NVIDIA Limiting RTX 40 GPU Production to Keep RTX 30 Series Prices From Dropping Below MSRP

Towards the end of the cryptocurrency boom, prices of graphics cards were dropping left and right. These days, however, it’s hard to find an RTX 30 series GPU at its MSRP. On Newegg, there’s only one RTX 3080 selling at its MSRP. All other listings are well above the $699 price tag. The Founders Edition is going for a whopping $1,290.

Similarly, the RTX 3070 Ti starts at $619, $20 over its launch MSRP. The RTX 3070 also has a single MSRP listing, the rest being $30 to $70 over the MSRP.

According to a DigiTimes report, NVIDIA has yet to scale the production of its RTX 40 series “Ada Lovelace” GPUs. Team Green’s OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) vendors have admitted to the outlet that the chipmaker is in no hurry to increase production of its next-gen GPUs. This is likely due to ample RTX 30 series graphics cards in the channel inventory.

Ironically, the RTX 40 series graphics cards have already dropped below their MSRPs as several board partner variants flood the market. NVIDIA has already launched over half of its Lovelace GPUs, with only the 60-class and higher-end Ti variants pending. It’s worth noting that most of AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs, including the RX 6950 XT, are down to their lowest prices ever. In fact, even the newly launched RX 7000 series cards are cheaper than their MSRPs.