A point of contention currently within the PC scene is how Nvidia has handled the release of the newest Ampere series of the Nvidia cards; the 3080, to be precise.
Stock was sold out around the world within a second on many markets thanks to people purchasing bots that allowed them to complete a purchase faster than an actual user could see that they were ready for release.
Multiple users went onto Twitter crowing of their achievements with many purchasing dozens of cards thanks to bots, and users were frustrated that Nvidia did little to combat what many saw was inevitable: it’s not as though we haven’t dealt with scalpers rushing for everything in limited supply to flip for a quick buck before.
Thankfully, Nvidia has finally done it: they’ve added a Captcha to block bots from purchasing additional cards well after the entirety of the supply around the world was gone.
Nvidia's new captcha to defeat the bots and scalpers. pic.twitter.com/NVSGKuT3Bz
— Ben Darlow (@kapowaz) September 22, 2020
Too little, too late seems to be a ready means to describe the action taken from Nvidia, but that have released a long-form explanation that offers a bit more detail in precisely what happened, while restating that they are combing through orders and ensuring that scalpers are foiled on their end.
Nvidia apologizes for the 3080 launch and has taken better measures to combat bots and resellers on their sit like CAPTCHA. The demand was unprecedented and more units on the way pic.twitter.com/nQ90WKzoEx
— Lisan Al BG (@BrokenGamezHDR_) September 21, 2020
The statement from Nvidia rings hollow for many, but it makes sense with a more global mindset: it’s bizarre to demand that a manufacturer produces enough cards for everyone that desires to purchase them before allowing the purchases; an aspect that many frustrated PC users have begun demanding as they question the low supply offered.
Nvidia encourages users that are continuing to seek the newest GPU line-up that they stay in contact with their preferred retailers: more cards should be arriving in stock, although Nvidia noticeably doesn’t offer concrete dates or production tables to help inform consumers when they can be expected.
An interesting aspect is that AMD is slated to reveal their next-gen cards in October; the market is ripe right now for a slew of supply as demand overshadows what manufacturers are capable of producing.
If AMD is capable of once again surprising the PC user-base, and matching (or beating) the performance of the 30 series from Nvidia, the lack of stock could absolutely turn out to be a blessing that users are currently unsure that they’re receiving. AMD’s CPU’s have taken a noticeably sharp upwards turn with the Theadrippers that made them an intelligent choice for PC users that didn’t want to break the bank for Intel.
Once the reveal does arrive, Nvidia could find themselves pressured to figure out their manufacturing sooner, rather than later.
