GPU Prices Drop Along With Crypto

AMD
(Image credit: AMD)

Bitcoin and Ethereum have hit record lows this week, approaching $30,000 and $2,200 respectively, which is nearly 50% off both crypto coins' highest values, according to CNBC. The slow but steady drop in crypto prices over the past month has in turn started a chain reaction in GPU pricing, as crypto mining becomes less and less feasible. Compared to last month, we're now seeing up to 11% lower card prices on eBay — and that's before the latest crypto losses.

We've compiled one week's worth of pricing data, from late December compared to the past week, showing a complete list of average GPU prices from eBay. We're only looking at the latest AMD and Nvidia graphics cards, though we'll update our GPU prices with the full month of data next week.

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Late December vs. Late January GPU Pricing From eBay
GPU ModelDecember 20th-27th Avg PriceGPUs SoldJanuary 17th-24th Avg PriceGPUs SoldPrice ChangeQuantity Change
RTX 3090$2,829.39312$2,550.86336-9.8%7.7%
RTX 3080 Ti$1,951.33247$1,863.94241-4.5%-2.4%
RTX 3080 12GBN/A0$1,681.229N/AN/A
RTX 3080 10GB$1,804.28416$1,595.41311-11.6%-25.2%
RTX 3070 Ti$1,191.25217$1,185.55241-0.5%11.1%
RTX 3070$1,139.29504$1,084.15349-4.8%-30.8%
RTX 3060 Ti$980.99572$933.63496-4.8%-13.3%
RTX 3060$749.11485$705.01400-5.9%-17.5%
Row 9 - Cell 0 Row 9 - Cell 1 Row 9 - Cell 2 Row 9 - Cell 3 Row 9 - Cell 4 Row 9 - Cell 5 Row 9 - Cell 6
RX 6900 XT$1,503.7745$1,558.92363.7%-20.0%
RX 6800 XT$1,363.5473$1,256.9261-7.8%-16.4%
RX 6800$1,263.1726$1,149.269-9.0%-65.4%
RX 6700 XT$901.37155$848.64105-5.8%-32.3%
RX 6600 XT$640.4998$607.5980-5.1%-18.4%
RX 6600$586.89100$518.6676-11.6%-24.0%
RX 6500 XTN/A0$375.229N/AN/A
Row 17 - Cell 0 Row 17 - Cell 1 Row 17 - Cell 2 Row 17 - Cell 3 Row 17 - Cell 4 Row 17 - Cell 5 Row 17 - Cell 6

On average, nearly every graphics card dropped in price by 5% or more, with a few GPUs even breaking into the double digits — the RTX 3090, RTX 3080 (10GB) and RX 6600 all dropped by 10% or more. However, GPU volume (at least on eBay) also dropped substantially for nearly all GPU models, with only the RTX 3090 and RTX 3070 Ti selling more cards in the past week than in late December.

The star of the show goes to AMD's Radeon RX 6600, which tied for the highest price drop of 11.6%, going from $586.89 down to just $518.66. While that doesn't necessarily equate to a great deal, that's arguably the best deal of 2022 in our current GPU market.

For reference, the RX 6600 completes reasonably with Nvidia's RTX 3060 12GB GPU in 1080p gaming performance, coming in just 4% slower (at least in non-ray tracing games). But the RTX 3060 12GB still costs a whopping $705 on eBay, giving the RX 6600 a huge lead in terms of performance per dollar. In fact, the closest Nvidia card you can find for $520-ish is the company's RTX 2060 6GB ($520) or GTX 1660 Super ($480), which are older and slower cards than the RX 6600.

Technically, AMD's Radeon RX 6500 XT is the cheapest current-generation GPU you can buy today, with an average price of just $375.22. However, its lackluster performance and feature set make it a stale buy in comparison to the RX 6600, despite it costing $143 more.

When we flip over to Nvidia's RTX 30-series products, there unfortunately aren't any truly compelling options even after the price drops. The 3070-series and 3060-series cards are only down about 5%, though perhaps lack of mining potential will end up keeping the upcoming RTX 3050 prices in check (fingers crossed).

The RTX 3080 10GB did drop 11.6% in price, the same as the RX 6600. However, with its far higher asking price of $1595, the 11.6% price drop feels mediocre at best. Still, we're happy to see all of Nvidia's graphics cards (with the exception of the RTX 3070 Ti) get decent price cuts as a whole.

There are also a couple of anomalies worth mentioning with the eBay chart trends. The RX 6900 XT increased in price by 3.7% over the past month, despite consumers buying 20% fewer cards. The RTX 3090 trends are also strange considering the card had a 10% price drop but an increase in sales of 7.7%. The same goes for the RTX 3070 Ti which saw a 0.5% price drop but saw a noticeably higher increase in sales by 11.1%. Regardless, if the current cryptocurrency trends continue, combined with increased graphics card production thanks to the waning ABF substrate shortages, we can expect to see prices continue to decline.

Aaron Klotz
Freelance News Writer

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

  • King_V
    I'd say it as "trend downward" rather than "plummet"

    Hopefully it keeps going, but this isn't a really big deal yet.
    Reply
  • LolaGT
    When street prices are below the MSRP then you'll have a worthy story.

    For actual gaming value that is where they need to be before any of them are a worthwhile buy.
    A 3080 at MSRP was a terrible deal to begin with, at the time I said anyone willing to pay $700+ shipping/tax was insane, and that would still be the same terrible deal today.
    They have a long, long way to go.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    eBay volume going down isn't necessarily something to worry about, could just be a sign of more people managing to get better deals at retailers and marketplaces now that scalping on eBay is cooling down. If it takes longer to find someone to scalp for each card you are already sitting on, it takes longer to recover capital to buy and scalp the next cards.
    Reply
  • bigdragon
    Looks like a small correction and hopefully the start of a lasting trend. GPUs used to sell for under MSRP with multiple games bundled in. We need to get back to those days.
    Reply
  • jacob249358
    LolaGT said:
    When street prices are below the MSRP then you'll have a worthy story.

    For actual gaming value that is where they need to be before any of them are a worthwhile buy.
    A 3080 at MSRP was a terrible deal to begin with, at the time I said anyone willing to pay $700+ shipping/tax was insane, and that would still be the same terrible deal today.
    They have a long, long way to go.
    The original $700 for a 3080 was not a terrible deal. Actually, it was considered the best bang for the buck of the 3000 series by pretty much anyone. I don't understand why you would think that. What GPU msrps do you think were a good deal?
    Reply
  • jacob249358
    And then crypto will go back up and GPUs will follow. I think we need some actual change like intel getting into the market or the ethereum merge actually happening. And before someone screams at me, I know, ethereum isn't the only mined crypto. But its the most popular and profitable.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    jacob249358 said:
    What GPU msrps do you think were a good deal?
    The MSRPs that would allow AMD and Nvidia to have a 10-15% net profit margin (what you would get in a truly competitive market) instead of the 30+% they are currently aiming for which is typically only achievable by oligopolies.
    Reply
  • jacob249358
    InvalidError said:
    The MSRPs that would allow AMD and Nvidia to have a 10-15% net profit margin (what you would get in a truly competitive market) instead of the 30+% they are currently aiming for which is typically only achievable by oligopolies.
    Yeah. I was saying this because the 3080 for $699 was such a good deal so I wanted to see what cards @LolaGT thought were good deals.
    Reply
  • drivinfast247
    LolaGT said:
    A 3080 at MSRP was a terrible deal to begin with, at the time I said anyone willing to pay $700+ shipping/tax was insane, and that would still be the same terrible deal today.
    They have a long, long way to go.
    You already forget about the 2080ti?
    Reply
  • VforV
    Where are these GPU price drops or where are they plummeting?

    At all the shops I look in EU still have the same prices, nothing's changed. Maybe if crypto stays down for at least a month, maybe we'll talk about this then...

    Click bait, BS title.

    InvalidError said:
    The MSRPs that would allow AMD and Nvidia to have a 10-15% net profit margin (what you would get in a truly competitive market) instead of the 30+% they are currently aiming for which is typically only achievable by oligopolies.
    I would love those MSRPs too, but you got some facts wrong, with today's MSRPs we have the 45% AMD tax and 60% nvidia tax... but also with nvidia now not having MSRP for 3080 12GB, 3090 Ti and 3070 Ti 16GB, the nvidia tax on those is from 60% to infinity.
    Reply