GPU Availability and Pricing Update: August 2022

It's time for our monthly update into graphics bill of fare pricing and availability, a series that nosotros've been running since March, giving us a ton of useful insight into the current state of the GPU market. Graphics cards are still quite difficult to purchase at reasonable prices in near regions, but the month of August in detail has seen a number of developments that are worth talking near.

Follow up: Stock Update September 2022, Oct 2022, November 2022, December 2022, January 2022

The market is still facing complications that are affecting GPU prices. If you're new to this serial, in previous articles nosotros've described this equally a multi-factor situation. Many people are quick to identify all the blame on 1 surface area or another, but the reality is at that place are many contributing factors. As we sit hither in August, high demand for gaming GPUs, cryptocurrency mining, supply shortages for key graphics card components, limited wafer allocations at fabs, logistics issues due to the global pandemic, tariffs and several other reasons are all contributing to the current state of the market. It's a complicated situation.

A couple of weeks back we ran a survey, asking HUB'south YouTube community what factor you blame the most for current GPU prices. 41% of people responded that global supply constraints for components was the main driver, while a further 32% placed the about blame on cryptocurrency mining. Indeed, these two factors appear to exist the most significant at play at the moment. Interestingly though, only five% of users thought loftier demand from PC gamers was to blame.

Market Update

Let's talk about what's happened this month. The launch of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT took place, which I think is fair to say received only lukewarm reception. A loftier MSRP, positioning it as a "1080p GPU," and issues with a limited x8 PCIe coach. There was some hope that a new mid-range GPU would aid shift graphics card prices lower, but are nosotros seeing that in the marketplace today?

From certain angles, the answer is yes. As nosotros talked about in our recent investigation of whether AMD lied about 6600 XT's aplenty stock and availability, the 6600 XT actually launched in reasonable quantities, far higher than any other recent GPU launch. This means that if yous do desire to spend effectually the $400 to $500 mark, depending on where you live, information technology's at present easier to purchase a GPU. In Australia, it's been 10 days since launch and you tin can yet discover 6600 XTs for every bit piffling as $680 AUD, which is $100 higher up the local MSRP but significantly cheaper than Nvidia's RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti.

It's unlikely nosotros'll see these GPUs hit the MSRP once more shortly, with retailers describing this $680 toll as more the "true" MSRP based on the shipments they are seeing. And as we discussed at length in the 6600 XT availability investigation, despite these seemingly attractive prices, 6600 XTs aren't exactly flying off shelves since information technology doesn't offer killer value or performance compared to what you've been able to purchase for the past few years.

We're too starting to run into some motion on pricing for graphics cards around the 6600 XT. In item, we're seeing increased shipments of GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GPUs with LHR (Lite Hash Rate). We've seen many more than express runs of cheaper 3060 Tis in the by few weeks than in prior months, which seems to exist Nvidia'south response to the 6600 XT. Information technology's been pretty crazy to encounter some RTX 3060 Ti models available for less than the electric current going price for the RTX 3060, and retailers are telling us that every bit soon as they get stock they tin price beneath $720, they just fly off shelves.

The RTX 3070 and 6700 XT remain quite expensive, and college end models are either completely unavailable or still sitting on shelves at ridiculously inflated prices. That's something to keep an center on in upcoming months.

We also surveyed users about the position you are currently in with your GPU. A higher proportion than ever take said they have managed to purchase a current-gen GPU. Of the respondents that practise want to upgrade and aren't fine with their current GPU, just under half have been able to purchase a new GPU, while around xl% are however waiting for cost reductions. A farther eleven% of this group said in that location are no GPUs in their price range, indicating they are waiting for more entry-level cards to hit the market like a GeForce RTX 3050-type product.

Ethereum on the Rise

Other major updates this month business organisation the cryptocurrency market and crypto mining. We don't want to spend ages talking near mining since a lot has been going on, just we'll apace summarize the primal points on how this is affecting GPU pricing.

The price of popular coins such as Ethereum has risen essentially in the past month. Earlier we were looking at a toll a trivial beneath $two,000, now it'due south higher up $three,000. Crypto is equally always volatile, only the rough gains we are seeing month on month are 60% for this currency and similar for others. These gains have flattened out a bit over the concluding week.

Ethereum pricing chart

With gains in value come gains in difficulty. Ethereum difficulty has spiked recently to a near record level, reducing block rewards for miners. Miners are getting less Ethereum from mining, though the value of those coins has increased likewise equally the interest in mining.

Affecting Ethereum mining this month was the rollout of the new EIP1559 protocol upgrade. If you wonder how this affects mining revenue, the answer is simple: due to the style it burns transaction fees, the upgrade reduces the payout to miners for processing transactions. Like with difficulty spikes, while the reward in Ethereum is now lower, the value of Ethereum has increased, so it's a tug-of-state of war situation.

Software developers have also found a fashion to partially bypass the limit on Nvidia's Lite Hash Rate GPUs, increasing the cap on Ethereum mining performance from 50% to lxx%. LHR cards nonetheless are less desirable for mining compared to the not-LHR variants, but are more desirable than before.

The final point to talk about with mining is that with all these recent updates -- higher Ethereum prices but lower payouts and all of that -- actually mining Ethereum isn't e'er what miners are doing on their GPUs. On some cards, coins such as Raven or Ergo accept been more profitable, though as more people bound on these coins difficulty spikes on those coins, too, and so on.

Lesser line about GPU mining right now, the value of crypto has gone upwards significantly, effectually threescore%, merely the profitability of mining has risen to a more than modest degree, around 20 to thirty% month on month. Combined with the release of the 6600 XT and increased GPU supply, how has that affected the GPU market?

The Scalper Market place

Much to our surprise, the scalper market on eBay has remained relatively flat comparing completed sales from the past week, to the same time last month. With a large spike in coin value I was expecting the market place to react in a more dramatic style, similar to what we saw dorsum in May when GPU prices were at their worst. Merely that hasn't been the case with about GPUs only fluctuating in price by a few percent.

Of course, there are outliers. The GeForce RTX 3070 was the most in-demand carte in August, with prices ascension the well-nigh of any electric current generation Nvidia GPU. Meanwhile, the RTX 3060 Ti went in the opposite direction with a half dozen% toll cut on boilerplate, due to what appears to be the influx of LHR-express models.

	MSRP	eBay Average Cost June	eBay Boilerplate Price July	eBay Boilerplate Cost August	Current Price Aggrandizement	Price Increase July to August
GeForce RTX 3090	$1,500	$2,962	$two,599	$2,607	74%	0%
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti	$1,200	$two,187	$1,905	$1,815	51%	-5%
GeForce RTX 3080	$700	$1,948	$1,623	$1,643	135%	one%
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti	$600	$1,323	$1,085	$i,170	95%	8%
GeForce RTX 3070	$500	$1,261	$1,075	$one,228	146%	xiv%
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	$400	$ane,255	$1,012	$952	138%	-vi%
GeForce RTX 3060	$330	$830	$723	$752	128%	4%
				Average	109%	2%

The AMD RX 6900 XT increased the most in toll, perchance due to a greater than expected drop in price terminal month. The card with the near volume, and in close competition to the RTX 3070, the Radeon RX 6700 XT, increased in price past viii percent. Meanwhile, the scalper volume of AMD's higher terminate GPUs is very low, suggesting that AMD is mostly making their mid-range offerings at the moment.

While these numbers are an aggregate of all new GPUs sold through eBay in the last month, there'southward a difference in cost between LHR and not-LHR cards, so if you are a gamer that doesn't intendance about mining, there is a chance that GPUs accept gotten cheaper for you.

	MSRP	eBay Average Cost June	eBay Boilerplate Price July	eBay Average Price August	Current Toll Inflation	Price Increase July to Baronial
Radeon 6900 XT	$1,000	$1,932	$1,460	$i,622	62%	eleven%
Radeon 6800 XT	$650	$1,450	$1,282	$ane,268	95%	-one%
Radeon 6800	$580	$1,210	$1,087	$ane,127	94%	4%
Radeon 6700 XT	$480	$907	$733	$793	65%	eight%
Radeon RX 6600 XT	$380			$633	67%
				Boilerplate	92%	5%

The most stark difference is seen with the RTX 3060 Ti. The average sale price on eBay for this GPU was $950, while most LHR cards were selling for around $850. However, if you lot want a not-LHR model like the Founders Edition card and others, you're looking at having to spend at least $ane,250. That's a 47% price hike for 43% higher mining performance after factoring in the latest LHR bypasses.

It's similar for models like the RTX 3080. The average sale price is currently $i,643, nevertheless LHR cards are going for $1,400 to $i,500, while non-LHR variants are in the $ane,800+ range. For gamers, there is no reason to spend that actress money on the non-LHR variant, because the LHR cards are identical for gaming.

The Affect of Low-cal Hash Rate (LHR)

Nosotros recently received an Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3080 LHR variant to test and Steve found it was the same as the non-LHR card in gaming functioning, with the same cooler blueprint and thermals. This works beyond most LHR GPUs, and with the majority of new GeForce GPUs hitting the market now being LHR variants, in that location's nil to worry near for gamers.

The discrepancy between LHR and non-LHR pricing is also why we see odd pricing trends, for instance information technology explains why the RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 are relatively poor value, while the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3080 are looking ameliorate. The tide seems to accept shifted for the 3060 Ti and 3080 to being generally LHR releases, while at that place are still lots of non-LHR 3060 and 3070s being sold. Nvidia says the vast majority of GPUs moving forward volition be LHR variants, which will hopefully see prices keep to decline over time.

What happens in the new GPU marketplace is usually reflected in the used market, and that's also truthful this month.

Used GPU Pricing

Pricing for Nvidia's RTX 20 series were relatively flat calendar month on calendar month, after two consecutive months of double-digit price drops. For some reason, the RTX 2080 Ti increased in toll past 10 percent, however well-nigh other GPUs in the line-up saw no price departure. A similar observation tin be made for the GeForce 16 series, where most cards saw virtually no cost changes. This is where having a lot of RX 6600 XTs at MSRP would exist nice, equally those with GTX 1660s could upgrade at most no cost after selling their old GPU.

	MSRP	eBay Average Cost June	eBay Average Toll July	eBay Average Price August	Current Price Aggrandizement	Price Increase July to Baronial
GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	$1,000	$1,219	$952	$1,043	4%	10%
GeForce RTX 2080 Super	$700	$887	$788	$802	15%	2%
GeForce RTX 2080	$700	$834	$686	$703	0%	two%
GeForce RTX 2070 Super	$500	$784	$638	$667	33%	5%
GeForce RTX 2070	$500	$678	$603	$614	23%	2%
GeForce RTX 2060 Super	$400	$707	$613	$615	54%	0%
GeForce RTX 2060	$350	$549	$476	$482	38%	one%
				Boilerplate	24%	3%

In the older GeForce x series, prices have risen slightly across the board, specially for the higher end models like the GTX 1080 Ti. Even so the mid-priced options similar the GTX 1070 Ti remain largely unchanged. It also appears that the volume of these older GPUs being sold is slowly reducing equally showtime-time owners upgrade to newer GPUs.

	MSRP	eBay Boilerplate Cost June	eBay Average Price July	eBay Average Price August	Current Price Inflation	Price Increase July to August
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti	$280	$481	$428	$426	52%	0%
GeForce GTX 1660 Super	$230	$495	$425	$452	97%	6%
GeForce GTX 1660	$220	$430	$359	$371	69%	three%
GeForce GTX 1650 Super	$160	$326	$291	$283	77%	-3%
GeForce GTX 1650	$150	$295	$248	$247	65%	0%
				Average	72%	1%

	MSRP	eBay Average Price June	eBay Average Cost July	eBay Average Cost Baronial	Current Price Aggrandizement	Price Increase July to August
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti	$700	$689	$550	$616	-12%	12%
GeForce GTX 1080	$600	$526	$395	$441	-27%	12%
GeForce GTX 1070 Ti	$450	$467	$398	$406	-10%	2%
GeForce GTX 1070	$380	$403	$337	$361	-5%	vii%
GeForce GTX 1060 6GB	$250	$327	$273	$286	fourteen%	5%
GeForce GTX 1060 3GB	$200	$234	$189	$223	12%	18%
				Average	-five%	nine%

Then we become to AMD's Radeon RX 5000 series, and like in prior months it makes absolutely no sense for a gamer to consider these GPUs as a used upgrade option. The prices of cards like the 5700 XT remain loftier every bit the RDNA architecture is proficient for mining, punching well above its weight. If owners of the 5700 XT oasis't already upgraded to something like the RX 6700 XT basically for free, so they should be seriously considering it if gaming is their primary use for these cards.

	MSRP	eBay Average Toll June	eBay Average Cost July	eBay Average Cost August	Electric current Toll Inflation	Cost Increase July to August
Radeon 5700 XT	$400	$895	$762	$800	100%	v%
Radeon 5700	$350	$806	$719	$730	109%	2%
Radeon 5600 XT	$280	$604	$541	$558	99%	iii%
Radeon 5500 XT 8GB	$200	$440	$363	$344	72%	-5%
				Boilerplate	95%	i%

The volume of AMD's older high-end cards like Vega 56 and 64 has fallen away in the last few months. This month prices have risen substantially as they are capable mining GPUs. Meanwhile, in the lower part of the marketplace, prices take risen somewhat for cards like the RX 580 8GB, though non to a more meaning degree than other GPUs. It's all the same the case today that if you have $300-400 to spend and desperately want a GPU, you lot're much meliorate off buying a GTX 1060 6GB than you are getting an RX 580 8GB, with the RX 580 a more powerful and more sought-later bill of fare for mining.

The Land of the GPU

For the nearly part, GPU prices are yet terrible and very poor value, and unfortunately throughout the terminal month we didn't see whatever further reductions to GPU prices on the used or scalper markets. This is disappointing for all those gamers that are still waiting for improve GPU prices before they jump in and make a buy.

And while GPU prices haven't fallen, they oasis't increased substantially either, which I accept every bit a positive considering cryptocurrencies have seen a surge. With Ethereum prices skyrocketing this month, and profitability up not just for Ether but other coins too, seeing this reflect only stagnation on GPU prices rather than a massive fasten is adept news.

There are a few other glimmers of positivity hither. Nvidia is conspicuously transitioning significant portions of their GPU offerings to LHR GPUs, which are now forming the majority of sales for some graphics cards such as the RTX 3060 Ti. Fifty-fifty with the latest developments raising the LHR limit cap, these cards are more attainable and affordable for gamers. The LHR plan has received its share of criticism, just information technology will be interesting to hear from actual users what you recall of information technology now that it seems to be helping lower GPU prices.

Based on what we've seen so far in 2022, GPU prices may continue to slowly fall over the next few months, merely there's still the question if pricing will always return to MSRP levels and if that's even doable until component shortages and ridiculous logistics costs settle downwards.

Nonetheless, today there's a clearer path to improve GPU prices and room for prices to finally go downwardly. Nvidia needs to proceed shipping merely LHR GPUs to manufacturers. Miners may hate information technology, merely cards with reduced mining performance are improve for gamers, and at that place'south e'er the uncapped RTX 3090 if yous need something without restrictions.

AMD also has a office to play here. The Radeon RX 6700 XT and 6600 XT are currently the two all-time value GPUs for price per frame, which I believe has led to the gears finally ticking over on RTX 3060 Ti production -- the keen pressure of competition. While these GPUs have far from a perfect price tag, particularly the 6600 XT, if AMD can pump these out and keep prices closer to the MSRP, this will have beneficial effects across the market.