Monday, August 30th 2021
GPU Market Pricing Back in Uptrend, Shattering Expectations of Price Normalization
According to the latest market pricing analysis conducted by 3DCenter, the falling GPU prices we reported two months ago are now in the midst of a reversal. The latest figures show an increase in average pricing for both AMD's RX 6000 series and NVIDIA's RTX 30-series graphics cards. The hike has been most felt on the NVIDIA camp, with average pricing increasing around 9%, while AMD graphics cards saw an increase of 6%. This places the latest pricing average for graphics cards from both companies at 59% above MSRP for NVIDIA, and 64% for AMD.
While the increase is still a far-cry from the ridiculous markups felt during the month of May (where NVIDIA graphics cards were being sold at an average 304% of their MSRP value and AMD's where going for around 202% of their MSRP), this trend reversal is a clear indicator of a continued inability to cater to the pent-up demand that's still being trickle-filled since the original release of these GPU families. And this happens despite numerous positive signals happening within the last few months, such as the crypto crackdown in China, which saw hundreds upon hundred of mining-bound graphics cards being resold towards the secondary market. Also of note for an eventual positive price action was the recent reduction in Ethereum profits for miners due to the implementation of Ethereum's EIP-1559 proposal - which has already seen 136,619 ETH being burned as a part of transactions run on the network - the equivalent of $433,768,155 at current ETH pricing. And with news that shipments of NVIDIA's RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti graphics cards will be halved throughout September, paired with a TSMC price hike for newly minted wafers, it seems that an upwards pressure on GPU pricing is inescapable.
Sources:
3D Center, via TechSpot
While the increase is still a far-cry from the ridiculous markups felt during the month of May (where NVIDIA graphics cards were being sold at an average 304% of their MSRP value and AMD's where going for around 202% of their MSRP), this trend reversal is a clear indicator of a continued inability to cater to the pent-up demand that's still being trickle-filled since the original release of these GPU families. And this happens despite numerous positive signals happening within the last few months, such as the crypto crackdown in China, which saw hundreds upon hundred of mining-bound graphics cards being resold towards the secondary market. Also of note for an eventual positive price action was the recent reduction in Ethereum profits for miners due to the implementation of Ethereum's EIP-1559 proposal - which has already seen 136,619 ETH being burned as a part of transactions run on the network - the equivalent of $433,768,155 at current ETH pricing. And with news that shipments of NVIDIA's RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti graphics cards will be halved throughout September, paired with a TSMC price hike for newly minted wafers, it seems that an upwards pressure on GPU pricing is inescapable.
88 Comments on GPU Market Pricing Back in Uptrend, Shattering Expectations of Price Normalization
As I see it GPU shortages and cost are only part of the issue. There is an inherent shortage of cryptocurrency coins. The cost of electricity is also a factor. What investors believe to be true is probably more important. Enforcement of crime is also a factor. Whether central banks accept/reject cryptocurrency also matters. Even Elon has to be considered. It is a very risky investment with rewards and pitfalls.
Mining is roaring back
Cheapest 30 series are from nvidia which is now only sold through bestbuy all others are stupid priced.
I still see EVGA 3060 cards at the $400 price point and the 3060Ti around $470. I know the 3070/3070Ti are lower in price over other AIB as well.....but, it just comes down to being able to get one before it flies of the shelf.
As long as gpu's are fling off shelves we'll never see decent prices
Never seen any good prices on evga website they are always higher than say micro center or even amazon/... which tend to discount if they don't move them fast enough.
Otherwise nvidia website was best place to get cheapest price or at least steady price that didn't go up like most others that allow third party scalpers to exist.
Egg shuffle all I saw was gigabyte gpu's so I bailed soon as I saw that, not worth it plus I have no interest in bundled crap with an already overpriced gpu.
For example, if I was okay with $800 3070 card on newegg's shuffle today (see pic). That would be the only one on the list that I would put my name in for.
That's what I would do for nicely priced 3060 and 3060Ti cards as well. Usually a couple times a week I'd see a few cards that aren't bundled that I would put my name in for and I eventually won a chance to purchase an EVGA 3060Ti that wasn't bundled.
*Edit*
"....and I eventually won a chance to purchase...."
How sad is that, that you have to win a chance to purchase something? Yeah! I won a chance to spend my money! Err....why am I excited at winning a chance to spend my money? This sucks that I can't just freely decide to purchase something and that I have to wait to win a drawing/lottery to give a company my money. The whole concept is bonkers, if you ask me.
"and is even showing signs of stability" is a very relative term specific to ETH because it has done two unprecedented things recently:
- It is beginning to gain price/value independence from BTC. Not by much, but enough that is clearly seen as a very major player by investors and a real threat to BTC.
- It plateau'd at a high price and stayed at a pretty constant price for a whole month. Whilst still volatile, for a cryptocurrency with a 30-day volatility of 0.7, that's unheard of.
"showing signs of stability" is still a long way from actual stability.The TUF fans are more expensive to buy from all the usual sources (gpureplacement.com, aliexpress, ebay) and are a double ball-bearing design. The higher price could be because the brand (Champion) isn't as high-volume as the common Everflow fans, so economies of scale are a factor - yet double ball-bearing is seen as the pinnacle of quality and reliability. Part number is CF9010U12D if you want to investigate further.
Meanwhile the STRIX uses the same cheap Everflow T1292155SU sleeve fans that they've been using for around a decade. Sure, you'll find updated rotors on these but they're the exact same motor and bearing that was used for cards going back to the Asus and Gigabyte R9 290X cards; I've personally seen a few of these fail. As far as I'm concerned, these are the "crappier" fans though with idle fan stop and modern cases having better dust filtration, I suspect these fans will still last far longer than the card's warranty period.
I am a member of two mining pool discord servers and replacing STRIX fans comes up occasionally, can't say I've ever seen anyone needing to replace a TUF fan for 3000-series yet....