NVIDIA is slated to launch their new RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti this June, but even ahead of release, these cards are already asking for your soul as payment.
TweakTown reported that the two cards have just been spotted early in Pakistan ahead of release, priced at a minimum of PKR 310,000 (roughly USD $2000) for the RTX 3070 Ti, and PKR 420,000 (over USD $2700). These are the pre-order prices, too.
The information comes from a post made by renowned Pakistani online retailer Thrift.PK.
In the post, the retailer is opening the pre-orders for two Palit AIB models: the GameRock and the GamingPro RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti. They also posted an image of what looks like the GamingPro model, which clearly features a triple-slot cooler design.
Unsurprisingly, this isn't really the first time that the new Ampere cards from NVIDIA have been listed overseas at insane prices. Retailers in New Zealand also posted AIB models of these cards early, as reported by Tom's Hardware almost a month ago. There, the MSI RTX 3080 Ti Ventus 3X OC costs over NZD $2543 (over USD $1830). Yikes.
NVIDIA confirmed that it will send RTX 3080 Ti and 3070 Ti cards to retailers on June 3, where they're likely going to be gobbled up and run out of stock in seconds.
Read also : NVIDIA Just Brought Ray Tracing to Entry-Level GPUs, but is "RTX On" Even Worth The Performance Penalty?
NVIDIA RTX: Basically A Unicorn
Due to the massive GPU shortage, NVIDIA graphics cards at MSRP are basically unicorns: it's hard to believe they exist. And perhaps the RTX 3080 Ti and its little brother won't be an exception.
First rumored last year, the 3080 Ti is meant to fill the gap between the 3080 and the massively expensive 3090.
If we're talking about the MSRP, the 3080 Ti filling this gap makes a bit of sense: the 3090 costs USD $1499, and the 3080 is supposed to sit at USD$699. Performance-wise, the 3090 only translates to a roughly 10-20 FPS boost over the 3080, which makes the supposed USD $800 premium nonsensical. That is, of course, if the RTX 3080 Ti will cost around USD $1000.
But we're NOT talking about MSRP right now, are we? This is why so many gamers these days are GPU-starved; their Ryzen 9 and i9-powered PCs having bare minimum hardware in the graphics department--and perhaps the only sensible way to get an NVIDIA RTX 3000 card these days is buying a prebuilt desktop, like what Razer is apparently doing early.
All Systems Go
Either way, the RTX 3080 Ti and 3070 Ti are both launching in June, barring any other unforeseen delay. Let's just hope that Team Green's efforts at swaying miners from taking GPUs away from gamers will work in some fashion (the 3080 Ti is also rumored to have an anti-mining limiter).
For now, all that people can do is go to the used market and see what's in store, hoping that it will last long enough to tide them over until the end of the GPU shortage.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
