The GeForce RTX 3080, Nvidia’s cutting edge graphics card aimed at hardcore PC gamers, finally went on sale on Thursday. Just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.

Disappointed fans took to Twitter en masse with reports of missing out on the expensive new component, which sold out almost everywhere online almost immediately. The Verge reported that major tech vendors like Amazon, Newegg, Best Buy, and even Nvidia itself were out of stock before noon.

The 3080 is the mid-level GPU being released as part of Nvidia's new “30 Series,” graphics cards capable of outpacing the likes of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, and easily able to smoothly render games in 4K. The 3080 launched on Thursday for $699. Nvidia will launch the highest-end card, the RTX 3090, on Sept. 24 for $1,499, followed by the low-end 3070 on Oct. 15 for $499.

The mid-tier option on the market now is considered by most PC gamers to be the best value of all three offerings.

Reports also began to circulate on Twitter about stores receiving woefully limited stock. One user had to camp outside a Micro Center store for two days because the store was only getting 11 cards in stock. Another user reported a line of 30-40 eager customers at a store that only offered 10.

Nvidia has claimed that the cards are currently in mass production with good output so far. Newegg has also stated that the issue might be due to it not selling all of its available stock on day one.

Nvidia
Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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