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Hardware

Graphics Cards Are About To Get a Lot More Expensive, Asus Warns (pcworld.com) 159

Posted by msmash from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.
Ever since Nvidia's GeForce RTX 30-series and AMD's Radeon RX 6000-series graphics cards launched last fall, the overwhelming demand and tight supply, exacerbated by a cryptocurrency boom, has caused prices for all graphics cards to go nuts. Brace yourself: It looks like it's about to get even worse. From a report: In the Asus DIY PC Facebook group, Asus technical marketing manager Juan Jose Guerrero III warned that prices for the company's components will increase in the new year. "We have an announcement in regards to MSRP price changes that are effective in early 2021 for our award-winning series of graphic cards and motherboards," Guerrero wrote, though he warned that "additional models" may also wind up receiving price increases as well. "Our new MSRP reflects increases in cost for components. operating costs, and logistical activities plus a continuation of import tariffs. We worked closely with our supply and logistic partners to minimize price increases. ASUS greatly appreciates your continued business and support as we navigate through this time of unprecedented market change."
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Graphics Cards Are About To Get a Lot More Expensive, Asus Warns More

Graphics Cards Are About To Get a Lot More Expensive, Asus Warns

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  • fun (Score:3)

    by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @08:03PM (#60901348) Homepage Journal

    Why don't you want a $700 graphics card to go with a $70 game and $140/year premium subscription?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z80a ( 971949 )

      There are cheaper games that don't require $700 graphic cards, which provably will just get even more popular.

      • Honestly that's the sort of games I play. I have a modest little developer-oriented workstation that plays games decently but is better at compiling and testing the stuff I develop. (8-core Xeon E5-2650, GTX 1070 Ti, 64GiB ECC PC3-1333)

      • I'm just 10 years behind in terms of games.
        And it's great fun!

        Turns out graphics didn't change relevantly,
        all the online-only crap is filtered out,
        all the reviews are done, as are the bugs, ... and the cracks.

        Just make sure you get the game from TPB while its still going strong. You can pay the developers later, for discount prices, whenever the price matches what it's worth to you.
        But pay attention that you are actually pay those that did the work. Not just the publishing Mafia that leeches on them.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      There are no games I would buy a $700 graphics card for. In fact, the "graphics fireworks" games tend to be rather dull, often have short play time and no replay value. Mostly the usual mainstream crap, which is often so bad that I would not even use it for free.

    • Or GPU virtualization, much like CPU will mean that $700 card will serve more than just one computer user. So one can do VFIO*, some GPGPU, and some video viewing.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
      https://forum.level1techs.com/... [level1techs.com]

      *Gaming under a VM.

      • I'm a big convert to using containers and VMs for everything in development, but I don't see the point of running games in a VM. It seems the main use case for running games in a VM these days is getting around anti-cheat software.

      • So a fraction of the power for a fraction of the price for every user?

        So equivalent to eveyone getting a cheaper card that has less power too?
        Except those cards are *exponentially* cheaper but only partially slower.

    • Shush with the subscription mention .. don't give them ideas .. Next thing you know hardware will be available for lease only. And we'll be charged based on GPU cycles used (subject to a minimum monthly fee of course).

    • "Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." ---Robert A. Heinlein

  • Not much of a surprise. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by sarren1901 ( 5415506 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @08:15PM (#60901370)

    Given the problem with supply chains and popularity in some of the new tech coming online, it's no surprise we have shortage and outrageous pricing. I'm just glad there isn't any game I "must" play that would compel me to even consider buying computer hardware right now. I'm busy crossing my fingers hoping my system or my wife's system won't need any replacement components for at least a year with all this going on.

    Good luck everyone.

    • Yup. It's the perfect storm for this type of product right now:

      Supply chain problems
      Covid effect #1 , people cooped up, bored and wanting to upgrade their computers
      Covid effect #2, people who have 500 bucks to blow on graphics cards have even MORE money to blow because, while the lockdowns are crushing the lower classes, the upper classes are doing even BETTER because of stimulus and reduced expenses.
      Competition from bitcoin
      The list goes on

      Literally the worst time in over a decade to be want

      • Competition from bitcoin

        Is this really true?

        I thought all the Bitcoin mining had moved to ASIC years ago.

        Heck, you can buy ASIC rigs on Amazon. So why would anyone use a GPU?

        • Hm. Possible. Maybe I'm behind the times on that one. Someone who knows more than me about bitcoin mining should weigh in. My kid showed me image posts of supposedly recent BTC mining rigs based on graphics cards.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AvitarX ( 172628 )
          With bitcoin this high again I think it can be profitable with GPUs in many areas.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

            With bitcoin this high again I think it can be profitable with GPUs in many areas.

            Yes, the 3090, 3080 and 3060 are at price points with performance that basically have an ROI within 6 months or so.

            And with Bitcoin and such at extremely high values, it's basically in high demand. You have to remember than the 3090 sells for $2000 MSRP, the 3080 is around $1000 and the 3060 around $400 or so.

            Especially with 24GB of RAM onboard.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • It's mostly ethereum and other GPU oriented coins, but their prices correlate. I have a friend who mines eth and he exchanges his eth to bitcoin, because eth is not supply limited.

        • Because people run the bitcoin mining as a "sidejob" and not professionally.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      As a former hardcore video (mostly computer) gamer, I am glad I don't care and have resources (e.g., energy and time) to play. Too busy with the colony, tired, etc. I hope my over decade old slow PCs will keep working for basic stuff.

    • I'm in a bind where I'm finally able, after almost seven years, to upgrade my desktop, but the hardware isn't available. It isn't fun. I have everything but the CPU and GPU sitting in my basement, just waiting.

      Having the manufacturer of the graphics card I'm looking to get come out to say prices are going up is not the news I wanted today.

  • Resource restrictions (Score:3, Interesting)

    by grumpy-cowboy ( 4342983 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @08:47PM (#60901448)

    It's a good news (not just for graphics cards). Now maybe software optimization will become a priority again and all this new trends about resources waste is over (CPU, RAM, bandwidth, HDD/SSD, ...).

    • Dude, for a grumpy cowboy you're awesomely optimistic. Rock on!

    • Doubt it. When SSDs came around, games kept right on expanding, even though they have lower capacity and fail a lot faster when you run them near capacity. XCOM2 takes up 85 GB. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how a game with procedurally-generated maps, using PlayStation 2-grade complexity and textures, balloons to that size. Did they accidentally add a few extra 0s at the end of the bit rates for their cut-scene videos or something?

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by N1AK ( 864906 )
        Except there are a number of games that will run pretty awfully on a 1060, flight sim 2020 for example. I have no intention of spending anything approaching $700 on a graphics card, but your ignorance of, or lack of interest in, the clear limitations of the card doesn't mean they don't exist and don't have value to others. Clearly if a 1060 does everything you need and you have no desire for more then use that and enjoy!

        I'm running a 5700XT that I bought just over a year ago for £300. I can run esp

  • Tariffs (Score:5, Interesting)

    by IdanceNmyCar ( 7335658 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @09:05PM (#60901512)

    No one is going to mention tariffs here? I wonder how stuff these are but we should open the floor to the discussion that ASUS is a Chinese company and the more countries like America try to crackdown on these imports, the more side-effects there will be.

    Crypto miners are probably driving the price increase more but I bet the tariffs actually aren't a trivial amount of the final prices here...

    • I wonder how much the tariffs are on stuff like these. Bit of word salad in there.

      • I don't know about this specifically, but they seem to enjoy figures in the 10-25% range. They look nice in print. Cognac and scotch just got a 25% tax recently. Speaking of which, is there any widely-distributed US-made brandy that isn't gross? ... At any cost?

        • Brandy? Really? What do you think of Kentucky or Tennessee Whiskey? I personally even get these here in China.

          I looked briefly at your question and this one sounds good: "OLD HAMPSHIRE BLENDED APPLEJACK"

          Also, how do you feel about almond liqueurs?

          they seem to enjoy figures in the 10-25% range.

          Yeah, at 10% it's a decent chunk of the price tag but at 25% that would be stupid... Where does that money even go. I mean liquor tariffs are probably more significant but I could see gamers with imported computing components being a pretty significant chunk of cha

          • I've tried Jack Daniel's and Knob Creek and didn't really like them. It's like a harsh/burnt version of scotch, and scotch isn't my favorite either. I'm pretty sure it's from the wood they use for barrel aging. I've tried a cognac (Martell Blue Swift) that's finished in bourbon barrels and it gets that same heavy, harsh flavor.

            I did some quick research and also came upon Old Hampshire, sounded good at first but upon further investigation, it's not pure brandy but diluted with 20% grain alcohol. Probably a c

            • Yeah. I am from North Carolina, so I remember ABC stores and all their limitations. It was crazy being in Seattle where grocery stores carried alcohol. However, in China you cannot walk a block without going past at least one small smoke/liquor store (you can even order it via online food delivery services which is like 1 hour or less delivery but you cannot order smokes [riddle me that]). Baijiu is a completely different taste with many being cheap production like you mention with US liquors. Soju has also

    • Because this is slashdot, even if we didn't buy any computer hardware, we at least looked at some on newegg recently.

      Out of stock = price will be higher when they have it again

      turn off your teevee, it isn't helping you

      • Because this is slashdot, even if we didn't buy any computer hardware, we at least looked at some on newegg recently.

        Only twice in my life have I ever found Newegg to have a better price on anything. Usually the best they can do is match the price, but lower? Almost never.

        Hell, today on Newegg you can find 4 identical WD 1TB Green SSDs at prices from ~$108 to $189. The same exact drive at 4 different prices:

        https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=... [newegg.com]

        And that's one reason I usually skip looking on Newegg.

    • Re:Tariffs (Score:5, Informative)

      by jonwil ( 467024 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @09:51PM (#60901620)

      Ummm, ASUS is Taiwanese not Chinese. There IS a difference (as much as Beijing likes to claim there isn't)

      • Taiwan is like Silicon Valley for China but you can thank America primarily for this. ASUS parts and computers are produced primarily in China with design or QC happening in Taiwan. This relationship between Taiwan and China is one reason virtually no nation public acknowledges Taiwan's independence as a nation. The US military's interaction is wholly based on the former point I made that America made Taiwan into a tech hub which offers value to US interests (not because we really think these people deserve

    • this is short supply largely due to supply chain disruption caused by COVID-19. It'll continue until at least early 2022 (which is minimum how long until we're done with the Pandemic).

      • I would love to see more stats or news on this but by and large I don't think COVID-19 had a significant impact on semi-conductor production. What it maybe had a impact on is the rate of importing such products. There are other industries which I think are impacted but this one, I think the factor is rather minimal. The simply fact is accelerating growth in desire for these products in a wide range of applications. Just the other day was an article about AMD working with Sony to met it's needs and that peop

    • No one is going to mention tariffs here? I wonder how stuff these are but we should open the floor to the discussion that ASUS is a Chinese company

      ASUS is not a Chinese company.

    • They're a Taiwanese company, not Chinese. Tariffs don't apply. Well, not the same tariffs at least. The US and Taiwan have a positive but... complicated relationship.

  • The environmental impact is noticeable, the impact on markets is worse, the whole thing is an unsanctioned lottery and needs to be outlawed as soon as possible. At least the "proof of work" part of it. I do not care if morons gamble away money they cannot afford do lose. But the negative impact on others has to stop.

  • I had a Voodoo Rush I bought for MSRP back in the day. Around $500 USD equivalent back in the day. Anyone old enough to remember it knows it wasn't even close to top of the line either. Great 2D chipset though. I had no business spending that much on a vid card though :).

    • In the had a Voodoo but not a Rush (??). It had 16M of video RAM and was ~$250 if I recall correctly.

      I also had an "ATI Wonder" card that was dreadful. The joke was that it was named "Wonder" because it was so slow you that wondered what it was doing.

  • It's cryptocurrency miners. They're buying all of it up. Again.
    And they're going to take advantage of that, and charge more. Fucking "supply costs" you don't even build the chips you fucking dipshits.
    You and yours buy them from Nvidia and AMD, and you want to make more money so you're going to sell them for more.

  • Why, on just this very forum I was reading how Intel's fabs are doomed because they are a generation behind. As you can see, TSMC _certainly_ has the fab capacity to produce everything - why, CPUs, GPUs, SOCs, etc... They have those magical "infinifabs" that can make an infinite number of chips.

    That was all childish, nerdy sarcasm, btw. My point is there isn't enough capacity to make all this shit, thinking Intel's fabs are suddenly worthless is a fucking joke.

  • Thank scalpers (Score:3)

    by Whatsmynickname ( 557867 ) on Wednesday January 06, 2021 @12:29AM (#60901990)
    I can certainly understand these video card companies jacking up prices. They sell their cards for D dollars, then scalpers immediately clean out all inventory and resell every card they get for 2 or 3xD. Card makers like ASUS aren't in the charity business to support a middle layer of scalpers, I'm sure they would like that money instead.

    • How many of the scalpers are actually the manifacturers themselves, trying to gouge prices?

      I know in the music industry of the 90s, this was extremely common practice. (There, it put you in the charts, so on MTV, so the livestock bought your CD.)

  • If the graphics chips are so sought after by miners then the GPU manufacturers should be able to make a fortune licensing the tech for other fabs to produce. I would think a dedicated PC mainboard packed with GPUs for mining purposes would be in much higher demand (and more profitable). This is GPU manufacturers creating a shortage on purpose to keep the GPU prices high. Gaming has been ruined by these a$$holes over the years just like the web was ruined by the Silicon Valley a$$holes.

    • It's another BS story trying to push crypto currency.

      Firstly, it lacks direct proof in form of numbers. Secondly, it is more proof against the value of crypto currencies when these depend on GPUs, their availability and GPU prices. Thirdly, it ignores the pandemic and its effect on the supply. Add to it the Christmas demand and you easily have an explanation for an increased demand and a shortage in supply.

      But hey, it's crypto currencies once again, right? ;)

  • Translation... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by PhunkySchtuff ( 208108 ) <kai&automatica,com,au> on Wednesday January 06, 2021 @02:01AM (#60902124) Homepage

    Translating the marketing-speak reveals the hidden message:

    "We launched all these new cards at a high price. Component prices are actually coming down and yields are up. We still can't keep up with demand, so let's rise the price even more as they'll still sell like hotcakes"

  • And to ruin their nice price gouging schemes with a thing halfway between theirs and actual manufacturing costs.

    E.g. mobile GPU makers might want to have a go.
    And Intel certainly will grasp that straw.

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