The graphics card shortage has been well-documented over the last couple of years, with the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with crypto-mining and low semiconductor supplies causing a scarcity in Nvidia products across the globe. Recently, a store selling Nvidia's brand new RTX 3080 Ti experienced the demand first-hand, with customers rushing to its doors with alarming enthusiasm.
Nvidia's RTX 3080 Ti is a GPU that sits somewhere in the middle-ground between the Nvidia RTX 3080 and the more powerful 3090. The card would likely have been extremely popular in its own right, simply due to being a slightly more affordable alternative to the top of the top end cards, while still offering high-end performance for PC gamers. However, due to the aforementioned shortages, as well as a low silicon supply for use in manufacturing graphics cards, Nvidia's latest GPU is seeing extreme demand, and some reckless behavior.
In a livestream on PrestonALewis's Twitch channel, customers can be seen waiting outside a Dallas Microcenter, gathered expectantly for the store's opening and their chance at Nvidia's latest offering, the 3080 Ti. A staff member yells from across the lot "Remember, it's one card per household!" to groans from the crowd, and the question "Is there gonna be enough for all of us?" to which the reply comes "No!" There is some nervous laughter among the group, but all notions of friendliness are out the window when the signal is given that the store is open for business.
Observed through the lens of a shaking camera, the prospective 3080 Ti owners rush towards the Microcenter, crashing into the building's wall in what resembles more of a scrum than a line. They soon begin to jostle, with yells of "if you're out of line, go to the back!" from the crowd, and attempts by the store's staff to organize the chaos. Eventually, a line is formed, however the store allegedly only had around 65 Nvidia 3080 Tis available, which meant that most of the people lining up went without a graphics card, much like the rest of the world during Nvidia's GPU shortage.
Shortages of tech components like silicon and semiconductors have made PC parts and next generation consoles like the PS5 incredibly difficult to obtain. This video not only shows how desperate consumers are to get their hands on new products, but what they are willing to do to get them in the event that they become available. While the customers are partially to blame for the unsafe behavior shown in the video, a large part of the problem is the haphazard way in which the Microcenter handled the situation. With the demand being so high for these products, store owners should perhaps have systems in place to keep people safe during these events.
Source: Twitch/PrestonALewis