The mining effect: GPU availability and pricing worsening again

Towards the end of 2017, it looked like the GPU market was normalizing but in recent days things have dramatically worsened for gamers. Intensifying demand from the cryptocurrency market is resulting in fewer video cards hitting retail shelves, which in turn drives up prices. The US is hit pretty hard and Europe is following.

German tech site ComputerBase tracked the evolution of video card prices and concludes there's been a big increase since December 4, 2017. As is to be expected, especially AMD GPUs are hit hard. Pricing of popular AMD cards is up 24 to 58 percent, depending on the model. With exception of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, the price of NVIDIA's cards soared 10 to 20 percent over the same timeframe.



An increase in component costs explains part of the price spike, but most of it seems to originate from strong mining demand. ComputerBase heard from a trader that the delivery situation is expected to remain tight until at least the end of March.

The site also picked up word that AMD is still not providing enough Vega GPUs to its partners. Similarly, NVIDIA is said to be cutting back Pascal GPU production to make room for its next-gen GeForce GPUs, which are expected in Q2 2018. Some other PC components, like PSUs with a capacity of 1000W or more, are also very hard to find due to strong demand from the cryptocurrency segment.

In the US, things are even worse as major retailers are now selling GeForce GTX 1070 cards for $940. Suffice to say, it's pretty bonkers to pay these prices if you're a gamer.

Not getting any better... #NVIDIA $NVDA pic.twitter.com/n9RFk5IbOq

— DV Hardware (@DVHardware) January 15, 2018