At a Los Angeles Best Buy, dozens of people slept outside the big box store in the hopes of snagging Nvidia’s latest PC graphics card. But many more came away disappointed.
Best Buy in West Los Angeles on Thursday morning. (Image: Michael Kan) How far will you go to buy a new PC graphics card? Edward Arciga was desperate enough to camp outside the Best Buy in West Los Angeles to try and secure one. “You gotta make that sacrifice,” he said after spending a cold night outside the store’s entrance, trying to sleep in a foldable chair. Arciga wasn’t alone. Dozens of other people also camped through the night at the same Best Buy in the hopes of snagging Nvidia’s RTX 3080 Ti on launch day. First in line at the Best Buy. (Image: Michael Kan) It sounds ridiculous, but the GPU shortage is so bad that PC users like Arciga say it’s the only way to buy a new GPU. Unlike previous graphics card launches, which focused on online sales, Best Buy decided to exclusively sell the Founders Edition for Nvidia’s latest GPU in stores only. So when Arciga heard the news, he immediately pounced. This time, he wouldn’t need to contend with online scalpers snatching up all the goods; he would stake out a spot in-person. “Everything is going online. It makes it harder for people to get a graphics card,” said Arciga, who’s spent months trying to buy a new graphics card. “So when the sale is in-person, it’s like your only real chance to get one.“ He drove over an hour to get to the West LA Best Buy store, and began his wait at 9:22 a.m. on Wednesday morning—nearly 24 hours before sales began.
