Buying a new graphics card isn’t easy. Chip shortages are expected to last until 2023, bots have scalped more than a few cards, and GPUs in general have been gobbled up by the crypto mining cottage industry. Top GPU manufacturer Nvidia isn’t responsible for the mess, but it is being fined for some dishonesty around it.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the charges. In summary, Nvidia’s GPUs were selling well, but it was due to crypto miners buying the bulk of them — not because of sustainable, increased growth from proper customers. Nvidia allegedly hid this fact from investors, pointing only to the sales numbers and not citing the crypto bubble.
Given that it could burst at any time, it’s not a reliable investment for many stockholders. Some game developers like Square Enix have doubled down on the blockchain, but most are treating the system with caution. Nvidia is not admitting to any wrongdoing around the SEC’s charges, but it is paying a $5.5 million settlement and agreeing to properly disclose this sort of information in the future.
Nvidia’s future does look bright. Its next ray-tracing card is reportedly twice as fast as the 3090. Such performance would require more power, of course, so be prepared for new PSUs in conjunction with the GPU. Meanwhile, the souped-up 3090 Ti is available now, having gotten something of a surprise launch roughly a month ago.
Published: May 6, 2022 01:10 pm