Another GPU price increase is upon us, and GPU availability worsens once again as we look to Q4 2021. Bad news for those looking to buy a graphics card on Black Friday or before Christmas 2021.
AMD GPUs have also continued to become more expensive and less available.
Read below to find out more about the latest graphics card shortage news.
GPU Availability Worsens, GPU Prices Increase
3D Center has been a great source of information on graphics card price and GPU availability changes throughout 2021. Although their data on GPU retailers in Germany and Austria previously indicated that Nvidia GPU prices were falling at least and availability was improving (thanks to factors like Nvidia’s manufacture of non-LHR GPUs and also the Chinese crypto crackdown) it would seem that prices have plateaued and then increased from July to September 2021, and availability has come down over the same period.
Nvidia Graphics Card Price Increases
As you can see in the above graph from 3D Center, the green line shows that between August 8th and September 19th 2021, Nvidia GPU prices have begun to increase again from their seven-month low of 150% MSRP, going up to 170% MSRP once more. Although this is still low compared to prices during most of 2021 – prices are continuing to climb, and the concern is that they will go higher during the high demand Q4 period.
AMD Graphics Card Price Increases
AMD prices started increasing earlier than Nvidia’s, a trend we had already seen in previous charts from 3D center, and now AMD GPU prices seem to be going up in step with Nvidia graphics cards, having hit 174% MSRP as you can see on the red line in the above graph. Besides the same factors affecting AMD GPU pricing as affect Nvidia’s, there are further factors (discussed more below) that may worsen the situation even further.
GPU Availability – COVID Hinders GPU Production
Availability of all graphics cards – as indicated by the dotted purple line – increased dramatically between May and July 2021, but since around July 4th 2021, this has begun to come down once again – disappointing news! This has likely been worsened by more stringent COVID-19 rules in various Asian countries that manufacture the graphics cards, have hindered production, thereby reducing supply. Hopefully, after a necessary adjustment period, we will see this overcome somewhat and supply increase.
One final factor which may impact the prices of AMD GPUs is the intention of TSMC (aka the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), to raise the prices of its products by 10%, as reported by the Taiwanese press.
TSMC make the 7nm node chips that AMD’s RDNA 2 GPUs are based on – meaning increased costs for AMD in their manufacture which may get passed on to the customer. Nvidia by contrast uses Samsung’s 8nm chipset, and they have yet to announce any similar price hikes.
Will this give Nvidia an edge in the GPU price war? We’ll have to wait and see.
Gaming laptop reviewer, tech specialist, lifelong gamer, cantankerous wordsmith. A big fan of writing and laptops, Aaron is the in-house laptop and gaming laptop expert, dabbles in the world of tablets and keyboards, and also serves as a Senior Editor on the team, using his eye for detail to make sure our review content is up to scratch. Summary From halcyon days playing Sonic 2 on the Megadrive, to trying to work out how to make the 'TOASTY!' man appear on Mortal Kombat 3, many of Aaron’s fondest childhood memories are associated with gaming. He regrets nothing. First getting into PC gaming through exposure to Drug Lord 2.0 and then the original Half Life, he has been a fiend ever since. The only thing Aaron loves more than history, gaming, laptops, and writing is finding a good deal, so look out for his laptop deals pages this year. Experience With jobs ranging from working the tills in a bookies to running administration at a political think tank in Westminster, plus a stint in investment management, Aaron has had a varied career. What has remained constant however has been his eagerness to learn new things, his ability to do in-depth research, his eye for detail, and his talent for editing (words and video). All of these skills he utilises in his job - making sure the consumer has the very best idea as to whether a laptop is worth their time and money, and working hard to ensure no detail is missed in his in-depth reviews. Education Investment Management Certificate MA Filmmaking BA History A Levels: Biology, Chemistry, Medieval History AS Levels: Psychology, Philosophy
