GPU Prices Drop As Ethereum’s Crypto Mining Dies
Ethereum, the hugely popular cryptocurrency, is changing its algorithm, which will effectively kill GPU cryptomining, causing GPU prices to plummet.
Over the past 24 months and change, cryptocurrency mining has been cited as one of the main reasons we saw inflated GPU prices during the pandemic. Demand from GPU miners, combined with the global semiconductor shortage, sent GPU prices soaring.
However, with the cryptocurrency price crash a few months ago, coupled with an easing of the semiconductor shortage, we found GPU prices dropping to near MSRP levels. Now Ethereum is transitioning from a proof-of-work model to a proof-of-stake. This essentially means that you can no longer use your GPU to mine the cryptocurrency.
Considering that mining using a graphics card is no longer the most efficient way to mine crypto, a large part of the mining market will no longer look to GPUs to mine with. ASICs are much more efficient and will eat up much of the demand for miners. There are still some cryptocurrencies that actually use GPUs to mine with. Of all of them, however, Ethereum and Bitcoin have the highest market values, and therefore the most demand.
So what does all this mean for you? Well, mining will dismantle their systems and try to recoup the costs on the second-hand market. Looking over to eBay, we can see that the RTX 3080 10GB Founder’s Edition model was selling for around $750+ in mid-June. But now they can be bought in the $500-600 range. From this small sample alone, GPU prices have dropped by as much as 39%.
Nvidia’s oversupply headache
To reinforce these movements on the used market, Nvidia is also sitting on many of these powerful graphics cards, which are now dropping significantly in price. This will force their hand to raise the prices of the RTX 40 series, which can be much more expensive than the 30 series. This is due to market positioning. They must clear out older inventory and contend with an aggressive used market to sell through existing models.
This is good news for those who might want a new graphics card as RTX 3080 level performance will now be available to users for around $500 if you want to take a risk by potentially buying a card that has previously been used for crypto mining. But if you’re looking for the best performance, you should expect to pay a pretty penny for the likes of the RTX 4090.
