Looking at the 3060 prices this can get only worse. A 1000$ bucks for a midrange card? Lovely.

Kaarme:

Knowing the exact numbers would only allow us to curse more loudly, but that's it. It would change nothing. The companies wouldn't want to reveal them, though, for reasons of competitiveness. The only two things really affecting this would be nerfing the cards for mining and producing a whole lot more of them. Apparently the first option wasn't so interesting, a sale is a sale (which also feeds the scalpers), and the second one is limited by component availability (GPU+everything else). A whole lot of industries are suffering from the lack of advanced semiconductor production, not just gamers, so it's all a part of a bigger picture. It's really miserable. Scalpers would be easy to deal with if nobody simply bought from them. Though right now they can sell to miners if gamers don't buy, so it wouldn't really matter.

Pick your favorite AIB. If there is proof that they sold directly to Minors. And that gets on Reddit, their general sales will go down. AMD/nVidia can make cards themselves and sell via their site. They can even use communities, like tech forums to ensure that one person gets one GPU. If I want to distribute product to gamers and some man in the middle redirects my shipments for use I do not like. I take that man-in-the-middle out of process. They have such power. Each and every GPU can and should have tracking number. Exact places in supply chain where GPUs "disappear" could have and should have been identified. And each and every GPU should come with unique bonus code which is connected in AMD's/nVidia's database to particular tracking number. So, they know that real gamer at end of chain got it and activated bonus with that specific card. And they should keep track of IP address via which registration came in. (Sure, Fine print and agreement is OK.) For once, AI/BigData should work for us clients.

Fox2232:

Pick your favorite AIB. If there is proof that they sold directly to Minors. And that gets on Reddit, their general sales will go down. AMD/nVidia can make cards themselves and sell via their site. They can even use communities, like tech forums to ensure that one person gets one GPU. If I want to distribute product to gamers and some man in the middle redirects my shipments for use I do not like. I take that man-in-the-middle out of process. They have such power. Each and every GPU can and should have tracking number. Exact places in supply chain where GPUs "disappear" could have and should have been identified. And each and every GPU should come with unique bonus code which is connected in AMD's/nVidia's database to particular tracking number. So, they know that real gamer at end of chain got it and activated bonus with that specific card. And they should keep track of IP address via which registration came in. (Sure, Fine print and agreement is OK.) For once, AI/BigData should work for us clients.

Eh, all that would require people working on it. It would cost money. The manufacturers are actually saving money by selling directly to miners. It wouldn't surprise me if they could sell the cards without the fancy cardboard boxes, and all that jazz, in bulk, to the Chinese mining customers. AMD, Nvidia, and AIBs' only concrete worry is that if bitcoin crashes suddenly and soon, there would be lots of used cards in the market, and less people would buy new ones. Otherwise what does it matter if a card is in a mining machine or a gaming machine? They might do some small things just for PR, but it won't be anything as radical as what you were suggesting. If they manage to avoid unsold surprlus at the end of it, the mining craze is nothing but more sales and more profit, so it's kind of troublesome to try to prevent it from a busines pov.

Undying:

Looking at the 3060 prices this can get only worse. A 1000$ bucks for a midrange card? Lovely.

I hear ya RX5700, CDW - Found these for $418

wonder what the Hashrate is going to be... 5700XT could do up to 58Mh/s. 6800XT could only do 65. Are we looking at ~50Mh/s with 192bit?

Kaarme:

Eh, all that would require people working on it. It would cost money. The manufacturers are actually saving money by selling directly to miners. It wouldn't surprise me if they could sell the cards without the fancy cardboard boxes, and all that jazz, in bulk, to the Chinese mining customers. AMD, Nvidia, and AIBs' only concrete worry is that if bitcoin crashes suddenly and soon, there would be lots of used cards in the market, and less people would buy new ones. Otherwise what does it matter if a card is in a mining machine or a gaming machine? They might do some small things just for PR, but it won't be anything as radical as what you were suggesting. If they manage to avoid unsold surprlus at the end of it, the mining craze is nothing but more sales and more profit, so it's kind of troublesome to try to prevent it from a busines pov.

That's the problem. Fact that both AMD and nVidia ignore distribution issues of gaming cards. If they want to keep this high margin business going, they better start delivering. Because moment people move to consoles, this market will shrink considerably. It's that simple. I may build myself new server later, but no GPUs are needed there. And in case I get console, I'll not need to build new server as long as I can dedicate my current gaming HW for such purpose.

Fox2232:

That's the problem. Fact that both AMD and nVidia ignore distribution issues of gaming cards.

Distribution is not nvidia's job.

Astyanax:

Distribution is not nvidia's job.

They made themselves a distributor though

Kevin Mauro:

They made themselves a distributor though

no, they used one, but didn't make themselves one. And because the one they used wasn't competent they asked another distributor to do it.

Astyanax:

no, they used one, but didn't make themselves one.

Who'd they use? Some big contractor? EDIT: What about in the Enterprise sector where they've long been wholesaling direct?

Undying:

Looking at the 3060 prices this can get only worse. A 1000$ bucks for a midrange card? Lovely.

It's not mid range though. Its performances are on par with mid ranges cards from previous generation so it's really an entry level enthusiast gaming card. For what it is the current retail price is simply too high. It really needs to be at msrp to make sense.

Astyanax:

Distribution is not nvidia's job.

Yeah. If they care, it is their job. What you think is and is not manufacturer's job in distribution is analog to gun manufacturer bringing in pile of guns on your local square. Setting up price and handing it to anyone and everyone who has money to pay. If I make cheap RC helicopter for kids and some terror group comes and wants my production as means to deliver explosive, I say no. When I make gaming cards and someone asks for my product to run operation which threatens stability of world economy, I say no. Not only, because I make gaming cards and as such, I want my HW to be in hands of gamers. But because I have certain moral standards. Now, can you tell me what's nVidia's business with graphics cards? Before you do, maybe you should listen to Jensen Huang. I have feeling that official narrative did not change.

Kevin Mauro:

Who'd they use? Some big contractor?

Digital river, and then bestbuy/scan

MonstroMart:

It's not mid range though. Its performances are on par with mid ranges cards from previous generation so it's really an entry level enthusiast gaming card.

With that reasoning a modern IGP should be retailing for $1000+. The 3060 is the lowest-end part in the stack as of right now, and it's likely there's going to be far fewer SKUs below it than above it even with the stack fully populated. That makes it a lower midrange card.

Astyanax:

Digital river, and then bestbuy/scan

Ahhh ok ok that makes sense (Bestbuy... DUH - wow I totally forgot that) Hey thanks man... you know a lot of stuff..

In my neck of the woods, an unscrupulous shop (or two) in a local tech mall is selling the RTX 3060 Ti for a whopping 900USD, easily matching or beating scalpers in price. As for the launch of the RX 6700 XT, I'm not optimistic about the supply of this card, hence I'd expect a lot of price gouging as well. I just hope that supply isn't as bad as we all expect it to be, also curious as to what PowerColor Hellhound RX 6700 XT would look like because it won't be following the Red Devil and Red Dragon color scheme.