Over the last couple of years, the GPU market has deformed into an ugly monstrosity where even the entry-level GPUs are priced as much as flagship offerings. We’ve got the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and the GTX 1650 going for $300-400, while the RTX 3080 is priced close to the $2,000 mark, 3x more than its MSRP of $699. AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 lineup is faring better both in terms of supply and prices. The Radeon RX 6600 family is available in plenty, albeit market prices are still $100-150 higher than the launch MSRP ($329). Regardless, they are easily the most affordable GPUs on the market. What about the rest of the graphics card market though? When will GPU prices return to normal?
Having a look at the US market, flagship offerings are still being sold at ridiculous prices. Furthermore, the inflation varies from brand to brand. NVIDIA’s RTX 30 series graphics cards due to their higher mining performance are being sold for significantly higher prices than their Radeon counterparts.
AMD’s Radeon RX 6900 XT is priced at $1,499, only 50% over its MSRP. Meanwhile, NVIDIA’s RTX 3080 which has a sticker price of $699 is going for over $1,600, roughly 2.5-3x more than its MSRP. In the budget range, AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 and RX 6600 XT are being sold fairly close to the MSRP, and there’s sufficient stock available from various AIBs. On the other hand, NVIDIA’s RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti are retailing over $800 and $1,000, respectively. That’s, once again, more than 2x higher than the MSRP. To make matters worse, the stocks for these SKUs are quite limited.
Looking towards the future, I don’t see the prices of present generation graphics cards (RTX 30 series at least) returning to normal anytime soon. As such, I wouldn’t cling to any false hopes. On the bright side, both NVIDIA and AMD are gearing up to launch their next-gen graphics cards between August and September. That is when the GPU prices should start returning to normal. Seeing how Ethereum prices have been in free-fall and mining difficulty is through the roof, (not to mention the impending shift to Ethereum 2.0), miners shouldn’t have much of an impact on the GPU prices in the future. Unfortunately, there’s a very good chance that both GPU vendors will take advantage of the inflated prices and hike the MSRPs by a notch or two, citing increased raw material costs and/or foundry prices (5nm).
