According to a report, what was supposed to be Nvidia’s most “value-oriented” RTX 30-series GPU to date has succumbed to severe price gouging before launch. Like all new Ampere and RDNA2 products, it appears the RTX 3060 will be nearly impossible to purchase near MSRP.

News outlet Corteks has revealed sticker prices for RTX 3060 AIB partner models at select (but unknown) retail stores. On average, pricing for each RTX 3060 model is inflated by a whopping 50%.

With the current silicon and other computer-related shortages, it’s very doubtful that this situation will change anytime soon. Even with Nvidia planning to handicap the mining performance of the 3060, that’s only a weak measure to help ensure RTX 3060s will go to their intended customer base.

If you are in the market for the RTX 3060, you’ll have to think outside the box if you want your wallet to be unscathed, whether that be going to a brick-and-mortar store every day to check one out or going to an AIB partner like EVGA and waiting for months before a card is supplied to you. Either way, you’ll have to sacrifice somewhere to get your card at a good price.