Did you manage to buy a GPU between 2020-2021?
That seems like solid advice. My gaming laptop went belly up during the pandemic (it was not a spring chicken) and I had been holding off too long on building my own rig so I ended up with an old laptop and Geforce Now for a few months, hoping the damn cryptoBS would burst and prices would go back down.
Of course they haven't so I got myself a good enough laptop for now to wait some more. It's not like I have a shortage of older games to play. AC Valhallah Ultra Settings will wait.
Still, one can dream and I'll be looking at your suggestions in the hopes I can get a GPU before my current laptop flops
Comment has been collapsed.
That seems like solid advice. My gaming laptop went belly up during the pandemic (it was not a spring chicken) and I had been holding off too long on building my own rig so I ended up with an old laptop and Geforce Now for a few months, hoping the damn cryptoBS would burst and prices would go back down.
I hopped on the crypto wave late it seems because now the whole thing is going down. I made some profits, but I've not cashed out yet. I hate that the two things are related. I don't want my gaming to interfere with profits and making money. I wish this wasn't the thing.
If this would be the case, I could have used the 2020 a lot more wiser, buy crypto and sell it late 2021 when it went down and buy myself a video card, but who would have thought it turned the way it did. I joined in mid 2021 thinking this is just the beginning as I'd never get my hands on a video card if prices stayed so high. A year later, well... things kinda turned back to normal, in a way.
Of course they haven't so I got myself a good enough laptop for now to wait some more. It's not like I have a shortage of older games to play. AC Valhallah Ultra Settings will wait.
I'm thinking that because of my most recent upgrade, I might be able to play Valhalla to High at least. Which is good enough for me. It doesn't seem that there's a massive improvement from Odyssey to Valhalla graphically to really justify why my GTX 1060 couldn't keep up.
Still, one can dream and I'll be looking at your suggestions in the hopes I can get a GPU before my current laptop flops
I'm pretty sure there's now ways to get the GPU at a cheaper price. I don't know where you live, but if you get a discount as a Black Friday event that would come in handy, but I'm pretty sure that would sell like warm bread.
Comment has been collapsed.
If this would be the case, I could have used the 2020 a lot more wiser, buy crypto and sell it late 2021 when it went down and buy myself a video card,
Heh you would have still paid way too much for it.
but who would have thought it turned the way it did.
It was pretty predictable really. I don't know how nobody seemed to see it coming.
I'm thinking that because of my most recent upgrade, I might be able to play Valhalla to High at least.
I played the free weekend right after I got my new laptop on Ultra Settings and it ran nicely. It doesn't have a massively powerful GPU so I'm not getting 100 FPS or whatever is the new normal but it runs smoothly and it looks beautiful so I'm still glad I didn't wait more for the impossible GPU.
I don't know where you live, but if you get a discount as a Black Friday event that would come in handy
I live in France and unfortunately Black Friday is just a recent fad borrowed by brands and stores so people believe it exists here but sales are extremely regulated here so it's only a sham. I still have great friends in Canada so I may try to get something going with them at that time... even though they don't know a GPU from a hole in the ground :P
Comment has been collapsed.
I still have great friends in Canada so I may try to get something going with them at that time... even though they don't know a GPU from a hole in the ground :P
As a GPU translates to a hole in your wallet your friends may turn out more competent than you think :P
Comment has been collapsed.
They should know your budget and ask you before they strike any deal. Matters get complicated with shipping fees and (circumventing if possible) import tariffs of course.
Hardware savvy people I know predict a GPU price crash for September 2022 so you might wait a few months more.
Comment has been collapsed.
Heh you would have still paid way too much for it.
At that time, yes, it would have still been a lot, but maybe not for Dodge coin or Shiba.
It was pretty predictable really. I don't know how nobody seemed to see it coming.
I've said that too, but it had two periods of decline before it just dropped all together. So, I was very much saying the same thing. As it's a trend, it's going to end. But people made a lot of money off of that and saved themselves some good money for the future unless they wasted it on NFT's.
I played the free weekend right after I got my new laptop on Ultra Settings and it ran nicely. It doesn't have a massively powerful GPU so I'm not getting 100 FPS or whatever is the new normal but it runs smoothly and it looks beautiful so I'm still glad I didn't wait more for the impossible GPU.
What's your GPU?
I live in France and unfortunately Black Friday is just a recent fad borrowed by brands and stores so people believe it exists here but sales are extremely regulated here so it's only a sham. I still have great friends in Canada so I may try to get something going with them at that time... even though they don't know a GPU from a hole in the ground :P
Europe isn't as dedicated towards it I believe. I've seen the same in UK where I live. Black Friday's from where I'm originally from is a joke. If things go under 50% it's a miracle.
Comment has been collapsed.
unless they wasted it on NFT's.
Or games :P
What's your GPU?
Geforce RTX 3070 Ti, well laptop but it's pretty good. I was lucky that the first laptop I bought had faulty RAM so I had to send it back and by the time I got a replacement, the TI had been released so I was able to switch for it in my config.
Black Friday's from where I'm originally from is a joke. If things go under 50% it's a miracle.
I don't know how regulated it is in the UK but France has very strict restrictions on sales plus it's just brands trying to get the money from the event without actually doing the sale. My gf was looking for lenses for her camera but she was dubious of the whole Black Friday thing in Portugal so she started tracking prices in September. All the lenses that had over 50% discounts on Black Friday saw an increase in price by about 30% in October...
Comment has been collapsed.
Or games :P
With how much money some people made, they could buy themselves the entire library of games on Steam.
Geforce RTX 3070 Ti, well laptop but it's pretty good. I was lucky that the first laptop I bought had faulty RAM so I had to send it back and by the time I got a replacement, the TI had been released so I was able to switch for it in my config.
A lucky and still an unlucky move. That's really good man. How is the GPU performing atm with the games?
I don't know how regulated it is in the UK but France has very strict restrictions on sales plus it's just brands trying to get the money from the event without actually doing the sale. My gf was looking for lenses for her camera but she was dubious of the whole Black Friday thing in Portugal so she started tracking prices in September. All the lenses that had over 50% discounts on Black Friday saw an increase in price by about 30% in October...
Oh yeah! I've seen that in Romania, my home country. They would increase the price and then slap a discount on it during Black Friday and people would assume that they are having a bargain when in reality, they would pay the same price as the one was previously sold for. You can't trust anymore anything, except maybe online retails because you can really track their discounts and see if it's BS or for real.
Comment has been collapsed.
You can't trust anymore anything, except maybe online retails because you can really track their discounts and see if it's BS or for real
Looks like online retailers still can easily manipulate people into spending their money on scams like these... Its fascinating how many of the online stores I have in my country use this technique and everyone is still spending their money like crazy... When they could easily google anything and find out its bullshit
We actually have a good site in my country - https://www.salidzini.lv/cena?q=RTX+3060ti - it literally means "compare" and you can insert any product in it and it will search through the stores and show you the prices. Still people fall for fake sales..
There is one very big online store which has "secret sales" for email listings and just random overnight sales or Friday sales every week. It always has exactly the same products, exactly the same prices and absolutely zero discounts. But they are running it constantly.. Its like with Fanatical mystery bundles - change the name for marketing and just constantly pump out same crap. What do people do ? still share it on facebook, still buy shit thinking its cheaper... Fascinates me.
I've lost any credibility towards online retailers (at least local ones)
Comment has been collapsed.
Looks like online retailers still can easily manipulate people into spending their money on scams like these... Its fascinating how many of the online stores I have in my country use this technique and everyone is still spending their money like crazy... When they could easily google anything and find out its bullshit
Yes, that's true, but as you said, it's traceable to see what they are doing or not. I've done my fair share of sales in my life and I've learned a lot. For example if a product is on sale, pay attention if that product ever left the same discount. Sometimes just by being there as sale it is just a marketing technique. Also, creating scarcity, like only 5 left is another marketing strategy.
People are more willing to purchase something that is at a good deal and rare. Lastly, that topless off all the other two is stores that place purchases made in "real time" on their store are probably the fakest stuff you want stay away from. Official stores don't ever make such BS and it's only to make you more to trust their website because it looks active and that people purchase the products.
We actually have a good site in my country - https://www.salidzini.lv/cena?q=RTX+3060ti - it literally means "compare" and you can insert any product in it and it will search through the stores and show you the prices. Still people fall for fake sales..
We have such websites in UK as well and frankly I use them as well, but not as often as I don't make many purchases for computers that often. PriceRunner and Idealo are two of them.
I've lost any credibility towards online retailers (at least local ones)
I don't blame you. I'd only recommend sticking with websites you can trust. Or don't greed over silly prices and just pay for what's the actual price, unless it's stupidly inflated as the GPU's were.
Comment has been collapsed.
With how much money some people made, they could buy themselves the entire library of games on Steam.
Or entire social media platforms? ;)
That's really good man. How is the GPU performing atm with the games?
It's actually handling everything nicely. So far so good. I don't have to tweak anything and I get great framerates. Every game benchmark I've tried was running nice and smooth. I only saw a drop of framerate when I played the free weekend of AC Vallhala after I played for several hours on the last day because I wanted to get to finish a chapter so I played like 7 hours in a row. At the end there was probably a bit of a throttle to keep the temps nice and cool.
I must say that after playing on a toaster that was constantly getting up to 100°C and shutting down (even when playing older games on the lowest settings possible), it's really cool to be able to play games without worrying about anything. I couldn't even play Steep anymore because I was averaging 10 FPS lol
You can't trust anymore anything, except maybe online retails because you can really track their discounts and see if it's BS or for real.
Exactly. That's why I told my gf to track prices a few months early so she could see any suspicious fluctuation beforehand.
Comment has been collapsed.
Or entire social media platforms? ;)
Ehum... that's a different breed of beast. xD
I must say that after playing on a toaster that was constantly getting up to 100°C and shutting down (even when playing older games on the lowest settings possible), it's really cool to be able to play games without worrying about anything. I couldn't even play Steep anymore because I was averaging 10 FPS lol
I know the feeling. I felt like that when I did my upgrades. You feel like you hit the pinnacle of happiness for a couple of minutes/hours and for the first time you see things they were meant to be seen.
Exactly. That's why I told my gf to track prices a few months early so she could see any suspicious fluctuation beforehand.
That's a good move!
Comment has been collapsed.
You feel like you hit the pinnacle of happiness for a couple of minutes/hours and for the first time you see things they were meant to be seen.
Haha exactly! Just like I got my first pair of glasses and I was like "wow I can see my fingerprints again. I had no idea how much I needed those!"
Comment has been collapsed.
I think that's better than owning a brand new PC. Vision and health is super important and I would never trade it for anything. I think I'd rather see and feel healthy than have the best working PC in the world. All in all, I wish you good health!
Comment has been collapsed.
I can't use DLSS sadly and I don't like playing it lower resolution. I rather wait for an upgrade then having to run the game with a microwave. I don't have issues to be honest, as my PC can work it's way in the Mid to High Tier for most games that are more recent.
Comment has been collapsed.
To buy a GPU? Nowadays?? Just rob someone! I don't have any if you ask
Comment has been collapsed.
Sticking with my 1080. Works great at 1440p. I'll wait for next gen and just buy a complete PC instead.
Great advice though. There was this twitch stream I used to watch with a live updated list (I prefer the 3090 reference cards). I even considered the bots but since a 3090 is so huge. I would need a new case, PSU, probably cooler as well.
Comment has been collapsed.
Another possibilty that I've tried awhile back was Geforce Now. Cloud based video streaming for NA and EU.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/faq/
You do need to check if they have the games you want to play from your Steam or Epic account.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/games/
The free account allows for 1 hour of play before re-queuing again. I'm tempted to sell my video card, but crypto is down.
Comment has been collapsed.
Another possibilty that I've tried awhile back was Geforce Now. Cloud based video streaming for NA and EU.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/faq/
Used the Free one and wanted to get the 1440p version, but decided to upgrade my CPU and RAM and that made my gaming experience so much better. Saved me a lot of money too. But I highly recommend it to users who want to game on very old systems.
Comment has been collapsed.
12 Comments - Last post 24 minutes ago by gaudigabriels
9 Comments - Last post 42 minutes ago by TinTG
9 Comments - Last post 46 minutes ago by FlameB1
1,953 Comments - Last post 1 hour ago by diehard
47,140 Comments - Last post 4 hours ago by JMM72
16,403 Comments - Last post 5 hours ago by MLD
31 Comments - Last post 5 hours ago by NoctuaVentus
476 Comments - Last post 15 seconds ago by Exodust
3 Comments - Last post 4 minutes ago by xurc
351 Comments - Last post 9 minutes ago by NeverOnline
2,107 Comments - Last post 12 minutes ago by SirChrisSwan
11,231 Comments - Last post 12 minutes ago by Mikurden
84 Comments - Last post 23 minutes ago by Alpha2749
577 Comments - Last post 25 minutes ago by miIk
Hello,
As gamers, I think we need to be united and work together in order to get our hands on GPU's that we dream to have so we can play games that we love. So, I've made this discussion so if you have a way that you've used to get your GPU during this difficult time and you're not afraid to share your method with the community you can do so right here.
I have obtained one for my wife and I thought I should share with you a few things that I've done and got my wife her new GPU in less than 2 hours at an MSRP price.
Last year, my wife's GPU failed and in the middle of the pandemic prices were still as crazy as today. With a bit of research, I managed to combat the scalpers and the bots that used to mess with your purchases a lot more than today.
For some of you want to get a new GPU once you get your weird listings from Ebay or Amazon it may become a challenge.
What I like to suggest people is to check with your Local/National website stores or physical stores first as most fights happen online, on an international level, you may be lucky to get yours locally. If that doesn't work consider a few of the methods I'm about to suggest.
TimetoCop - Discover all the GPU Twitter accounts alerts, sort them by category and choose the one that meets your expectations.
NowinStock - is a FREE web service that monitors online retailer websites to see when products come in stock or up for pre-order. As soon as we see stock available for purchase, we alert you! To receive these alerts, you must register. Don't worry, NowInStock is completely FREE and SPAM-FREE. We make you register so we know which items to alert you on.
Youtube Lives - If you prefer to have a live perspective of what's going on, here's another way to check the stock.
Browser Extensions - Another way to get notified of prices and changes on website is to get browser extensions like OctoShop that informs you of changes and availability for prices. If you want to learn how to use it, just follow this guide.
Bots - Now this may be your last resolve, but if you're desperately in need to get your hands on one, you can use the same method as scalpers and crypto miners use to get their hands on a GPU. What I used was a notification bot, which informed me if there were changes on a particular website. Do keep in mind that bots are useful if you wish to purchase 2 or more GPU's and not for only one, so that may be something you need to pay attention.
The bot I've used is called UptimeRobot and it is used to monitor downtime on servers and just overall check their status. There was a tutorial that I've followed that I'm happy to share with you, which helped me to get my wife's GPU from NewEgg, ship it to UK and enjoy it. The purchase took me 2 hours and it got shipped in about 4-5 days if I remember.
The GRAPHICS CARD SCAMMERS are getting clever...
Please stay safe out there and don't get trapped in the idea of the tricky prices as you can get yourself in some serious trouble, make sure you double-check before you purchase or discuss with someone on eBay or any other website.
Now that I've shared my best tips to get a GPU in 2021-2022, what are your thoughts and what methods did you use to get yours? Any kind of tips, advice or method works and I'm sure it will help others to get their hands on a brand new GPU.
I hope this helps. Merry Christmas! 😉
Comment has been collapsed.