Sam Machkovech
Cryptocurrency has had a difficult year. Bitcoin is down more than 50 percent since the start of the year, from nearly $48,000 in January to just over $20,000 at the time of publication. Celsius, a major cryptocurrency “bank,” suspended withdrawals earlier this week, and the Coinbase crypto exchange announced a round of layoffs on Tuesday after hiring paused last month.
It may come as little consolation to anyone who wanted to work at Coinbase or spend hard-earned cash on an ugly monkey picture because a celebrity told them to, but there’s good news for PC builders and gamers in all of this. As tracked by Tom’s Hardware, prices for new and used graphics cards continue to fall, from their peak prices in late 2021 and early 2022. For weeks it was generally possible to go to Amazon, Newegg or Best Buy and buy current GPUs. generation at prices that seemed like bargains six months or a year ago, and used GPU prices have continued to fall.
As Tom’s Hardware reports, most mid-range Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 series cards still sell at or slightly more than the manufacturer’s suggested retail prices – the 3050, 3060, and 3070 series are still in high demand. But top-of-the-line 3080 Ti, 3090, and 3090 Ti GPUs all currently sell below their (admittedly astronomical) MSRPs, as do nearly all of AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series cards.
The prices used have fallen even faster. Between June 1 and June 15, eBay prices for used GPUs fell by an average of 10 percent as at least some cryptocurrency miners tried to cut their losses and sell their hardware. This is happening even as mining software begins to find ways to circumvent Nvidia’s hash rate-limiting LHR protections – falling cryptocurrency prices and rising energy costs are still making the mining economy tricky.
That said, buyers of used GPUs should still be cautious. Aside from the scams and bait-and-switches that can come with any high-quality eBay purchase, GPUs that have been exploiting cryptocurrency at full capacity for months or years can have problems that a new GPU (or a second-hand GPU that was only used to run games to play) would not have. The heat generated from constant use in a high-density mining environment can reduce performance (although GPU manufacturers have overestimated this risk in the past), as can dust or dried-out thermal grease. If you buy a used GPU that looks dirty or is getting hot, removing and cleaning the fan and heatsink, and reapplying fresh thermal paste can help restore lost performance and extend card life.
If you like to struggle with buying a GPU, it may soon become more interesting for you. Nvidia’s RTX 4000 series GPUs are reportedly nearing release, and manufacturing and supply chain issues may conspire to keep these new cards in short supply.
