While there have been whispers about it for some time, it was only a couple of weeks ago that AMD announced it would be releasing a new budget graphics cards, the RX 6500 XT, which would be a welcome relief for those who are not in the market for a high-end product. With it now being released, the GPU is being compared to Nvidia's RTX 3050, which is also touted as an entry-level product. However, the inevitable seems to have happened, as the technological recession continues to bite deep and gamers struggle to procure hardware.
In a recent report from Tom's Hardware, a number of websites are showing that the new budget AMD card is already out of stock, and some retailers that do have some in, are pricing them at around twice as much as the MSRP, if not more. At the time of writing, sites like Newegg.com are showing that the 6500 XT is currently out of stock due to "high demand," while the likes of eBay list the card at anywhere from $286 to almost $690. Even places like Amazon and the UK-based site Scan are showing very limited to no stock.
Given that the RX 6500 XT is supposed to be $200, it shows just how much of a markup is being added to modern graphics cards during these uncertain times. It seems that, once again, PC users are metaphorically leaving online stores empty-handed, or are having to pay well above the odds just to get one. It does seem like a shame, especially given the budget price. However, it's entirely possible that the low cost of a new graphics card, even if it's not of particularly high specs, is what's caused sites to run out of them almost immediately.
It shows that demand is still sky-high as the deficit continues to rage on. With the chip shortages expected to go on until 2023, especially amidst the new Omicron variant, things like this all almost certainly going to keep happening. Let's hope that "team red," and suppliers of its products, will be able to meet supply with demand soon.
On top of that, AMD also has to deal with the fact that Nvidia is getting ready to launch its RTX 3050, with "team green" already promising more supplies upon launch. Whether this comes to fruition is anyone's guess, but there's no denying that the market is not in the best of shape, and hasn't been for a while, so it's entirely possible that Nvidia will have just as much trouble as its rival.
Source: Tom's Hardware
