[Blameless]

What if my customer wants an NVIDIA card and I have to tell them I can only get them their 2nd or 3rd choice?

Shelves of competitor parts aren't responsible for lack of NVIDIA stock at Microcenter, or anywhere else. Microcenter refusing to stock AMD or Intel GPUs isn't going to magically conjure more NVIDIA GPUs for them.

If anything, the presence of any alternatives, even grossly overpriced ones, is at least slightly reducing the demand for NVIDIA parts. Every non NVIDIA part sold is one more NVIDIA part those insistant on NVIDIA have a chance to get. If NVIDIA parts are the only parts being displayed at retailers, then you'll see them available even less frequently.

However, if there was a silver lining, it would be that there is more silicon allocation and market share for premium NVIDIA cards.

There is no silver lining to anticompetitive practices, except for the shareholders of the company successfully implementing them.

Silicon allotments are all but set in stone long before cards make it to shelves (and have enormous supply chain delays even when it's possible get more) and more market share, for a brand that already dominates market share, is never going to benefit consumers of those products. It leads to higher prices, longer product cycles, and technological stagnation.

 

[Blameless]

Good explanation as usual. It makes me feel a little better about future availability of RTX cards, though I can only hope NVIDIA can get a good share of allotment next product cycle. Especially if Intel is not fabbing their own GPUs.

Looks like everyone is going TSMC for their higher-end parts for the next gen cards. While TSMC is increasing capacity and they may not all be using exactly the same node/process, I don't think this bodes well for anyone's supply.

Taiwan getting crushed like a grape between China and the US is also a concerning possibility. Five of six of TSMCs current high-end fabs are on Taiwan and the sixth is on the Chinese mainland (and would probably be siezed in the event of open hostilities). They are building a major new one in AZ that should be operational by late 2023, but if TSMC Taiwanese fabs suffer significant interruption in production, they sure aren't going to be prioritizing video card ASICs.

 

[Blameless]

Don't think about that stuff. What happens in the world is out of control. Enjoy what you have atm.

I have what I have--and am able to enjoy it--precisely because I have a degree of awareness of the world around me that allows me to anticipate, prepare for, and better adapt to changes that affect me.

My ability to influence global events may be limited, but I have a great deal of control over how I react to them.

Whatever Nvidia has planned to make Intel's gpu look low end with a crappy cooling solution is not going to work.
They couldn't make that grey dual fan thing look worse.

I'm going to get one and I'm already thinking about stickers.
Even if they made some AIB partner make the cooler look suspiciously like a dldo, I would still get one. Maybe some fire stickers and some glued on toy car wheels would help. Maybe I just wouldn't let anybody see it. I want one because new and entertaining. Others will buy what will play games. Nvidia won't be able to stop them from getting made or from people sharing what they can do. If they are a good bang for the buck they will sell, even if the software is glitchy (which I doubt will happen).

Unless it's obviously trash, I plan on getting the fastest Alchemist part around release. Best way to learn about something and inform future purchases is to try it.

As far as aesthetics go, there will likely be a variety of options from AIBs, but I don't really give a piss about aesthetics...function is what counts.