Booming interest in crypto-currencies has been blamed for pushing up the prices of graphics cards. The cards are popular because they speed up the process of minting or "mining" crypto-coins. Keen miners are buying graphics cards in large quantities and running them in parallel to boost their coin-producing efforts.
Their actions have led some makers and sellers of graphics cards to limit how many people can buy at any time.
Writing on PC Gamer, Jarred Walton said: "Right now is the worst time in the history of graphics cards to buy or upgrade this all-important gaming component."
Many websites that cover the PC and computer component industry are reporting that top-end video cards are selling for far more than the price seen on a manufacturer’s site.
For instance, Nvidia’s GTX 1080 Ti is priced at £679 on the firm’s store but the same card costs more than £900 on almost every well-known electronic retailer’s site – though on one, the price is closer to £2,000. It is being offered for similar prices by smaller stores and auction sites.
Surging demand has also meant that many stores have sold out of the best-performing cards.
In response to the high demand, Nvidia has asked firms that sell its hardware to try to vet buyers so cards end up in the hands of gamers rather than crypto-coin enthusiasts, German tech news Codebase.de has reported.
"For Nvidia, gamers come first," said a statement given to the news site.
As well as issuing these instructions Nvidia has put a limit on the number of video cards people can buy from its store.