Radeon RX 6800 XT: Non-Reference Cards (Canada)

[Vancouver Dan]

Hello,

 

On Wednesday I'm going to put my name down for a 6800 XT non-reference card at one of the local stores (Canada Computers or Memory Express) here in Vancouver. I've been following the news and know that I'll likely be waiting for weeks, if not months, before I get my hands on one. 

 

At this point I don't really mind which of the 6800 XT AIB partners I end up with, I just want whichever one is available the earliest. The issue is retailers do not allow backordering this way, I cannot just say "I'll take the first 6800 XT that is available, regardless of the brand". I have to put my name down for a specific one. I'm therefore trying to do a bit of research in terms of which AIB partners will be manufacturing 6800 XT's for distribution in Canada. 

 

I'm not sure if it is worth researching which AIB partners have historically had highest launch or near-launch numbers, and put my name down for one near the top. These are unprecedented times so maybe looking back is a waste of time, but right now I kinda feel like I'm blind and trying to pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey-GPU. 

 

Even retailers do not know which AIB partners will be supplying Canada, and they go on sale in under 2 days. In fact, one of the bigger Vancouver retailers just told me that due to such low expected supply and limited information, even those who line up super early, or camp out overnight, might not even be able to put their name down on the back order list. So doing so might be a complete waste of time (anyone thinking of doing this should call the store tomorrow). 

 

Any comments or thoughts to help my research would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Kind thanks, VD. 

 

 

[GDRRiley]

the highest ones should be XFX, Powercolor and sapphire. they all only make AMD GPUs

[dizmo]

It's kind of hard to say before reviews are out. I'd just hold off and see what those are like.

It should also be noted that Memory Express is not accepting back orders on AMD cards, as they don't know when they're receiving stock.

Rather telling of just how little stock they have available, and that retailers have far less faith in them coming through than they did Nvidia.

 

Considering the short supply of cards from Nvidia (at most 80 per store as per research by Jayz2cents), AMD is far worse (max of 10 per store)...I wouldn't really expect to get one tbh. Better to just wait it out until the new year when supplies stop fluctuating so much.

 

IMO waiting at a store for a day or two makes no sense. Might as well just pay 2x the price from a scalper at that point.

 

9 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

the highest ones should be XFX, Powercolor and sapphire. they all only make AMD GPUs

Eh you can't really blanket statement it like that. XFX and Powercolor have put out some supremely shit cards over the past few years.

 

[PopReference]

Videdcardz has the biggest collection of pictures for the custom cards if you want to consider looks: https://videocardz.net/amd-radeon-rx-6800-xt

Asrock is notable since they only make AMD cards, though I have no know clues as how that will pan out with availability. Both models come with 3 8pins while the rest use 2x8 if that interests you.

 

The biggest thing to be careful of is sticker shock since the custom boards will come with a HUGE price hike. Mooreslawidead on youtube put out the rumour minutes ago and Neweg.ca even raised the prices on reference cards. An early listing for the ASUS strix 6800xt is $1250 CAD.  

[GDRRiley]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

Eh you can't really blanket statement it like that. XFX and Powercolor have put out some supremely shit cards over the past few years.

I'm saying who will have the most GPUs. not who makes a good card