[mcv]

I honestly don't quite understand why this is how the GPU business works: NVidia or AMD makes a new chip, makes a card around it, presents and sells only a few of them, and then tons of other manufacturers get the chip and they make their own cards with it, ad all of them are very similar. Why does NVidia not cut out the middle man and sell more cards directly to consumers?

[zamadatix]

Catering to RMAs, tons of distribution, and color schemes for the consumer segment isn't where Nvidia wants to spend its time. Let the AIBs compete with each other to do that kind of stuff best for peanuts in comparison to Nvidia focusing on making chips and software.

[scrlk]

They probably don't want to deal with the hassle of expanding their B2C support teams.

Having varied AIB cards is a good thing for consumers. Traditionally AIB manufacturers competed on having better coolers and power delivery vs. the AMD/Nvidia reference designs.