In a surprising twist, Nvidia’s RTX 30-series Founders Edition graphics cards are no longer available for sale. You can still buy cards made by Nvidia’s partners, but not the official FE versions prepared by Nvidia itself.
While the company’s focus has been solely on the RTX 40 series lately, the RTX 30 cards are still some of the best GPUs. Fortunately, you can still get these cards elsewhere.
The official Nvidia U.S. store doesn’t seem to be selling any Founders Edition cards from the Ampere generation anymore. This includes the RTX 3060, RTX 3070, RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3080, RTX 3080 Ti, and the two flagships: RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti. There are a handful of RTX 30-series cards made by Zotac available for sale through Nvidia’s partnerships with retailers like Newegg or Micro Center, but not a single one of Nvidia’s own GPUs.
Does this lack of GPUs up for sale mean that Nvidia is retiring its last-gen cards? If they didn’t disappear from the store by accident (which has happened in the past), it very well might mean that Nvidia is taking another step in that direction. With the latest generation of cards now out, Nvidia most likely wants to direct sales to its newer, more expensive models.
Of course, if you head directly to retailers, you might still spot these cards for sale. For example, Newegg still has some Founders Edition GPUs up for grabs, but the prices are rather discouraging. Most of these GPUs are sold by third-party retailers and not directly by Newegg, which could also have an impact on the cost. With GPUs like the RTX 3090 priced at $1,900, you’re really better off just buying an RTX 4090 instead — provided you can spot one close to its recommended list price.
While the RTX 3090 is expensive across the board, Founders Edition or not, plenty of RTX 30-series cards are available from Nvidia’s partners at more reasonable prices. You can get an RTX 3070 for $500 on Newegg , which makes it a solid pick against the overpriced RTX 4070 Ti.
