For the past three months, graphics card pricing seems to be on a consistent down trend, according to the latest price analysis conducted by 3D Center for the Austrian and German markets. Pricing for the Best Graphics cards still lingers way above MSRP - the median price for AMD graphics cards sits at around 145%, while Nvidia's are still trading above that at 157% of launch pricing. This, of course, for those models whose MSRP was disclosed in the first place.
Prices are currently still trending slightly above the first data point on the price analysis, set at January 2021. However, they are a far cry from the peak pricing nightmare for current-gen graphics cards: we saw Nvidia's 3000-series selling for around 318% their MSRP in May of last year. AMD's cards didn't soar as high (the company's lesser market share certainly contributed to this), but still hit a historic high at 216% MSRP around the same time.
While the current median pricing for both AMD and Nvidia is still a far cry from optimal, prices seem to be accelerating their descent. Nvidia's median pricing dropped 30% since December, where they sold for around 187% MSRP - starting with a 2% decline from December 12th to January 2nd, followed by a 8% decline through January 23rd - and an extremely significant, further 20% decline up to February 13th. Pricing for AMD graphics cards seems to be following this trend, albeit at a more accelerated rate: price declines stand at 5%, 15%, and 18% respectively, for a total drop of around 37% in the same period.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | December 12th | January 2nd | January 23rd | February 13th |
| AMD | 183% | 178% (-5%) | 163% (-15%) | 145% (-18%) |
| Nvidia | 187% | 185% (-2%) | 177% (-8%) | 157% (-20%) |
Interestingly, AMD's budget-minded RX 6500 XT graphics card currently stands as the card closest to its $299 MSRP - average listing prices for it currently stand at 117% MSRP, following a significant, 26% reduction compared to January 23rd. Perhaps AMD did cut too much on that card's design and performance for it to be an appealing option for PC gamers - demand being below expectations likely stands as the reason for this price action. AMD's second most "discounted" card in the intervening time stands as the RX 6800, with a 25% reduction. On the green fields of Nvidia, the RTX 3080 stands as the most "discounted" card, with average selling prices declining by a significant 26% since January 23rd - closely followed by the RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3060 Ti, which saw declines to the tune of 24%.
While we have to be cautious in generalizing this data to worldwide supply and pricing, the latest analysis ties in with our previous in-depth report of increasing amounts of graphics cards standing on retailers' and etailers' shelves. As demand from gamers is likely abating in wake of the impending Intel Arc Alchemist series launch and this year's expected new graphics card families from both AMD and Nvidia, consumers willing (and able) to pay the currently practiced prices are increasingly fewer. Paired with lower demand from supply-guzzling Ethereum miners - following its recent price slump and the chain's ever-approaching move from mining towards Proof of Stake (PoS) - retailers are being forced to lower pricing in order to meet new demand levels.
A caveat, as always: looking at the price evolution for graphics cards compared with Ethereum's valuation, a correlation is clear. while the current price-action is welcome (and coming late as it is), we're still mostly on the hands of miners. A positive enough price-action for Ethereum could bring down the timing needed to achieve return on investment (a currently abhorrent scenario according to our own math), which is already helped by the declining GPU prices. We can, however, always hope for a smooth return to normalcy.
