Graphics Cards Reportedly Set to Get Cheaper This Quarter

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Graphics card prices begin the slow dive

Asus
(Image credit: Asus)

Average selling prices of high-end graphics cards more than doubled in the recent quarters due to insufficient GPU and components supply amid growing demand from gamers and miners. But as supply gets better and demand from miners is lowering, the prices of graphics cards are projected to get lower starting this quarter.

Demand for modern high end graphics cards based on AMD's RDNA 2 and Nvidia's Ampere architecture from gamers will remain high in the coming quarters. But as China's government is doing everything to crack down crypto currency mining and trading, demand from mining farms will inevitably get lower, according to sources in the supply chain. This is according to a report from DigiTimes. Furthermore, since Ethereum mining is no longer as profitable as it used to be, individual miners will be less inclined to buy new graphics cards. 

Now that mining does not make a lot of money, many miners and even mining farms are inclined to sell off their hardware while they still can. Flooding the secondhand market with used graphics cards will inevitably affect pricing of new boards, which is not particularly good for the makers of video cards and resellers. 

Sources in the supply chain believe that prices of graphics cards will return to normal levels in the second half of the year, so in the coming months. This will help to attract demand from gamers not only to add-in-boards (AIBs), but also to other PC components, including motherboards, CPUs, memory modules, and storage devices. As a result, while profitability of companies like Asus, ASRock, Gigabyte, and MSI will drop somewhat in the second half of the year since they will be unable to charge the same high premiums for their products, they will still enjoy sales growth.  

Normally, unit sales of graphics cards improve in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, so prices will likely decrease in general. 

It is noteworthy that some people in the supply chain believe that the cryptocurrency mining craze will return, along with the abnormally high prices of graphics cards. Meanwhile, as companies like AMD and Nvidia improve supply of their GPUs, we can at least expect price hikes to be moderate even if mining frenzy returns.

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Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • sizzling
    Not much of a projection when prices have already started dropping
    Reply
  • kal326
    I’ll believe when there is actually stock sitting around at under 20% over Founders edition pricing.
    Reply
  • daworstplaya
    Gamers: basically the red headed stepchild of GPU manufacturers.
    We're not going to forget how some of these AIB treated gamers during the pandemic as they shipped pallet loads of GPUs to miners, while gamers were left scrambling to get scraps.
    Reply
  • purple_dragon
    Frankly, after the slimy practices of businesses selling gpu's in the last year, I'm waiting for MSRP. I also won't be buying from retailers using lottery to sell products (Newegg...).
    Reply
  • nitts999
    daworstplaya said:
    Gamers: basically the red headed stepchild of GPU manufacturers.
    We're not going to forget how some of these AIB treated gamers during the pandemic as they shipped pallet loads of GPUs to miners, while gamers were left scrambling to get scraps.

    Ehh...yes you will. I get the frustration--I do. But the reality is you'll buy whatever card works for you and your budget when you get the chance because what else are you going to do? Being butthurt about them selling their products to buyers willing to buy them is irrational and the only person who will suffer from your one-man boycott is you.
    Reply
  • ConfusedCounsel
    nitts999 said:
    Ehh...yes you will. I get the frustration--I do. But the reality is you'll buy whatever card works for you and your budget when you get the chance because what else are you going to do? Being butthurt about them selling their products to buyers willing to buy them is irrational and the only person who will suffer from your one-man boycott is you.

    Of course we will buy cards we can afford. That question is what brand and from what seller. Will I buy from the AIB manufacture who acted badly badly, or a similar priced board from an AIB manufacturer who showed responsibility. Likewise, will I place the order through Best Buy or New Egg.

    The AIB makers (Asus, MSI, EVGA, Zotac, etc.) and the sellers (BestBuy, Amazon, New Egg, etc.) compete for those dollars. If you doubt it, why else would they give Tom's Hardware product to review and compare against their competitors cards. They are trying to establish the reputation and quality of their product, i.e. the integrity of their Brand, and establish Goodwill with the consumer.

    Before all this, I was pleased to buy from New Egg and wouldn't consider buying anything but an Asus / MSI graphics card. The Shuffle caused New Egg to lose my business. The EVGA que system shifted my brand loyalty. In Intellectual Property Law, we refer to this as a loss of Goodwill. Protecting Goodwill is one of the tenants behind Trademark Law.

    I think the point daworstplaya was trying to make is the behavior of many AIB manufactures and retailers caused a loss of goodwill, which translates to a loss of sales to competitors who behaved well and maintained the goodwill of their consumers.
    Reply
  • LolaGT
    When the street prices are below MSRP as in a normal market then I will look at them again, maybe.
    My pre-panic 5700xt might be the last gpu I ever buy as I expect it to be pretty good for 1440p/1080p for a long while.
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    Admin said:
    Prices of graphics cards set to return to normal levels in the second half of 2021.

    Graphics Cards Reportedly Set to Get Cheaper This Quarter : Read more

    At this point it's over 1 year old tech. I'll wait another year for next gen that is 2->2.5x faster.
    Reply
  • 2Be_or_Not2Be
    "Flooding the secondhand market with used graphics cards will inevitably affect pricing of new boards, which is not particularly good for the makers of video cards and resellers. "

    After all the profits made by the mfgs and the resellers, I don't have that much pity. Regardless, they won't care as they made their profits already.
    Reply
  • Sleepy_Hollowed
    Lol they’re not getting my money until they’re below msrp.
    Reply