NVIDIA & AMD GPU Prices Recovery Halts As Graphics Cards Start Getting Expensive Once Again But With Sustained Availability

Crypto Miners, Not Gamers, Were The Primary Buyers of Graphics Cards Since 2021, Almost $15 Billion Worth of GPU Sales Reported

NVIDIA and AMD GPU-based graphics cards are once again getting expensive after showing signs of recovery earlier this quarter. The latest report from 3DCenter shows that while GPU availability has now reached sustainable levels, the main pricing issue still hasn't been resolved and graphics cards are showing an upward trend in terms of pricing.

It was at the beginning of the second quarter when both AMD & NVIDIA saw their biggest recovery in terms of GPU supply and subsequently, prices for their current-generation graphics cards. Since then, both AMD and NVIDIA have been retaining around prices 50 to 60 percent over their MSRPs which is still a far cry from their original price tags but not as bad as the 2x-3x markups which shop keepers and retailers were asking just a quarter earlier.

Graphics Card Prices in ???????????????? Aug 29, 2021

???? Availability is still good, but lose a step.

???? AMD prices slightly up (again).

???? nVidia breaks its trend, prices now going up as well.https://t.co/CFEsLahDYW pic.twitter.com/cLSwn6f80v

— 3DCenter.org (@3DCenter_org) August 30, 2021

The GPU market has been trying to recover ever since the recent crypto boom and the COVID-19 supply constraints which have hampered the industry but that recovery is starting to come to a halt, as reported by 3DCenter in the latest statistics. Compared to early August, NVIDIA graphics cards are now 59% expensive (vs 50%) while AMD graphics cards are 64% expensive (vs 59%). It's a small increase but it breaks the downward trend of NVIDIA and is the largest increase in price since May 2021.

It is also reported that while decent availability is sustained throughout this month, the graphics cards based on NVIDIA and AMD GPUs are still short. Certain SKUs such as the Radeon RX 6800, Radeon RX 6800 XT, Radeon RX 6600 XT, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, and RTX 3090 are hard to find. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 (Non-XT) is almost like it doesn't exist anymore since it's the hardest card to find right now. The Big Navi RX 6800 series also have the highest markups with prices 95% over the MSRP.

AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series Graphics Card Prices (RDNA 2 GPUs) via 3DCenter:

Over at NVIDIA's front, flagship graphics cards such as the RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 Ti are under 30% markup over MSRP but the situation worsens with the likes of the RTX 3080, RTX 3070, RTX 3060, all three of which are around the 70% markup range. Following is NVIDIA's breakdown of prices.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series Graphics Card Prices (Ampere GPUs) via 3DCenter:

https://twitter.com/TechEpiphany/status/1431972529888022529

Nvidia Units 2270 = 67.66%

Radeon Units 1085 = 32.34%

Radeon Top 5 Selling Brand Line!

RX 6700XT 12GB = 550 Units.

RX 6600 XT 8GB= 310 Units.

RX 6800 XT 16GB = 90 Units.

RX 6900 XT 16GB = 75 Units.

RX 6800 16GB = 50 Units.

Nvidia Top 5 Selling Brand Lines!

RTX 3060 TI 8GB = 590 Units.

GTX 1660 Ti 6GB = 325 Units.

RTX 3080 10 GB = 265 Units.

RTX 3080 Ti 12GB = 240 Units.

RTX 3060 12GB = 225 Units.

Now, based on recent reports, it is likely that COVID-19 restrictions could once again result in limited production of graphics cards based on NVIDIA and AMD GPUs, hampering the recovery rate. Mainstream graphics cards such as the GeForce RTX 3060 series and Radeon RX 6600 XT could be severely affected by this. Furthermore, TSMC is expected to raise prices of 7nm chips which is what the RDNA 2 graphics cards are made on.

A 10% price increase for the 7nm node could further raise the prices of AMD's graphics cards which rely on TSMC for the production of its GPUs. NVIDIA on the other hand relies on Samsung's 8nm node & which has given the edge over AMD's Radeon RX 6000 series lineup since, unlike TSMC, Samsung doesn't have its 7nm production packed to full capacity with various orders from AMD and other chipmakers.

Despite that, the demand for NVIDIA's graphics cards is on the rise and GeForce RTX 30 series is the most profitable lineup in terms of crypto mining at the moment. LHR might have saved the initial stock of gaming cards from getting into miners hands but the recent NBMiner update makes it seem like they won't be saved for long. Regardless of how many graphics cards AIBs can produce, the demand is very high for gaming graphics cards, and with crypto mining not easing down, several analysts and NVIDIA's CEO, Jensen, believes that supply constraints would persist even in 2022.