It's been a few weeks since Nvidia introduced its first DirectX 11 cards, but it's simply not managing to ship significant volumes and the few cards that are actually in stock are selling at obscenely high prices.

Retailers have apparently gone into Tony Montana mode, as they are selling the handful of available cards with margins that are more suited to the drug trade than the tech industry. Although the GTX 480 is listed at prices as low as €470, retailers who have the cards in stock are demanding much, much more. Most of them are selling the cards for about €550 and Amazon is the greediest of the lot, as it's shamelessly listing Palit cards for €705, nearly twice the MSRP.

The situation isn't somewhat better with the GTX 470, but it's far from rosy. Although they are as hard to get as the GTX 480, retailers haven't gone completely ape with the pricing. Instead of €330 to €350, most retailers who carry GTX 470 cards are selling them for €380, although a few are still asking for €400+.

Availability should improve over the next couple of weeks, so it's probably best to wait a few more days if you're in the market for a Fermi card, or you can just get a Radeon and get it over with.