If you had hopes of getting a shiny new RDNA 2 graphics card from AMD this upcoming Black Friday, you’ll likely be very disappointed. Even though AMD’s launch for third-party custom Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards officially occurred today, every single tech store has sold out its entire stock in both aftermarket and reference flavors. That isn’t surprising, as some retailers didn’t even have stock to begin with.
Both graphics card manufacturers and some stores have gone to Twitter to share the problems with the RX 6000 series volume. Simply put, just like the Ampere shortages, AMD and its partners are unable to manufacturer enough graphics cards to meet demand.
Most of the recent product launches have been plagued by bots, but that doesn’t seem to be the cause of the shortage this time around. In fact, Microcenter says it had zero cards for the launch today.
So what should you do as a gamer? Right now is perhaps one of the worst times to build a system, so if you’re a DIYer we would highly recommend you wait until next year to build a new workstation/gaming machine when stock goes back to normal and prices are not over-inflated.
But, if you’re a gamer and desperate to grab anything to get your game on, check out our Black Friday deal guides here, which can help you get together a gaming machine. If you don’t mind going with entry-level graphics like an RX 5500 XT, those are still a solid option for a “gaming-capable PC.”
It really is a terrible time to build a gaming computer, especially if you were considering purchasing an RX 6800 or RX 6800 XT. If you really need something to game on now, be prepared to make some sacrifices.