This was something else that didn't make sense to me. Most recently, I read that NVIDIA was trying to flip the script on all the bad press and consumer ire directed at them over the 4000 series release with these Super cards, but I don't know how the 4080 Super priced at $1299, which is $100 more than the 4080, while barely an improvement, would make even a dent towards that goal. That's because the rumored price was wrong. So, unexpectedly, we have great news.
The 4070 Ti Super won't be $899, as previously rumored, but will supercede the 4070 Ti at the same $799 price point (the 4070 Ti is being phased out of production altogether). The 4070 Super won't be $699 as previously rumored, but is supplanting the 4070 at its original $599. NVIDIA will keep the 4070, just downrevise its price to $549.
All the rumored prices were wrong.
This, finally, makes sense of what I was writing before about the Super cards not making sense. Of course they didn't make sense. They're not broadening the portfolio of inventory. They're offering a mea culpa. Releasing a superior card for $200 cheaper doesn't create a new price point. It's renders the RTX 4080 obsolete at its MSRP, entirely. These Super cards are going to downshift the entire NVIDIA lineup's real market pricing. These Super cards are effectively replacing their predecessors. That's new. That's not what NVIDIA did with Super releases in the past.
I think a ton of gamers held off and planned to upgrade with the RTX 3000 series, but the cryptosurge threw a wrench in that. 2020 & 2021 were fucked. Don't forget that. When would you have been able to purchase a 3080 Ti at a reasonable price? The 3080 Ti was released June 2021, but PCPP shows in its price history the average price didn't drop below its $1199 MSRP until
July of 2022. Affirming this is that the EVGA FTW3, the most sold variant on Amazon, finally matched its MSRP the month before in June. Yet the RTX 4080 released a few months later in November, and the 4070 Ti followed in January 2023. I don't think you should be beating yourself up.