The price of Nvidia's RTX 3000 GPU is falling faster than ever, going through a snapshot of retail prices in China, which is probably a good indication of things to come elsewhere in the short term.
The prices of all current generation graphics cards, AMD and Nvidia, are rapidly falling according to the report reported by Wccftech (opens in a new tab) and comes from Baidu Tieba (opens in a new tab) (a community on line in China), so approach this with a good deal of caution, as with any such post.
What we're seeing here is Chinese retailers slashing high-end Nvidia GPUs with much deeper cuts, with the RTX 3090 Ti, 3090 and 3080 Ti now well below their MSRPs at 38% , 29% and 33% respectively.
The RTX 3080 (10GB version) is now 16% below its MSRP, and the RTX 3070 Ti and 3070 are 15% and 13% below their MSRP at these Chinese retailers. Price drops continue on lower tier cards surprisingly with the RTX 3060 dropping 12% and RTX 3050 dropping 10% below MSRP, with the RTX 3060 Ti being more bullish but still dropping 4% below .
AMD's RX 6000 lineup also has a graphics card that is now well below MSRP and that is the RX 6900 XT which is now 37% below. Interestingly, Team Red's other big price drop is at the other end of the scale, the humble RX 6400, which is 31% below MSRP, a reflection of the shaky reception this dodgy launched GPU received more than anything else. .
Other big price cuts for AMD at Chinese retailers include the RX 6600 and 6600 XT at 28% and 26% respectively, and the 6500 XT which is 21% below MSRP. The 6650 XT is about the same as the latter at 20% below, as is the 6750 XT at 19% below its recommended price.
The graphics card that comes closest to MSRP in AMD's lineup is the flagship RX 6950 XT which is only 6% below, but of course that GPU hasn't been released for a long time (it's only been released 'in mayo).
Analysis: Some surprising similarities and an obvious difference
Generally speaking, what we see here is consistent with what has been seen recently in the US retail GPU market in many respects, with Nvidia's high-end graphics cards experiencing the greatest levels of price erosion, and on the AMD front, the RX 6800 and 6800 XT are more stubborn in terms of maintaining higher retail prices. In the US, these are the only AMD GPUs to stay above MSRP, and saw a smaller drop in China (13% and 15% below MSRP), making them the most robust products to current price drops (except the flagship AMD 6950 XT as mentioned).
So this data is in line with the US market, which gives it more credence, but what's really interesting is the surprising difference with this new price report: namely, that Nvidia's prices are below below the MSRP in China.
In the US, the RTX 3090 Ti and 3090, as well as the 3080 Ti, fell below MSRP, but other Nvidia Ampere GPUs refused to do so, and in fact remained about 15% above their MSRP. recommended price (and more than 30% with the RTX 3050).
So seeing every Nvidia RTX 3000 model drop below MSRP in China is a pretty telling indication that the same thing could be happening in the US very soon. Especially since all we've heard lately is that retailers are going to be dealing with a huge overstock for Ampere, and that could be a serious problem for Nvidia by introducing the RTX 4000 graphics cards too early, as it will interfere with getting get rid of those apparent warehouses full of RTX 3000 GPUs.
A host of unfortunate pressures have contributed to this situation for Nvidia, including the collapse of cryptocurrencies and miners selling used cards interfering with retail sales, and the general economic climate and cost of living crisis, meaning that people are much less likely to pay for GPUs that exceed the MSRP, and with good reason.
The price of graphics cards should never have gotten so out of control anyway, and that was, of course, a supply issue that couldn't keep up with demand, a situation that now seems about to reverse with graphics. from Nvidia. maps
Our recommendation remains that you should continue to play a waiting game if you're considering buying a current-gen GPU, and especially an Nvidia card (which are still by far the most popular models). If price-cutting action in China is anything to go by, and we strongly suspect it is, given the rest of the rumors about RTX 3000 overstock being a serious issue for Nvidia, then actual price drops for Ampere graphics cards are yet to come in the US, Europe and elsewhere.
There's certainly little to lose in the meantime, as prices aren't going to go up, that's for sure, and stock levels aren't apparently going to run out anytime soon either (for Nvidia, anyway).
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