Finally, a sigh of relief for all gamers out there, GPU prices have started dropping after China’s crypto mining ban came into effect. Currently, it is possible to find your favourite graphics card at the Manufacturer’s suggested retail priceat in some regions.
A couple of months back, if you wanted to buy a graphics card, you had to pay a huge chunk over the existing price to grab one of them. Sometimes, users had to buy almost thrice the MSRP for getting high-end cards like GeForce RTX 3080.
Since China has effectively banned cryptocurrency mining, many miners have no choice but to sell their GPUs into the second-hand market. Due to this massive flooding, retailers have dropped the prices of the new graphic cards.
There is data which is suggesting the same fact as well. According to 3D center, off-the-shelf GPU prices are at a six-month low. Although that sounds enticing, remember that they were already costly for the product. Nevertheless, it’s good to see prices finally settling to normal levels.
However, the effect of these price drops is varied by region. For example, US markets haven’t seen any price drops yet. Nor Indian market has. However, it is expected that these price drops will eventually be reflected all around the world. Moreover, just because second-hand markets are flooded with graphics cards doesn’t mean you should buy one. Those cards aren’t brand-new, and their condition is pretty unknown. Some of them could be on their end-of-life and it’s useless to pay for that. Moreover, buying a first-hand graphics card from a genuine retailer ensures the quality of the product, but things like warranties are guaranteed.
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