Nvidia Slashes Prices of GeForce RTX 30 'Ampere' Graphics Cards

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition
(Image credit: Nvidia)

Without much fanfare, Nvidia slashed the prices of its GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards this week. Depending on the exact model, Ampere graphics boards are now $100 to $500 cheaper than they were just days ago. It is believed that Nvidia is lowering prices to reduce the inventory of its current-generation products ahead of the imminent launch of next generation GeForce RTX 40-series 'Ada Lovelace' GPUs

New Prices

Benchlife (via VideoCardz) was first to report the alleged price cut without any formal confirmation from Nvidia or its add-in-board (AIB) partners early on Thursday. Based on the information from Benchlife, Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3090 Ti will now cost $1,499 (-$500), GeForce RTX 3090 will be priced at $1,299 (-$200), and the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti will carry a $1,099 (-$100) price tag. Furthermore, the GeForce RTX 3080 12GB finally received its official MSRP — $799. Meanwhile, other boards in the Ampere lineup for consumers have not seen any price cuts so far.

Alleged New GeForce RTX 30-Series MSRPs

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ModelOriginal MSRPNew MSRPDifference
GeForce RTX 3090 Ti$1999$1499$500
GeForce RTX 3090$1499$1299$200
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti$1199$1099$100
GeForce RTX 3080 12GB-$799?
GeForce RTX 3080 10GB$699--
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti$599--
GeForce RTX 3070$499--
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti$399--
GeForce RTX 3060$329--
GeForce RTX 3050$249--

By now, multiple retailers in the U.S., as well as EVGA, have begun offering high-end Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti/3090/3080 Ti/3080 12GB graphics cards at new prices that are $100 to $500 lower than they used to be a week ago (remember that we are talking about boards that are still among the best graphics cards around). Meanwhile, all the boards are sold at a discounted price or with an instant rebate, so there is no formal confirmation of Nvidia's price cut.

For example, over at EVGA.com, all GeForce RTX 3090 Ti (except the Kingpin version) and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics boards are priced at $1,499 and $1,099 (respectively) no matter how high they are clocked and what cooling they use. For instance, EVGA's GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Hybrid Gaming received a $700 instant rebate, whereas the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra Hydro Copper Gaming comes with a $430 instant rebate. Other high-end boards from EVGA's GeForce RTX 30-series lineup are also sold at their new MSRPs at EVGA.com. Meanwhile, the remaining SKUs from EVGA's Ampere family are sold below their official prices, but for the sake of truth, it has to be said that their price tags are higher than those recommended by Nvidia.

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RetailerModelOriginal PriceNew PriceDifference
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3090 Ti$1999 - $2199$1499 - $1649$350 - $700
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3090 Ti$1999 - $2199$1499$500 - $700
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3090 Ti$1849 - $2199$1499 - $2199$350 - $500
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3090$1749 - $1999$1299 - $1549$450 - $700
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3090$1749 - $1919$1299$450 - $620
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3090$1499 - $1799$1299 - $1799$200 - $330
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3080 Ti$1199 - $1999$1099 - $1649$100 - $500
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3080 Ti$1429 - $1529$1099$330 - $430
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3080 Ti$1150 - $1799$1099 - $1799$7 - $100
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3080 12GB$929 - $1299$799 - $1299$100 - $500
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3080 12GB$1149 - $1399$799$350 - $600
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3080 12GB$1099 - $1321$799 - $1321$142 - $550
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3080 10GB$879 - $999$749 - $1129$100 - $220
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3080 10GB$809 - $939 $789 - $889$20 - $70
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3080 10GB$799 - $999$799 - $999-
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3070 Ti$699 - $949$699 - $779$100 - $250
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3070 Ti$609 - $829$609 - $779$10 - $70
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3070 Ti$649 - $969$579 - $969$70
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3070$619 - $859$579 - $859$40 - $210
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3070$609 - $719$579 - $639$30 - $80
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3070$599 - $789$549 - $789$50
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3060 Ti$539 - $699$499 - $599$50 - $100
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3060 Ti$539$519$20
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3060 Ti$519 - $669$499 - $669$50 - $70
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3060$429 - $649$384 - $539$7 - $265
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3060$399$399-
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3060$399 - $459$389 - $459$10
BestBuy.comGeForce RTX 3050$349 - $409$319 - $409$30 - $40
EVGA.comGeForce RTX 3050$249 - $329out of stock-
Newegg.comGeForce RTX 3050$329 - $489$279 - $420$70

Retailers like BestBuy and Newegg also slashed prices of their higher-end Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series boards. Meanwhile, Newegg offers not only EVGA's boards at their new MSRP but also GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics cards from Gigabyte and Zotac at $1,499, while Gigabyte's GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is available for $1,099

BestBuy even calls its new prices a 'clearance' sale, so perhaps it does not expect to receive new batches of certain boards. Meanwhile, entry-level, mainstream, and performance mainstream boards are still sold at prices that exceed their MSRPs, but at least they are significantly cheaper than they used to be weeks ago.

Ada Lovelace Looming

The new MSRPs of higher-end GeForce RTX 3090 Ti/3090/3080 Ti/3080 12GB graphics cards indicate that Nvidia wants to sell them off first before it launches its new GeForce RTX 40-series products later this year. This is logical as enthusiast buyers do not tend to buy previous-generation products.  

The fact that Nvidia has not 'semi-officially' cut prices on products that sit below the RTX 3080 12GB model may show that the first Ada Lovelace boards will address premium market segments with graphics boards that cost $799 and above (but this is, of course, our speculation). 

But even though it does not look like Nvidia is formally cutting down prices of GeForce RTX 3080 10GB and slower products, they are still sold with discounts both by EVGA (which is a very close partner of the green company and which market tactics usually reflects Nvidia's plans) and retailers. So we can conclude that Nvidia and its AIB allies want to get rid of those products sooner rather than later.

What remains to be seen is whether aggressive price cuts on the high-end of the GeForce RTX 30-series lineup signal that Ada Lovelace may be closer than we might think. 

Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

  • DRagor
    In US. Here in Europe we are still screwed 😕
    Reply
  • King_V
    So, basically, cuts to the MSRP of any model in their stack that had an MSRP higher than every AMD 6000 model.

    Color me unimpressed... way to set the bar at ground level, Nvidia.
    Reply
  • kal326
    Wouldn’t this all but confirm a 4090 launching at greater than $1499? They have already moved the current halo down to 1499. So unless they are going to launch the 4090 at 1499 and move everything down a pricing tier again 1-4 months later. The only other place is up. Unless they have also decided the 30 series isn’t sticking around like previously rumored.
    Reply
  • ThatMouse
    Everyone is getting excited for the $2000 4080 you can't find in stores for a year.
    Reply
  • jonathan1683
    ThatMouse said:
    Everyone is getting excited for the $2000 4080 you can't find in stores for a year.


    It might not be that bad, they seemed to be overstocked on the 3000s and also tried to cut production of the 4000 series. They were full steam ahead until crypto died and after all the prices we have been screwed on people might want to hold their cards a little longer this time around. Also the 3000 series are pretty powerful already. Then there is the power demand so people may need a new PSU along with the card, an expensive one.
    Reply
  • spentshells
    300 dollar 3060... or you can just keep those cards
    Reply
  • purple_dragon
    Anyone that sells their current GPU this round is crazy! I'll be waiting for power consumption, performance numbers and availability of stock before taking that risk.
    Reply
  • BTM18
    spentshells said:
    300 dollar 3060... or you can just keep those cards
    3060 12GB at $400. is worth it. Let alone at $300. lol 570?
    Reply
  • DSzymborski
    DRagor said:
    In US. Here in Europe we are still screwed 😕

    Given the current weakness of the euro, it's not really surprising, of course.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    BTM18 said:
    3060 12GB at $400. is worth it. Let alone at $300. lol 570?
    It may be "worth it" to you but not remotely close for me and countless other casual gamers (about 65% of computers on the Steam survey have an RTX3050 equivalent or slower GPU) who just want something they can throw in their their PC to get their occasional gaming done.
    Reply