Image: Nvidia
A toast to your gamers: The GPU inventory shortage is coming to an end. If you’re a PC gamer or content creator, you don’t need any reminders that over the past few years, supply shortages have been largely driven by the ongoing pandemic.
You’ve heard this story countless times before, but this time, it has a happy ending. GPU inventory is finally normalizing, and prices for AMD and Nvidia graphics cards are dropping close to MSRP. To mark the dawn of this new era, Nvidia has launched a ‘Restocked and Reloaded’ campaign in the UK, featuring stocked products you couldn’t dream of buying just a few months ago.
Image: 3DCenter Germany
Not every card is available or sold at retail prices, but the GPU landscape is better than at any point in the past two years. In fact, 3DCenter Germany (via Tom’s Hardware) released a report Monday showing that AMD GPU prices have dropped an average of 13% over the past three weeks, while Nvidia graphics cards have dropped 6%. The price cuts for Nvidia cards may be slowing, but both Team Red and Team Green components are now near MSRP, below the peak markup of over 300%.
The Verge updated its street vs. MSRP price charts using April data and found that in the worst-case scenario, a card sells for about $400 more than the asking price, while some models sell for real below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. AMD’s RX 6900 XT, a high-end desktop GPU, sells for $961, down from its $999 retail price. Generally speaking, the markup is higher for Nvidia cards.
Can I finally buy a new Nvidia RTX or AMD RX GPU?
For the everyday consumer, a quick search of popular retailers like Best Buy, Newegg and Amazon will reveal that many of the cards are actually in stock. For example, the Gigabyte, Asus, and MSI RTX 3050 models are available on Newegg for around $100 more than their retail price. Similarly, the ASRock Radeon RX 6700 XT is a 1440p gaming challenger to the RTX 3060 and 3070 for $569 (the Radeon RX 6700 XT has an MSRP of $479). Gamestop is also in it, selling the AMD RX 6600 GPU for $339, or just $10 above the MSRP.
You’ll still pay a relatively small markup for most cards, especially those that fall between the top and budget options. We just didn’t see the 2x or 3x price increase and the simultaneous increase in unrestricted cryptocurrency mining that we used to do at the height of the pandemic. As prices return to near-normal levels and drop at a slower rate, those holding on to a graphics card may feel compelled to take this step.
That being said, we’re far from having all options available to customers at any given time, and all stock cards from AMD and Nvidia are sold out. While not helping morale, it’s worth noting that GPUs are often sold below MSRP at this point, as next-gen graphics cards are just around the corner. AMD will have the highly anticipated RX 7000 RDNA 3 GPU ready later this year, while Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture will power the RTX 40-series graphics cards when they arrive this fall.
That leaves customers with a tricky dilemma, either buy today at close to the retail price or at a small markup, wait for prices to continue to drop, or risk the next-gen option. We can’t tell you which option to choose, but I can say – with a big smile on my face – that any of these options are worth more than a cheater’s pocket.
