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GPU prices could fall dramatically in a matter of weeks

Monica J. White
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New leaks suggest some great news is imminent for the ever-so-dry graphics card market. Not only are we — reportedly — soon going to see a GPU price drop, but it looks like the next generation of graphics cards may have a lot to offer.

The upcoming AMD RDNA3 and Nvidia RTX 40-series graphics cards are seemingly going to offer close performance, creating greater competition on the market.

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It looks like GPU prices are going to drop dramatically next month. I hope that's true.👀

— Greymon55 (@greymon55) February 20, 2022

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There’s a lot to unpack in this latest round of leaks, but perhaps the most exciting piece of gossip comes from Greymon55, a known source for leaks on all things tech on Twitter. Greymon55 shared a cryptic tweet, implying that GPU prices will “drop dramatically” starting next month. While the leaker doesn’t specify what might be the cause of this huge drop, it certainly brings a much-needed glimmer of hope at a time when graphics cards are still outrageously priced.

We’ve had a lot of conflicting information about the GPU shortage, and more precisely, about when it might finally come to an end. CEOs of Nvidia, AMD, and Intel all shared their thoughts on the matter at one point or another, and many sources seemed to point to 2022 being better than 2021, but not quite as good as we’d like. However, there are reasons to believe Greymon55 might be right — at least to some extent.

Just recently, we reported on 3DCenter’s recent findings in regards to graphics cards prices, and it’s good to see that they have been on a slow, but steady decline. In addition, the supply levels continue rising, making it easier to score one of the best GPUs, albeit still at an elevated price. Intel will soon be joining the fray alongside Nvidia and AMD, and with a rumored 4 million GPUs to be shipped in 2022, it will only serve to improve supply levels even further.

Since the start of the GPU shortage, manufacturers have been trying to increase their graphics card supplies, but until recently, the results have been unsatisfactory. Many attribute this to GPU scalpers, who buy out the cards in seconds and resell at higher prices, and also to cryptocurrency miners, who need a lot of GPUs to sustain their mining needs and are not afraid to pay the scalper premiums. However, crypto prices are now the lowest they’ve been in months, and with Ethereum rumored to soon move to a proof-of-stake model, GPU mining will certainly take a hit. This should, hopefully, preserve more graphics cards for PC enthusiasts.

Promotional photo of an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

After dropping the big news about GPU prices, Greymon55 went on to talk about the upcoming generation of graphics cards: Nvidia 40-series “Ada Lovelace” and AMD RDNA3. Both lineups are set to release later this year, and many are wondering just what kind of performance we can expect from them. Interestingly, Greymon55 estimates them to be at around the same level.

Compared to Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3090, Greymon55 said that RDNA3 cards will offer around 2.5 times the performance, while Ada Lovelace GPUs are estimated at 2-2.5 times. This makes it sound like both manufacturers will provide about the same boost compared to current-gen cards, but 3DCenter went a few steps further to gauge the difference between the two. When compared in 4K performance, Nvidia Ada Lovelace GPUs continue to show a 2-2.5 times increase, while AMD RDNA3 caps out at 2.3 times the performance of the RTX 3090. Of course, keep in mind that all of this is based on rumors, and we won’t know the actual numbers for a while yet. We’ve already seen similar reports about Ada Lovelace GPUs around the end of 2021.

As the release of next-gen graphics cards draws closer, the currently elusive AMD RDNA2 and Nvidia RTX 30-series GPUs may only benefit in terms of pricing. Potential PC builders will start holding out for the next generation of cards, and this could be beneficial to those who are more than happy to just get a decent GPU and aren’t chasing the latest and greatest.

With such a close race between the two GPU giants, and the prices potentially continuing to drop, we may have a very exciting year ahead. Let’s hope that Greymon55 is right and March will bring better tides for the graphics card market.

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Monica J. White
Monica J. White
Computing Writer
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
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