Bad news, gamers - the Nvidia RTX 3080 sold out in minutes

(Image credit: Nvidia)

It’s bad news for gamers who weren't quick off the mark to order an Nvidia RTX 3080, as the GPU is already showing as out of stock across multiple retailers.

Nvidia's own website started showing the RTX 3080 as out of stock moments after the GPU first went on sale, and some buyers are reporting that despite their efforts to constantly refresh the page, they never saw the option to actually buy a card.

It's a similar story elsewhere, too. Amazon, Best Buy and Newegg are all listing the GPU as unavailable, with the majority of third-party models also showing as out of stock. 

As noted by The Verge, even stock checking sites like NowInStock.net are coming up empty-handed.

Buyers in the UK are facing similar difficulties, with the likes of Ebuyer, Overclockers and Scan having sold their initial batch of RTX 3080 cards.

News of the RTX 3080 selling out comes after reports claimed that Nvidia’s first Ampere graphics cards could be in short supply until 2021. Sources said stock will be “extremely low” for the next couple of months, with stock levels to be in tight supply until the end of the year.

However, we also wouldn’t be surprised if it was higher-than-expected demand that caused the RTX 3080 to fly off shelves so quickly.

Nvidia claims the graphics card offers twice the performance of last years RTX 2080, and our own tests show that the RTX 3080 also delivers a major performance leap over the RTX 2080 Ti. 

What’s more, despite retaining the same price tag as the RTX 2080, the Ampere-bases GPU also delivers full-fat 4K resolution gaming at 60 fps and improved ray-tracing and DLSS performance. 

It’s not yet clear when the RTX 3080 will be back in stock, but with AMD’s Big Navi on the horizon, it’s likely you’ll be able to pick one up soon.

Carly Page

Carly Page is a Freelance journalist, copywriter and editor specialising in Consumer/B2B technology. She has written for a range of titles including Computer Shopper, Expert Reviews, IT Pro, the Metro, PC Pro, TechRadar and Tes.