With the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum reaching record highs, it appears we're in for another round of cryptocurrency-fueled mania. It isn't surprising to hear the latest news out of China where, according to a MyDrivers report, pricing on the best graphics cards is beginning to increase yet again.
The impact of the increasing cryptocurrency mining profitability is obviously going to spread, and the effect is also already in full swing in China. MyDrivers has tracked pricing for key Asus GPU models, logging the following monthly price increases:
According to the MyDrivers data, the RTX 3070 Ti saw the largest price increase, amounting to up to 600 Yuan, or about $92 USD. Asus's Radeon RX 6600 XT has also risen by $61 (400 Yuan).
Another vendor, Gigabyte, is also seeing price hikes:
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Gigabyte PU Models
Sept. Increase over August
RTX 3090 and RTX 3080
$30-61 (200-400 Yuan)
RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3070
$15-46 (100-300 Yuan)
RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3060
$46 (300 Yuan)
RTX 2060, GTX 1660, and GTX 1650
$15 (100 Yuan)
The pricing situation with other AIBs is unknown, but MSI is reportedly also struggling with tight supply. On a more general level, MyDrivers notes that RTX 2060, GTX 1660 Super, and RTX 3070 and above are suffering from shortages, while the RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3060, and GTX 1050 Ti have had relatively better supply.
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In a news thread awhile back I said this wouldn't calm down 'till 2023... heh, perhaps I wasn't far off the mark after all...
daworstplaya said:
When is this insanity going to end?
When demand goes down.
Supply is as high as it's ever been, even pre-Covid - or so I've inferred from reading around...
People still want/need graphics cards. Expect the next gen of cards to be caught up in it too.
Since enough people are displaying that they're fine with paying higher prices, companies/resellers are missing out on potential profits by not raising prices.
So in the end, blame people: it'll end when enough of us decide it's over.
This craze will continue as long as crypto exchanges still allow you to convert crypto coins into "real" money (USD, whatever). Money rules - it doesn't matter what problems occurs, that's for someone else to deal with.
If/when this pandemic calms down worldwide, I think we'll still have supply shortage as long as miners (commercial or individuals) keep buying cards en masse. That keeps supply short, and it definitely isn't to Nvidia/AMD/AIBs' benefit to have lower prices. So to use a trite phrase - higher GPU prices is the "new normal" - sadly.
