TRADE CHAT Affordable graphics cards here at last?
IGNORE THE CATASTROPHISTS, graphics card pricing is finally returning to normal, or rather a new “normal” thanks to MSRPs that are higher than ever before. But however you slice it, graphics cards are now cheaper than they were a few months ago.
Actually, GPUs will probably be cheaper still by the time you read these words. Reports of graphics card prices falling off a cliff are coming in from across the globe. In Australia, the Asus GeForce RTX 3080 TUF Gaming OC plummeted from AU$2,299 to AU$1,499 overnight, an incredible drop of 35 percent from one day to the next.
That’s still around 50 percent above the AU$999 MSRP for a reference Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, but it’s a huge step in the right direction. Similarly, in Europe, RTX 3090s have dipped below 2,000 for the first time since March 2021. Back in the US, RTX 3080 pricing now starts a little over $1,000.
Likewise, that’s well above the 3080’s rather notional $699 MSRP, which now seems like an incredible deal. But around April and May last year when GPU values peaked, the average price of an RTX 3080 was around $2,200, if you could find any availability. Instant gratification on eBay at the time? You were looking at a painful $2,500.
The same downward trend applies to AMD GPUs, even if many of them remain poor value. The vanilla Radeon RX 6800, for instance, is down to under $1,000 having peaked at $1,500. Then again, the 6700 XT can now be had for about $600, which isn’t much more than that GPU’s $480 MSRP. As for RX 6900 XTs at $1,299, they don’t look all that bad next to the $999 MSRP, either.
There’s every reason to expect prices to keep falling. AMD and Nvidia are producing more GPUs than ever. Right now, availability of all current AMD and Nvidia GPUs is good, which is a key factor in driving prices down. Meanwhile, the most GPU-relevant cryptocoin, Ethereum, remains miles below its $3,600 peak back in November. In other words, mining crypto isn’t as profitable as it was, so crypto-based demand for GPUs has nosedived fairly dramatically.
What’s more, Intel is just about to flood the market with four million gaming graphics cards. It’s yet to be seen how good Intel Arc graphics will be. But a very plausible rumor doing the rounds suggests Intel is willing to sell them off below cost in order to acquire some early market share. If that’s true, this summer could be a bit of a bloodbath for GPU pricing, especially in the low to mid-range. It’s unlikely that Intel Arc will be fast enough to compete with cards like the RTX 3080, RX 6800, and above, though.
The kicker later this year will be new GPU families from AMD and Nvidia. RDNA 3 and Lovelace, respectively, are expected to deliver a major step-change in performance. It’s likely, therefore, these new chips will push prices of existing GPUs even lower. Some real bargains could be on the cards for the latter half of 2022.
Without wanting to sound tone-deaf in the face of a major humanitarian crisis, the current geopolitical situation is a worry for the semiconductor industry. Just as the chip shortage is easing, there’s a risk that supplies of neon gas, which is critical for the silicon lithography process used to manufacture computer chips—a large proportion of which comes from Ukraine—could dry up.
The chip industry has reportedly stockpiled for this contingency, so there’s limited immediate risk to production. But even if supplies of neon do get dicey, the point remains. GPU pricing was always going to normalize. There was no way $1,000 was going to become the new normal for a mid-range gaming graphics card. Not when a games console costs half that.
All of which begs the question of whether you should buy now or hold out a little longer? That’s a tough call. On balance, it’s likely that prices will continue to fall. And those upcoming GPUs could be stellar. But if you’ve already been waiting 18 months, I wouldn’t blame you for pulling the trigger sooner rather than later.
All of this begs the question of whether you should buy now or hold out a little longer?
Six raw 4K panels for breakfast, laced with extract of x86... Jeremy Laird eats and breathes PC technology.