Do we really see light at the end of the tunnel with the GPU crisis or do we have to wait a little longer?
There are increasing signs that the long-lasting boom in cryptocurrencies is coming to an end. This also fuels hopes for significantly falling GPU prices among gamers, like a much commented Reddit post indicates.
The main reason for this is the recent sharp fall in prices for the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum. At the same time, graphics card manufacturer Asus also sees clear signs of falling demand from crypto miners, as reported by PCMag UK.
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum have fallen sharply in value since reaching their all-time highs in November 2021, which has recently worsened after a certain recovery phase. Bitcoin has fallen from over 56,000 dollars to just under 30,000 dollars. The Ethereum, which is particularly popular when mining via GPU, fell from over 4,000 dollars to around half or 2,000 dollars.
The similar courses of Bitcoin and Ethereum recently knew almost only one direction: down.
Come prices well below the RRP
?
Due to this development, the Reddit article linked above even says that through the mass sale of discarded mining GPUs, we will soon not only achieve prices in the RRP range, but far below
.
The cost of current models is currently still high, even if the MSRP is indeed getting closer. The RTX 3080 with an RRP of 759 dollars is up-to-date in price comparisons listed from 900 dollarswhile the costs at the beginning of the year were more in the region of 1,500 dollars.
However, the hope for prices far below the RRP is countered by more reserved statements from Asus’ CEO. While he confirms the declining demand from miners, he also speaks of a consistently high demand from players that is still not easy to satisfy.
Another important aspect mentioned by the CEO: Gaming graphics cards should in future be significantly less important for mining cryptocurrencies due to a change in the mining process in favor of lower energy consumption. In the case of Ethereum, however, this change has often been postponed, which could also affect the prices of the new GPU generations:
Release of RTX 4000 and RX 7000
Bad news for players
So, as understandable as the positive reaction to falling cryptocurrency prices is, the factors influencing graphics card prices remain multifaceted and complicated. Clear forecasts can therefore not really be made, but the latest developments are very welcome from a player’s point of view.
How do you assess the situation? Are we clearly heading towards a normalization of the graphics card market or is it still too early to have that hope? Let us know in the comments!
