GPU Pricing Update: May 2022

As we inch closer to the arrival of next generation graphics cards, we expect the current state of the market to heavily influence what GPU manufacturers will charge for upcoming products. Over the last month or so, MSRP level pricing has started to become the norm for GPU shopping to some extent.

The RTX 3090 Ti launched at $2,000 and since launch it’s been easy to get and priced as the MSRP would suggest. Of course, that MSRP is a bit ridiculous given the performance increase over the original RTX 3090 and the age of Ampere GPUs, but at least makers are no longer launching products at a supposed price point only to see that drastically increase straight away.

This has also been the case for AMD’s Radeon RX 6X50 series refresh, which we’ve been reviewing to… mixed results. All three new Radeon GPUs have hit the market at the MSRP, and there’s no shortage of products to go around.

If you want an RX 6650 XT right now, you’ll be paying dead on $400. The case is the same for the $550 RX 6750 XT and $1,100 RX 6950 XT. As we discussed in those reviews though, it probably doesn’t make sense to buy a refreshed GPU when the existing models are still available and often cost less (and offer better value).

Take the cash grab that is the RX 6750 XT as an example. Surely you can buy one for $550 without issue, however the RX 6700 XT is readily available for $490, or only $10 above MSRP. The 6750 XT is 5 percent faster on average at 1440p than the 6700 XT, yet current pricing has the new model 12 percent more expensive. That makes the new variant a less appealing deal.

While that isn’t a great look for AMD’s refreshed GPU series, what matters most is that buyers have access to all the GPUs mentioned above. We can’t predict for how long the original models will continue to sold but right now there’s no problem finding one.

Nvidia GPU Pricing Trends

On the retail market, the pricing trend is still looking positive for GeForce graphics cards. Last month, high-end cards like the RTX 3080 Ti effectively hit their MSRP, and other models are edging closer with a few exceptions.

Average Sale Price of eBay Completed Listings, New Products, 3rd Week of Month

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The RTX 3090 appears to be stuck at $1,700 for now, while the RTX 3050 is actually slightly more expensive today than it was a month ago.

While these instances do limit the average price drop for May to just 6 percent, several cards saw price drops over 10 percent which is more in line with the trend in prior months.

Price inflation remains an issue for most of Nvidia’s line up. From the RTX 3080 and down, on average Nvidia’s GPUs are still sitting over 30 percent above their launch MSRP, with the 3060 Ti being a particularly bad example – though its MSRP is also the clear standout value choice, if it were available at that level.

AMD GPU Pricing Trends

It’s a different story for AMD GPUs. Last month a couple of models were selling at the MSRP, but this month it’s the majority of the lineup. Basically every Radeon model is sitting near the MSRP, with the exception of the RX 6800 series which remains overpriced by 27 percent, though the price of these GPUs continues to fall and are lower than Nvidia’s equivalent models.

Average Sale Price of eBay Completed Listings, New Products, 3rd Week of Month

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Some Radeon GPUs saw price drops as big as 15 percent, like the 6600 XT. On average, we saw an 8 percent price drop for AMD’s lineup month on month, looking at the cheapest available GPUs on Newegg and factoring in any mail in rebates.

In what’s excellent news for buyers, several AMD GPUs are currently available at below their MSRP. The RX 6900 XT is selling for just $950, the 6600 XT is $5 below its $380 MSRP, and the much maligned RX 6500 XT is finally available for $195.

Unfortunately, the RX 6600 did get slightly more expensive, but overall we expect to keep seeing the occasional model be available below the MSRP, depending on the month.

And while this is all good news, we have to remember these are old GPU series now, and are set to be imminently replaced. As we said last month, prospective buyers of high-end GPUs in particular may want to wait. I certainly wouldn’t want to be forking out $1,200 on an RTX 3080 Ti when that same amount of money in a few months could be getting me something much better.

That’s why cards like the recently released RTX 3090 Ti and RX 6950 XT aren’t great buys at launch, and I wouldn’t be all that interested in the $950 RX 6900 XT either, even if it’s selling below MSRP right now.

But for people after more budget and mainstream GPUs, we don’t expect these cards to be replaced by new models as quickly. From the time new high-end graphics cards launch, it will take at least 6 months for more affordable options to be available, or up to a year as we saw this last generation.

If you typically purchase GPUs in the sub $400 range, today’s pricing is relevant and if you don’t want to wait another 12 months there are some decent deals to be had today.

There are a few other considerations to be made as well. There’s question marks over how far GPU pricing can fall from here for cards that are already at the MSRP. We believe there’s still room for price drops for much of Nvidia’s lineup, but we are starting to see prices stagnate for AMD cards such as the RX 6600. This makes it a better time to buy that sort of product now than in previous months, as there’s more price certainty and I think you can buy without the risk of another 10% drop next month.

When new GPUs launch, it’s common to see old cards begin to sell at a discount, at least in a normal market, so right around the time we start to see next-gen GPU announcements, it could be an even better time to buy.

Nvidia vs AMD Price Points

Here’s how Nvidia and AMD lineups compare at the moment. Nvidia has been able to introduce a bit more competition at the high-end compared to April. Last month we saw the RTX 3080 and RX 6900 XT go head to head, but this month the 6900 XT’s competitor is the slightly faster RTX 3080 12GB model.

Before we also saw the RX 6800 and RTX 3070 Ti compete at the same $800 price point, while this month both have come down in price and the 3070 Ti is now up to $60 more affordable.

In the mid-range it’s more favorable to AMD. Previously the 6700 XT and RTX 3060 Ti went head to head in the $600 category, now the faster 6750 XT is going up against the 3060 Ti — although the 6700 XT looks better here.

Then in the lower tiers, despite the addition of several new models, not much has changed in terms of positioning and ideally both the RTX 3050 and RTX 3060 would be $50 to $100 cheaper.

Used GPU Pricing

Moving on to see how the used GPU market is shaping up, whenever prices fall in the retail market, used prices come down as well. Right now there appears to be plentiful supply, weaker demand than in the past year, and virtually no pressure from the cryptocurrency mining market thanks to huge declines in mining profitability since the beginning of 2022. All of this combined has turned into a buyer’s market if you’re looking at older models on eBay.

Right now, Nvidia’s RTX 20 series of GPUs are all selling below under their launch MSRPs for the first time… on average 28 percent under MSRP.

… many Turing GPUs are now worth almost half what they were at the beginning of the year, a massive drop and great news for buyers

This is on the back of a substantial 14 percent month-on-month decline in Turing GPU prices, which follows on from a 16 percent decline last month, 11 percent decline in March and 13 percent decline in February. In fact, many Turing GPUs are now worth almost half what they were at the beginning of the year, a massive drop and great news for buyers.

The GeForce 16 series is also in a much better position with cards selling at their launch MSRP on average, and a price decline of 14 percent.

Nvidia currently doesn’t sell new GPUs below $300 in significant quantities, so the 16 series is still holding down the fort, hence the level of pricing. The GTX 1660 is favorable up against the RX 6500 XT in our opinion at $200, even if the difference comes down to used vs. new, the GTX 1660 is simply a far better GPU.

The value of Pascal-era cards continues to come down as well, and now most GTX 10 series products are worth just half their launch price on the used market. A lot of these products are quite old, and even models like the GTX 1060 6GB at $150 we don’t think are suitable beyond use as a stopgap graphics card.

The 1080 Ti is now competing with new RTX 3050s in terms of pricing, but without features like DLSS and (though not particularly usable) ray tracing.

AMD’s RX 5000 series has been popular with miners due to their mining efficiency relative to their gaming performance, but pricing has come down substantially since January.

The 5700 XT was selling for over $800 new at the start of the year, but you’ll find them for around half that today, which is a large drop. Month on month these products have come down in price by 16 percent, although pricing is still higher than MSRP, so I wouldn’t recommend them.

As for older GPUs, it appears as though owners of 5 year old AMD cards are flooding to eBay to offload them, especially models like the RX 590 and RX 580 which have seen drops of over 20 percent month on month.

Despite this, these sorts of cards have typically been worse value than their Nvidia competitors. For example, even today the RX 580 8GB costs $200 used, compared to the GTX 1060 6GB at $160. I wouldn’t recommend any of these outside of a short term stopgap or alternative to the RX 6500 XT and 6400.

Should You Buy a New GPU Right Now?

Another month of good news for the GPU market, with this trend continuing since the beginning of the year. Demand has fallen away as GPUs become more affordable, supply has improved substantially, and the massive drop in crypto mining profits has had a huge impact on the market. It cannot be overstated how closely mining and GPU prices were linked this generation, and how a reduction there has helped gamers get more affordable graphics cards.

At the moment we’re in an odd position where some cards are starting to creep below MSRP on the retail market, but it doesn’t feel like that’s good enough. A lot of these GPUs are 18 months old, and a new generation of much faster graphics cards is on the horizon, so just hitting and falling below the MSRP won’t necessarily cut it.

Especially for high-end models, we wouldn’t want to be paying the MSRP knowing they’ll be superseded before the end of the year, hopefully with much better price to performance ratios and new features. Not to mention, there are still some high-end GPUs being sold around 30 percent above the MSRP, so it’s hard to recommend those models.

We’re also starting to see a price floor for some models. Cards like the RTX 3050 and RX 6600 haven’t fallen in price much as of late, and while they could drop further in the coming weeks, there’s no guarantee of that.

On the other hand, we expect pricing for other models like the RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 to keep falling, so buying those products now isn’t a great idea if you can wait.

It’s also clear that the used market has flipped quickly from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. If you didn’t offload your graphics card already, you’re only getting half what you could have gotten six months ago. But for buyers, there’s good price pressure at the moment and some cards like the GTX 1660 are good buys against new products like the RX 6500 XT.

Coincidence or not, just as we’re seeing GPU pricing returning to normal, there’s a new generation of GPUs around the corner, which will create all sorts of havoc for pricing. On the upside, the current market conditions in terms of supply, demand and mining are looking good for PC gamers, so we’re hopeful that the upcoming generation will be different to what we’ve just gone through.

Shopping Shortcuts:

• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti on Amazon
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 on Amazon
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 on Amazon
• AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT on Amazon
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti on Amazon
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 on Amazon
• AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT on Amazon
• AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT on Amazon
• Intel Core i5-12600K on Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D on Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 9 5950X on Amazon
• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X on Amazon