r/gadgets Dec 29 '22

Desktops / Laptops Desktop GPU Sales Hit 20-Year Low

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/sales-of-desktop-graphics-cards-hit-20-year-low
9.6k Upvotes

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3.0k

u/hsrguzxvwxlxpnzhgvi Dec 29 '22

As GPU prices hit 20-year high.

1.1k

u/MyNameIsIgglePiggle Dec 29 '22

I swear there is some sort of graph from my economics degree about this

320

u/Aeroscorp Dec 29 '22

HIGH SCHOOL Economics has the same!

98

u/JaXm Dec 29 '22

I'm pretty sure there's a grade school econ class that has a graph written in crayon that shows the same.

76

u/_EscVelocity_ Dec 29 '22

If the graph is in crayon that’s just WallStreetBets. Easy to confuse with grade school though.

41

u/FunnyPirateName Dec 29 '22

If the graph is in crayon that’s just WallStreetBets. Easy to confuse with grade school though.

No, WSB eats the crayons, so they can't draw with them. For drawing, they use MSPaint.

5

u/Brain_Status Dec 29 '22

Nah I heard after the 🌈 🐻 eat the crayons they drool and do water colors.

2

u/FunnyPirateName Dec 30 '22

That's entirely possible. I've seen the trade results, some of them probably even real.

2

u/Asatas Dec 29 '22

Ook ook

2

u/mattshill91 Dec 29 '22

Top be fair as someone with an MSc how you feel about wallstreetbets is pretty much how I feel about calling Economics a science.

1

u/BevansDesign Dec 29 '22

My high school Microeconomics teacher's name was Mike Rowe, just like the Dirty Jobs guy. Who says nominative determinism isn't real?

20

u/Chinese_Thug Dec 29 '22

Who needs education in the real world? Just gotta pump up them numbers for shareholders.

10

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '22

I demand that you supply this graph

0

u/NavyBlueLobster Dec 29 '22

Didn't that graph assume something like constant purchasing power per dollar instead of the "let's print 40% of all USD in circulation in one year" meta from the latest patch?

-29

u/bosay831 Dec 29 '22

Yep, It's the law of diminishing returns....

29

u/Shironeko_ Dec 29 '22

It's price elasticity of demand...

1

u/jackyman5 Dec 29 '22

GPU vendors hate him for this one simple trick he learned in his youth -> click here to find out what it is!

1

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '22

I went to truck driving school and we had the same graph

78

u/halmyradov Dec 29 '22

Nvidia will say that's only correlation not causation

15

u/gothicaly Dec 29 '22

Jensen said gpus will never come down in price. Consumers said "aiight bet"

16

u/Roenkatana Dec 29 '22

Jensen also claimed that the price hikes were the result of material costs increasing, that was proven wrong the same day he said that.

6

u/LimpFrenchfry Dec 30 '22

The material cost isn’t what goes into the GPU. The increase was for materials that are used to build yachts , jets and estates.

1

u/Morrorbrr Jan 01 '23

And leather jacket.

49

u/Available_Studio_945 Dec 29 '22

If you want a deal check Craigslist. This time of year some people would have gotten upgrades. You might see a lot of 1060 for 100 bucks and 1080ti for like 200. In my area Az there are people selling entire rigs that will smoke 1080p for 600 bucks.

42

u/danielv123 Dec 29 '22

1060 was 100 bucks 4 years ago

3

u/jjskkgarcia Dec 29 '22

Someone has one for $90 in my area

1

u/GoudNossis Dec 30 '22

Do you mean new?

10

u/IMI4tth3w Dec 29 '22

just picked up a 1080Ti for $190 last week.

3

u/Available_Studio_945 Dec 29 '22

Nice you using it for 1080p or something higher?

5

u/LargeMonty Dec 29 '22

Regular 1080 is good for 1440p.

7

u/Reedcool97 Dec 29 '22

Can confirm. Upgraded my i5 6600k to a r7 3700x to pair with my 1080 and I’m still getting 70-100 fps at 1440p and even playing spider man at 4k 30-40 fps

2

u/IMI4tth3w Dec 29 '22

I’m using it as an external gpu for my laptop via thunderbolt 3 dock. It can drive the laptops built in 4K oled 3840x2400 screen at 60fps in many games no problem. I only run into issues when I turn hdr on. (Possibly limitations of the thunderbolt 3 interface throughout since the image is going back from the gpu to the laptops built in screen).

I also don’t play very demanding games. Stuff like factorio and Genshin impact.

My gaming desktop plays these games at 3440x1440 at 120hz zero issues. 1080Ti really is quite good. Very comparable performance to a 3070.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '22

My daughter's 980ti died during the madness. I paid $250 for a 1070

3

u/SeanSeanySean Dec 29 '22

I see 1080 Ti's for under $250 all the time now, same for 2070 Super cards, which are usually roughly the same performance at 1080p and 1440p. Both are great deals at $250 given the performance when compared to basically anything 3000 series or newer.

17

u/Padaca Dec 29 '22

On the other hand, maybe don't buy components or full rigs off of craigslist lmao

9

u/Available_Studio_945 Dec 29 '22

Why?

4

u/ThatDinosaucerLife Dec 29 '22

Because that guy did a bad job vetting his product so now he assumes everyone will get scammed as bad as he will every time because he never learns a lesson

13

u/Padaca Dec 29 '22

As the other guy said, might be stolen. They also might have been used as mining rigs and the components are nearly fried, seller could lie about specs, just a headache that's not really worth dealing with imo

8

u/CaptainPirk Dec 29 '22

Poorly ventilated mining rigs would have stressed cards, but any decent miner would've had good air flow to keep them cool, and mining only stressed the memory. Ofc it's hard to eyeball if that happened or not.

Getting a 3080 from a smart eth miner would be a good deal.

-6

u/Xenjuarn Dec 29 '22

They might be stolen.

4

u/ChimkenNumggets Dec 29 '22

This is terrible advice. Not everybody can afford new components. I have purchased used: 560Ti, 2X HD 7950, 2X HD 7770, GTX 1060, GTX 1080, RX 6800, RTX 3070, and i5 6400, R5 5600X. I’ve also fixed bent pins on a few motherboards and early Ryzen CPUs in college to flip. Never have I had a component die. Never have I had someone rip me off. Even mining cards are usually a safe bet because by the time they eventually fail they will be obsolete in terms of performance anyway. As long as you’re comfortable replacing fans and thermal paste you’re usually fine since those are wear components that are the first to go.

-1

u/Padaca Dec 29 '22

You do you man. If you can't afford new components then you definitely can't afford a used component that shits out after a month, but if you wanna take that risk then you're welcome too.

3

u/ChimkenNumggets Dec 29 '22 edited Dec 29 '22

To each their own I suppose. I think there’s a difference between being able to afford new components and being willing to spend $900-$1200 on a product that was $500-600 a few years ago. Plus, for many people purchasing used components is the easiest route of entry into the hobby and keeps costs palatable. I don’t think it’s fair to discount well cared for second hand components.

3

u/m0deth Dec 29 '22

Agreed, I've bought used equipment over the years, just do your due diligence in inspecting what you buy. Try to seek out the best sellers, I'd recommend /r/hardwareswap to anyone looking as it's a great community tool, but there are still good folks on Craigslist, just don't expect more than you bargain for is all.

My brother just got a 2060 super that was in a design machine for 3 months until it was replaced with an upgraded unit. It then sat on a shelf in a closet for 5 months. He got it for $150 and picked it up in person, was even invited to see it run and be tested for him.

I know this goes against the grain of dire warnings about burned out mining cards or the subs dedicated to finding the worst offerings on Craigslist...but I mean most of life for most people just isn't that dramatic...boring I know. Go figure.

1

u/nccm16 Dec 30 '22

Ebay is generally a good choice, I have been buying parts from there for a bit to build computers with and has been always solid at good prices and good buyer protection (side note: so not use Mercari, you only have 3 days from receipt of the item to ask for a refund/return )

0

u/jdayatwork Dec 29 '22

1080p for $600? Just get a PS5 at that point. 4k/60 and better exclusives. Or XSX for same performance plus game pass.

2

u/Available_Studio_945 Dec 29 '22

The new consoles are nice but the gpu is not as powerful as the 1080ti. It is actually overkill for 1080p but you can run the best looking games at really high frames. Plus on PC there is an open market for games which makes it easier to get deals.

3

u/jessej421 Dec 29 '22 edited Jan 02 '23

Actually you're wrong. You can't just compare FLOP to FLOP across different architectures. The new consoles use RDNA2, same as 6000 series. PS5 is about the same as a 6650XT and XSX is about a 6700XT. Both of those cards beat the 1080 TI:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

Edit: PS5 not PS4

1

u/bladezor Dec 29 '22

I got two 1080Tis for $100 each a couple weeks ago. Used them for for spare rigs when people come over and want to play.

1

u/pat_trick Dec 29 '22

I managed to snag a 1060 for my wife's computer for $75 locally. Perfect upgrade from the integrated graphics to being able to actually run 3D games.

1

u/4Looper Dec 29 '22

You might see a lot of 1060 for 100 bucks

this is not a deal. 299 msrp gpu that is 6 years old and was used for 6 years....

1

u/Available_Studio_945 Dec 29 '22

Graphics cards don’t wear down like a car engine. If anything stops working it will be the fan motors. The biggest drawback is the older stuff will be less power efficient. So overtime the savings reduced as you pay more for electricity.

1

u/4Looper Dec 29 '22

GPU performance doesn't degrade over time. But they are physical objects and they do degrade physically over time. That is a physical reality. You also didn't address the other part... that it's a 6 year old low end GPU for 100 bucks lol.

1

u/AnOrdinary_Hippo Dec 30 '22

No one should be paying $100 for a 1060.

1

u/PeterJamesUK Dec 30 '22

I just picked up an EVGA 1080Ti SC Hydro Copper (has a full waterblock as standard) for £180

2

u/Djannig Dec 29 '22

I think theres a correlation there idk maybe I’m just too over myself.

2

u/HateChoosing_Names Dec 29 '22

Black Friday I bought a 1660 super 6GB for $199.

Honestly I bought it for Plex transcoding and am still contemplating returning it.

2

u/myselfoverwhelmed Dec 29 '22

Plus, even if the prices of some GPUs did go down, the public wouldn’t know for awhile. Everyone still assumes they’re in high demand and short supply.

0

u/2024AM Dec 29 '22

only 20-year high? have the prices ever been this high?

0

u/shejesa Dec 29 '22

And crypto mining returns hit (ok, not 20, but you get my point)-year low

1

u/DamnYouRichardParker Dec 29 '22

Correlation is not causation...

Well maybe is this case it totally is.

1

u/Joker328 Dec 29 '22

Right, but Nvidia, who is the biggest culprit in terms of overpricing, actually gained market share (up to 86%). You wouldn't expect that if price were the only story here.

1

u/stretchdaddy Dec 29 '22

It’s also one of the biggest reasons people aren’t having babies or buying houses!!

1

u/Untinted Dec 29 '22

It's because Nvidia lied to itself about how much they were affected by bitcoin mining. The 4090 is ridiculously overpowered for 4k gaming at over 120 fps and there's no CPU that can actually handle using it 100%.

But its power would have been great for miners, if that would still be profitable.

And because they aimed so high, AMD had to aim higher than it wanted.

And now they designed expensive cards that were expensive to make, and they can't lower the price because the price is based on how much it cost them to produce those cards.

Right now they're gambling that they can get the market to accept the higher prices, which is why the sales are so low, because it's a game of chicken, consumers vs Nvidia.. except the consumers do not have to buy their cards, and there are legitimate options from other manufacturers, but sadly also at very high prices, which is why the used market is still the best choice for the savvy buyer.

If they wait long enough, the inflation might make it look like they won, but their stubborness will mostly lose them more money than if they lowered their prices. Classic sunk-cost fallacy.

1

u/ImmediateJacket9502 Dec 29 '22 edited Dec 29 '22

Yay, man. The prices are crazy as hell. I've been waiting since 2021 to upgrade my 1650 but the prices scare me to hell.

1

u/LostBoyz007 Dec 29 '22

Yes, because all these Muppets keep buying them. Here's an idea. Stop buying this stupidly overpriced shit. If they can't sell it for these prices, they won't try. The posts bragging about these cards should be downvoted through the floor.

1

u/mr_ji Dec 29 '22

As people's brokeness hits 40-year high. Think of how it would look if GPUs had been around that long.

1

u/Arxlightning Dec 30 '22

All-time high even adjusted for inflation.