Nvidia and AMD GPU prices are headed back to the stratosphere as availability worsens

nanoguy

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Through the looking glass: By now we've become accustomed to a constant stream of bad news about the availability and pricing of everything with a chip in it. GPUs are no exception, and MSRP is a term that has lost its meaning as there are no signs that retailers will sell graphics cards at that price for the foreseeable future.

Earlier this year, it looked like there was a general downward trend in GPU prices. Last month, Ethereum mining saw a lower-than-expected hit even after the rollout of the EIP1559 protocol upgrade that was supposed to make it somewhat less profitable. But as NFTs bloomed, mining activity saw a comparable increase which has kept demand for GPUs well above supply.

Follow up: TechSpot GPU Update September 2021

According to new data from 3DCenter, GPU availability and pricing are once again taking a turn for the worse, with Radeon cards from AMD now sitting at an average of 74 percent above MSRP, while Nvidia GeForce graphics cards models are commanding a 70 percent premium over their supposed manufacturer-recommended price. As you know, we also track GPU pricing on a monthly basis and are coming out with our September report later this week (now live).

This is the pricing situation observed at German retailers, but there are separate reports that confirm this is reflective of a global trend. Despite their best efforts, retailers aren't getting anywhere nearly enough units of either Nvidia's RTX 3060 or AMD's RX 6600 XT. And these will likely be the most sought-after cards for reasons that are explained in Steven's extensive review.

Top-end models like the GeForce RTX 3090, GeForce RTX 3080, Radeon RX 6900 XT, and Radeon RX 6800 XT are even harder to find.

Reports indicate that Nvidia has started using faulty GA104 dies from would-be RTX 3070 Ti GPUs and turning them into RTX 3060 GPUs to alleviate supply and yield issues. As for AMD, the company says it will prioritize high-end GPUs in the coming months, but supply could still remain tight until next year.

Further compounding these issues is the recent TSMC price hike, which is close to 20 percent for some of its customers, but only three percent for Apple according to reports. Beyond silicon, there's an even bigger threat to the affordability of anything with electronics in it -- rare earth metal prices have exploded recently, and there's no immediate solution for that.

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Last week, Friday morning, it was posted that over 300 3060Ti cards were accounted for at Micro Center stores. By mid day on Friday, half were already gone. As of this morning maybe 2 dozen remain. to my knowledge, any cards coming out for the 3060Ti are the LHR models, so they're not ideal for mining....I wouldn't think miners are looking to snatch them up, but who knows.

Folks like the performance in that price range ($500-600) that the 3060Ti gives. A 6700XT would be a good card as well, expect for the $900+ price point they still maintain.
 
Last week, Friday morning, it was posted that over 300 3060Ti cards were accounted for at Micro Center stores. By mid day on Friday, half were already gone. As of this morning maybe 2 dozen remain. to my knowledge, any cards coming out for the 3060Ti are the LHR models, so they're not ideal for mining....I wouldn't think miners are looking to snatch them up, but who knows.

Folks like the performance in that price range ($500-600) that the 3060Ti gives. A 6700XT would be a good card as well, expect for the $900+ price point they still maintain.
I think you should consider that out of 100% of the GPUs coming out of Samsung's fab, not all of them are destined to be a LHR card. After all, the LHR is mostly implemented at the BIOS level. So most could actually be packed as a FHR card sent to miners. Having said that, the supply is still bad, so compounding to the problem. With holiday seasons coming up in Q4, historically demand is also high.
 
Since we're about to enter holiday season it will only get much, much worst from here on. I only hope they're sensible enough to keep the current series on production if they do new product launches this year, or that they finally try to allocate some volume to the low end offerings: 6500 and 3050 respectively as those might have a SLIGHT chance at being somewhat available and at maybe only 70 or 80% over MSRP instead of at least double like the current cards.

But again this is your daily reminder to try to scale back your selection of games instead of being constantly miserable reading news about cards you can't buy: a 5600g will do you just fine for indies and older titles @ 1080p
 
My Microcenter has several Galax 3080Ti sitting there for $1999.

They have Dozens of 6700, 6800 and 6900/ xt models on the shelves- all overpriced.
 
In the UK Nvidia cards are selling for a massive premium but Radeons are in stock at MSRP. I need a card but I don’t want a Radeon!
 
If you're US based, watch Antonline for their EVGA bundles.
Got a 3080 via them, and it'll probably be the easiest way to get whatever flavor 30 card you want (as long as you're fine with EVGA that is), at anywhere close to MSRP if you factor cost of everything in the bundle.

At least the extra stuff is decent quality, and their PSU's don't explode.
 
They aren't overpriced, it's called inflation courtesy of the Fed.
Indeed, printing money and massive deficit spending does have consequences. It is becoming more practical for PC gamers to just buy a new desktop or laptop. Almost impossible to get a GPU at MSRP.
 
Last week, Friday morning, it was posted that over 300 3060Ti cards were accounted for at Micro Center stores. By mid day on Friday, half were already gone. As of this morning maybe 2 dozen remain. to my knowledge, any cards coming out for the 3060Ti are the LHR models, so they're not ideal for mining....I wouldn't think miners are looking to snatch them up, but who knows.

Consider yourself lucky that you have an MC near by there's what 15-20 MC in the entire planet and in the middle of nowhere? They would be gone in a second if they actually had a good amount of locations (think Best Buy) or online orders for GPUs.
 
My sources tell me that as soon as we can start mining rare earth elements on Mars, the chip shortage will resolve and prices will finally start to come down. So I’m going to be optimistic and just wait a little longer……………………………………
 
or that they finally try to allocate some volume to the low end offerings: 6500 and 3050 respectively

A 6500 (or even "6600 non-XT") has been rumored for a long time, but frankly, on the AMD side there's no room for further cuts below the 6600 XT. Not if the product is to make any sense compared to an used prev-generation card.
 
A 6500 (or even "6600 non-XT") has been rumored for a long time, but frankly, on the AMD side there's no room for further cuts below the 6600 XT. Not if the product is to make any sense compared to an used prev-generation card.
That's true but maybe it could be a rebrand instead: on Nvidia's side there's rumors of a 2060 being brought back to production and that could work as a rebrand for 3050 for example (In theory, in practice a 3050 exists for laptops already so that's unlikely, unless is like a 3050 "super")
 
Link to the site selling them?

 
I bought a Palit Dual RTX 3060 Ti in mid August for £540 from an online retailer, the same card now at overclockers.co.uk are selling it for £659 and they have plenty in stock. Madness. I can only assume they're stock piling for a Christmas deal where they can discount it down to a similar price I paid and make out it's a good deal. I paid £540 thinking yeah I've over paid £100 or so but I've been waiting for a new graphics card for nearly 10 months and CBA to wait any longer.
 
If I was wealthy, I'd buy everyone on TS a card who didn't have 1 and wanted 1, but couldn't afford it or refused to pay a hyper inflated price on principal. Don't bother telling me I'm full of it, I'm a dreamer and I love people.
 

AMDs official MSRP should be $380, this says 480 GBP. I they were truly at MSRP even though you don't need them you could be reselling them.
 
My sources tell me that as soon as we can start mining rare earth elements on Mars, the chip shortage will resolve and prices will finally start to come down. So I’m going to be optimistic and just wait a little longer……………………………………
It's as if we are in the last days of GPUs lmao
 
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