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Richard Leadbetter (Digital Foundry) calls out AMD, Nvidia and AIBs for allowing GPU price gouging

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Just saw this in their latest DF Direct, and thought it deserved its own thread. He brings up how the PC CPU, Storage and RAM market isn't being affected by the chip shortage, and how even the console scalpers are only selling them for $50 pounds on top of the MSRP. Whereas, PC GPUs are being sold by EVGA, MSI and other AIBs for double their MSRP. They talk about how the 2060 is being sold by these manufacturers for $550. The problem is the middle man.

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I have brought this up before. My local microcenter always has these cards in stock, but they cost 2x what Nvidia and AMD advertised for them. I see 3090s sitting on shelves for $2,500-2,799. No one wants to buy a 6600xt for $799 or a 6700xt for $999. I saw a lot of 3060 and several 3070s the last time I was there on their truck shipment day, but why would I pay $800+ for them when Nvidia said the 3080 would be $700? Microcenter has excellent sales on PC CPUs all the time too so clearly the chip shortage didnt affect them too much because Intel and AMD sell them directly to Microcenter. No middle man like MSI required.

I dont even have to go to craigslist to get ripped off. The manufacturers are doing it out in the open.
 

Topher

Gold Member
There isn't an easy solution to this though, is there? If the AIBs sell cards at MSRP and then everyone who buys a card turns around and resells it on eBay or craigslist for 2 to 3 times the price then what is the difference? Can anyone really blame EVGA and others for wanting to sell their products at a price closer to what the market is demanding? Don't get me wrong. This really sucks all around, but keeping the price low, at this point, is essentially just putting more money in the pockets of scalpers.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Maybe time for end of custom-build PC.

Pre-built seem slight better price and available, right now.
The cheapest one I could find with a 3080 was still around $2,500. That's way too expensive for a PC with a $700 GPU.

For reference, I paid $1,400 for a PC with a $700 RTX 2080 back in 2019. Just six months after that GPU launched. We are now 18 months in.
 

Mr Moose

Member
The prices are fucking stupid, I just want to replace my shit GPU.
I found out the other day I can play Valorant at 1080p/60fps+ with high settings though.
*strokes super hot 6870*
 
If you want a PC that's comparable in specs to a PS5 or XSX and had to buy parts (brand new) using today's market, you are easily spending close to three times what these consoles cost MSRP. Unless you are a dedicated streamer or don't already have a PC for everyday tasks, then building a gaming PC is just not feasible for the vast majority of people.
 

iceatcs

Junior Member
The cheapest one I could find with a 3080 was still around $2,500. That's way too expensive for a PC with a $700 GPU.

For reference, I paid $1,400 for a PC with a $700 RTX 2080 back in 2019. Just six months after that GPU launched. We are now 18 months in.
Oh is it? that's really shame.
My mate got 3070 Ti tower for £1300 from Amazon in last Nov. No idea how better price is it, but it is similar to price for GPU it own, (some 3070 Ti OC reached over £1000)
 
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winjer

Gold Member
The chip production issues are one part of the problem.
But the other big one is mining. Too many cards are being taken by miners for exorbitant prices.
A miner can justify paying 1500$ for a card, or more, but not most gamers.

nVidia, AMD and Intel should have limited the hash rate on these cards to a crawl.
It's true that nVidia did try something like this, but it was so limited, that it was almost pointless.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
bbllvh0xs9b81.jpg


Get in the van!
 

Cherrypepsi

Member
unfortunately there is a chance that prices will never go back to normal, because even at ridiculous prices, everything is selling.
News like a 3080ti or a 3050 release is making me flinch.

Get these products on the market in the right quantity at the correct price, so consumers are actually able to buy them and use them for the intended purpose, or don't announce anything AT ALL.

pLukM1J.png


Seriously NVIDIA, shut up! Especially about prices and stop pretending this thing wont hit the market at 500+

If cards actually hit the market on january 27 at this price, and people are able to order them, - please someone bookmark this post and ban me from this forum
 

TransTrender

Gold Member
It's fucking crazy it's still this bad.
Out of curiosity I took a look at the EVGA queue list and holy shit, many SKUs pretty much never moved out of September 2020 sign up dates, and a lot of those SKUs are likely EOL because of LHR versions but even then the replacement versions are still super duper lagging behind. I feel lucky I got in early on these lists and got a few GPUs for them at MSRP and Pre-Tarrif prices.
AExBeqc.jpg
 
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Until the GPU market is corrected, the answer for me has been to buy a gaming laptop and a PS5. Between these two, I can play anything, with the PS5 doing the heavy lifting on modern games (4K HDR). The laptop is high-mid tier and cost me less than a single RTX3070.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
It's fucking crazy it's still this bad.
Out of curiosity I took a look at the EVGA queue list and holy shit, many SKUs pretty much never moved out of September 2020 sign up dates, and a lot of those SKUs are likely EOL because of LHR versions but even then the replacement versions are still super duper lagging behind. I feel lucky I got in early on these lists and got a few GPUs for them at MSRP and Pre-Tarrif prices.
AExBeqc.jpg
i have heard rumors that AIBs might be selling straight to miners, and bestbuy employees get first dibs on cards on every shipment which they then scalp for a profit.

Everyone is making money. nvidia's profits are way up. Up 50% in 2021 compared to 2020 so clearly they are selling cards, just not to gamers.
 

DaGwaphics

Member
If either AMD/Nvidia decided to change their approach and sell their products direct to consumers without the AIBs (in large numbers, not the more limited reference cards), you might see a difference. Manufactures can also set limits in terms of minimum/maximum pricing of products at retail (as the console makers typically do). You couldn't do anything about scalpers reselling, but just getting the cards out and in the market would take a bite out of scalpers just like has happened with PS5/XSX.
 

VFXVeteran

Banned
Doesn't matter man. If the boards are continuing to sell despite their MSRP, then that means they were charging too little for the boards in the first place. What AMD and Nvidia SHOULD do is increase the prices to the gouge values since people can afford them.
 

mansoor1980

Member
Doesn't matter man. If the boards are continuing to sell despite their MSRP, then that means they were charging too little for the boards in the first place. What AMD and Nvidia SHOULD do is increase the prices to the gouge values since people can afford them.
what?
 

DaGwaphics

Member
Doesn't matter man. If the boards are continuing to sell despite their MSRP, then that means they were charging too little for the boards in the first place. What AMD and Nvidia SHOULD do is increase the prices to the gouge values since people can afford them.

If a healthy number of gamers are purchasing the cards that could be true. However, if most of the sales are crypto related and that market crashes (result of steady devaluation) and years of being overpriced to the general market have pushed that market in a different direction, could be disastrous times ahead for the GPU makers.
 

Fbh

Member
It really sucks that PC gaming seems better than ever right now.....it also got extremely expensive .


If either AMD/Nvidia decided to change their approach and sell their products direct to consumers without the AIBs (in large numbers, not the more limited reference cards), you might see a difference. Manufactures can also set limits in terms of minimum/maximum pricing of products at retail (as the console makers typically do). You couldn't do anything about scalpers reselling, but just getting the cards out and in the market would take a bite out of scalpers just like has happened with PS5/XSX.

The hard part is getting AMD/NVIDIA to care.
Sony and MS want end consumers to get their hands on the hardware because the actual money maker isn't the hardware but the software and services. Having some scalper buy 100 consoles isn't in their interest if they'll just spend months in some storage instead of being directly bought by end consumers who will start buying games, subscribing to PS+/Gamepass, buying DLC, etc.

AMD and NVIDIA actually make their money from the hardware, so if someone wants to buy 100GPU's they don't care if it's a miner, scalper or end unsers. I guess it could devaluate the GPU market in the long run, but I guess right now the prospect of instantly selling all their stock is too tempting.
 
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MiguelItUp

Member
The prices as of late are absolutely outrageous, and they're only getting worse somehow.

For months now, buying a prebuilt almost made more sense in the long run. It will probably be like that for awhile, especially if you're hoping to get everything at once and for a reasonable price. At least more so than piece by piece for now. It's so fucked.
 

Tarnpanzer

Member
i have heard rumors that AIBs might be selling straight to miners, and bestbuy employees get first dibs on cards on every shipment which they then scalp for a profit.

Working for an audit company. I can confirm that a big AIB sold cards for afair ~USD 10,000,000.00 directly to one of my mandates(company specialized in mining). I have seen the contract and invoices.
 

VFXVeteran

Banned
If a healthy number of gamers are purchasing the cards that could be true. However, if most of the sales are crypto related and that market crashes (result of steady devaluation) and years of being overpriced to the general market have pushed that market in a different direction, could be disastrous times ahead for the GPU makers.

Agreed. But how do we determine that? I would think that most of the boards sold are for computer use and not crypto.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
There's something funky going on in the supply chain. It feels like card manufacturers are fixing prices by constraining supply to drive higher margins instead of working to supply both the PC and crypto mining market.
 
There isn't an easy solution to this though, is there? If the AIBs sell cards at MSRP and then everyone who buys a card turns around and resells it on eBay or craigslist for 2 to 3 times the price then what is the difference? Can anyone really blame EVGA and others for wanting to sell their products at a price closer to what the market is demanding? Don't get me wrong. This really sucks all around, but keeping the price low, at this point, is essentially just putting more money in the pockets of scalpers.

Well then they should sell them in a muti-pack with a note on the side saying "not for resale"... you know, like they do for KitKats.
 

John Wick

Member
There should be no reason for AIB's to sell these cards at ridiculous prices. They should be priced at the price Nvidia recommended. Sony and MS could easily put £50 on Series and PS5 and they would sell like crazy.
If AIB's are doing price gouging that just stinks. They need to hold themselves to a better standard than scalpers.
 

Fredrik

Member
Great video, all of it. Almost fell off my chair once Richard said his new year’s resolution was to stop talking about resolution.
 
As long as people are actually paying these prices nothing will change, doesn`t matter which part of the chain eats that extra margin.
The problem is mining. That is why only GPUs have these crazy inflated price. Miners see these cards as investment that will net them money so they buy these cards at any price as long as they expect a decent ROI. So gamers are SOL.
 

VFXVeteran

Banned
The problem is mining. That is why only GPUs have these crazy inflated price. Miners see these cards as investment that will net them money so they buy these cards at any price as long as they expect a decent ROI. So gamers are SOL.
Unless AMD/Nvidia actually do raise the prices for the boards.

The problem is supply and demand. If the boards' initial costs are sky high, it will make the scalpers more resistant to buy the cards at those prices. Also if they put them up on ebay at absurd prices and no one buys them, then you get your scalpers to be SOL. Basically don't buy the cards and scalpers will go away.
 
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