Want Nvidia's latest graphics card? Best Buy might be your best bet.
The chip maker has decided to sell the Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition exclusively at select Best Buy retail locations, instead of online. Sales start on June 3 at 81 stores across the US, but quantities will be limited.
“Employees at participating stores will start handing out tickets at 7:30 am local time,” the company said. “We’ll have as many tickets as graphics cards available at each store, which means if a customer gets a ticket, they will be guaranteed the opportunity to purchase a graphics card inside the store beginning at 9 am local time.”
The company didn’t explain why the Founders Edition will be offered in-store only. But it may make it easier for consumers to obtain the card, assuming they live near an eligible Best Buy store, and have time to line up in the morning.
Currently, Best Buy's website has been restocking Nvidia’s RTX 3000 graphics cards about every two weeks. However, the cards have been incredibly hard to buy partly due to online scalpers snatching up the products.
The Founders Edition of the RTX 3080 Ti card—which comes from Nvidia itself—is expected to be in high demand despite its $1,199 price tag. That's because third-party vendors such as Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI will likely sell their RTX 3080 Ti models at higher prices, due to rising manufacturing costs and the Trump-era tariffs on Chinese imports.
It's not clear if Best Buy plans on selling other RTX 3080 Ti models online or in stores tomorrow, when the card officially launches. We’ve reached out to the company and will update the story if we hear back.