Finally, the good news is on the way this year for gamers looking to upgrade their GPU. After a few years of crazy graphics card prices, GPU pricing has finally dropped this year and is expected to sell at the market’s normal retail price. If you want to upgrade your PC or buy a good GPU for your new PC, this year may be the best time to do so. However, there are several important concerns that you must be aware of in order to purchase a GPU at the right time for the best buy.
So, what are the reasons behind the decline in GPU pricing, and what is the current state of the graphics card market? Here’s all you need to know about GPU pricing dropping in 2023:
The reason behind the high price of the GPU
Many people moved toward the world of video games as a result of the lockdown caused by COVID. To pass their free time at home, many people wanted to play expensive games and watch AAA movies. However, the majority of these non-gamers need a gaming PC, which forced them to purchase a graphics card for their PC in order to play video games in good quality.
On the other hand, cryptocurrency miners are already growing increasingly greedy for high-performance GPUs and purchasing graphics cards as soon as they become available, causing a shortage of graphics cards in the market. Since there has been a rapid spike in demand and there is a limited supply, manufacturers saw this as an excellent opportunity to sell GPUs at high prices.
Why are GPU prices falling
Although the pricing graph fluctuated, it was primarily on the downward side beginning in March 2022, when GPU prices started to drop. The online market saw a $1,000 price drop for graphics cards like the GeForce RTX 3080. The most notable decline was seen when comparing AMD’s graphics card to other well-known brands like Nvidia. GPU market prices have decreased by 12.5%, even on the secondhand market. The price increased dramatically during the last few months of 2022, but by the end of December 2022, it had begun to decline once again.
After the lockdown was lifted in most countries, individuals resumed their usual schedules of work and had no time for high-end gaming, which requires a dedicated GPU. As a result, the market for graphics cards saw a drop in new customers. The decline in cryptocurrency mining profits is the second important factor. Crypto miners are losing interest in their work as it no longer generates a big profit. Because of this, GPU sales have decreased significantly.
When is the best time to buy a GPU?
There are now two factors on which the answer depends. You can look forward to it if you want to purchase a used graphics card or an older generation GPU because the cost of used GPUs is reduced by about 10%. The graph is consistently moving down after December 2022, especially for AMD GPUs, therefore, if you’re someone who’s building a new PC or want to buy a new GPU, it might be good to wait a little longer (1-2 months) to see if the prices reduce more.
With the price reduction, Nvidia doesn’t look to be very flexible. Considering that the 12 GB RTX 3080 costs $400 more than the 10 GB version. On the other hand, costs for some entry-level graphics card models from Nvidia and AMD are dropping steadily.