Graphics card prices are still falling – Huzzah!

Many of the popular graphics cards on the market have started to become more affordable in recent weeks, and while we've been anxiously expecting them to rise again at any moment, the downwards trend is continuing into March.

Toms Hardware has tracked GPU prices on eBay across the last two generations of both Nvidia and AMD and found that every single model fell in price again in the first two weeks of March, compared to the entire month of February. It noted that while it typically tracks GPU prices month-by-month, the current crash has spurred more frequent updates.

While some cards like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super only declined by 1.6%, others saw a much larger drop, such as the Radeon RX 5500 XT which fell by 20.2%. Most of the current generation of GPUs fell by between 6% - 12% in the last two weeks, which includes the likes of the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti and the Radeon RX 6700 XT.

The below chart logs the prices for the current generation of Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, but you can find the full list over on the Tom's Hardware report.

The fall in pricing also isn't limited to the US, as according to a report compiled by 3DCenter, AMD graphics cards (RX 6000 models) are currently 35% above their MSRP, and Nvidia GPUs (RTX 3000 cards) are 41% higher than their recommended price. This sounds like bad news until you realize that it's actually a significant improvement to how prices were looking this time last year where some Nvidia GPUs were over twice their MSRP.

Tom's Guide also points out that eBay isn't the only indicator, just in case you want to avoid buying second-hand. Large retailers such as Newegg are selling these graphics cards at a similarly reduced price in line with the general market decline, so outside of its release window, there's never been a better time to try and grab yourself an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080...unless you want to play the waiting game to see if prices drop even further.

We track cheap GPU deals each month so if you want to take most of the boring work out of hunting for a new graphics card, check out our guide and put your feet up. Otherwise, we would always suggest sticking to buying new hardware over something used unless you can accept the risk that it won't work, so retailers like Newegg and Amazon will be your best place to scour for a bargain.

Analysis: It's a way to go yet, but remain optimistic

While GPUs remain expensive, these pricing declines do correlate with predictions from huge brands like Intel and Nvidia that component shortages would be expected to ease in the second half of 2022. This was the single biggest issue affecting low supply and high demand (which many scalpers took advantage of) so we should start to see GPU supplies increase as pricing falls. 

It's likely that a few other situations have also helped to ease prices, such as declining efficiency in Ethereum cryptocurrency mining. This was never going to be a swift recovery for the graphics card market, so it's likely we will be living with inflated prices for some time, but the steady decline is nothing but good news. 

Still, don't fall into the trap of thinking this is over. One small change to the supply chain could undo all this work, as could any issues with production as we saw with the chip shortage. Still, it does act as a useful indicator of how the market may be heading, especially as eBay list prices for Nvidia RTX GPUs in the US have fallen for four months in a row.

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