Secondary Market GPU Pricing in Downtrend, Better Times to be a Gamer May be Ahead

[Raevenlord]

Millions of bytes have been written regarding the current GPU market conditions already, which pairs strained logistics channels due to COVID-19 with increased quarantine-fueled demand by gamers - while also throwing in semiconductor manufacturing woes, miners, and scalpers. All in all, it seems that miners and scalpers managed to get their hands on roughly 25% (around 700,000) of distributed current-gen graphics cards during Q1 2021 which, for some reason, seems much lower than the general perception on their impact on this market.

With that said, Reddit user @gregable aggregated daily pricing for GPUs on Ebay and then calculated the GPU's $/hashrate for Ethereum mining. With hashrates remaining steady for graphics cards, this effectively establishes a price trend for GPUs. The news are good, for once: prices are falling, with the average $ cost per MH falling from $26 on May 16th down to $20 as of yesterday. The move is supported mostly by price drops on high hash-rate graphics cards such as the RTX 3090 (a 32% price drop during this period) and RTX 3080/RTX 3070 graphics cards (which dropped by 25%).





That these are the cards being flipped the most at this point in time makes sense for two reasons: ETH 2.0 being around the corner, which will render Ethereum mining obsolete, and the relative improvement in graphics cards' availability, which helps bring prices further down. Since these are the costliest graphics cards, and present the greatest investment risk should their cost not be recouped via mining, miners are offloading these first, in an attempt to make up for their investment and/or to still get some $ in while pricing is still high. Summer might bring in added demand from the consumer market for GPUs, and then there's the backlog of orders that still have to be served and which will keep availability lower than usual, but it seems things are generally improving for the average gamer.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[birdie]

Not looking for any new gen cards right now because I don't buy GPUs with TBP > 150W as a matter of principle.

Both NVIDIA and AMD have nothing in this segment right now and I refuse to have a heater in my PC thank you very much (which also necessitates a much more powerful PSU than I have right now).

Yeah, I know, I can limit the graphics card power consumption but I don't understand why would I overpay for something I don't actually use.

Maybe when the duo upgrades to 5nm we'll again have powerful midrange cards akin to RX 5600 XT or GTX 1660 Ti.

 

[thevoiceofreason]

How nice, I am still waiting for two 3060ti ordered at two different retailers on launch day last year.

 

[john_]

Nice. But prices should go back down where they should be.
I mean, I had sold a GTX 550 Ti 7-8 years ago for less than what they ask now. It's ridiculous.

 

[trog100]

3xxx cards mine at a greater efficiency than older cards.. in theory they will remain profitable when the older cards are not.. used older cards should show a greater drop in price.. it will be these that appear on the used market..

trog

 

[EzioAs]

Not looking for any new gen cards right now because I don't buy GPUs with TBP > 150W as a matter of principle.

Both NVIDIA and AMD have nothing in this segment right now and I refuse to have a heater in my PC thank you very much (which also necessitates a much more powerful PSU than I have right now).

Yeah, I know, I can limit the graphics card power consumption but I don't understand why would I overpay for something I don't actually use.

Maybe when the duo upgrades to 5nm we'll again have powerful midrange cards akin to RX 5600 XT or GTX 1660 Ti.

My reasoning is close to you on power but I would also add price on the table. I would never buy a GPU priced >$300. I usually set my max to $250 (or $270 if it's really that good a card or it includes a game or two that I would want). There's just been nothing on that front for about 3 years now.

 

[AusWolf]

My reasoning is close to you on power but I would also add price on the table. I would never buy a GPU priced >$300. I usually set my max to $250 (or $270 if it's really that good a card or it includes a game or two that I would want). There's just been nothing on that front for about 3 years now.

My reasoning is also similar. I currently have my PC in a slim case, so I need a low profile card. The fastest of such is currently the GTX 1650 which I have. Once there's a replacement on the market, I'll be looking for an upgrade.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Same story was ran on Techspot yesterday morning, but their info says:

"How much of an impact did cryptominers have on the graphics card market during the first quarter? Quite a lot, according to a new report. It’s estimated that 700,000 high-end and midrange gaming cards that shipped in Q1 went to miners—about $500 million worth of product.

Analyst Jon Peddie Research writes that those figures mean 25% of all graphics cards shipped between January and March ended up being used to mine crypto. The company looks at the attach rate of AIBs (add-in boards) to PCs, which had fallen as low as 25% before recently jumping to 50%, and uses the difference between the trending normal attach rate and the current rate to calculate the mining use of AIBs."

One source says 700,000 GPUs in the first quarter or 25% of GPUs in the first quarter (techspot) and another says just 700,000 GPUs or 25% of GPUs (techpowerup).

A few words missing or added can make a world of difference in a story that's written.

In fact, a lot of other tech sites are reporting the same story and it appears they're also including "first quarter" in their story and/or title, here are a few that pop up right away:
extremetech.com
tomshardware.com
guru3d.com

Here's the original story from JPR should anyone want to read it in its entirety on their own.

 

[Raevenlord]

Same story was ran on Techspot yesterday morning, but their info says:

"How much of an impact did cryptominers have on the graphics card market during the first quarter? Quite a lot, according to a new report. It’s estimated that 700,000 high-end and midrange gaming cards that shipped in Q1 went to miners—about $500 million worth of product.

Analyst Jon Peddie Research writes that those figures mean 25% of all graphics cards shipped between January and March ended up being used to mine crypto. The company looks at the attach rate of AIBs (add-in boards) to PCs, which had fallen as low as 25% before recently jumping to 50%, and uses the difference between the trending normal attach rate and the current rate to calculate the mining use of AIBs."

One source says 700,000 GPUs in the first quarter or 25% of GPUs in the first quarter (techspot) and another says just 700,000 GPUs or 25% of GPUs (techpowerup).

A few words missing or added can make a world of difference in a story that's written.

In fact, a lot of other tech sites are reporting the same story and it appears they're also including "first quarter" in their story and/or title, here are a few that pop up right away:
extremetech.com
tomshardware.com
guru3d.com

Here's the original story from JPR should anyone want to read it in its entirety on their own.

Thank you for the heads-up, the 1Q was lost in translation while writing the piece. Corrected.

 

[Gundem]

Yay, a new poll.

 

[Legacy-ZA]

I am not really sure if I am in the market anymore, the prices are still way over the top, still nowhere near MSRP, and mayhap, by the time pricing normalize, we will already start seeing "RTX4000" being thrown into our faces. This generation, in a nutshell, is extremely bad value, the only GPUs that are worth a damn price/performance-wise, are the RTX3060Ti and the RTX3080, assuming you can even get them at MSRP, the rest are just a major cash grab in comparison.

 

[freeagent]

I will probably skip the used market.. unless there is a fantastic deal to be had. But people will want their investment back and will pass it on to you. In fact I will probably just skip the entire 30 series and wait for the next. I wont spend top dollar on used and possibly abused hardware.

I don't care if the card "only" sat at 60% load for X amount of months. Enjoy it

 

[Legacy-ZA]

Same story was ran on Techspot yesterday morning, but their info says:

"How much of an impact did cryptominers have on the graphics card market during the first quarter? Quite a lot, according to a new report. It’s estimated that 700,000 high-end and midrange gaming cards that shipped in Q1 went to miners—about $500 million worth of product.

Analyst Jon Peddie Research writes that those figures mean 25% of all graphics cards shipped between January and March ended up being used to mine crypto. The company looks at the attach rate of AIBs (add-in boards) to PCs, which had fallen as low as 25% before recently jumping to 50%, and uses the difference between the trending normal attach rate and the current rate to calculate the mining use of AIBs."

One source says 700,000 GPUs in the first quarter or 25% of GPUs in the first quarter (techspot) and another says just 700,000 GPUs or 25% of GPUs (techpowerup).

A few words missing or added can make a world of difference in a story that's written.

In fact, a lot of other tech sites are reporting the same story and it appears they're also including "first quarter" in their story and/or title, here are a few that pop up right away:
extremetech.com
tomshardware.com
guru3d.com

Here's the original story from JPR should anyone want to read it in its entirety on their own.

Suffice to say, these local scalping retailers in South-Africa, have now removed their 1x GPU / customer rule (This was implemented way too late to start with causing this problem) few are buying the cards at these ridiculous prices they have set, not even the miners, the whole situation has caused the market to be stagnant, we are all just looking at the overpriced stock, oooooo, shiny, ooooo, wanna buy overpriced hardware? (When can I get a middle finger emoji?)

They can at least drop the prices to MSRP, they have made more than enough in previous months to offset this shit show they created.

Then you get these people that have the audacity to say "These shortages were not caused by miners" Oh give me a break.

 

[mechtech]

Poll left out waiting for a current gen non-overkill typical midrange card $240-280 that has yet to be released by any manufacturer.

 

[Legacy-ZA]

Poll left out waiting for a current gen non-overkill typical midrange card $240-280 that has yet to be released by any manufacturer.

I think they know why they can't release an RTX3050Ti or RTX3050 it's because those said cards will then have 4GB of VRAM which is way too little by today's standards, even 6GB, but if they put anything 6GB above on said cards, gamers won't get them and miners will snag them all up.

"It's not miners' fault!"

 

[Auer]

Poll left out waiting for a current gen non-overkill typical midrange card $240-280 that has yet to be released by any manufacturer.

There are no "overkill" GPU's.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Speaking of secondary GPUs, I just saw a GTX 2060 (listed as New) on Zotac's ebay page sell for $520. Within about 2 minutes of noticing the GPU listed on their ebay store, the GPU was out of stock.

People apparently are so hard up for GPUs, so much so that they'll buy a last gen GPU for almost $200 over its original MSRP. Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking for a new GPU myself, but not at the prices things are still at.

 

[mechtech]

There are no "overkill" GPU's.

Lol fair enough

how about overkill prices then??

I think they know why they can't release an RTX3050Ti or RTX3050 it's because those said cards will then have 4GB of VRAM which is way too little by today's standards, even 6GB, but if they put anything 6GB above on said cards, gamers won't get them and miners will snag them all up.

"It's not miners' fault!"

TBH I think 4GB is fine for 1080p and for the budget/market segment even for today’s standards. Those cards won’t can’t do max settings therefore will use less ram because of that.

W1zz should add a few gpuz ram usage at max and min settings just to see the % mem used difference.

 

[Legacy-ZA]

TBH I think 4GB is fine for 1080p and for the budget/market segment even for today’s standards. Those cards won’t can’t do max settings therefore will use less ram because of that.

W1zz should add a few gpuz ram usage at max and min settings just to see the % mem used difference.

Normally I would agree, but they are RTX cards, look what happened to everyone that turned on raytracing in Resident Evil Village @ 1440p/4k. I am sure you will see the same thing happen with 4GB @ 1080p. That is why there always needs to be a little more VRAM for headroom and to make sure your card isn't already absolute after the first year because games started to demand more.

 

[havox]

ot looking for any new gen cards right now because I don't buy GPUs with TBP > 150W as a matter of principle.

I'm in the opposite camp. I want a no compromise 4 slots 400W 3090 for my 4K TV, but 1500EUR is the most I'm willing to pay for a single PC component no matter what it is. That said, I believe eth 2.0 got postponed for like the hundredth time to 2022 now, doesn't look like situation is to change any time soon. But hey, I get to save money for another year and keep playing old games on a 970, Nvidia makes record profits selling to miners, win-win for everybody. Except people who want a new gaming PC now. Or gaming peripheral vendors. Ehh, everybody can't win I guess.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Normally I would agree, but they are RTX cards, look what happened to everyone that turned on raytracing in Resident Evil Village @ 1440p/4k. I am sure you will see the same thing happen with 4GB @ 1080p. That is why there always needs to be a little more VRAM for headroom and to make sure your card isn't already absolute after the first year because games started to demand more.

They could just name them GTX instead then and nobody really would complain.

 

[Legacy-ZA]

They could just name them GTX instead then and nobody really would complain.

But but, didn't you hear what Leather Jacket said when he launched RTX2000? Something about who would still want GTX? Proceeds to launch more GTX cards... say hello to his little friends 1660/1650.

 

[InVasMani]

The more you mine the more the bottom drops out and environment gets rekt!

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Not looking for any new gen cards right now because I don't buy GPUs with TBP > 150W as a matter of principle.

Both NVIDIA and AMD have nothing in this segment right now and I refuse to have a heater in my PC thank you very much (which also necessitates a much more powerful PSU than I have right now).

Yeah, I know, I can limit the graphics card power consumption but I don't understand why would I overpay for something I don't actually use.

Maybe when the duo upgrades to 5nm we'll again have powerful midrange cards akin to RX 5600 XT or GTX 1660 Ti.

????

 

[trparky]

I was able to snag a RTX 3060 two days ago at a Microcenter. My brother needed to buy a notebook cooling pad, so I went back to the DIY section to see if they had any cards in stock, sure enough... they had one card left. Two people walked up behind me walked away when they noticed that I was going to buy it. I was lucky as hell to be there at the right time.