When will Video Card prices come down lower?

Absolutely crazy times we live in when the 12GB version of the RTX 3080 goes for about twice the original MSRP of the 10GB version. I shake my head because I could of gotten a scalped RTX 3080 Strix for less than $1000 in 2019. I decided to wait because I did not want to feed the scalpers and figured I could find the card for slightly less than MSRP after about six months like most other previous GPU releases. Then, BOOM! Covid and crypto boom hit. The AMD 6500XT seems quite underwhelming with a 64-bit memory bus and less features than previous budget cards. I venture to guess that it does not perform as good as the 5500XT that it was meant to replace. I should had purchased a couple more 5700XT's when they were dirt-cheap.
 
I bought both an AMD 5700XT and an nVidia 2070 Super back in late 2020 at retail price before the insanity hit, I think it was like $800 for both. I didn't even think much about the prices back then, I just bought both to see which one I would like more in my main rig, thinking I would put the other in my test computer. Turns out I preferred the 2070S and never got around to building that test computer after all, so the barely used 5700XT ended up sitting in a drawer as a back-up. I just checked the asking prices for it recently, and wow, that's just crazy! Still not selling it though, because there is no way I'm shelling out $1500 for a new video card if I ended up needing one.
 
Maybe by 2029, the hundredth anniverary of the stock market crash that started the Great Depression. Or maybe by 2076, the 300th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Really I have no idea.
 
They are going to ship out 3080ti's before they let me buy a 3070ti at MSRP two years after release. The prices will never go back down. I cant stand how money hungry Nvidia is (amd not relevant) and how they refuse to sell you a single card for your single gaming PC still running 970's 1080's. But the crypto whales get full train cars, containers, and delivery trucks filled with pallets of the new RTX cards before street release dates!

Please give me a chance to buy one in 2022.
 
The sad part....the enthusiasm of gamers was responsible for a fair amount of the money they initially made to allow them to grow their business.
How's that for a kick in the face?
Probably never going down as long as there's high demand and low supply.

Yeah, gamers sure didn't help and the mining craze drove prices through the roof - as scalpers bought what little was available. 'Still don't understand how they do it. Retailers/sellers should demand 'in-person-buying' or you/buyers require zoom or video conference with online retailers OR come up with SOMETHING. No one cares as long as these graphics card companies (i.e. Nvidia/AMD & their board partners) and the retailers make tons of money.
 
Probably never going down as long as there's high demand and low supply.

Yeah, gamers sure didn't help and the mining craze drove prices through the roof - as scalpers bought what little was available. 'Still don't understand how they do it. Retailers/sellers should demand 'in-person-buying' or you/buyers require zoom or video conference with online retailers OR come up with SOMETHING. No one cares as long as these graphics card companies (i.e. Nvidia/AMD & their board partners) and the retailers make tons of money.
Manufacturers, AIBs and their retail board partners could eliminate much of the scalping behavior in a minute....if they wanted to.
They won't stop it entirely because people always look for ways to go around any system.
I'm convinced some people wake up in the morning and their very first thought is..."How can I beat the system today?".
To get cards into as many hands as possible, all that'd be required, is to make it one model of videocard sale per credit card...with the warranty tied to the card's registered serial number on a per person basis.
If the person goes out and buys another with cash to scalp, he/she will be unable to get it warrantied....since they already had to register the first card at purchase.
They could get somebody else to purchase one but that person would then also have to register...so a road-block there as well.
That person would also be responsible for any warranty responsibility moving forward.
The 'cheater' would have to somehow remain in contact with his co-conspirator to get anything fixed.
That'd be too much of a hassle for most people and serve as a deterrent.
The very determined guys may find a few ways but the vast majority will abandon this scalping idea.
It'll at least cut down on the scalper buying ten cards to resell, since they'll be on the hook without being able to administer warranties if needed.
If the people buying from scalpers know they won't have warranty protection to fall back on, then they'll be less inclined to purchase cards this way.
 
If the people buying from scalpers know they won't have warranty protection to fall back on, then they'll be less inclined to purchase cards this way.
I doubt even that would stop people buying from scalpers to not do so. Prospective buyer would justify by saying something like "It's new, chances are it won't break before warranty expires".
 
Well... I talked so much hypocritical smack about pricing.. etc.. and sitting out :LOL:.. but I got good news of getting a "market adjustment" raise so I caved and I will be "upgrading" from a RX 580 to an RX 6600 XT (MSI Gaming X variety).
Sorry guys for contributing to the madness.. I don't think pricing will ever fall back down to where mid-range budget is less than $250 (at least not for a few years).
 
Eth 2.0 testnet is officially active. PoS is only a matter of time now, not if - but when (it gets fully tested out).

GPU prices have already begun reflecting this.
 
Well... I talked so much hypocritical smack about pricing.. etc.. and sitting out :LOL:.. but I got good news of getting a "market adjustment" raise so I caved and I will be "upgrading" from a RX 580 to an RX 6600 XT (MSI Gaming X variety).
Sorry guys for contributing to the madness.. I don't think pricing will ever fall back down to where mid-range budget is less than $250 (at least not for a few years).
Another hold out succumbing to the hive. :cry::cry:
 
Eth 2.0 testnet is officially active. PoS is only a matter of time now, not if - but when (it gets fully tested out).

GPU prices have already begun reflecting this.

Hasn't PoS been thrown around for what seems like years lol
 
Hasn't PoS been thrown around for what seems like years lol

Yes. However: no officially blessed testnet until now with all the requisite core changes.

As a dev, this would be like me completing my app MVP functionality, then taking my builds to the official QA envs to do functional / performance testing. MVP being minimum viable product.

In other words, we're going to prod on this one.
 
Again, ya'll think this is just going to magically go away. Pay attention to what's happening around you. The prices are only going to climb, and we will see at least a decade, maybe two, of expensive prices for things like GPU's. We were lucky for years and could get this stuff for fairly cheap prices when you think about how expensive high-end computer graphics/multimedia workstations used to be in the 80's & 90's. I still remember spending $20k on a system back in 1990 for graphic design work...

The reality is that medium/high-end GPU's have become so sophisticated that they are basically the same thing being used in the pro-market. Remember, the only reason 3DFX was ever successful was because they basically took a $40k SGI setup and reduced the accuracy/capability to work on $200 hardware.

Considering integrated graphics these days can easily do 1080p content, people need to have some historical perspective.

I don't like these prices either, but this is the unfortunate reality. We're entering/in a major recession here, and in all reality, we haven't come near to seeing the worst yet. At least in 2008/2009 we didn't have massive supply chain issues, among other obstacles. You can keep blaming miners, whatever, but that's peanuts compared to the larger issue at hand here.
 
Last edited:
I doubt even that would stop people buying from scalpers to not do so. Prospective buyer would justify by saying something like "It's new, chances are it won't break before warranty expires".

Many scalped cards are bought now with no warranty.
 
Again, ya'll think this is just going to magically go away. Pay attention to what's happening around you. The prices are only going to climb, and we will see at least a decade, maybe two, of expensive prices for things like GPU's. We were lucky for years and could get this stuff for fairly cheap prices when you think about how expensive high-end computer graphics/multimedia workstations used to be in the 80's & 90's. I still remember spending $20k on a system back in 1990 for graphic design work...

The reality is that medium/high-end GPU's have become so sophisticated that they are basically the same thing being used in the pro-market. Remember, the only reason 3DFX was ever successful was because they basically took a $40k SGI setup and reduced the accuracy/capability to work on $200 hardware.

Considering integrated graphics these days can easily do 1080p content, people need to have some historical perspective.

I don't like these prices either, but this is the unfortunate reality. We're entering/in a major recession here, and in all reality, we haven't come near to seeing the worst yet. At least in 2008/2009 we didn't have massive supply chain issues, among other obstacles. You can keep blaming miners, whatever, but that's peanuts compared to the larger issue at hand here.

I entirely disagree respectfully. The r&d, technology advancements and other issues with how to supply ( logistics) consumers with said new products in the late 80’s/early 90’s were what kept prices high, as almost all new technologies experience. Over time price is reduced generally.

Video card technology isn’t fundamentally changing. Development and production are not developmentally changing. These basic principles and processes are essentially the same they have been for years.

The issue actually has much to do with crypto mining. The other issue is a shortage of supplies to produce the cards. The only people I’ve seen defending or down playing mining has been miners and crypto fans drinking the crypto kool aid. But that’s my opinion.

In the past bots were not a issue when consumer gaming cards were used just for consumers gaming. Sure we waited a few months sometimes at launch to get a new top tier card but we weren’t battling computers for a chance to buy one. You can thank crypto for all that jazz. Which lead to scalping imo.
 
Last edited:
I entirely disagree respectfully.
Hard to predict the future, but one strong argument in your direction:

le-prices-over-time-adjusted-for-inflation-640x360.png


Console price from the 70s to 2013 and the 20 gig PS3 released at USD $499.99 in 2006 the big 60 GB was $599.99

$500 USD in 2006 was $641.90 in 2020, the PS5 with a disk reader in 2020 was 22% cheaper at only $500.

The moment it get possible to buy a $400 PS5 if it ever occur at bestbuy, costco, etc.... it get possible to buy a 2070 super type of GPU for what around $200, if we say half the price of a console is there ?

I am not sure exactly where I go with my logic, but I could imagine being hard to sell a 6500xt $300 to someone that can buy a significantly more powerful complete system $400.

New console system are cheaper than the Xbox 360 on release and are not that far to the latest mid GPUs affair.
 
I entirely disagree respectfully. The r&d, technology advancements and other issues with how to supply ( logistics) consumers with said new products in the late 80’s/early 90’s were what kept prices high, as almost all new technologies experience. Over time price is reduced generally.

Video card technology isn’t fundamentally changing. Development and production are not developmentally changing. These basic principles and processes are essentially the same they have been for years.

The issue actually has much to do with crypto mining. The other issue is a shortage of supplies to produce the cards. The only people I’ve seen defending or down playing mining has been miners and crypto fans drinking the crypto kool aid. But that’s my opinion.

In the past bots were not a issue when consumer gaming cards were used just for consumers gaming. Sure we waited a few months sometimes at launch to get a new top tier card but we weren’t battling computers for a chance to buy one. You can thank crypto for all that jazz. Which lead to scalping imo.
Prices went down because we moved all manufacturing to countries where it cost a fraction of what it cost to build in the US. All the major chip plants in the US were shutdown because of this.

However, now that the western world is having economic/currency issues the price of manufacturing in places like Taiwan, etc goes up exponentially.
 
Prices went down because we moved all manufacturing to countries where it cost a fraction of what it cost to build in the US. All the major chip plants in the US were shutdown because of this.

However, now that the western world is having economic/currency issues the price of manufacturing in places like Taiwan, etc goes up exponentially.
And again that’s not accurate. Video cards and most mass produced computer equipment has been manufactured over seas for decades. We didn’t just shift manufacturing over seas during this era of over priced scalped video cards.

Again, mining and crypto have effected the market. Now I’m not knocking miners. Do your thing. But I’m also not pretending mining is not the cause of this. It is.

That said I’m not disagreeing with mining or anything. I am not out to make mining the bad guy. Plenty of my friends in the tech community do it. Maybe I just miss the days of actually finding a decent gpu for less than my arm and leg.
 
Last edited:
And again that’s not accurate. Video cards and most mass produced computer equipment has been manufactured over seas for decades. We didn’t just shift manufacturing over seas during this era of over priced scalped video cards.

Again, mining and crypto have effected the market. Now I’m not knocking miners. Do your thing. But I’m also not pretending mining is not the cause of this. It is.
You're not understanding what I said at all. I didn't say that shift of manufacturing happened now.

The point is the dollar is being debased, trade deficits are increasing, etc.
 
You're not understanding what I said at all. I didn't say that shift of manufacturing happened now.

The point is the dollar is being debased, trade deficits are increasing, etc.
Oh I wouldn’t debate that. But that’s not the reason you are fighting bots to get a video card.
 
The point is the dollar is being debased, trade deficits are increasing, etc.
Dollar to yuan, Taiwan, Euro, Pound, Yen over time does not seem to change and it is not like the situation is any better in other countries (US has the best price and volume that it would not surprise me)
 
Manufacturers, AIBs and their retail board partners could eliminate much of the scalping behavior in a minute....if they wanted to.
They won't stop it entirely because people always look for ways to go around any system.
I'm convinced some people wake up in the morning and their very first thought is..."How can I beat the system today?".
To get cards into as many hands as possible, all that'd be required, is to make it one model of videocard sale per credit card...with the warranty tied to the card's registered serial number on a per person basis.
If the person goes out and buys another with cash to scalp, he/she will be unable to get it warrantied....since they already had to register the first card at purchase.
They could get somebody else to purchase one but that person would then also have to register...so a road-block there as well.
That person would also be responsible for any warranty responsibility moving forward.
The 'cheater' would have to somehow remain in contact with his co-conspirator to get anything fixed.
That'd be too much of a hassle for most people and serve as a deterrent.
The very determined guys may find a few ways but the vast majority will abandon this scalping idea.
It'll at least cut down on the scalper buying ten cards to resell, since they'll be on the hook without being able to administer warranties if needed.
If the people buying from scalpers know they won't have warranty protection to fall back on, then they'll be less inclined to purchase cards this way.
All good, in theory. In practice, I'm not sure. I'm sure the retailers and the AIBs are crying buckets and buckets all the way to the bank, and more rivers of tears on the way back. Retailer "loyalty" to customers.:confused: So 20th century.
Dollar to yuan, Taiwan, Euro, Pound, Yen over time does not seem to change and it is not like the situation is any better in other countries (US has the best price and volume that it would not surprise me)
With all the talk of inflation, you would think that the price of gold has gone up. Yet I recently saw where the price of gold is down 7%.
 
All good, in theory. In practice, I'm not sure. I'm sure the retailers and the AIBs are crying buckets and buckets all the way to the bank, and more rivers of tears on the way back. Retailer "loyalty" to customers.:confused: So 20th century.

With all the talk of inflation, you would think that the price of gold has gone up. Yet I recently saw where the price of gold is down 7%.
It's always going up. Look at the ENTIRE graph.

China knows that they have the only supply so they can charge an arm and a leg. The demand is through the roof from scalpers, gamers, crypto mining users. It's not rocket science. If people weren't so hungry for these things and could wait, the scalpers would have $1000+ cards that don't sell. But, people don't unite like that. They will throw all their money away on these if they have it.

The suckers that don't have the money just wait and wait or decide to join (can't beat 'em, join 'em) when they get $ money together - I think these prices are insane but if you/someone wants to game and they want 4K or something or they just want 2K and a high tier card, they pay the money.

Even the used market went insane - and that was due to the crypto mining craze and greedy card owners - I discovered RX 580s - at least in my location - were going for around $500-ish. At least, that is what people were asking!!!! I don't know if they were getting that. I suspect not but who knows. I had an RX 580 I had to sell because I needed money well before this craze. Really bad timing for me. :-(

I'm interested in a 3060 or RX 6600 XT now but the prices are still insane - AND you can't find one in stock or on the shelf - and if you do, it's way overpriced.
 
They'll come down soon. I won the Newegg Shuffle this week and was able to grab a 3070 combo.
No sooner did I pull the trigger on that purchase...right on cue...the cryptocurrency market started to fall out.
I expect this trend to continue to the point where, in about 1.5 weeks, I could have gotten the 3070 for half of what I paid.
Just my luck.

Don't all thank me at once...
 
Newegg's return policy is decent, so if you can resist opening the card for a few weeks you can see if things get way cheaper & return it. GPU prices are softening but I don't think they'll tank... there's so much pent up demand I think it'll take a few months to work its way thru the system. Scalpers gonna scalp, too.
 
Hard to predict the future, but one strong argument in your direction:

View attachment 434876

Console price from the 70s to 2013 and the 20 gig PS3 released at USD $499.99 in 2006 the big 60 GB was $599.99

$500 USD in 2006 was $641.90 in 2020, the PS5 with a disk reader in 2020 was 22% cheaper at only $500.

The moment it get possible to buy a $400 PS5 if it ever occur at bestbuy, costco, etc.... it get possible to buy a 2070 super type of GPU for what around $200, if we say half the price of a console is there ?

I am not sure exactly where I go with my logic, but I could imagine being hard to sell a 6500xt $300 to someone that can buy a significantly more powerful complete system $400.

New console system are cheaper than the Xbox 360 on release and are not that far to the latest mid GPUs affair.
Ah the mighty Intellivision holding down the 3rd spot. Was so ahead of everything for a 1 1/2-2 year period that it would make you forget about the controller :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: Madoc
like this
I bought a Power Color RX 580 8Gb with 2 free AAA games for $189 and my daughter is still using it today .

i never did get why people paid so much for that. its just rebadged RX480 from years ago, it's only a few percent faster. like 2 or 3
 
It's always going up. Look at the ENTIRE graph.

China knows that they have the only supply so they can charge an arm and a leg. The demand is through the roof from scalpers, gamers, crypto mining users. It's not rocket science. If people weren't so hungry for these things and could wait, the scalpers would have $1000+ cards that don't sell. But, people don't unite like that. They will throw all their money away on these if they have it.

The suckers that don't have the money just wait and wait or decide to join (can't beat 'em, join 'em) when they get $ money together - I think these prices are insane but if you/someone wants to game and they want 4K or something or they just want 2K and a high tier card, they pay the money.

Even the used market went insane - and that was due to the crypto mining craze and greedy card owners - I discovered RX 580s - at least in my location - were going for around $500-ish. At least, that is what people were asking!!!! I don't know if they were getting that. I suspect not but who knows. I had an RX 580 I had to sell because I needed money well before this craze. Really bad timing for me. :-(

I'm interested in a 3060 or RX 6600 XT now but the prices are still insane - AND you can't find one in stock or on the shelf - and if you do, it's way overpriced.
i had just bought a 2070FE for like $350 damn near NBIB shipped just before things started getting crazy. got cheap water block, runs super cool and runs at maximum turbo always. i figure i'll just OC it if i ever get around to using my tower or actualy gaming again.
 
i never did get why people paid so much for that. its just rebadged RX480 from years ago, it's only a few percent faster. like 2 or 3
And the sold for pretty much the same. Polaris cards were very popular. (And can mine plenty of eth)
 
There have been RX 6600 non-XTs in stock regularly now for a couple of weeks at newegg for ~$450. Once that comes down to $300 I think I will buy one for my HTPC, which is still stuck with a 1060 3GB.

I had a chance to grab a 1660 super for ~$200 before all this started but decided to hold out for a 2060. Hasn't work out for me haha. But I'm still holding strong here.
 
There have been RX 6600 non-XTs in stock regularly now for a couple of weeks at newegg for ~$450. Once that comes down to $300 I think I will buy one for my HTPC, which is still stuck with a 1060 3GB.

I had a chance to grab a 1660 super for ~$200 before all this started but decided to hold out for a 2060. Hasn't work out for me haha. But I'm still holding strong here.

The 1660 super is a good card, especially at 1080p. I'm glad I got one before all this mayhem started.
 
I am not sure exactly where I go with my logic, but I could imagine being hard to sell a 6500xt $300 to someone that can buy a significantly more powerful complete system $400.

New console system are cheaper than the Xbox 360 on release and are not that far to the latest mid GPUs affair.

1) Lack of upgradability.
2) I don't want to pay a subscription fee for multiplayer.
3) Controllers suck for FPS and RTS games, which are the two primary genres that I like to play.
4) I need a computer anyway for other things.
5) Even the latest consoles will play certain games at similar quality settings and framerates as my GTX1070Ti, which came out in 2017.
6) Steam sales are frequent and enable me to buy games for a significantly lower price far more regularly than I can on console, particularly when it comes to things like Nintendo and their first party software, which are a blast to play, but I'm guaranteed to pay like $60 for, whereas I can often get AAA titles for 70% off or even, in some cases, free from various PC game retailers.

That's how you sell against consoles.

Unfortunately, both markets are broken for the buyer though. Consoles are facing the same hardware side supply problems as GPUs are right now, and both are suffering from scalpers taking advantage of the conditions, albeit it's more acute on the GPU side since no one is buying a console to profit from GPU mining.

In any case, I'm willing to pay extra for a PC over console primarily because it's better for the games I like to play.
 
1) Lack of upgradability.
2) I don't want to pay a subscription fee for multiplayer.
3) Controllers suck for FPS and RTS games, which are the two primary genres that I like to play.
4) I need a computer anyway for other things.
5) Even the latest consoles will play certain games at similar quality settings and framerates as my GTX1070Ti, which came out in 2017.
6) Steam sales are frequent and enable me to buy games for a significantly lower price far more regularly than I can on console, particularly when it comes to things like Nintendo and their first party software, which are a blast to play, but I'm guaranteed to pay like $60 for, whereas I can often get AAA titles for 70% off or even, in some cases, free from various PC game retailers.

That's how you sell against consoles.

Unfortunately, both markets are broken for the buyer though. Consoles are facing the same hardware side supply problems as GPUs are right now, and both are suffering from scalpers taking advantage of the conditions, albeit it's more acute on the GPU side since no one is buying a console to profit from GPU mining.

In any case, I'm willing to pay extra for a PC over console primarily because it's better for the games I like to play.
I agree with you outside of AAA game prices on consoles. AAA singleplayer games on console are far cheaper than PC after a shorter period of time since people buy it and flip it on the used market.

Where PC's are cheaper are with indie titles typically since you aren't limited to the XBOX/Playerstation/Nintendo shops on the console.
 
Back
Top