The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 has been hard to get hold of since its launch, both because of its price and popularity. These factors, however, have at least been relatively manageable for would-be buyers. Now, stock for the graphics card is drying up across the internet and prices are skyrocketing to new eye-watering highs.
The reasons for this pronounced fall of Nvidia inventory and sharp rise in cost largely stems from trade restrictions with China made by the United States government. These proposals would see a ban in the exports of the GeForce RTX 4090 and other similarly capable graphics cards, in a bid to hamper the Chinese government’s AI ambitions.
In a bid to mitigate any damage to its profits, Nvidia has allegedly been shipping AD102 GPUs to China before the ban takes hold on November 17. Naturally, this was set to have a knock-on effect to GeForce RTX 4090 stock and prices around the world. Sure enough, this has now come to pass.
Recent analysis by Tom’s Hardware saw the lowest GeForce RTX 4090 prices, on average, rise by as much as 10%. Sadly, things have only gotten worse. While cost continues to steadily rise, the wider problem here is that the majority of graphics cards are simply out of stock. This problem is affecting Amazon particularly hard, but other retailers like Newegg and Best Buy are also showing the same troubling signs.
It’s impossible to say when the effects of this export ban will subside, but it’s certainly worth weathering the storm in this case. Alternatively, your money might be better spent on a GeForce RTX 4080 Super, should it come to fruition. If such a prospect interests you, be sure to keep an eye out during CES 2024 for any developments.
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