There's more good news for PC gamers as GPU prices continue to drop, with AMD graphics cards dropping faster than Nvidia GPUs.
We reported a few days ago that AMD cards were approaching MSRP (manufacturer's suggested retail price) at some retailers, and now the YouTube channel HardwareUnboxed posted a report on the kind of price drop we're seeing at Newegg, one of the America's largest retailers for computer components.
According to HardwareUnboxed (and we also checked prices), recent AMD graphics cards now average just 5% above MSRP. This would normally be nothing to celebrate, but after years of inflated GPU prices due to global chip shortages and the rise of cryptocurrencies, this is definitely good news.
Select AMD GPUs saw notable price drops between April and May, with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT down 15%, the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT down 14%, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT down 13%.
On average, the price of AMD GPUs fell 8% on NewEgg between April and May. Perhaps most encouragingly, the new top-end AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT launched in May with an MSRP of €1,100 (about $900 / AU$1,600), which is what NewEgg is selling. The new budget AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is also selling for its MSRP of €400 (about $320 / AU$570).
Coupled with price cuts for existing GPUs, this suggests that the era of paying above MSRP for GPUs may finally be over. For AMD graphics cards, at least.
What about Nvidia?
If you prefer to have a GPU from Nvidia, there is also good news, as the prices of the green team's graphics cards have also dropped. However, as HardwareUnboxed reports, the drops for Nvidia cards are less dramatic, with an average drop of 6% from April to May.
The biggest drops on Newegg were for Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 10GB (-15%), Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 12GB (-12%), Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (-12%), and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (-10%) .
While this is certainly an encouraging trend, Nvidia's GPUs still sell for an average of 24% above MSRP, making their graphics card a much worse value proposition than AMD's.
Analysis: What does this mean for PC gamers?
This is encouraging news for PC gamers who have had to endure a real GPU nightmare for the last few years. What little stock there was had been sold at such an inflated price that many people simply couldn't upgrade their gaming PCs, or buy or build a new one.
So these price drops show that things are finally leveling off. Chip production is on the rise again and cryptocurrencies are crashing. While this is bad news for miners and cryptocurrency investors, it means that at least miners are not buying GPU stock.
We might even start to see a price war again as AMD and Nvidia battle it out for customers. AMD is certainly winning that at the moment, with many Nvidia cards still well above MSRP.
What's more encouraging is that new GPUs like the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti are selling at MSRP, which bodes well for the future, especially as Nvidia and AMD are expected to release a new generation of GPU later. year.
However, it is worth noting that according to the report, two GPUs increased in price between April and May: AMD Radeon RX 6600 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050. Both GPUs are cheaper mid-range GPUs, suggesting that there is a strong demand for affordable GPUs, and this is where we could see the next GPU price war play out.
Via VideoCardz