Fewer and fewer GeForce RTX 4090s are on sale at retailers, particularly in Germany.
For several weeks now, we've been noticing a certain scarcity of the top-of-the-range graphics cards designed by NVIDIA and its partners, the GeForce RTX 4090. In addition to the sanctions imposed by the US government on China, which have completely dried up flows to the Middle Kingdom, this scarcity of GeForce RTX 4090s is noticeable in many countries, and while France still seems to be spared, this has recently been the case in Germany: on the other side of the Rhine, several stores simply no longer have any models in stock.
Relayed by the VideoCardz website, the information was unveiled by 3DCenter, which scoured German comparators and retailers before presenting its findings. First of all, it's worth recalling that when it was released, the GeForce RTX 4090 was advertised at 1,949 euros. This was followed by a series of price cuts, bringing the price down to 1,859 euros at the beginning of the year and 1,769 euros last May. Prices varied considerably, however, with some highly advanced models selling for over 2,200 euros. Since May, however, prices have been rising again, in direct correlation with the increasing scarcity of cards.
3DCenter
Today, only one German retailer still sells a GeForce RTX 4090 for under 2,000 euros: Alternate. In most other cases, we're talking about 2,200 euros, or even 2,300 euros, and this time we're no longer talking about the most advanced models, those with watercooling solutions for example. No, the scarcity of cards has logically led to an increase in prices, while supply seems set to remain stable. The reason for this scarcity remains to be seen.
Very quickly, some voices raised the possibility of a drop in production at NVIDIA: the American company was preparing for the arrival of the RTX 5000 generation by reducing supply of the most powerful model in the previous range, the only one able to overshadow the new high-end cards. A theory, however, quickly beaten into oblivion: the VideoCardz site points out that no reseller, wholesaler or manufacturer has mentioned such a reduction in production. No, the most plausible explanation is to be found in the field of artificial intelligence: very greedy in terms of GPU power, it is driving many companies to invest, and the GeForce RTX 4090 still represents the most cost-effective solution. Quite simply.
