NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition sold for US$2,999.99... but this is a "good" price

Back in late September 2020, when NVIDIA released the GeForce RTX 3090, many considered the US$1,499 card to be quite expensive. Now, grabbing it for US$2,500 can be considered a great deal. Unfortunately, those who just want to get a top-of-the-line video card to enjoy some games have to pay for the entire crypto-induced price madness, as custom versions of the RTX 3090 often go beyond the US$4,000 barrier.

As you can see in the screenshot that I posted for posterity at the end of this article, a brand-new, sealed NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition was sold yesterday on eBay for the asking price of US$2,999.99. However, what managed to draw my attention where two of the sponsored items:

• GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 GDDR6X 24GB GV-N3090AORUS M-24GD, US$6,867.57 Buy It Now price
• GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 GDDR6X 24GB GV-N3090GAMING OC-24GD, US$4,153.16
• Buy It Now price (2 available)

Obviously, one can only think that these outrageous price tags can be somehow explained by the fact that we are talking about unused, sealed video cards, as well as the sponsored listing status. These being said, I decided to simply browse for used and new RTX 3090 video cards that are up for auction. Here are the most interesting findings:

• MSI GeForce RTX 3090 SUPRIM X, located in France, NIB, current bid at roughly US$3,010 with 4 days left 
• ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix OC, located in the US, NIB, latest bid is US$3,300.00 and there are 9 hours left
• ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix OC (White edition), located in the US, NIB, currently at US$3,550 with more than 2 days left until the end of the auction

The examples above should be enough to help you get a better idea about the pricing war currently affecting the market. Even previous-generation video cards are now insanely priced, with many pre-owned NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super video cards going above US$700.

Will the madness ever end? As NVIDIA is trying to limit the mining capabilities of the new video cards (lower-end models as well), the prices of older ones can only go up. As long as the value of cryptocurrency continues to rise, it is safe to assume that pure gamers looking for a high-end card will continue to have a hard time. If you think otherwise, feel free to drop a few lines in the comments section.

Buy the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra Hybrid Gaming on Amazon