Update: Best Buy has confirmed the Nvidia RTX 30-series GPU restock is happening today, Friday October 1, 2021. That's in-store only, and as far as we know there's no stock headed to the retailer's online store.
Before you head to your closest store, though, you'll want to check this official webpage to see if they will have any available stock. If they do, you'll want to go grab a place in line by 7:30am local time, which is when staff will allocate tickets to those waiting. These tickets are transferrable for one graphics card when the store opens at 8am local time.
There's a limit of one graphics card per customer, and once the tickets are allocated out that's all the available stock accounted for.
- Where to buy the Nvidia RTX 5080: the high-end GPU just launched and stocks are already running low, so here's every RTX 5080 retailer listing I've found so far
- Nvidia's Verified Priority Access draw system returns to offer the chance to pay full price for RTX 5090 or RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics cards
Original story: If looking for an Nvidia RTX 30-series graphics card, and live in the US, Best Buy could be your best bet for a GPU restock this week. Rumours suggest the retail giant will release more Founders Edition GPUs before the weekend, but you'll likely have to travel by car, plane, or rail to get to your closest store in order to pick one up.
Best Buy has not confirmed the stock drop yet, but rumours are swirling about the potential drop. Largely these come from Twitter account @GPURestock, who accurately foretold of the last major Best Buy GPU restock.
Best Buy In-Store Leaks Recap- People close to store managers saying the tickets will be given out on Friday- Using the Best Buy App you can check if the locations near you have already received their stockSearch for RTX > Tap on Show In Stock in the top left corner pic.twitter.com/8Innq9XsucSeptember 27, 2021
They say people close to store managers are saying the next GPU restock will happen Friday, October 1. On that day, employees will hand out tickets, one per GPU in-store, to those waiting in line, as Best Buy has done for previous GPU drops.
They also report that you can actually discover whether your local Best Buy will have stock available, and of what cards, by checking the Best Buy app.
How to buy a graphics card: tips on buying a graphics card in the barren silicon landscape that is 2021
There's no way to know if this is a database error or something similar, but if you search for RTX and then tap on the slider that limits results to those in stock at your nearest store, you might find some RTX 30-series Founders Edition are listed. These cards aren't available for pick up and are reportedly 'sold out'—good start, I know—but in theory the fact they even show up could mean that store has received a delivery of these cards and is nearly ready to hand them out to lucky punters.
It feels a little like the ancient art of divination, but there's perhaps some logic in the madness.
In lieu of confirmation, though, be ready to get over to a Best Buy in time for the stock drop just in case it does occur. Best Buy has previously put up a stock checker and announcement page regarding any upcoming in-store drops, as it did last time, so in theory we'll receive confirmation about the drop ahead of time.
