There’s more good news for PC gamers as GPU prices continue to drop, with AMD graphics cards dropping faster than Nvidia GPUs.
We reported a few days ago on how AMD cards were approaching MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) at some retailers, and now the YouTube channel HardwareUnboxed has published a report on the kind of price drop we’re seeing at Newegg, one of Largest Retailers in the United States for Computer Components.
According to HardwareUnboxed (and we also checked the prices), recent AMD graphics cards now average just 5% above MSRP. This would normally be nothing to celebrate, but after years of inflated GPU prices due to a global chip shortage and the cryptocurrency boom, this is definitely good news.
Select AMD GPUs saw notable price drops between April and May, with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT down 15%, the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT down 14%, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT down 13%.
On average, the price of AMD GPUs fell 8% on NewEgg between April and May. Perhaps most encouragingly, the new high-end AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT launched in May with an MSRP of $1,100 (about £900 / AU$1,600), which is what NewEgg is selling it for. The new budget AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT also sells for its MSRP of $400 (about £320 / AU$570).
Along with price cuts for existing GPUs, this suggests that the era of paying above MSRP for GPUs may finally be over. For AMD graphics cards, at least.
What about Nvidia?
If you’d rather have a GPU from Nvidia, then there’s also good news, as prices have also come down for the green team graphics cards. However, as HardwareUnboxed reports, the declines for Nvidia cards are less dramatic, with an average drop of 6% from April to May.
The biggest drops on Newegg were for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 10GB (-15%), Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 12GB (-12%), Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (-12%) and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 ( -10%) .
While this is certainly an encouraging trend, Nvidia GPUs still sell for an average of 24% above MSRP, making its graphics card a much worse value proposition than AMD’s.
Analysis: What does this mean for PC gamers?
This is encouraging news for PC gamers who have had to put up with a veritable GPU nightmare for the past few years. What little stock there was had been sold at such an inflated price that many people simply couldn’t upgrade their gaming PCs – or buy or build a new one.
These price drops therefore show that things are finally stabilizing. Chip production is rising again and cryptocurrencies are collapsing. While this is bad news for miners and cryptocurrency investors, it does mean that GPU stock is not being bought by miners at least.
We might even start to see a price war again as AMD and Nvidia battle it out for customers. AMD is certainly winning that right now, with many Nvidia cards still well above MSRP.
What’s most encouraging is that new GPUs like the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti are selling at MSRP, which bodes well for the future, especially since Nvidia and AMD are expected to launch a new generation of GPUs later. year.
However, it’s worth noting that according to the report, two GPUs actually increased prices between April and May: the AMD Radeon RX 6600 and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050. Both of these GPUs are cheaper mid-range GPUs, suggesting that there is a strong demand for affordable GPUs, and c is where we can see the next GPU price war will take place.
Going through video cardz
