AMD vs Nvidia price war heats up with GPU prices finally dropping
The GPU nightmare is over but the price war has begun…
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There’s more good news for PC gamers as GPU prices continue to fall – withAMDgraphics cardsdropping faster than Nvidia GPUs.
Wereported a few days agoabout how AMD cards were nearing MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) at certain retailers, and now the HardwareUnboxedYouTubechannel has released a report on the kind of price drops we’re seeing at Newegg, one of the biggest retailers in the US for computing components.
According toHardwareUnboxed(and we’ve checked the prices as well), recentAMD graphics cardsare now on average just 5% above MSRP. This wouldn’t normally be anything to celebrate, but after years of inflated GPU prices due to aglobal chip shortageandcryptocurrencyboom, it’s definitely good news.
Some AMD GPUs have seen noticeable price drops between April and May, with theAMD Radeon RX 6600 XTdropping by 15%, theAMD Radeon RX 6700 XTdropping by 14% and theAMD Radeon RX 6800 XTdropping by 13%.
On average, the price of AMD GPUs dropped by 8% on NewEgg between April and May. Perhaps most encouragingly, the new high-end AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT launched in May with an MSRP of $1,100 (around £900 / AU$1,600), which is what NewEgg is selling it for. The new budget AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is also selling for its $400 (around £320 / AU$570) MSRP.
Along with the price drops for existing GPUs, this suggests that the era of paying above MSRP for GPUs could finally be over. For AMD graphics cards, at least.
What about Nvidia?
If you’d rather have aGPU from Nvidia, then there’s good news there as well, as prices have also been dropping for team green’s graphics cards. However, as HardwareUnboxed reports, the drops forNvidiacards are less dramatic, with an average drop of 6% from April to May.
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The biggest drops on Newegg were for theNvidia GeForce RTX 3080 10GB(-15%), the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 12GB (-12%),Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060(-12%) andNvidia GeForce RTX 3070(-10%).
While this is a trend that’s certainly encouraging, Nvidia GPUs are still selling on average 24% above MSRP, making its graphics card a much worse value proposition than AMD’s.
Analysis: What does this mean for PC gamers?
This is all encouraging news for PC gamers who have had to put up with a real GPU nightmare these past few years. What little stock there was had been sold at such an inflated price that many people simply couldn’t upgrade theirgaming PCs– or buy or build a new one.
These price drops, then, show that things are finally stabilizing. Chip production is ramping up again, andcryptocurrencies are crashing. While bad news for cryptocurrency miners and investors, it means GPU stock isn’t being bought up by miners at least.
We may even start seeing a price war again as AMD and Nvidia fight for customers. AMD is certainly winning this at the moment, with many Nvidia cards still well over MSRP.
What is most encouraging is that new GPUs like the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT andNvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Tiare selling at MSRP, which bodes well for the future, especially as both Nvidia and AMD are expected to launch a new generation of GPUs later this year.
However, it’s interesting to note that according to the report, two GPUs actuallyincreasedin price between April and May: theAMD Radeon RX 6600and theNvidia GeForce RTX 3050. Both of these are mid-range GPUs on the cheaper side, which suggests that there’s strong demand foraffordable GPUs, and this is where we may see the next GPU price war take place.
ViaVideoCardz
Matt is TechRadar’s Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there’s no aspect of technology that Matt isn’t passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining TechRadar in 2014, he’s reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.
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