FEBRUARY 2021 PCWorld 101LC going for a staggering $1,080 at Newegg
(go.pcworld.com/10nw), compared to a
$900 launch price. The Asus TUF Radeon RX
6800 XT launched at $810, but now lists for
$970 at Newegg (go.pcworld.com/97nw).
Those increases aren’t upcharges by
Newegg, either. Videocardz (go.pcworld.
com/vcrz) found a wide swath of GeForce
RTX 30-series graphics cards now listed at
much higher prices on Asus’s own website.
The Asus ROG Strix RTX 3080 launched at
$850, for example (and is still showing at that
price on Best Buy’s website [go.pcworld.
com/bbwb]), but is now listed at $930
on Asus’s website (go.pcworld.com/
aswb), as well as B&H Photo (go.
pcworld.com/bhwb) and Newegg (go.
pcworld.com/nwwb). Other GPUs see
similar markups. The Asus TUF RTX 3060 Ti
we reviewed (go.pcworld.com/60rv)—and
loved—at $460 now costs $530 at Newegg
(go.pcworld.com/53nw), making it more
expensive than the step-up $500 GeForce
RTX 3070 Founders Edition (go.pcworld.
com/7fnd).
The pricing comparison between the TUF
RTX 3060 Ti and Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Founders
Edition may wind up being academic. Asus is
one of the largest manufacturers of PC
components, with fingers in practically every
DIY pie. If it’s increasing prices due to
international shipping logistics and tariff
issues, don’t be surprised to see the same
from other vendors soon. We’ve heard from
numerous sources at hardware vendors and
system integrators about the sky-high cost of
doing business right now. If you thought
2020 was tough, 2021 looks even bleaker for
PC gamers itching to upgrade their rigs for
Cyberpunk 2077 (go.pcworld.com/cp77).
Fingers crossed this insanity settles down
sooner rather than later.Asus
says
motherboards
will see price
increases in 2021
as well.