Graphics cards like the RTX 3080 or the RX 6700 XT are currently very expensive and far above the recommended retail price (RRP). However, it seems that prices are starting to drop a bit. And there are good reasons why you should wait a bit longer before buying a graphics card.
Graphics cards like the RTX 3080 were sold on eBay at crazy prices and other GPUs fared no better.
Now, the online magazine 3DCenter.org has taken a look at the current graphics card prices (via 3DCenter.org). And the magazine has good news for gamers, as the prices for graphics cards are gradually decreasing again.
Which graphics cards have been particularly expensive so far? Especially Nvidia graphics cards cost significantly more than the RRP and were ahead of AMD graphics cards:
- In the worst case, one paid 114% more than the recommended retail price for an AMD graphics card. That’s a bit more than double the price. Currently (as of June 20, 2021), you are paying 59% to 107% more than the RRP.
- For Nvidia, at peak times, one even paid up to 204%, which is more than three times the recommended retail price. Currently (as of June 20, 2021), you are paying 40% to 120% more than the RRP.
- The big exception is currently the RTX 3060 Ti, where the price is still almost three times the RRP.
However, there is now a clear trend for prices, and it shows downward, and prices are expected to continue to fall in the coming weeks. There are several reasons for this.
Cryptocurrency loses value and better availability pushes prices down
Why prices are falling: In recent months, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have gained value significantly. For this reason, many people started “mining”.
The low availability of new graphics cards was particularly exploited by scalpers, who bought up the limited stocks and wanted to resell them at high prices. Official retailers then also began to sell graphics cards at significantly higher prices.
But now both the cryptocurrencies are decreasing in value and the stock levels at retailers are increasing, which will have a long-term effect on prices.
This is how Ethereum is doing now: The cryptocurrency Ethereum has fallen from a value of nearly 4000 euros to under 2000 euros and is still far from the May peak (via deraktionaer.de). This alarmed many people trading in cryptocurrencies. It was announced earlier that Ethereum is to be significantly changed, making graphics cards less interesting.
Many also suspect that Nvidia’s crypto blockade on new graphics cards will probably not play a major role in the falling prices.
Additionally, there is now a decent availability of various graphics cards.
- You can now get AMD’s RX 6700 XT for around 700 euros. The prices were still around 1000 euros at the release.
- You can also get the RTX 3060 from the first retailers for under 700 euros now. However, we at MeinMMO had advised against spending more than 700 euros for an RTX 3060.
- The RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 are now also well available, and prices are only at double the RRP and not triple the price anymore.
If prices continue to fall, this could be good news for gamers looking for a new graphics card. For retailers and scalpers, however, the news is more likely to be a problem, as they have bought expensive stock.