Question are video card prices headed down yet?

[mastertech01]

^^^ I dunno. I watched a 3070 looking like it was going to sell for $360. But sure enough there was sniping. There was like 3-4 bids during the final 10 seconds. I think it sold for $390 but it could have been more... $390 was at like 3 seconds. Oh and this one had $15 shipping on top. I guess that's still an okay deal given that even getting MSRP for a new 3070 is tough. Depends on how much you value not having a card come from the mines.

Im betting you are going to see a lot of dead beat bidders over bidding and not paying and relisting. And of course there are a lot of people with more money than knowledge.

 

[mastertech01]

Nutso sellers wanting 400 for a "parts only" 3080 LOL I guess they think you want to nail it up to the wall and stare at it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Nutso sellers wanting 400 for a "parts only" 3080 LOL I guess they think you want to nail it up to the wall and stare at it.

Apparently, there are some skilled component-level repair tech that can desolder and replace "burned" components like VRMs/mosFETs, and resell the "fixed" card. So, it's for those people that a "dead" (for parts only) card has value, not for your average joe user on ebay that might randomly click on that card because of a lower price.

Edit: Also, component-level repair shops often need "donor" card to harvest parts off of.

 

[CP5670]

Interesting, I thought the only useful part of those "parts only" items was the cooler, which can be put on another AIB's card.

 

[sdifox]

Interesting, I thought the only useful part of those "parts only" items was the cooler, which can be put on another AIB's card.

All video cards you put in a slot is a Add In Board....

 

[Aapje]

Apparently, there are some skilled component-level repair tech that can desolder and replace "burned" components like VRMs/mosFETs, and resell the "fixed" card.

That may be true, but I've seen several video's about 'parts' cards where an unskilled person had been messing with it, just making things worse.

A proper repair job also takes quite a bit of time. These parts cards seem to generally be highly overpriced, considering.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Interesting, I thought the only useful part of those "parts only" items was the cooler, which can be put on another AIB's card.

You can sometimes pull RAM ICs off of them. I know people used to do it with Hawaii cards.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

^^^ I dunno. I watched a 3070 looking like it was going to sell for $360. But sure enough there was sniping. There was like 3-4 bids during the final 10 seconds. I think it sold for $390 but it could have been more... $390 was at like 3 seconds. Oh and this one had $15 shipping on top. I guess that's still an okay deal given that even getting MSRP for a new 3070 is tough. Depends on how much you value not having a card come from the mines.

- That same 3070 would have gone for $500 a month ago. The fact that they're selling in the $300's even with the sniping is huge. We haven't even unleashed the floodgates yet, we're still in the "smart miners, dumb buyers" phase of the mining flood.

Nutso sellers wanting 400 for a "parts only" 3080 LOL I guess they think you want to nail it up to the wall and stare at it.

- I've read some people have had luck with those parts. The average computer Joe might have something wrong with their system or be encountering other issues that they're attributing to a perfectly working card. Asking $400 for a "parts only" card is just goofy though.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Asking $400 for a "parts only" card is just goofy though.

I do agree, that's way too much.

(Unless they put in the body of the listing, something like: "works, mined on, needs paste + pads, no returns".)

 

[CP5670]

All video cards you put in a slot is a Add In Board....

I meant you can interchange the coolers between brands, like putting a EVGA FTW3 cooler on a Zotac card. It won't always work but the cards that use the same board configuration should be compatible.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

- I'd be fine picking one up for $350-375 and then undervolting.

Ebay is kind of wild right now on the NV side. Cards are starting to flood and prices are starting to drop precipitously, especially on 3060/3070 variants.

AMD, as usual, seems to actually be a bit stickier in terms of used card pricing thanks to a smaller volume of new cards and therefor and perpetually smaller volume of used cards going on sale (also, fewer "Card 11 of 50" flooding the AMD side).

This might end up being my first gen since i went from an MX200 to a 4600Ti that I will do two generations of card from the same manufacturer back to back if 3080/3090's start flooding like 3070's and 60's have, which kind of sucks cause I really want to pivot back to AMD this gen and see how the RDNA2 arch works out. Haven't bought anything yet and i'm seeing the initial offer prices of 3080/3090/6800/6900 cards slowly creep down as reality sets in for sellers so lets see how this pans out.

I can't buy used gpus, they feel like such a ripoff. One big thing I'm paying for when I get a gpu is that three year warranty. I don't think I'd pay anything more than 60% of new price for a used gpu, I'd probably want to pay more like 50% of new if I'm buying a used card in normal times. But used prices always seem like such miniscule discounts vs just buying the thing new on amazon. And especially now when anything I'd buy used I know would have been mining 24/7/365.

Back to the 3090 though, ugh no interest in heavy power consuming cards like that. Just coming out of the most miserable summer I have seen in 35 years in South Texas and they just keep trending worse since the turn of the century and I could notice the difference just playing my PS5 much less if I was using a heavy duty gpu like a 3090. 3060 Ti / 6600 XT is probably my absolute limit as to how much power I'm willing to consume with a card. Plus I bought a 450W psu back when it looked like everything was trending towards lower power consumption haha.

 

[Aapje]

- I've read some people have had luck with those parts. The average computer Joe might have something wrong with their system or be encountering other issues that they're attributing to a perfectly working card. Asking $400 for a "parts only" card is just goofy though.

Yeah, if they are directly from a broken system I can see a decent number of them having minimal issues. However, I don't like the 'musical chairs' thing that seems to happen a lot, where people buy a card, try to fix and then resell it if it doesn't work.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

- That same 3070 would have gone for $500 a month ago. The fact that they're selling in the $300's even with the sniping is huge. We haven't even unleashed the floodgates yet, we're still in the "smart miners, dumb buyers" phase of the mining flood.

That is freaking hilarious. Ugh just looked at sold listings on ebay for 3060 Ti though and they're still only 5-20% discounts vs if I just got a card new at newegg. They'd have to drop to like $190 out the door to get me to even look seriously, that's assuming the new price stays at $450.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I can't buy used gpus, they feel like such a ripoff. One big thing I'm paying for when I get a gpu is that three year warranty. I don't think I'd pay anything more than 60% of new price for a used gpu, I'd probably want to pay more like 50% of new if I'm buying a used card in normal times. But used prices always seem like such miniscule discounts vs just buying the thing new on amazon. And especially now when anything I'd buy used I know would have been mining 24/7/365.

Back to the 3090 though, ugh no interest in heavy power consuming cards like that. Just coming out of the most miserable summer I have seen in 35 years in South Texas and they just keep trending worse since the turn of the century and I could notice the difference just playing my PS5 much less if I was using a heavy duty gpu like a 3090. 3060 Ti / 6600 XT is probably my absolute limit as to how much power I'm willing to consume with a card. Plus I bought a 450W psu back when it looked like everything was trending towards lower power consumption haha.

- I hear ya loud and clear. From my perspective its all bathtub curve with GPUs (and electronics in general). Most stuff is gonna fail out of the box or its gonna fail in 10 years. Very little is going to go wrong in the useful lifespan of a card if it doesn't fail out of the gate, barring misuse by the end user, of course. I picked up my 980Ti, which boosts itself to 1500 core clock and runs in 1070 territory, for $330 all in when 1070's were going for $450 brand new minimum. Its worked *perfectly* for 6 years and frankly would serve my gaming needs for another 1-2 years if it wasn't for this 7 year itch i've developed for a new card (and PTSD from waiting too long to buy in the run up to the current gen).

It also works for me given my "patient gamer" gaming habits, and there is something that tickles my funny bone when I pick up the parts for a $2000 system 1-2 years ago for $700 today and end up with a top notch machine. Its a little bit meta for me, the deal hunting and trying to haggle down to the lowest possible price.

As for the 3090, yeah, there is definitely a part of me that says "buy a 6700xt and be happy, even if there is a good deal on a top tier part". There is another part that says "your next system is likely 6-7 years away... do you really want to settle?" We'll see which angel wins my ear soon enough.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

- I hear ya loud and clear. From my perspective its all bathtub curve with GPUs (and electronics in general). Most stuff is gonna fail out of the box or its gonna fail in 10 years. Very little is going to go wrong in the useful lifespan of a card if it doesn't fail out of the gate, barring misuse by the end user, of course. I picked up my 980Ti, which boosts itself to 1500 core clock and runs in 1070 territory, for $330 all in when 1070's were going for $450 brand new minimum. Its worked *perfectly* for 6 years and frankly would serve my gaming needs for another 1-2 years if it wasn't for this 7 year itch i've developed for a new card (and PTSD from waiting too long to buy in the run up to the current gen).

It also works for me given my "patient gamer" gaming habits, and there is something that tickles my funny bone when I pick up the parts for a $2000 system 1-2 years ago for $700 today and end up with a top notch machine. Its a little bit meta for me, the deal hunting and trying to haggle down to the lowest possible price.

As for the 3090, yeah, there is definitely a part of me that says "buy a 6700xt and be happy, even if there is a good deal on a top tier part". There is another part that says "your next system is likely 6-7 years away... do you really want to settle?" We'll see which angel wins my ear soon enough.

I dunno, 24/7/365 usage for mining would be what I would consider misuse by the end user. Putting that much stress on the card makes me think that bathtub curve is going to get squished a lot along the x-axis. Doesn't help that my brother bought a used 1080 Ti a year and a half ago that was obviously used to mine on and the thing is already dead despite him not having a ton of time to game since getting it. A standard 6 year bathtub curve you're probably expecting the user to push it hard 2-4 hours a day if they're really into gaming, not 24 hours a day.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I dunno, 24/7/365 usage for mining would be what I would consider misuse by the end user. Putting that much stress on the card makes me think that bathtub curve is going to get squished a lot along the x-axis. Doesn't help that my brother bought a used 1080 Ti a year and a half ago that was obviously used to mine on and the thing is already dead despite him not having a ton of time to game since getting it. A standard 6 year bathtub curve you're probably expecting the user to push it hard 2-4 hours a day if they're really into gaming, not 24 hours a day.

-Not just mining, but i have to guess that a lot of substandard parts (caps, mosfets, etc) were subbed in to hit production quotas for this generation. The gamble really comes down to do mining and crap components mean a card that would have lasted 20 years lasts 5 years instead.

Part of the reason I'm so dead set on paying less than $400 for anything I get (Less than $300 if its mid-range 6700XT/3070 or less). If the card ****s the bed in 3 years, well its a $300 card I'll just buy another one.

 

[VirtualLarry]

One big thing I'm paying for when I get a gpu is that three year warranty.

Do any of the bigger AIB partners / vendors even offer 3-year warranty, anymore?

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Do any of the bigger AIB partners / vendors even offer 3-year warranty, anymore?

Still have almost a year of warranty left on my 1660 Super that I bought in summer of 2020. Forgot AMD cards usually seem to have two year warranties though.

 

[In2Photos]

Do any of the bigger AIB partners / vendors even offer 3-year warranty, anymore?

I know EVGA does.

 

[CP5670]

I've gotten used cards in the past and they worked great. They were from FS/FT here rather than ebay though. Mining (or compute in general) shouldn't inherently cause any damage, but sometimes those cards have OC'd memory or poor cooling environments that can damage the card.

 

[maddie]

I can't buy used gpus, they feel like such a ripoff. One big thing I'm paying for when I get a gpu is that three year warranty. I don't think I'd pay anything more than 60% of new price for a used gpu, I'd probably want to pay more like 50% of new if I'm buying a used card in normal times. But used prices always seem like such miniscule discounts vs just buying the thing new on amazon. And especially now when anything I'd buy used I know would have been mining 24/7/365.

Back to the 3090 though, ugh no interest in heavy power consuming cards like that. Just coming out of the most miserable summer I have seen in 35 years in South Texas and they just keep trending worse since the turn of the century and I could notice the difference just playing my PS5 much less if I was using a heavy duty gpu like a 3090. 3060 Ti / 6600 XT is probably my absolute limit as to how much power I'm willing to consume with a card. Plus I bought a 450W psu back when it looked like everything was trending towards lower power consumption haha.

If you have the money to spare, why not undervolt and lower the clocks/power on a top line GPU. Besides the increased memory, you'll see higher perf/W than using a lower tier GPU. Wide and slow is always faster than narrow and fast, for the same power.

 

[dlerious]

I meant you can interchange the coolers between brands, like putting a EVGA FTW3 cooler on a Zotac card. It won't always work but the cards that use the same board configuration should be compatible.

Best bet for that would be reference cards. I imagine it would be like waterblocks - across all reference models and maybe with same manufacturer if the pcbs are the same (just different cooler).

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Part of the reason I'm so dead set on paying less than $400 for anything I get (Less than $300 if its mid-range 6700XT/3070 or less). If the card ****s the bed in 3 years, well its a $300 card I'll just buy another one.

If the GPU market since 2018 has taught me anything, it is do not bank on future pricing. Perhaps the factors contributing to that are finally behind us for good? Regardless, I still intend to hedge my bets. When the great sell off happens, I will buy a few cards new and used. As I did the last time we had a buyers market. Things get dicey? I am all set. Things don't get dicey? I still picked up some bargains. Just throwing that out there for your consideration.

 

[Aapje]

Things get dicey? I am all set. Things don't get dicey? I still picked up some bargains. Just throwing that out there for your consideration.

I'm there as well. If things stay bad or get worse, I'll stick with my 1660 Super. Prices fall, I'll get a 4k/90Hz capable card if possible.

It was more luck than wisdom that got me in that situation, however.

 

[mastertech01]

The only bad thing about a fire sale is all the rich boys who will grab them all up and make a new scalpers market. The old "if I dont do it, someone else will" kind of opportunity. So I will get the ONE or TWO for me and my daughter and be considerate enough to let others have one who cant afford 1200 for a video card or 5000 for a stack of them. Im looking for a rare bargain, not to make a business out of it or to pay for my education with it.