Graphics card prices fell again, albeit by a more modest amount at retail price tags, with the largest declines still seen in the used market.
This includes the latest numbers from Tom's Hardware(opens in a new tab), our sister site that regularly monitors retail prices, and eBay.
The price of GPUs of the current generation (Nvidia RTX 3000 and AMD RX 6000) with details on the increase of 3% at the time of July, with those who need to be beaucoup, but also because they tend to be well established. in this state. ; a slow but steady erosion of price tags that have been well above recommended levels (MSRP) in the past.
There are a number of graphics cards that are now below MSRP, and while most of them are AMD GPUs, there are also a few from Nvidia, notably the RTX 3090 Ti, which is 17% lower than its MSRP as measured from Tom's Hardware. The RTX 3080 Ti is also 10% cheaper and the RTX 3090 is 3% below MSRP, so it's the higher-end models that go down that way.
Other Nvidia GPUs are still around 15% above MSRP, and in the case of the RTX 3050, 31% more.
By contrast, the vast majority of current-gen AMD graphics cards are now under MSRP, and some for a good chunk, like the RX 6900 XT at 15% less, or the RX 6600 at 17% less.
In fact, only AMD's Radeon RX 6800 and 6800 XT stay above MSRP, and not much at 3% and 6% more, respectively.
Much larger drops were seen for GPUs sold on eBay, which fell 14% on average since June 1. Used models from generations prior to the current RTX 3000 and RX 6000 cards have dropped even further, in fact, by an average of 17%.
Tom's notes that the overall GPU price drop since the start of 2022 is 57% on average, which shows how much prices have fallen in the first half of this year.
Review: Avoid the GPU minefield and play a waiting game
At this point, we should repeat our warnings about used GPUs being sold on auction sites. While these steep price drops can make used graphics cards very tempting, particularly higher-end models, keep in mind that a good portion of these used cards currently flooding eBay will be former miners who are ditching their hardware. after the recent collapse of cryptocurrencies.
The problem with these GPUs is that they will likely have been running erratically 24/7 for a considerable period of time, which doesn't bode well for their prospects in terms of long-term longevity. . It's the equivalent of buying a used car with a bunch of miles on the clock (that's been driven hard): the probability of something going wrong is uncomfortably high.
Remember that miners know that their used GPUs are not an attractive proposition for these reasons, so they may claim that the graphics card being sold was used in a regular PC to sway buyers (or even outright lie and pretend that the GPU is actually new, unused). Beware of anything that seems too good or too expensive to be true...
In fact, due to the elimination of this mining stock, buying a used GPU is pretty much a (literal) minefield right now, and we suggest avoiding the market altogether, at least for the moment.
The best thing for us is to wait now and see the new graphics cards in the store, hoping that the pressures of the next generation GPU launches will come closer and lower the prices even more.
If the rumor is true, we could see sharp drops in retail prices from Nvidia, which, as noted above, has resisted the downward price move more stubbornly than AMD (mainly due to demand for RTX graphics cards). 3000). However, it is said that this situation will not continue, since Team Green is supposed to have a "huge" reserve of current generation GPUs to throw away before the release of RTX 4000 cards, which is coming soon (maybe in just a few few moths).
So much so that the theory is that Nvidia wants to cut production orders for next-gen graphics cards and delay shipments a bit, and given that we can expect deeper price cuts to be forced as retailers look to liquidate said inventory accumulation. -above the RTX 3000 models- while potential buyers are becoming more cautious and willing to wait for the RTX 4000 GPUs, knowing that they are getting closer.
That's why the smart money, for us anyway, is particularly waiting for Nvidia's prices to drop even further, and that's even before we take into account the additional disruptor to the GPU market from Intel that it finally launches. your Arc Alchemist desktop graphics cards.
While the hype around Arc GPUs has been concerning of late, with question marks surrounding performance (and drivers in particular), Intel could decide to attack on the price front and has the potential to provide some powerful competition. , especially at the lower end. thus providing another source of pressure for further GPU price cuts from AMD and Nvidia in response.