Nvidia’s next-generation GeForce RTX 40-series ‘Ada Lovelace’ graphics cards are rumored to be mere weeks away, going up against the best graphics cards, but they are not going to be cheap initially. If you want something cheaper, it may be time to consider buying a GeForce RTX 30-series ‘Ampere’ board, as they are reportedly going to get even cheaper in the coming weeks.
Nvidia’s add-in-board (AIB) partners are planning to cut prices of GeForce RTX 30-series products already later this month, according to reports from China-based MyDrivers and Zol that cite their own sources (via VideoCardz). At present, it is unknown how significant price cuts are going to be and which cards will get cheaper, but the reports indicate that they will get more affordable than they are today. In fact, promotional campaigns for higher-end GeForce RTX 3080 Ti/3090/3090 Ti that will put them hundreds of dollars below MSRP for a limited time are also planned.
Both AMD and Nvidia are expected to introduce their next-generation Radeon RX 7000-series and GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs in the coming weeks or months. Before doing so, they need to sell off existing inventory, which is why both companies are going to slash prices on existing graphics cards. Since Nvidia appears to have more GPUs in stock, price cuts on GeForces are expected to be more aggressive when compared to price reductions of AMD's Radeon products, though AMD's GPUs are already selling well below MSRP in most cases.
It should be noted that Nvidia slashed prices of its higher-end GeForce RTX 30-series boards in mid-July. In fact, many of those boards are sold below their new MSRPs right now. To add some context, here are the existing EVGA.com prices when compared to recommended prices from mid-July as well as original MSRPs.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Existing Price | Mid-July, 2022, MSRP | Original MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | $1399 | $1499 | $1999 |
| GeForce RTX 3090i | $1229 | $1299 | $1499 |
| GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | $899 | $1099 | $1199 |
| GeForce RTX 3080 12GB | $799 | $799 | ? |
| GeForce RTX 3080 10GB | $749 | ? | $699 |
| GeForce RTX 3070 Ti | $609 | ? | $599 |
| GeForce RTX 3070 | $596 | ? | $499 |
| GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | $479 | ? | $399 |
| GeForce RTX 3060i | $399 | ? | $329 |
| GeForce RTX 3050 | $249 | ? | $249 |
Keeping in mind that Nvidia will start rolling-out its GeForce RTX 40-series with the higher-end models, it's logical for the company's partners to sell off GeForce RTX 3080 Ti/3090/3090 Ti first, which is why these products are now below MSRPs. It also helps that those were all severely overpriced to begin with. If Nvidia's AIB partners still have excessive boards in stock before the green company launches its Ada Lovelace lineup, we expect these products to get even cheaper, which is what two Chinese websites are reporting.
It is noteworthy that some of EVGA's midrange GeForce RTX 30-series boards are sold at prices that are higher when compared to Nvidia's recommended prices. Considering the fact that we are months away from mid-range GeForce RTX 40-series, there is no current need to sell them below MSRP. Several weeks down the road, Nvidia's AIB partners may reconsider dropping their prices on mid-range GeForce RTX 30-series devices as well.
Nvidia and its allies will not confirm planned prices cuts before they start to sell at those prices, so we do not expect any official information to emerge right now. Meanwhile, we do see rational to cut prices of GeForce RTX 30-series ahead of next-generation launch, so it is reasonable to expect existing boards to get cheaper in the coming weeks.
