News It's Still a Terrible Time to Buy a Graphics Card

[Endymio]

Hardware mining is no longer a thing. Coin mining is now ASCII based and runs almost entirely on software.

I think you mean "ASIC", not ASCII....

 

[bigdragon]

I think you mean "ASIC", not ASCII....

!!!

No, definitely ASCII. You see, ASCII is the third generation coin mining solution. ASIC was the second generation. GPUs were the first generation. Everyone knows you need to be on the most recent generation or one back. Any coin miner not running ASCII or ASIC is wasting money with horse-and-buggy GPU builds. Time to dump those GPUs on eBay and upgrade. Hop to it, miners!



As to the article's topic: I'm also waiting. Hopefully things will settle down in the spring or late winter of 2021. My 1070 is perfectly good for 1440p gaming, and RX 580 is adequate for 1080p gaming. VR can definitely push the limits of that 1070 though, which is one of the reasons to upgrade.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

Hardware mining is no longer a thing. Coin mining is now ASCII based and runs almost entirely on software.

Not entirely true -- there are quite a few coins / algorithms that are still mined via GPU. But the profitability is low enough that it's not totally killing GPU availability. Or is it!? LOL

Maybe all of the GPU shortages are actually coming from miners again? (Probably not: RTX 2080 Ti only nets about $1 per day, and actually the RX 5700 XT is a bit higher -- but still not a good investment.)

 

[mictian1980]

Nvidia's GPUs have soft-launched, we're waiting for AMD's Big Navi, and everything is selling out faster than you can hit refresh. If you can find one of the new GPUs in stock, great, but patience will be your best ally.

It's Still a Terrible Time to Buy a Graphics Card : Read more

It's too late... I just bought a 5700 XT.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

It's too late... I just bought a 5700 XT.

Hopefully you bought it back when you could find them for under $350?

 

[Kalshion]

This is all very frustrating. I started to build a PC for my daughter's VR headset. I already bought most of the hardware and thought I should wait for the new graphics cards to see what they offered and hoped to have picked up one of the older cards at a discount. However I see stock of the older cards are low or gone and prices actually gone up!?! I've tried to snag a 3070 but Best Buy wouldn't ship to my address, I live in the US what addresses couldn't they ship to!?!? So I'm stuck with a PC with no graphics card considering the 5600xt as a temp solution, but I don't want to spend hundreds on a card I don't intend to keep. Sigh

When I was looking for a replacement for my 1080 ti which died a few months ago, I noticed that as well that the 2k cards were quite... bare.

I did some digging and found out that certain manufacturers and companies (like EVGA, MSI, ASUS, etc) have stopped producing those cards at Nvidia's request in order to drive up demand for the 3k cards. Now this is only based off what I found on the net, and I have found some 2k cards here and there but both are rather high prices.

Right now I've had to fall back on my 1070 which, while it works, does seem to have problems with more recent games (which stinks!)

For me, however, I will never use AMD (ATI) cards. This stems from how they treated me as a customer fifteen years ago (and yes, I hold grudges for a very long time, wish I still had the audio recording of the call)

 

[Endymio]

I did some digging and found out that certain manufacturers and companies (like EVGA, MSI, ASUS, etc) have stopped producing the [2K cards] at Nvidia's request in order to drive up demand for the 3k cards.

You can find a lot of conspiracy theories on the Internet, I agree. The 2060 is still widely available, but the 2070/80 were discontinued by NVidia. As they're the sole manufacturer of those chips, they don't have to quietly "request" their AIB partners to stop producing the cards; they simply cut off the supply. Given the pricing they set on the 3000 series, they certainly didn't need to do this to "drive up demand". Do you know anyone that would buy a $1200 2080ti when they could get a $500 3070 that matches or beats it?

 

[DaDude1]

While originally thrilled by the new Nvidia GPUs, I've since cooled. The newest drivers have given my 2080S a shot in the arm and its been clocking to 2100-2115 mhz and doing just fine paired with my 28" 4K 60hz monitor. As I don't play "shooters" where higher frame rates may be beneficial, don't need to upgrade my 9600k, 3600mhz RAM, 280mm AIO cooling or 970+ M.2s I'm thinking more about buying a curved 32" 4K monitor @ 60hz if I can snag a great deal in Black Friday sales. Then exhibiting "patience" until 4070 or 4080 to upgrade GPU.

I just got a Acer 32" 4K at prime day for $310 (ET322QK). Monitor is the usual, for the price absolutely worth it (60hz with Freesync). The one caution I have is, don't show it your wife, if she works in technology. I got my previous one on sale 4 years ago for $370 and she complained at first that it takes up the whole desk. After using it for the first time, I never got it back and was stuck with my 27" FHD for the past for years, hence I purchased the Acer at Prime Day. I would assume similar deals during black Friday week or even earlier. Amazon is doing a few interesting EPIC deals (got a 8TB external Seagate this week for $120) and they will most likely continue until the end of the year.

 

[Pitbull Tyson]

Nvidia's GPUs have soft-launched, we're waiting for AMD's Big Navi, and everything is selling out faster than you can hit refresh. If you can find one of the new GPUs in stock, great, but patience will be your best ally.

It's Still a Terrible Time to Buy a Graphics Card : Read more

Can barely buy a video card right now at least a 3000 series it's not the greatest time The prices are going to be high low stock got to wait until January February March and even April then we get lower prices and a lot of stock and don't forget this $3,000 series is going to be running till another year and a half max from the closer two years and the AMD big Navi is a good video card but it's not as good as the 3080 and I'm not even talking about that 3090 for the versions of the video cards they have which have a kind of us VRAM

 

[dark_lord69]

"The GTX 1660 Super gets a bit too close to RX 5600 XT pricing, though, and the RX 5500 XT 8GB is probably the best option of those, since at least you won't run out of VRAM."

"RX 5500 XT 8GB is probably the best option of those"
Blasphemy, Are you really a GPU editor!!??
"RX 5500 XT 8GB is probably the best option of those"

GPU speed is a million times more important than the amount of VRAM.

 

[Endymio]

GPU speed is a million times more important than the amount of VRAM.

Only as long as you don't run out of VRAM. Once you do, the tables turn.

 

[dark_lord69]

Only as long as you don't run out of VRAM. Once you do, the tables turn.

I Suppose then it's more of a...
"Do you want a good frame rate with normal texture quality?'
OR
"Do you want higher texture quality and a lower frame rate?"

So it comes down to personal preference
For me, In the years I've been gaming (Think original Nintendo release date), graphics have come so far that I personally would rather get faster chip have a better frame rate. Lowering texture detail as mentioned in the article is barely noticeable but change the frame rate and you WILL NOTICE.

So...
I stand my ground. Always pick the best chip over the one with more ram.
Only choose the one with more ram if they are the exact same chip.

 

[Endymio]

So it comes down to personal preference
For me, In the years I've been gaming (Think original Nintendo release date), graphics have come so far that I personally would rather get faster chip have a better frame rate.

So you've went from "its a million times more important" to "it's a matter of personal preference". I can't argue with the latter, obviously, but I will say that, to me, frame rate doesn't matter much beyond 50fps or so. After that, I'd much rather maximize texture quality. I watch movies at 24fps, after all.

 

[DSzymborski]

Yeah, no need for odd conspiracy theories. The GPU partners don't want to have a huge glut of last-generation GPUs on-hand.

The price gouging stuff is even weirder. Why do AMD/NVidia/Intel threads have to end up with black helicopter nonsense?

 

[agentbb007]

Bummer I just got a Asus Tuf 3080 Wednesday night from Newegg. I did next day air shipping but they didn't get it out yesterday, they have a UPS tracking number but it shows "Label Created" which kinda pisses me off but hopefully it gets picked up today and comes on Saturday.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

"The GTX 1660 Super gets a bit too close to RX 5600 XT pricing, though, and the RX 5500 XT 8GB is probably the best option of those, since at least you won't run out of VRAM."

"RX 5500 XT 8GB is probably the best option of those"
Blasphemy, Are you really a GPU editor!!??
"RX 5500 XT 8GB is probably the best option of those"

GPU speed is a million times more important than the amount of VRAM.

I probably could have clarified that it's more than just the VRAM, but I figured that was obvious since I just said it was too close in price to the RX 5600 XT. So, complete explanation:

1. 1660 Super costs $230-$250. RX 5600 XT costs $260+. $30 extra (13% more money) for about 25% more performance
2. 5500 XT 8GB costs $180, 1660 Super is $230. That's $50 extra (28% more money) for about 20% more performance
3. GTX 1650 Super costs $165, RX 5500 XT costs $180. That's $15 extra (9% more money) for about 13% more performance. HOWEVER, GTX 1650 Super only has 4GB VRAM, which is a serious concern these days. 6GB is mostly livable, but 4GB will severely limit your texture and other options in some games, and it's only going to get worse.

So, yup, 5500 XT 8GB is "probably the best option of those, since at least you won't run out of VRAM." But I've tweaked the text to make the above clearer.

 

[mictian1980]

Hopefully you bought it back when you could find them for under $350?

I got a Thicc 3 Ultra last week for $300. NIB

 

[g-unit1111]

Not entirely true -- there are quite a few coins / algorithms that are still mined via GPU. But the profitability is low enough that it's not totally killing GPU availability. Or is it!? LOL

I thought most hardware mining was abandoned because of the GPU shortages and it was much easier to mine by software. But then again I am not an expert on Bitcoin mining so don't quote me on that.

Maybe all of the GPU shortages are actually coming from miners again? (Probably not: RTX 2080 Ti only nets about $1 per day, and actually the RX 5700 XT is a bit higher -- but still not a good investment.)

I thought most of the GPU shortages were related to COVID because all we can do right now is play games, or at least that is what I thought.

 

[Endymio]

I thought most hardware mining was abandoned because of the GPU shortages and it was much easier to mine by software.

I'm not sure to what you're referring, but all software requires hardware. ASIC mining software doesn't require a GPU, but it still requires ASIC-based hardware.

 

[g-unit1111]

I'm not sure to what you're referring, but all software requires hardware. ASIC mining software doesn't require a GPU, but it still requires ASIC-based hardware.

Yeah like I said I'm not an expert, LOL. But my general knowledge was that it was too expensive to do hardware mining and the software evolved to where the hardware wasn't as big of a requirement.

 

[kep55]

Nvidia's GPUs have soft-launched, we're waiting for AMD's Big Navi, and everything is selling out faster than you can hit refresh. If you can find one of the new GPUs in stock, great, but patience will be your best ally.

It's Still a Terrible Time to Buy a Graphics Card : Read more

I'm still using the same graphics card design as I did when I built my computers 12 years ago. Guess what? I works exactly as advertised. It doesn't need an additional cooling system, please vids at st standard rates, and if I wanted to look at "real life resolution" I'll open the curtains and look outside. It's like the vehicular comparison pix. The one is new and exotic and will probably need to be repaier or replaced in a few short years while the other is still going strong decades after it was built.

 

[CB94]

I would prefer if media would stop using "recommended" prices in various comparisons. RTX3070 for $500 doesn't exist and never did. Hence, 3070, for example, is not $80 cheaper than RX 6800 at "recommended" price of $580.
Here in Europe, latest nVidia cards are pure paper launch. And even there would be availability, I would never buy ANY nVidia card -prices are way overblown. In short, as an option, brand nVidia is non existent for me.
As casual gamer, I prefer AMD cards which used to be more wallet friendly. But that also changed with 6000 series. And I'm afraid, we can expect unreasonable prices here too -because some are ready to pay.
Being happy owner of RX5600XT, I can play most popular games at 60Hz, which is enough for me (at given price).
There's a difference between "wish" and "need" -answer for yourself and stay calm

I got a 3070 for $500. With tax $530 I guess I got lucky.

 

[BogdanH]

I got a 3070 for $500. With tax $530 I guess I got lucky.

As we use to say: exception confirms the rule! Lucky? Are you aware that this card will only cost $490 in spring?
Just joking! Congrats for your buy

 

[Endymio]

Yeah like I said I'm not an expert, LOL. But my general knowledge was that it was too expensive to do hardware mining and the software evolved to where the hardware wasn't as big of a requirement.

CPU-based mining died out long ago. More recently, much mining has switched from GPUs to custom-ASIC hardware. But they're all hardware, and they all use software, and in fact each of these evolutions has placed more of the burden on the hardware rather than software.

Since the trend is moving in the opposite direction from what you suggest, I suspect you may be thinking of some recent "hardware vs. cloud" type headlines for mining. But of course, those are misleading comparisions, since the cloud option essentially just has you renting someone else's hardware.

 

[jasonf2]

There is only so much silicon production available. With all of this being fabless everything is being produced by samsung and tsmc. AMDs big win in the desktop run, coupled with two new gaming consoles (that while not released are certainly in production), apple moving to its own chips in desktop, Intel purchasing some 3rd party fab capacity and two entirely new GPU generations is putting just a little bit of strain on things. This is in addition to the fact that Covid 19 had caused the mother of all consumer electronics buying sprees of all time. The only saving grace right now in the GPU game is that AMD is looking for a market share bumrush like it pulled on Intel in the CPU game. So while they could probably pull premium pricing they will cut Nvidia at all costs even though supply and demand is definitely leaning on the demand side right now.