Question Nvidia's Best Buy GPU drop results in brawls and crowd control measures.

moonbogg

Lifer
Jan 8, 2011
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My only shock is that this didn't happen during the previous drop which I commented on at the time. I questioned what was stopping someone from simply cutting in line and forcing the people who've been waiting in line for days to either give up their place in line or literally fight for it. Well, it looks like they chose to literally fight for it.
Also, techradar reports that only 2 out of 75 people in line are buying the GPU to actually use it. Literally the entire line of people are scalpers. I just don't see where gamers fit in anymore in this market. GPUs are money printers and technological paraphernalia for reselling to miners. That's it. They definitely aren't gaming products anymore.

Brawl:

Scalper ratio:
 
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Insert_Nickname

Diamond Member
May 6, 2012
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Literally the entire line of people are scalpers. I just don't see where gamers fit in anymore in this market. GPUs are money printers and technological paraphernalia for reselling to miners. That's it.

When there is a quick buck to be made, all sorts tend to come out of the woodwork.

This isn't just happening in the tech sector. It's all over currently.
 

SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
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Hate to say it after loving PC gaming since the days of Doom, Myst, Quake, Warcraft, Diablo, and so on, but AAA PC gaming is for suckers these days. When I can get a console for $500 that can play games at 60 fps and look nearly as good as native 4k no way I'm interested in dropping 3x that for equivalent performance on PC. About the only way I could be interested in AAA PC gaming today is if I still played a lot of first person shooters since mouse and keyboard crush controllers for them. But that's the only thing I can understand these days when it comes to AAA PC gaming.
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
7,797
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You know, perhaps an actual bout of pugilist fun is the best way to determine who should get the cards. Only to keep it fair to the basement-dwelling PC gamer crowd that would actually use the cards maybe the winners are whoever gets their ass kicked the hardest.

But this should surprise no one. I've been saying it for ages that this is exactly what you get when you leave a massive gap between MSRP and the actual market value. I wouldn't be surprised if the other two people aren't also scalpers that just also happen to be compulsive liars.
 

fleshconsumed

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2002
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Hate to say it after loving PC gaming since the days of Doom, Myst, Quake, Warcraft, Diablo, and so on, but AAA PC gaming is for suckers these days. When I can get a console for $500 that can play games at 60 fps and look nearly as good as native 4k no way I'm interested in dropping 3x that for equivalent performance on PC. About the only way I could be interested in AAA PC gaming today is if I still played a lot of first person shooters since mouse and keyboard crush controllers for them. But that's the only thing I can understand these days when it comes to AAA PC gaming.
For me personally, I need a desktop anyway, so if I want to play games my choices are either spend $500 on consoles, or spend $500 on a videocard. Spending $500 on a videocard is a better deal for me because I get access to a lot more games than what is available on any given console, and there is a healthy market for older games that go on sale often. Plus I get real keyboard and mouse.

Then again, this is me personally, for a lot of people buying console is in fact a better deal, especially given current pricing. I do think there are brighter days ahead of us though, once ETH goes PoS the last great PoW coin will be no more and things should largely go back to normal.
 
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moonbogg

Lifer
Jan 8, 2011
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For me personally, I need a desktop anyway, so if I want to play games my choices are either spend $500 on consoles, or spend $500 on a videocard. Spending $500 on a videocard is a better deal for me because I get access to a lot more games than what is available on any given console, and there is a healthy market for older games that go on sale often. Plus I get real keyboard and mouse.

Then again, this is me personally, for a lot of people buying console is in fact a better deal, especially given current pricing. I do think there are brighter days ahead of us though, once ETH goes PoS the last great PoW coin will be no more and things should largely go back to normal.

Until Nvcoin drops.
 

Leeea

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2020
3,599
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ETH goes PoS the last great PoW coin will be no more and things should largely go back to normal
You are totally missing the hype on Nvcoin! The next big cryptocurrency! Buy now and you will get rich Rich RICH!!! Do not miss your chance to be the next CRYPTO BILLIONAIRE!!!!! The first coin backed by a major corperation!

*only minable on cuda gpus. All Nvcoins are wholly owned by nvidia inc, and nvidia inc grants the user a limited time license to use and exchange the coin in accordance to nvidia's terms and conditions, which can change without notice. By reading these terms and conditions the user is consented to have any disputes settled in arbitration in Santa Clara CA, and the time and date determined by nvidia with nvidia's chosen arbiter. The user also consents to pay all legal fees and any other costs nvidia deems necessary, regardless of if the user is party to the dispute. The user also shall transfer their entire individual retirement account to nvidia stock immediately upon possessing a coin, in accordance to IRA regulation section 3.2-a_fg. Failure to do so with in 1 hour of coming into possession of an NVcoin gives nvidia the right to enslave the user at will.
 
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CP5670

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2004
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The consoles do seem to make more sense for new gamers at this point. I would still stick to PC myself because of the overall ecosystem of games and mods I've built up over decades. A new card supports all of that, not just the latest AAA games. Maybe gaming laptops or prebuilts are a good compromise.
 

SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
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For me personally, I need a desktop anyway, so if I want to play games my choices are either spend $500 on consoles, or spend $500 on a videocard. Spending $500 on a videocard is a better deal for me because I get access to a lot more games than what is available on any given console, and there is a healthy market for older games that go on sale often. Plus I get real keyboard and mouse.

Then again, this is me personally, for a lot of people buying console is in fact a better deal, especially given current pricing. I do think there are brighter days ahead of us though, once ETH goes PoS the last great PoW coin will be no more and things should largely go back to normal.

But do you need a desktop with an octacore and 16 or 32GB of fast RAM, an expensive board, a higher end power supply, etc? Maybe you do, but I'd have little use for anything more than a Ryzen APU for emulation if I'm not playing AAA games on the system, so for me those costs have to be figured in when comparing PC vs console. I do think the new normal is going to suck with $500 midrange cards though just like $350 RTX 2060 and RX 5700 was the new normal for midrange cards after the last round of ether mania died out. Why would these guys drop prices when they see people will pay the higher ones?
 
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SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
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The consoles do seem to make more sense for new gamers at this point. I would still stick to PC myself because of the overall ecosystem of games and mods I've built up over decades. A new card supports all of that, not just the latest AAA games. Maybe gaming laptops or prebuilts are a good compromise.

Yeah I suppose that makes a lot of sense. I guess the way it works for me is I have enough of a gpu right now to play my PC games I have already bought (rocking a 1660 Super) and I just buy everything new AAA for PS5 now.
 

Insert_Nickname

Diamond Member
May 6, 2012
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But do you need a desktop with an octacore and 16 or 32GB of fast RAM, an expensive board, a higher end power supply, etc? Maybe you do, but I'd have little use for anything more than a Ryzen APU for emulation

That describes a midrange PC these days. Even APUs are octalcores now. 16-32GB RAM is nothing to write home about, and quite affordable.

Even such midrange PCs are crazy powerful today. People tend to forget just how much progress there has been in just the last 5 years.
 

Leeea

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2020
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Looks like this could actually now be a thing? When I mentioned it a week ago, it was in jest. But it does kinda make sense...

That better be fake.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, while ordinary citizens (mostly just "scalpers") fight outside BestBuy's for the possibility to even buy a GPU, some BestBuy manager, sells a boatload of them "out the back" to some friend of his, for mining:


Isn't it always that way? More important in who you know, than what you know...
I have a hard time blaming the manager. He gets paid crap, gets crap benefits, and gets crapped on all day. Expecting any sort of loyalty to the company or customers seems foolish.

If anything, congrats to him for running a good legal hustle. Everyone made money, he did not break the law, and the scalpers/gangs with the empty chairs out front waiting in line did not get them. Win win.
 
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KentState

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2001
8,397
393
126
Hate to say it after loving PC gaming since the days of Doom, Myst, Quake, Warcraft, Diablo, and so on, but AAA PC gaming is for suckers these days. When I can get a console for $500 that can play games at 60 fps and look nearly as good as native 4k no way I'm interested in dropping 3x that for equivalent performance on PC. About the only way I could be interested in AAA PC gaming today is if I still played a lot of first person shooters since mouse and keyboard crush controllers for them. But that's the only thing I can understand these days when it comes to AAA PC gaming.

That's where everyone has different priorities. Even with having a PS5, I may have spent 10 hours since December playing games on it, but 100's on my PC. I even built a second high end HTPC so that I can PC game on the same setup as the PS5. None of it is about value in my opinion, but more of a hobby. If it's not detrimental to my finances, then it doesn't matter to me if I spend $8k on pc parts or $500 on a console.
 

fleshconsumed

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2002
6,483
2,352
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But do you need a desktop with an octacore and 16 or 32GB of fast RAM, an expensive board, a higher end power supply, etc? Maybe you do, but I'd have little use for anything more than a Ryzen APU for emulation if I'm not playing AAA games on the system, so for me those costs have to be figured in when comparing PC vs console. I do think the new normal is going to suck with $500 midrange cards though just like $350 RTX 2060 and RX 5700 was the new normal for midrange cards after the last round of ether mania died out. Why would these guys drop prices when they see people will pay the higher ones?
For the purposes of gaming 6-8 cores is plenty, even 4 cores will work, even if it might be limiting at times. Same with RAM, 16GB is super cheap these days, 32 is not that uncommon.

As far as dropping prices, again, it's all about supply and demand, once demand from miners disappears prices will go down. Again, CHIA tripled hard drive prices practically overnight, but 6 months later they're pretty much back to normal, some thing is going to happen with GPU mining once ETH goes PoS.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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Meanwhile, while ordinary citizens (mostly just "scalpers") fight outside BestBuy's for the possibility to even buy a GPU, some BestBuy manager, sells a boatload of them "out the back" to some friend of his, for mining:


Isn't it always that way? More important in who you know, than what you know...

How does that happen anyway? Last I knew, Best Buy only gets FEs in store for direct sales (and only in the drop events), and AIB cards are shipped to the store for in-store pickup when purchased online. Those appear to be all EVGA cards, which the store wouldn't receive for direct sale.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,227
9,990
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How does that happen anyway? Last I knew, Best Buy only gets FEs in store for direct sales (and only in the drop events), and AIB cards are shipped to the store for in-store pickup when purchased online. Those appear to be all EVGA cards, which the store wouldn't receive for direct sale.
Maybe the truth is a lot less sinister than that Reddit comment suggested. Maybe someone was just friends with a manager at BestBuy, and handed him a bunch of cash, and asked him to special-order a qty of that specific card from the distributor for them personally. Could happen, I suppose. Would mean that they effectively weren't taking cards away from customers waiting for them at "the drop event".

But how would those EVGA cards even be available to purchase from the distributor? Then again, OEM system-builders seem to have no problem sourcing cards for builds. It just seems like the retail DIY customer isn't getting the full picture, or benefit of the full supply of cards here. Almost like they "staged" these "drop" events purely for PR purposes. (The direct implication here, is that there are in fact a LOT MORE cards "in the pipeline" that DON'T get "released to retail", thus fueling the "apparent shortage".)
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
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Hate to say it after loving PC gaming since the days of Doom, Myst, Quake, Warcraft, Diablo, and so on, but AAA PC gaming is for suckers these days. When I can get a console for $500 that can play games at 60 fps and look nearly as good as native 4k no way I'm interested in dropping 3x that for equivalent performance on PC. About the only way I could be interested in AAA PC gaming today is if I still played a lot of first person shooters since mouse and keyboard crush controllers for them. But that's the only thing I can understand these days when it comes to AAA PC gaming.
Down voted for that comment. I like you, but that is a unnecessarily inflammatory ad hom.

And hook me up with this $500 console. I have not seen a series X in stock anywhere, for anything close to that price. If you have an in on where to get it for that price, link me up, thanks. I have zero interest in Sony, as a few exclusives are a yawn worthy selling point for me now. At least with MS, I have xbox and 360 games the series X can emulate, I can play the new titles on PC too, and it has a great bluray player.

And for PC gamers that have never embraced console, what about their huge games collections? Just supposed to leave that all behind? What happens if their present card dies, if prices still stink? Buy a scalped console instead of a scalped GPU? It makes no sense.

When my son switched from console to PC, I had been on console for 7yrs? I double dipped a ton of games I had on xbox and 360. But they were dirt cheap thanks to Steam sales. I then revisited them with much higher res, settings, and frames, which was more than worthwhile.

As a former console gamer, ain't no way I'd ever go console first again. Particularly since the last pro it had over my PC is gone. And that was comfy living room gaming. I want a series X, but not until I can buy it at MSRP. You know, exactly like the problem with GPUs right now. ;)
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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I want a series X, but not until I can buy it at MSRP. You know, exactly like the problem with GPUs right now.
This is true! I always find those arguements of, "GPU pricing too high, just gonna play on a $500 console" disingenuous, a bit, because consoles are no-where near $500 (MSRP) anymore, they are being scalped, and are as hard to find as GPUs are. (Saw some $1399 bundles for Sony PS5 on Newegg recently. Sheesh.)
 
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SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
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Down voted for that comment. I like you, but that is a unnecessarily inflammatory ad hom.

And hook me up with this $500 console. I have not seen a series X in stock anywhere, for anything close to that price. If you have an in on where to get it for that price, link me up, thanks. I have zero interest in Sony, as a few exclusives are a yawn worthy selling point for me now. At least with MS, I have xbox and 360 games the series X can emulate, I can play the new titles on PC too, and it has a great bluray player.

And for PC gamers that have never embraced console, what about their huge games collections? Just supposed to leave that all behind? What happens if their present card dies, if prices still stink? Buy a scalped console instead of a scalped GPU? It makes no sense.

When my son switched from console to PC, I had been on console for 7yrs? I double dipped a ton of games I had on xbox and 360. But they were dirt cheap thanks to Steam sales. I then revisited them with much higher res, settings, and frames, which was more than worthwhile.

As a former console gamer, ain't no way I'd ever go console first again. Particularly since the last pro it had over my PC is gone. And that was comfy living room gaming. I want a series X, but not until I can buy it at MSRP. You know, exactly like the problem with GPUs right now. ;)

Meh I got a PS5 without too much trouble from Walmart.com for MSRP back in February. Haven't bothered trying to get Series X though since I don't care about Forza and Halo and probably won't worry about getting one until Starfield comes out, if it's good (sadly not an automatic with Bethesda any more). Otherwise I'd probably wait for Hellblade 2 before getting a Series X.
 

SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
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This is true! I always find those arguements of, "GPU pricing too high, just gonna play on a $500 console" disingenuous, a bit, because consoles are no-where near $500 (MSRP) anymore, they are being scalped, and are as hard to find as GPUs are. (Saw some $1399 bundles for Sony PS5 on Newegg recently. Sheesh.)

Paying $1400 for PS5 bundles today? What was in them to be hitting that price? A 1TB PCIE-4.0 SSD plus a bunch of games? This isn't Christmas 2020 when these things regularly sold for $1200. Brand new disc version PS5 tend to sell around the $800 to $850 mark after shipping now if you want to buy from scalpers on ebay.