Falling Europe GPU Pricing Suggests Shortage Is Easing

GeForce RTX 30-series lineup
(Image credit: Nvidia)

According to ComputerBase, graphics card prices have begun to drop as much as 50% in Europe. Availability has also improved significantly, with sales of most GPU models from both AMD and Nvidia doubling month-over-month. This report comes on the heels of ASRock, a GPU maker, noting that GPU pricing is easing as demand from Chinese cryptocurrency miners wanes

More budget-oriented cards like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT are seeing the most positive results, with a near 50% drop in price compared to last month. For flagship cards like the RTX 3080 and RX 6800 XT, however, prices haven't moved as much. They have dipped a respectable 10-15% which is still a very positive change considering the shortage issues plaguing the technology industry.

European GPU Prices From May to June

(Image credit: ComputerBase)

In the United States, GPU pricing is slowly catching up to Europe, but it's still going down nonetheless. A Redditor named 'u/xclm' has created a chart comparing GPU prices of cards sold on eBay with the amount of mining horsepower it's capable of, over the course of the past month.

He found that prices are dropping reasonably well with a 20% average price drop for all cards this month compared to May, and the higher-performing cards like the RTX 3090 have seen an even higher drop of 32% in price.

Average GPU Prices In Sold eBay Listings

(Image credit: Reddit)

This change in market behavior is mostly attributed to China regulating crypto mining, and the big drop in the value of large cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin. The situation has reduced demand from miners and at the same time is forcing miners to sell off large batches of graphics cards. That's a big difference from the first quarter of the year, when 700,000 GPUs were reportedly shipped to cryptominers.

It appears the graphics card shortage may be seeing the end of its days as Europe and American GPU prices start to drop. Don't expect a complete restoration anytime soon, but hopefully this means more people will be able to get graphics cards at more reasonable prices.

Aaron Klotz
Contributing Writer

Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

  • daworstplaya
    Great news for gamers everywhere. Now all countries need to ban Crypto so we can be done with it permanently.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    Well 50% reduction when there are at least 250% too expensive… is not so Big drop so far, but yeah hopefully this means somewhat better prices.
    Can crypto be forbidden in normal democratic country… not so sure. But maybe some hedty energy using tax would make the maining useless?
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    hannibal said:
    Can crypto be forbidden in normal democratic country… not so sure.
    I'm fairly confident that more governments will eventually come down hard on crypto once they decide that they want to collect crypto income taxes on new block credits, crypto capital gains on transactions and related fees, clamp down on crypto power drain, crypto ransomware, crypto money-laundering, etc.

    While China may be the first to implement large-scale bans, it won't be the last.
    Reply
  • VforV
    ...but hopefully this means more people will be able to get graphics cards at more reasonable prices.
    There is nothing reasonable about prices dropping from x3 MSRP to x2 MSRP.
    This so called "drop" = ZERO effect for gamers. Still only the idiots will be fooled to buy them and people with common sense will wait, again and more...

    I'm tired of all publications and youtube channels making click-bait titles and not reporting the truth, just their spinned half truths to make more traffic.

    Every journalist with integrity should say: "prices are still extremely high and the drops are insignificant, so the end results is that there is no real change in the situation."
    Bleh.
    Reply
  • Grindathotte
    There's potential for a price crash, though huge demand may make that unlikely. If hoarders see prices going down they may try to sell quickly to beat the trend, thus pushing prices down further and so increasing the desire to sell quickly, and so on... Well, we can but dream. Nice to see a bit of good news on this front anyway.
    Reply
  • sizzling
    In the UK there is a chain that deal with secondhand electronics called CEX. About 1-2 months ago they were offering to buy my 3080 for just over £1400. Might seem low but remember they have to add VAT and a warranty when they sell items. Today they are offering £688. Seems they are expecting a shift in price or demand or both.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    VforV said:
    There is nothing reasonable about prices dropping from x3 MSRP to x2 MSRP.
    What is or isn't reasonable is relative. For the rest of us, a markups meltdown is a welcome sign that supply is catching up with demand.

    Grindathotte said:
    There's potential for a price crash, though huge demand may make that unlikely. If hoarders see prices going down they may try to sell quickly to beat the trend, thus pushing prices down further and so increasing the desire to sell quickly, and so on... Well, we can but dream. Nice to see a bit of good news on this front anyway.
    You also need to consider the other side of the equation: potential buyers thinking of buying at $2000 instead of $3000 may be nervous about paying $2000 when it looks like they may be able to get it for $1500 or less by waiting just a little while longer, so there may be additional demand depression and downward pricing pressure there too.

    The scalper gig is almost up, now they have to start worrying about getting stuck with stale inventory.
    Reply
  • Grindathotte
    InvalidError said:
    You also need to consider the other side of the equation: potential buyers thinking of buying at $2000 instead of $3000 may be nervous about paying $2000 when it looks like they may be able to get it for $1500 or less by waiting just a little while longer, so there may be additional demand depression and downward pricing pressure there too.

    The scalper gig is almost up, now they have to start worrying about getting stuck with stale inventory.
    Exactly! This is what happened to house prices in the UK a while back.
    Reply
  • VforV
    I'm sorry I'm pessimistic about all this, but until I see the prices at MSRP there is no good news for me.

    I couldn't care less if they are +500% or +50% over MSRP. Both cases are a big NO for me and I will never give in to this kind of **** and pay up.

    GPUs are already more expensive than ever, even at MSRP, and that is enough grief for me to accept.

    I can't wait for Intel DG2 to come, so these are desperate times if I find myself waiting for an Intel product to help the situation...
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    VforV said:
    I'm sorry I'm pessimistic about all this, but until I see the prices at MSRP there is no good news for me.
    Well, you may see cards "at MSRP" soon since some RTX3060Tis launched with ~$1000 MSRPs.

    If what you actually meant by "at MSRP" is actually pre-crypto-boom or more in line with "traditional" price points for given performance tiers based on names, then you can forget about that. We are still in the middle of a chip shortage and even all of the new fabs on their way for 2022-2024 may not necessarily be enough to fully catch up with fab backlogs. MSRPs going up ~20% across the board relative to where they used to be will likely be permanent.

    The only way prices may go down below 1H2020 levels would be if there is a demand crash across the board forcing chip manufacturers to drop prices to stimulate demand or go bankrupt from not having anything they can make and sell for a profit in their shiny new fabs.
    Reply