With the global chip shortage and a boom in cryptocurrency mining, buying graphics cards has never been harder. Consumers are competing with scalpers and miners to get the latest cards from both NVIDIA and AMD. In this article, I'll go over the best ways to purchase a graphics card. At the moment, the best online stores to purchase a GPU at are Newegg, BestBuy, and the AMD Store, and I'll go over how to maximize the chances of you getting a graphics card at these stores and a few others as well.
Guaranteed Graphics Cards Drops In Higher Quantities At Newegg, BestBuy, & The AMD Store
The first and easiest way to increase your chance of getting a graphics card is by entering the Newegg Shuffle. The Newegg Shuffle runs from 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM EST to 12:00 PM PT/3:00 PM EST, and it happens most weekdays. All you have to do is select what products you want and then enter the shuffle. The products in the shuffle always include offerings from both NVIDIA and AMD but don't include every single model. You will be notified if you were selected in the drawing before 9:00 PM PT/11:00 PM EST and for the lucky few who win, you'll have 2 hours to check out. Don't be too down if you don't get selected, as you can repeat the process the next day as the Newegg Shuffle occurs almost every day weekday. Newegg has the option for mobile and email notifications before the shuffle and a Twitter post during the shuffle.
Another strategy to try out is buying cards on restock days at certain online stores. The AMD store has been restocking on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:00 AM EST to 2:30 PM EST. The next expected restock for the AMD store is on Wednesday the 28th or Thursday the 29th in that time window. BestBuy is another online store with a semi-predictable pattern of restocks, with most of them typically being on Thursday from 11:00 AM EST to 12:30 PM EST. The next expected restock for BestBuy is this Tuesday, the 27th, in the aforementioned time window.
Try Your Luck With Live Stock Trackers And In-Person Visits To Microcenter In The Morning
On top of planned restocks, random restocks occur, but with much more limited supplies, typically only one card. Both fixitfixitfixit and DataLover are two channels that are currently running stock alert streams for graphics cards with a sound cue to notify you of a restock. These streams notify you of any stock drops of both NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards from various sellers. This is one of the more difficult methods to find success with and requires a lot of dedication.
Amazon is the least likely of all to find success as the graphics cards sell out too quickly. Most restocks on Amazon are a single graphics card, and the usual sell out faster than you can buy them. In my experience trying to buy a graphics card from Amazon, the card has already sold out before you can even add it to your cart.
If you have the time on your hands and a Microcenter nearby, you could always go early in the morning to see if the shelves have been restocked with the latest NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards. In this case, it's first-come, first-serve, and you won't be competing with bots to get the graphics card you want.
For those attempting to purchase a graphics card, know that you are not alone, and being patient is extremely important. Make sure to enter the Newegg Shuffle every day until you get selected, as it is your best shot at the moment. Don't be disappointed if you don't get a card instantly, as your perseverance will eventually be rewarded.
The post How To Buy Graphics Cards Right Now: Best Ways To Get NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series & AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series GPUs by Alex Casas appeared first on Wccftech.
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