Credit: Adam Patrick Murray/IDG
These days, flagship PC hardware tends to sell out mere hours after launching. We saw it with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. We saw it with Intel’s Core i9-9900K. We saw it with AMD’s Ryzen 7 3900X. Why do the biggest companies in computing struggle to keep their most powerful parts in stock?
Empty-handed enthusiasts often complain that it’s a manufactured PR ploy, but the truth is more nuanced, as PCWorld CPU guru Gordon Mah Ung explains in the video below. Making badass, bleeding-edge hardware is complicated!
And with high-end hardware going out of stock so regularly these days, it begs the question: Should you go against our usual advice to Never Preorder to claim a spot in line before hot new gear hits the street? Adam and Gordon spend some time pondering the thought.
We’re trying out a new format here, responding to common questions we receive on our Full Nerd podcast. If you like it let us know!
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