The recent trend of improving prices for the graphic cards market appears set to continue, according to a new report, which may finally signal an impending end to the GPU shortage.
3DCenter has been documenting pricing and availability changes for GPUs for over a year now, which has predominantly seen rising costs and fluctuating stock levels. Its latest chart, however, showcases how the video card industry is slowly starting to normalize.
From January 23 to February 13, prices for Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 GPUs are now 57% over the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), representing a considerable 20% drop from the last survey. Meanwhile, the average price for cards from the AMD RX 6000 series have fallen from 63% over MSRP to 45%. Comparatively, cards were nearly 100% over their MSRPs in November 2021.
As pointed out by VideoCardz, AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards are nearly as cheap as January 2021 prices, while products from Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30 range will now cost you the same as prices seen in July 2021.
Alongside the improvement in prices for these GPUs, availability has also grown as well. Since the start of 2022, the volume of stock has been boosted every week, with the latest report confirming that availability levels reached their highest point since the start of 2021.
Notably, these price drops come at a time when cryptocurrency prices have decreased significantly from their 2021 peaks. Particularly, 3DCenter’s report showcases Ethereum’s price reaching its lowest level on January 23 since July 2021. Interestingly, the slight uptick in ETH’s price during February has not negatively affected the costs and availability of graphics cards.
3DCenter’s data stems from GPU prices in Germany and Austria. However, it’s a similar state of affairs in other key markets like the U.S. Tom’s Hardware recent analysis on 3rd-party marketplace eBay shows how the cost of certain flagship GPUs have also declined in America.
While today’s report is certainly welcoming news for an industry where inflated prices have become the norm, consumers will have to wait a few more months to see if GPUs can finally be purchased at the MSRP. By all accounts, however, the market seems set to return to its pre-pandemic state sometime during 2022.
Insiders believe the GPU shortage should stabilize during the summer, which is supported by the fact that AMD and Intel are seeking new substrate partners in order to enhance production. Nvidia has also confirmed that inventory for its GPUs will improve during the second half of 2022. That said, the MSRP of both CPUs and GPUs could grow due to an increase in material costs, among other factors.
