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RTX 30-series restocks have been few and far between throughout the majority of 2021; indeed, some of the best graphics cards at large have become more difficult than ever to get your hands on. However, as we draw ever closer to the Black Friday graphics card deals, things are looking a little brighter as this year comes to a close.
This is because we've seen RTX 30-series restocks happening more frequently in the last couple of months than any other time of the year in both the USA and UK. If you've been wanting to know where to buy RTX 3070 stock or RTX 3080 stock (as well as RTX 3060 stock) for their respective MSRP, then it's looking as though the Winter sales events could be your best bet.
Now, we should preface by saying that RTX 30-series restocks are far from guaranteed, as nothing has been confirmed yet. However, if they were to appear in a wider capacity this month, then it would be over the Holiday sales as this lines up with patterns we've seen from certain retailers in recent memory.
Not willing to roll the dice? Our best advice is to switch gears from individual components to the whole computer and take the prebuilt route instead, which removes a lot of uncertainty, meaning you can have one of the best gaming PCs for less in the upcoming Black Friday gaming PC deals instead.
Will there be RTX 30-series restocks on Black Friday?
Best Buy has been the gold standard of RTX 30-series restocks throughout the majority of the year, with the big-box store most prominently holding a massive multi-state restock event at participating locations on October 1. Since then, we've seen sporadic RTX 30-series stock drops happening at least once or twice a month (though sometimes more in rare instances). Most recently, there was RTX 3080 Ti stock (in the form of partner cards) selling in-store at various locations just last week.
As a general rule, Best Buy either restocks at the beginning or end of the month with little to no activity happening in between. Given that Black Friday is taking place on November 26, which is not only the final Friday of the month but also, arguably, the biggest retail event of the year, RTX 30-series stock would probably appear on this day if it was to happen at all.
How to check for RTX 30 series stock at Best Buy
First uncovered by the Twitter user @GPUrestock, who originally broke the news about the October 1 RTX 30 series Best Buy restock event, there has been a way to check for inventory at certain in-store locations by utilizing the website's advanced search functionality.
Below you'll find a screen capture showing how to cycle through stock in the app, though it can also be done directly on the website. This method has led to some users, especially in the past couple of days, being able to get their hands on RTX GPUs without having to queue for hours on end. The Twitter account itself posted on November 9 how it 'still worked' with photo evidence, so it's worth a try at the very least.
Open app. Search keyword. Change in stock switch(top left) change location. Availability. Toggle on. Toggle off. (If the number of items goes up this typically means there’s one/some in stock). Now you have a gpu showing “out of stock” with the IN STOCK filter on. Go and get it. pic.twitter.com/SaCUamn5MWOctober 27, 2021
Other RTX 30 series restock retailers on Black Friday
Will there be RTX 30-series deals on Black Friday?
That's a much easier question to answer - almost definitely not. Given that the GPU market has continued to spike to inflated figures over the past 14 months, and RTX 30-series stock has continued to be elusive as ever, the best that we can expect on Black Friday is just for the graphics cards to be available in the first place.
Based on everything that we saw last year, it's far more likely that any deals that are available on the day are going to revolve around the entry-level GTX 1600 series, which is a far cry from the enthusiast-level which even the most basic RTX card can offer performance-wise.
Is it worth waiting for Black Friday in the first place?
If you can find an RTX 30-series graphics card before Black Friday for its MSRP then we recommend you buy it there and then. This sales period so far hasn't guaranteed anything from major retailers and you're very unlikely to find any discounts should the video cards be in fresh supply.
Take the portable route to PC gaming greatness for less with the Black Friday gaming laptop deals at the end of the month, and upgrade or increase your display setup in the Black Friday gaming monitor deals.
