If you're wondering where to buy an RTX 3080 or even an RTX 3070, chances are good that digital currency mining is the reason. Cash-rich miners are buying up new Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series cards in droves to build elaborate mining rigs. This has exacerbated the global shortage, further dampening the hopes of the average gamer to get one for themselves.

This injustice apparently was not lost on GPU partner manufacturer Zotac, as in a deleted tweet from the Zotac USA account, the company showed a huge rack of Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 30 series White Edition cards built posted a photo of the mining rig for approval.

The tweet, captured in a screenshot by our sister site TechRadar, also included a number of hashtags related to PC gaming, including the arguably problematic "#PCMasterRace." PC gamers are now at a graphics parties who are constantly at a disadvantage due to card shortages, with crypto miners and bot-using resellers buying up cards in large quantities. The tweet is at best a thoughtless marketing attempt and at worst a cynical antagonism.

To be clear, Zotac is under no legal or moral obligation to ensure that its products are in the hands of ordinary PC owners. Most RTX 30 series restocks sell out in seconds, resulting in months of frustration from people who just want to update their PCs and not build profitable rigs that consume more energy than Argentina. whether Zotac USA's tweet is derisive or simply a misjudgment, but it certainly doesn't respect that frustration.

Production of the RTX30 series has been too slow to dramatically improve supply, and some retailers have taken responsibility for more equitable distribution of their limited inventory. Newegg, for example, is experimenting with a lottery system that allows anyone to pick the products they want, offering only the winners a chance to purchase.

Sadly, this appears to be a losing battle; even the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 has fallen victim to price destruction, even though it is not yet available. Some European retailers are selling this GPU for several hundred euros above MSRP.