Slumping crypto market could see GPU prices fall again this month

[midian182]

Why it matters: After what seemed like an eternity of having to endure ridiculous prices, GPU costs are finally, albeit slowly, returning to normal levels. According to a new report, this month should see another reduction on graphics cards from Nvidia and AMD, with an average drop of around 20 percent.

We know that cryptomining was the primary reason behind the incredibly high GPU prices, though RAM shortages have also been a factor. But with crypto markets slumping in recent months, failing to come anywhere near their mid-December peak, many farms have cut their GPU orders or stopped operations entirely, leading to a fall in card prices. The effect became apparent in May when a variety of GeForce GPUs arrived back in stock at near MSRP levels.

Taiwan site DigiTimes reports that this trend is going to continue throughout July. With digital currencies stagnating, less profitable mining means lower demand for GPUs. Bitcoin has remained below $8000 since mid-May and is currently hovering around $6300—it’s lowest since last November.

While there are plenty of people still mining, many use dedicated ASICs, but demand for these has also waned. All of which means that suppliers are slashing prices to try and clear inventory. DigiTimes writes that this “mining chill” will lead to a GPU price reduction of “around 20 percent in July.”

Currently, the worldwide graphics card market has an inventory of around several million units and Nvidia has around a million of GPUs waiting to be released, said the sources. With cryptocurrency miners also expected to begin selling their used graphics cards to the retail channel, vendors are expected to introduce major price cuts to compete

Last month, a report claimed that Nvidia overestimated recent demand for its GPUs, thereby generating an excess inventory. It’s thought that the company is holding back its new GeForce cards until the stock is cleared, which begs the question: should you buy a Pascal-based GPU now, or wait until the GTX 2070/2080 (or 1170/1180) arrives and purchase a next-gen card?

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https://www.techspot.com/news/75316-slumping-crypto-market-could-see-gpu-prices-fall.html

 

[p51d007]

Supply & demand. There was a demand, now the supply exceeds the demand, therefore
the prices come down, or, you end up eating a ton of inventory.

 

[Uncle Al]

Considering how high they have climbed over the past 24 months -20% is just a drop in the bucket .....

 

[senketsu]

I've already got a 'good enough' Pascal based card so I have ZERO interest in buying another this generation card unless it was practically free, and I mean practically free. Next generation card please....

 

[ShagnWagn]

"GPU costs are finally, albeit slowly, returning to normal levels"

"normal" - as in normal to their brand new release price, or a normal price for video cards that were released 2 years before?

"should you buy a Pascal-based GPU now, or wait until the GTX 2070/2080 (or 1170/1180) arrives"

I would say if you already have a 1080, no, unless you are running 4k and have an unlimited budget. I have a 980, but I'm only running 1080p. I don't have any reason to upgrade.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

I still have a 780 GTX so I am in need of a well priced 1080... if I can pick one up for under $300 I'd be happy but it could be a long while before that happens. Still though, I've been doing just fine with most of my VR games. Only game I really have performance issues with is DCS flight sim.

 

[Arbie]

Rob Thuron: grammar police here...

You're badly misusing the phrase "begs the question". It does not mean "raises the question", which is what you should have used.

"Begs the question" is close to "takes for granted" or "assumes", both of which are far from what you meant.