How in the world did these AMD RX 6600 XT GPUs sell at or under MSRP?

Every PC graphics card we’ve reviewed in months has come with a disclaimer — if you can find one at all, you won’t be able to buy it for anywhere near its MSRP. And yet somehow, we’ve stepped into a bizzaro world where a few retailers listed the brand-new AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT for at or under its $379 suggested retail price, as PC Gamer notes today.

Stock appears to have run out of the US cards while I was writing this post, but the UK cards still seem to be in stock, including a Sapphire RX 6600 XT Pulse for £374.99 at Overclockers and an XFX RX 6600 XT QICK 308 for £359.99 at eBuyer.

The US cards included a PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Fighter for $379.99, and a Gigabyte RX 6600 XT Eagle with triple fan for $379.99 as well, both at Micro Center, where you’d have needed to visit a store in person to pick one up, and they’re now listed as “limited availability.” Micro Center apparently still has three of PowerColor’s Hellhound card for $439.99, however.

GPU prices are no longer as ridiculously bad as they used to be — following China’s cryptocurrency crackdown, a flood of cards returned to the secondhand market that miners no longer needed, and GPUs no longer necessarily fetch triple their MSRP on eBay due to that and other factors. But the global chip shortage isn’t over, either, and it’s surprising to see any retailers or OEMs leave any amount of cash on the table during a period where GPUs continue to sell for far north of their asking price. We’re asking AMD if it did anything to stimulate the market, and we’ll let you know what we hear.

As you’ll read in our Radeon RX 6600 XT review, it’s not like it’s a particularly desirable card compared to other recent powerhouses. But for $379, it’s still a steal in this market.