For the past eight months, finding a place to buy an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 or other new graphics card has been a nightmare, even with the lottery system to keep scalers at bay

However, with the help of his father, an 11-year-old boy in Florida found a workaround for the Newegg Shuffle lottery system and was able to get the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 of his dreams The loophole involved using the retailer's custom-made PC service, but before rushing to take advantage, Newegg fixed the flaw

Typically, such lottery systems give GPU buyers the opportunity to purchase the most popular graphics cards while keeping out duffers and bots However, chances of getting a card this way are slim; Newegg's website indicates that if one tries to select a stand-alone Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series graphics card, one must participate in the lottery system

It appears that graphics cards can be purchased bundled with other PC parts, but some may not need them

However, PCMag reported that a Florida kid used Newegg's mobile app PC Builder service to select and add a GeForce RTX 3090 to his cart without having to purchase a bundle or custom PC

Furthermore, at least when PCMag tried it, the app did not place a limit on the number of cards that could be purchased This loophole was closed by Newegg, and the retailer even thanked the kid who found the bug

It's nice to hear about someone who managed to get one of the most powerful GeForce graphics cards without paying duff prices But it also highlights the absurdity of the inventory situation surrounding desirable GPUs We regularly check for restocking of other major Nvidia GPUs, but rarely see them in stock

When the RTX 30 series cards were released last year, they sold out quickly due to high demand and duffers However, the supply chain disruption caused by COVID-19 has resulted in a shortage of semiconductors, which in turn has resulted in a shortage of chips, making it very difficult to get new GPUs in stock or to find restocks of PS5s or Xbox Series Xs

This situation is unlikely to change And we speculate that it may be 2022 before it becomes easier to find places to buy Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, PS5, Xbox Series X, and other highly desirable technologies