"Average GPU Pricing Quadruples in a Year as Market Hits $12.1 Billion" - Tom's Hardware

[UsandThem]

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/sales-of-graphics-cards-hit-12-1-billion-in-q1-2021

Today the average price of an entry-level graphics card is $496, a mid-range board costs $809, and a high-end GPU carries an $1,358 price tag, according to JPR.

I know I'm in the minority here since this an PC enthusiast forum, but there's just no way I'm paying these prices for a consumer GPU.

I'd think if this pricing increases at the same pace over the next few years, there will be more and more people who begin to feel the same way.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/sales-of-graphics-cards-hit-12-1-billion-in-q1-2021

I know I'm in the minority here since this an PC enthusiast forum, but there's just no way I'm paying these prices for a consumer GPU.

I'd think if this pricing increases at the same pace over the next few years, there will be more and more people who begin to feel the same way.

If this goes on for years which I don’t think it will. AMD & intel will just build a basic or better than basic gpu into all their chips.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I just have to wait for NV's xxx30 series to be faster than a 2080ti before I can afford a solid upgrade...

Actually, gets me thinking: what is the timeline/cadence for the top end of a prior gen to be eclipsed by the bottom end of the current gen?

 

[maddie]

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/sales-of-graphics-cards-hit-12-1-billion-in-q1-2021

I know I'm in the minority here since this an PC enthusiast forum, but there's just no way I'm paying these prices for a consumer GPU.

I'd think if this pricing increases at the same pace over the next few years, there will be more and more people who begin to feel the same way.

Add another to the your minority statistic.

One thing to remember. Humans don't like to give up what they have gotten used to having.

This has the potential to have some unexpected consequences. PC game development, for one. Gaming could become a mainly console domain, with PC games relegated to simpler graphics, etc, for use on the cheapest cards.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Add another to the your minority statistic.

One thing to remember. Humans don't like to give up what they have gotten used to having.

This has the potential to have some unexpected consequences. PC game development, for one. Gaming could become a mainly console domain, with PC games relegated to simpler graphics, etc, for use on the cheapest cards.

- Funny enough all the Indie "PC first and only" games tend to be able to run on a potato.

All the AAA cross platform "Console was the lead platform" games are the ones that need DLSS and Variable Rate Shading and DX12 Ultimate in order to run...

 

[Ajay]

This has the potential to have some unexpected consequences. PC game development, for one. Gaming could become a mainly console domain, with PC games relegated to simpler graphics, etc, for use on the cheapest cards.

Yup, and as @GodisanAtheist pointed out, that would rule out AAA games on PCs. AMD would have to shift the GPU ASIC development efforts towards catering to mining applications, aside from low end cards perhaps. I would expect that iGPUs would become more capable and use more die space (as a separate chiplet).

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Actually, gets me thinking: what is the timeline/cadence for the top end of a prior gen to be eclipsed by the bottom end of the current gen?

Somewhere around 10 years I'd think. A GT1030 is faster then a Radeon HD4870 f.x. while having similar specs.

 

[moonbogg]

I have no desire to pay this much for a GPU, and I've had high-end SLI setups since SLI was a thing for Nvidia. Every single generation I had SLI with maybe 1 or 2 mid-generational skips. The most I paid was two 980Ti's in SLI, so $1500+ for two GPUs and added water blocks shortly after. Now Nvidia wants me to spend that much on a single card for the best performance. I think they know that many SLI users don't have an SLI option anymore but they still have the budget, so they figure just charge double what they used to and people will just pay it and not think twice. Oddly that's true, but there's not enough of those people to keep PC gaming afloat.
I agree that the way prices are going, PC gaming should and probably will be relegated to easy-to-run indie games. That's not a bad thing though because the PC lends itself to unique games that an indie developer can make and unleash their creativity, but the high-end PC gaming era seems to be dying a rather quick death. Simply put, the market will shrink because of the prices. How can it not shrink? No way people who used to pay $250-$300 for a damn good GPU suddenly are fine with throwing $600 toward a similar GPU now.
I'd like to see consoles evolve to absorb the high-end PC gaming demand and end up embracing good mouse and keyboard use. Do they already? I don't even know. I know they've tried it, but I think it was kind of laggy and not as good as a PC. That needs to change. If I have the option to game well and not spend $1000 on just a GPU for a great experience, I'll take it. For instance, if they made a high-end enthusiast class console for $1000, that would be much better than an overpriced GPU. $1000 is a lot for a console, but you get the entire package and it could be a souped up version for high-end users with higher FPS and I think it would be worth it big time.

 

[amenx]

Hopefully in a couple years it will be sorted out.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Hopefully in a couple years it will be sorted out.

want to give us a summary of what this nearly 15 minute video contains and what your thoughts are?

 

[amenx]

want to give us a summary of what this nearly 15 minute video contains and what your thoughts are?

Too many industries rely on chips produced by too few chip manufacturers. Several factors combined to create a 'perfect storm' that caused the shortages, incl many new products, sectors that did not exist before coming on stream that require chips. Expansion of manufacturing facilities to alleviate the increased demand expected by 2023.

 

[maddie]

Too many industries rely on chips produced by too few chip manufacturers. Several factors combined to create a 'perfect storm' that caused the shortages, incl many new products, sectors that did not exist before coming on stream that require chips. Expansion of manufacturing facilities to alleviate the increased demand expected by 2023.

Watched part, but stupid about too few manufacturers being a cause. The key is that no industry can have a large % of idle factories. It has nothing to do with # of players as is portrayed. Black swan unforeseen demand has simply overwhelmed production plans made in and for normal times. That's all.

 

[amenx]

Watched part, but stupid about too few manufacturers being a cause. The key is that no industry can have a large % of idle factories. It has nothing to do with # of players as is portrayed. Black swan unforeseen demand has simply overwhelmed production plans made in and for normal times. That's all.

Of course its not the no. of manufacturers, but what the their collective output can cover. The existing players can either expand or new players come in and meet the extra demand. Its a minor niggling in the vids presentation that isnt worth focusing on vs the main points and issues covered. Your second point is addressed too, the risk that chip manufacturers can be stuck with unused capacity.

 

[lobz]

want to give us a summary of what this nearly 15 minute video contains and what your thoughts are?

That's exactly what I was going to write after suffering through the 'second intro' in the same minute. Then I figured I could also just go to bed, so... good talk, @amenx and good night everyone

 

[MalVeauX]

Yea, I'm not going to keep dumping money into PC gaming this direction. I don't have to play games at all. I don't play a lot anyways. But I have no problem just ignoring GPUs for a few years (already done that before) and just play basic games that we enjoy. Most of our games are coop games and share screen and stuff and our low end APU's do it at full resolution no problem and we have a 1660 Super that is killing every game we throw at it at 1080p, so I have no need at all to slurp down a $1k+ GPU.... to play pixel graphic platformers. So I guess I'm not the target audience with these $1.5k+ GPUs. Maybe that's for competitive FPS gamers, VR niche gamers and basically wanna-be-coin-miners?

I would be perfectly find if Ryzen APU's would drop. The 3400G is fine for me for gaming purposes. I'd totally buy one if they were frigg'n MSRP (don't need one with a 1660 Super tho). But in the future, while the GPU wars continue, I hope the Intel/AMD folk drop more APUs that no one will want to waste time on for mining or competitive gaming so people have a realistic way to build an affordable gaming PC for 1080p and not need a discrete GPU at all to do it. I'd rather have a great APU than a big hot GPU anyways. But again I'm probably in the minority as far as PC gaming goes. I'm happy on Steam with a bunch of easy to run games that are mostly non-competitive games that don't require more than a potatoe to run and look great. I guess the big GPU stuff is mostly online FPS gaming or something? Other than the random big title (Cyberpunk) that is hard to run, I mean, what games are so hard to run that you need a $1.5k GPU now? I'm in the dark I guess.

I hope to see some competitive $100 & $200 APUs soon that are a bit better than Vega 11.

Edit: Apparently there are better than the 3400G APU already, they're just in OEM pre-builts and the road map shows two more steps of APU performance. Looking up the 3400G, it seems to perform on par with a GT 1030 GPU (which has inflated to stupid levels over $100 USD). So if considering the 3400G is a 4c/8t CPU with a Vega 11 with GT1030 performance, in the $220~280 range (since it's not MSRP), it's kind of inline with the inflated prices too if you went separates, such as a 4c/8t CPU (like the 3100~3300x series, which are all in the $200 range instead of $100 range) and a GT1030 which is over $100, so to do discrete with the same performance would be over $300. So the 3400G is in line with that, a little cheaper even, despite all the dumb pricing everywhere. The 3400G was supposed to be $149 MSRP.... lol, and looking at it for that price, it is a good deal, but only if it were MSRP. Anyhow, hopefully the newer APUs will be a good step up, something closer to GTX 750 performance in an APU would be great.


Very best,

 

[SPBHM]

if new hardware is much faster it will be interesting to see the used market flooded with the current stuff,
other than that I'll just use my current old card while I can and maybe look into IGPs once I need something new,

paying a fortune to play the current games seems pretty dumb to me,

 

[GodisanAtheist]

While I know it's not representative of modern games by a longshot, I was shocked when I fired up Wolfenstein 2 on my sig rig and was easily hitting 100+ FPS with everything set to Ultra (AA off) @1440p.

The game looks stunning (certainly compared to other older games I've been playing recently) and runs almost as well.

The right renderer (Vulkan in this case) makes one helluva difference, and goes to show that there is still a lot of performance on the table even a couple generations back when the developer puts in the effort.

Recent idTech engines have been impressive from a performance to visuals perspective.

So long as I keep coming across these performance gems I can continue delaying upgrades for quite a while longer...

 

[Stuka87]

I know I'm in the minority here since this an PC enthusiast forum, but there's just no way I'm paying these prices for a consumer GPU.

I'd think if this pricing increases at the same pace over the next few years, there will be more and more people who begin to feel the same way.

I don't think you are in the minority at all. Most of those sales are not to people building home PCs. Some are for sure, but the average gamer is not going to pay double the price for a new GPU.

I had fully intended on buying a 6800XT back before they were announced (I wanted that tier of card, regardless of name), but, here I am, still rocking my 5700XT. And I fully expect this to go from a 1 year card, to a 3-4 year card sadly.

 

[Graphenewhen]

I don't think you are in the minority at all. Most of those sales are not to people building home PCs. Some are for sure, but the average gamer is not going to pay double the price for a new GPU.

I had fully intended on buying a 6800XT back before they were announced (I wanted that tier of card, regardless of name), but, here I am, still rocking my 5700XT. And I fully expect this to go from a 1 year card, to a 3-4 year card sadly.

I'm in the same position, except stuck on a Vega 64!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

It is good to see that everyone seems to be coming around to the idea that this problem is not going away any time soon. Had a debate with some people here, in denial, a few months back. One called it a supply chain hiccup!

It really has been the perfect storm: Production suffered as China went hard on lockdowns, then their new year holidays exacerbated it. Work and school from home cranked up demand, mining went full ham, and then substrate shortages, and even the shipping containers needed to move product, were in the wrong place because of trade imbalance.

Just in time manufacturing, particularly automotive, failed hard with these conditions. I read Toyota learned their lessons from earthquake related failures, and changed practices. They evidently keep a 4-6 month supply, and were least impacted, at least at first.

On my first cup of coffee, so if I goofed anything? Cunningham's law

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I'm in the same position, except stuck on a Vega 64!

What do you mean stuck? I recently sold a Red Devil Vega 56 that could hit past stock 64 performance and it was still a very capable gamer. There was not a single game that did not look and run great after tweaking settings for the best blend of performance and visuals.

 

[Kenmitch]

Just in time manufacturing, particularly automotive, failed hard with these conditions. I read Toyota learned their lessons from earthquake related failures, and changed practices. They evidently keep a 4-6 month supply, and were least impacted, at least at first.

Did you watch this video? It explains the domino effect in logical terms.

Home Depot took a different approach to the problem.

How bad are global shipping snafus? Home Depot contracted its own container ship as a safeguard

The home improvement retailer is one of many companies facing supply chain challenges and trying to find creative solutions to keep merchandise in stock.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Did you watch this video? It explains the domino effect in logical terms.

Home Depot took a different approach to the problem.

How bad are global shipping snafus? Home Depot contracted its own container ship as a safeguard

The home improvement retailer is one of many companies facing supply chain challenges and trying to find creative solutions to keep merchandise in stock.

www.cnbc.com

it is a 20 minute video, please give a summary.

 

[mohit9206]

it is a 20 minute video, please give a summary.

Its great video, watch it. Very well explained

 

[Kenmitch]

it is a 20 minute video, please give a summary.

It would most likely take me longer to type out a accurate summary then it would take you to watch the video.