on Newegg, we’re seeing no less than 17 cards and bundles on offer from companies like Asus, Gigabyte, Zotac and MSI. Pricing ranges from $249.99 to $594.98, and 13 of the 17 offerings were restricted to Newegg’s Shuffle lottery program. All are currently listed as out of stock.
Best Buy only has two cards in its system, the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3050 Eagle OC and the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3050 Gaming OC, for $349.99 and $379.99, respectively, but both are sold out as of this writing.
Micro Center has zero RTX 3050 cards available to purchase online, with very limited in-store availability at select retail stores for five different cards. If you live near a physical Micro Center and want a card, it’s worth checking out, but expect to pay a premium for these overclocked models (the cheapest one starts at $329.99)
B&H Photo also had some inventory, but again, they’re all gone now. Curiously, Amazon hasn’t listed any 3050 cards yet.
Predictably, lots of cards have already shown up on eBay. A Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3050 Eagle OC from Best Buy, for example, is listed for $599.99 while another listing is asking $899 for the Gaming OC version. Cards from MSI, Asus and Zotac are also listed in the $700 price range.
Rumors leading up to the card’s launch suggested it wouldn’t be ideal for crypto mining, leading some to believe it might be more readily available to purchase at retail.