The only thing that’s decreasing in price while everything else is going up: graphics cards

From 2020 to 2023, buying a graphics card has been nearly impossible. Whether due to stock shortages or the most exorbitant prices in history. In some cases, GPUs ended up costing more than twice their official price.

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The pandemic, the shortage of semiconductors, and the miners were about to bring down the gaming market, which had to endure the greed of a few who wanted to get rich by mining bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.

Now, at the end of 2023, buying a graphics card is not only possible but also easy. The market is fully stocked, and prices are lower than what the brands themselves recommend. Now, gamers have reasons to smile. By the way, here are the most reliable brands in the market.

Why now is the best time to get a GPU

Before AMD and Nvidia completed their respective lineups, we almost always found ourselves with a list of GPUs that was always missing something.

The RTX 4090 was there, but it was terribly expensive. It was followed by the RTX 4080, with solid performance and a terrible price. AMD’s RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT were magnificent in their own right, but the overall market lacked them. Nvidia’s offerings were excessively expensive, and AMD’s were non-existent.

Those days are already behind us. Both AMD and Nvidia have completed their respective product lines, and now we have GPUs ranging from the budget-friendly RTX 4060 and RX 7600 to the monstrous RTX 4090, and all of them are in stock.

While Nvidia is not exactly known for its affordable prices, some recent releases have positioned a few of these GPUs below their recommended retail price.

Some of those cards started out quite expensive, so it’s nice to see how the market is balancing things based on supply and demand. Now, many of them have reached their historical minimum price.

AMD has also experienced significant price cuts, and, unlike Nvidia, it has a viable selection of GPUs from this generation as well as the previous one.

There are still many AMD cards in stock, and in many cases, it may make more sense to buy RDNA 2 than RDNA 3. AMD is its own worst enemy right now in that regard.

We are swimming in affordable GPUs right now that have a good lifespan ahead of them. A good AMD card from the previous generation, the RX 6000 series, can hold up well for the next 2/3 years without sacrificing graphics.

We’ve heard rumors that Nvidia will soon release RTX 40 Super cards, but until that happens, it’s unlikely that we’ll see further price cuts. However, since the current generation cards have shed their initial price hikes after launch, and the next-generation cards are still far off, now is the time to buy.

Options at Nvidia: all good, even if you have 2,000 euros to spend

If you’re looking for an Nvidia GPU, the only GPU you should stay away from for price reasons is the RTX 4090. And this is only if you don’t want to break the bank, because even this model has seen price drops in recent months, and it’s easy to find it for under 2,000 euros, even under 1,900 euros.

Things can improve if we look at the RTX 4080. It is one of the GPUs with the worst value for money in this generation, as it cost a third less than the 4090 and delivered half the performance. Nevertheless, for 1,100 / 1,200 euros, you can find good models. It’s not cheap, but it’s better than ever.

Most likely, this GPU will drop even further if Nvidia actually releases an RTX 4080 Super, but that probably won’t happen until next year.

Most of the mid-range options have also dropped below the recommended retail price, which is a blessing, considering that many of them fell victim to Nvidia’s pricing strategy.

The RTX 4070 Ti offers a modest savings, as some models are in the 800/900 euros range. Many RTX 4070 cards are in a similar situation, with prices hovering around 600 euros.

And AMD is always a good choice

If the price of the RTX 4080 is still holding you back, the AMD equivalent is also cheaper than ever right now, though the savings aren’t as significant.

You can get the RX 7900 XTX for 1,000 euros, and it’s a great option for 4K if you don’t mind giving up Nvidia’s DLSS 3. The RX 7900

AMD’s RX 7800 XT is currently slightly above the recommended retail price, and it’s the only card in its range that hasn’t seen discounts. However, the RX 6800 XT is only 7% to 10% slower and costs 600 euros.

Any of these three cards will work well in a 1440p environment, although, of course, the 7800 XT is the best choice. The RX 7700 XT is sold at the MSRP and is easy to overlook, as the other three have a similar price.

Let’s not forget the RX 6700 XT, which is a solid alternative to Nvidia’s 4060 Ti and costs 320 euros. The only downside is the lack of DLSS 3, which has been one of Nvidia’s key selling points in this generation.

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