It'south time to take a look at the electric current state of the GPU market in our monthly update characteristic. In what shouldn't exist a surprise to anyone, graphics cards are however overly expensive and everyone involved is still making a ton of greenbacks. To cite one instance, Nvidia just appear their quarterly earnings which included a huge bound in year-on-year revenue for their gaming business. Then if you're a GPU manufacturer, you tin can be delighted with the current situation, and if y'all're a GPU buyer you'll be crying yourself to sleep.

Follow upwards: Stock Update December 2022, Jan 2022, February 2022

In this edition of the GPU pricing update, we're not going to spend as much fourth dimension talking about the current retail market place because not much has inverse over the last few months. Pricing of graphics cards on shop shelves remains high, availability is pretty good in well-nigh regions, it'due south but that the actual prices of those GPUs are inflated due to a diversity of marketplace pressures nosotros've been talking well-nigh for months now -- and all of information technology is unlikely to alter throughout the busy holiday shopping period.

In fact, we've been told by a couple of retailers that GPU sales right now aren't particularly keen as interest in cards at electric current prices is low, simply they can't reduce prices due to insidious tactics from suppliers like bundling and uncomplicated price inflation. And then in that location appears to be a bit of a stalemate on that front.

What nosotros do want to cover is the bigger question on everyone's heed for the past year: Will GPU pricing ever go downward? When will information technology go downward? And, are at that place whatever upcoming solutions to the problem in the works?

Upcoming Releases, a Possible Solution?

One item story that's been doing the rounds recently is that of an Nvidia RTX 2060 refresh with 12GB of VRAM. This launch has been bubbling away for some time now, with reports going back months, but it seems that things are gearing up to produce an RTX 2060 refresh old in January. Gigabyte models are starting to appear at the ECC, for example. Some are calling this a GPU aimed to combat miners and ease stock woes, but is this really going to be the case?

From a product standpoint, it should be cheaper to build an RTX 2060 than Nvidia'south other GPUs. It uses a previous-gen Turing GPU, which is built using TSMC's older and cheaper 12nm node, which is in slightly less need than their leading edge nodes. However, the RTX 2060 still uses GDDR6 memory, the same memory used on current GPUs including the RTX 3060, and the same corporeality as the 3060 at 12GB. And so if at that place are any supply constraints on GDDR6 memory, or pricing on that retention is however high, the RTX 2060 won't necessarily become a real solution to the GPU availability crisis.

However, considering it'south built on a mature node, it is possible that full supply for Nvidia GPUs will increase, provided they accept bought boosted capacity at TSMC, and we have no evidence to know whether they have or not. If supply is fully maxed out on Samsung'south 8nm node with no room to purchase boosted chapters, and if supply of GPU dies is the fundamental limitation for additional GPU production, then it'south possible this launch will increment supply.

But that's a lot of "ifs" and nosotros're not convinced that simply reverting to an older design on a more than mature node volition significantly boost the supply of GPUs. Throughout last year we heard of many price hikes and availability issues for all sorts of components used in putting together a graphics card, everything from retentivity and surface components, to the PCBs themselves -- solving foundry capacity is not the only limiting cistron.

The other big angle is, of grade, mining. The theory is that the RTX 2060 is a less attractive menu for miners compared to many others. However, that's not currently the case going by Whattomine's numbers. The RTX 2060 is more profitable right now than the RTX 3060, but that's from mining smaller coins. It'due south true the RTX 2060 is a less bonny option than a 3060 for Ethereum, but that'due south not the simply cryptocurrency you can mine. As well consider that even the RX 6600 XT is beingness snapped upwardly past miners and its profitability is hardly amazing, and so we don't think the RTX 2060 will be whatsoever less bonny. In other words, we suspect information technology'd still exist bought up for mining.

In our stance, releasing an RTX 2060 refresh and expecting that to have a pregnant bear upon on GPU pricing is far fetched. It'due south also highly unlikely that whatsoever refresh would be available at whatever MSRP Nvidia decides to set. They already take the RTX 3060 at $330, AMD has the Radeon RX 6600 at $330, and in that location's a strong used market for RTX 2060s. Presumably, Nvidia would have to fix an MSRP beneath $330, only the current market prices for the aforementioned cards are all in a higher place $500 -- or above $700 in the case of the 3060. Nvidia would demand to produce a massive amount of these cards to drag pricing in the market lower.

Prospective GPU launches. What If...

With all of that said, we don't remember releasing a refreshed RTX 2060 is a bad motion, as whatever pocket-size change may end up helping some people buy a more affordable GPU. It'due south also possible that an RTX 2060 re-release would be more bonny and better performing option than Nvidia releasing an RTX 3050 in the aforementioned price subclass. They could release an RTX 3050 at whatsoever moment (there's a laptop version already), so allow'southward break down a few numbers.

Nosotros know based on our latest data that the RTX 2060 is about 17 percent slower than the RTX 3060 at 1440p, and roughly 8 percent slower than an RX 6600. We too know from the mobile side that the RTX 3050 design using GA107, or even the RTX 3050 Ti for that matter, has at least 33 percentage fewer CUDA cores than an RTX 3060, and is limited to either 4 or eight GB configurations due to its 128-bit memory bus (with lower memory bandwidth to boot).

And then in mobile configurations, the RTX 3050 ends upwards somewhere between 25 and 35 percent slower than the RTX 3060, and many times it comes in slower than the RTX 2060. If information technology'southward cheaper or easier to produce the RTX 2060's 445 sq. mm TU106 die on TSMC 12nm than it is to produce the 3050's sub-200 sq.mm GA107 dice on Samsung 8nm, while also performing amend, it would come out as the improve option than moving frontwards with a desktop RTX 3050 design.

At that place have too been some rumors virtually a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and potentially other refreshes in the early on parts of 2022, however I don't think producing a new and super expensive GPU -- even more expensive than the RTX 3090 -- will help out likewise much (at least not gamers).

However, a more likely contender for improving the supply and pricing state of affairs would exist AMD's Navi 24 GPU designs, which we accept however to see and are currently expected in the early parts of 2022. At the moment, AMD has only released down to their Navi 23 designs, which are 237 sq.mm of TSMC 7nm and currently sit down every bit mid-range options.

Navi 24 would theoretically be a smaller, cheaper, easier to produce GPU with an MSRP in the $200 range (MSRP, market would push button real street price higher in the electric current climate). We haven't seen whatsoever new GPUs in that sort of class since the GTX 16 Super series and RX 5500 XT at the end of 2022. Then, of class, we take upcoming Intel Arc GPUs arriving in early 2022, which volition further add to GPU availability.

Every bit far as GPU makers are concerned, the possible solution is to produce more GPUs and produce new GPU options covering a wider pricing range, merely this has been a tiresome process. There is little incentive to speed that up as long as need for high-end GPUs remain heaven high every bit it'southward in companies' best interest to sell more of those. Nvidia too has their LHR program to reduce mining profitability, though miners have been slowly chipping away at information technology.

Outside of continuing to produce GPUs at a record rate, there isn't a real "solution" or a quick fix to what nosotros're currently seeing. Companies can't only go to customers and say "okay guys, that's enough, cease buying our GPUs well above MSRP, please simply buy at a lower price" – that'southward not how it works. Street pricing is dictated by supply and need, and it's only when those things change will we meet cost movement.

This makes the question of when pricing will go down difficult to answer. Pricing already has come up down from the absolute worst period in 2022, merely as expected has stagnated towards the busy shopping period at the cease of the year. Personally I find it difficult to make any sort of definitive predictions beyond that, as at that place's too many things going on.

Nonetheless the doom and gloom of GPU pricing remaining high I retrieve is overblown as I've said before. Cards are already sitting on shelves at inflated pricing, and if that continues for many months, sales will dry up and this will forcefulness pricing downward. We've seen peaks and troughs in the market before many times, this is really nothing new, although exceptional circumstances this time effectually is extending that smash period. Pricing for premium, high stop cards volition most certainly blow out well by $1500 with a future generation though, but that doesn't mean at that place won't be cards available at prices points covering the entire market.

GPU Pricing Update

At present allow's talk about the current GPU marketplace. Cryptocurrencies remain strong overall, with most coins including Ethereum increasing in value over the last calendar month. This has also seen an increment in difficulty, suggesting in that location's notwithstanding involvement in adding to the stockpile of GPUs beingness used for mining. Profitability for most of the month was increasing, until the final few days where crypto has cooled a fleck and left profitability calendar month on month flat. In other words, it's been a pretty typical month in 2022 for what's the master driver in GPU pricing.

Street prices for new GPUs was evaluated using eBay completed listings in the past calendar week, which show that after a couple of months of relatively apartment pricing, prices have risen in November.

That's expected considering what's happened in the crypto side, where scalper prices reverberate crypto prices to a lower degree and with a bit of a delay. Nvidia GPUs saw an average price hike of 6% month on month, with the largest gains for the RTX 3090 and RTX 3060 Ti, and the lowest for the RTX 3070 which rose by 4%.

MSRP eBay Average Price September eBay Average Price Oct eBay Average Cost November Current Cost Inflation Toll Increment October to November
GeForce RTX 3090 $1,500 $2,863 $2,818 $three,107 107% ten%
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti $1,200 $ane,880 $1,851 $1,916 lx% 4%
GeForce RTX 3080 $700 $ane,673 $1,534 $one,584 126% iii%
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti $600 $1,191 $i,151 $1,227 104% 7%
GeForce RTX 3070 $500 $ane,180 $ane,121 $one,170 134% 4%
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti $400 $866 $860 $946 136% 10%
GeForce RTX 3060 $330 $708 $692 $739 124% seven%
Boilerplate 113% 6%

Despite these price increases, Nvidia GPUs are withal selling for some of the lowest prices we've seen in 2022. Pricing is similar to the level we observed in Baronial and September, which is lower than the peaks seen in 2022.

MSRP eBay Average Cost September eBay Average Price October eBay Average Price November Current Toll Aggrandizement Price Increase October to November
Radeon 6900 XT $1,000 $1,569 $i,493 $i,585 59% half dozen%
Radeon 6800 XT $650 $1,411 $i,388 $1,524 134% ten%
Radeon 6800 $580 $ane,309 $1,254 $i,413 144% 13%
Radeon 6700 XT $480 $881 $872 $980 104% 12%
Radeon RX 6600 XT $380 $639 $621 $689 81% 11%
Radeon RX 6600 $330 $571 $584 77% 2%
Average 100% ix%

On the AMD side, pricing increased to a greater degree than Nvidia, which I doubtable is due to AMD's lower sales book and no restrictions over mining performance. New AMD GPUs from the Radeon RX 6000 series were upward 9% month on month, including large gains for products similar the 6700 XT. The 6600 was spared, every bit information technology already received the majority of its cost inflation at launch last month.

Like with Nvidia, the pricing trend for AMD GPUs has been billowy around for the concluding few months but hasn't changed substantially. Pricing is lower than what we saw in May and June, which was the height for AMD products. Based on product volume, information technology doesn't seem similar AMD is placing a huge priority on pushing out a ton of GPUs, except for the 6700 XT which is moving in decent amounts.

Used GPU Pricing

When there are increases in brand new, current-gen GPUs, there are similar increases in the used market. The GeForce RTX 20 serial saw price hikes across the board, with a hike of vi percent month on month.

The RTX 2060 Super was the most affected and somehow information technology'due south selling for $30 more than than the RTX 2070 on boilerplate. All of these GPUs are selling for well to a higher place their launch MSRP.

MSRP eBay Average Price September eBay Boilerplate Price Oct eBay Average Price November Current Cost Inflation Price Increase October to November
GeForce RTX 2080 Ti $i,000 $i,158 $one,102 $1,182 18% vii%
GeForce RTX 2080 Super $700 $804 $786 $841 20% 7%
GeForce RTX 2080 $700 $736 $713 $772 x% 8%
GeForce RTX 2070 Super $500 $720 $722 $768 54% vi%
GeForce RTX 2070 $500 $650 $676 $700 40% 3%
GeForce RTX 2060 Super $400 $662 $657 $732 83% 11%
GeForce RTX 2060 $350 $514 $535 $543 55% 1%
Boilerplate forty% six%
MSRP eBay Average Cost September eBay Average Price October eBay Average Toll November Electric current Price Inflation Toll Increase October to November
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti $280 $491 $476 $497 78% 4%
GeForce GTX 1660 Super $230 $494 $486 $520 126% vii
GeForce GTX 1660 $220 $378 $387 $417 90% 8%
GeForce GTX 1650 Super $160 $302 $299 $315 97% 6%
GeForce GTX 1650 $150 $262 $266 $263 75% -1%
Average 93% v%
MSRP eBay Average Toll September eBay Boilerplate Price October eBay Average Price November Current Cost Inflation Price Increment Oct to November
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti $700 $676 $669 $697 0% four%
GeForce GTX 1080 $600 $459 $464 $508 -fifteen% 10%
GeForce GTX 1070 Ti $450 $451 $453 $462 iii% 2%
GeForce GTX 1070 $380 $373 $380 $416 nine% 9%
GeForce GTX 1060 6GB $250 $309 $297 $326 30% 10%
GeForce GTX 1060 3GB $200 $214 $214 $235 17% ten%
Average seven% seven%

The GeForce 16 series is Nvidia's current mainstream range, although we're looking exclusively at used pricing here. Most GPUs increased in price, and it's ridiculous that cards like the GTX 1660 Super are selling for more than $500 used at the moment. I'm hoping the supposed RTX 2060 refresh and new Navi 24 GPUs will have some touch on hither, but I'g non counting on information technology.

The GeForce 10 series too saw price hikes, particularly for the GTX 1060 serial which is servicing the $300 market at the moment. If you lot were building a new PC and only had $300 to spend on a GPU, unfortunately the GTX 1060 is one of the best products to cull correct now, notwithstanding it all the same costs a lot more than than its $250 launch price for the 6GB version.

When mining profitability goes up, so does the price for AMD's Radeon RX 5000 series GPUs, especially the 5700 XT. It'due south pretty wild that right now, the 5700 XT is selling for slightly more than $i,000, which is ii.5x its launch MSRP of $400. Collectively, these are the highest prices for Radeon RX 5000 series GPUs since May, which is no coincidence as cryptocurrency prices are higher now than they were back and so.

AMD's older GPUs have as well increased in price. Just like before, RX 580 GPUs are not worth buying for gaming compared to the GTX 1060. If you asked me several years agone whether we'd notwithstanding be talking almost the RX 580 and GTX 1060 at the stop of 2022, I'd say y'all were dreaming, but here we are.

MSRP eBay Average Cost September eBay Average Toll October eBay Average Toll Nov Current Price Aggrandizement Toll Increase October to November
Radeon 5700 XT $400 $865 $943 $one,007 152% 7%
Radeon 5700 $350 $829 $817 $920 163% 13%
Radeon 5600 XT $280 $620 $617 $663 137% viii%
Radeon 5500 XT 8GB $200 $404 $408 $442 121% 8%
Average 143% nine%

The Waiting Game

And then that's the state of the GPU marketplace in November 2022. GPU prices are upwards beyond the board, and information technology seems that the upcoming "solution" to this may come in the form of a new range of graphics cards in early on 2022 -- specifically the supposed RTX 2060 refresh, Navi 24 GPUs from AMD, and of form, Intel's new Arc serial. Whether or not these will help to push GPU pricing downward is some other discussion entirely, but also they can't hurt the situation.

With cryptocurrency prices remaining high and an increment in demand at the end of every year due to holiday shopping, it was unlikely that GPU prices would go down correct before Christmas. There was certainly very little adventure AIBs and distributors would lower prices during this time when they've managed to squeeze the market all year, likewise, and we'd expect the trend to continue in December.

As we striking the final calendar month of 2022, what should y'all do in terms of buying new hardware?

Well, if you are edifice a new PC from scratch or wanting to jump into PC gaming, at that place'due south little choice only to pay ludicrous prices, although some products are better buys than others. Products like the RX 6600 are among the ameliorate value buys, while there are several older used GPUs that yous should definitely avert, like the RX 5700 XT, which is overly inflated because of its mining performance. The other two genuine options are to catch a pre-built system (see our picks here) or forget nigh PC gaming and catch a console instead, as long as you lot can likewise find 1 readily bachelor.

For those with existing PCs, there is trivial reason to upgrade correct at present. The majority of today'southward big PC releases play fine on older hardware, and titles like Battlefield 2042, to cite one case, would likely benefit more from a CPU upgrade than GPU upgrade -- even the RX 580 is fine at 1080p ultra settings provided your CPU is good plenty.

Older GPUs are also fine in titles like Far Cry half-dozen even at 1440p using medium settings. Sure, the experience isn't every bit good every bit it could be, but it'due south non like this current wave of new game releases is unplayable on older hardware. As we've shown before, ultra settings often don't brand sense and playing on high or even medium visual presets is fine, which further enables gaming on existing GPUs.

Shopping Shortcuts:
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  • Radeon RX 6600 on Amazon
  • Radeon RX 6600 XT on Amazon
  • GeForce RTX 3080 on Amazon
  • Intel Core i5-12600K on Amazon
  • Intel Core i7-12700KF on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen 7 5800X on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen 9 5900X on Amazon