Falling prices and increased inventory in Europe suggest that the GPU shortage could be coming to an end. A new report shows a nearly 50% drop in AMD and Nvidia graphics card prices in Europe, as well as a far greater variety of GPU models available.
The report comes from Computer Base, just a month after we reported on GPU price increases of up to 317% by European retailers. The RTX 3080, which has become somewhat of a poster child for the GPU shortage, dropped from a minimum price of 2,299 euros ($2,726) on May 17 to a minimum price of 1,499 euros ($1,777) on June 17. More importantly, there were only three RTX 3080 models available on May 17. Now, the report says there are 24 models available.
Similarly, the RTX 3060 dropped from 949 euros to 639 euros ($1,124 to $757) and the RTX 3070 dropped from 1,499 euros to 999 euros ($1,776 to $1,184). These cards also saw increased inventory over the past month, with the RTX 3060 jumping up from five models to 24 and the RTX 3070 jumping from four models to 26.
Prices are still far off what they should be, but the report shows that the GPU market is recovering. This report comes just a day after AMD board partner ASRock said it expects a steep decline in GPU demand from cryptocurrency miners over the next few months. Close to a year after Nvidia first launched the RTX 3080, things may be returning to normal.
There are a few explanations for the decline in demand. A recent report showed that 25% of all GPUs shipped in the first part of 2021 went to miners, but the falling values of popular coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum could reduce the number of cards miners need. China has also introduced stricter cryptocurrency regulations. China accounts for around 65% of all Bitcoin mining in the world, so the new regulations could cut off one of the main sources of GPU demand.
Nvidia also introduced the Lite Hash Rate (LHR) GPU core to its RTX 30-series graphics cards, which limits the Ethereum hash rate, and the company recently shifted production from last-gen cards to current-gen ones, hopefully increasing supply. The seemingly disjointed efforts to combat the GPU shortage are starting to align. Although it will still be many months before prices return to normal, at least it looks like there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
The news isn’t as sweet for hopeful U.S. buyers. Cards imported from China are still subject to hefty tariffs, so although we may see more cards become available over the next few months, they will still sell for well above MSRP. Secondhand prices are already falling, though. Reddit user u/gregable charted prices on eBay from the start of the year, and the graph shows a clear decline in the going price of current-gen cards.
