The price of Nvidia’s RTX 3000 GPU is dropping faster than ever, going through a snapshot of retail prices in China, which is probably a good indication of what will happen elsewhere in a short time.
The prices of all current generation graphics cards – AMD and Nvidia – are dropping rapidly according to the report that was flagged by Wccftech (opens in new tab) and comes from Baidu Tieba (opens in new tab) (an online community in China), so approach this with a healthy amount of caution, as with any such post.
What we see here is that Chinese retailers are cutting high-end Nvidia GPUs with much deeper drops, and the RTX 3090 Ti, 3090 and 3080 Ti are now well below their MSRPs (Suggested Retail Prices) by 38%, 29 % and 33% respectively.
The RTX 3080 (10GB version) is now 16% below the MSRP, and the RTX 3070 Ti and 3070 are 15% and 13% below the MSRP at these Chinese retailers. Price drops continue on lower-tier cards, surprisingly, with the RTX 3060 down 12% and the RTX 3050 down 10% on MSRP, with the RTX 3060 Ti being more stubborn but still dropping to 4% below.
AMD’s RX 6000 lineup also has a graphics card that is now well below the MSRP and it’s the RX 6900 XT which is now 37% below. Interestingly, the other big drop in Team Red’s price is at the other end of the scale, the humble RX 6400, which is 31% below the MSRP – a reflection of the shaky reception this dubious GPU has received more than anything.
Other big price drops for AMD at Chinese retailers include the RX 6600 and 6600 XT which are down 28% and 26% respectively, and the 6500 XT which is 21% below the MSRP. The 6650 XT is pretty much the same as the last one at 20% below, as is the 6750 XT at 19% below the recommended price.
The graphics card that is closest to the MSRP in AMD’s lineup is the flagship RX 6950 XT, which is just 6% down, but of course the GPU hasn’t been released for a long time (it was only released in May).
Analysis: Some striking similarities – and one glaring difference
Generally speaking, what we see here matches what has been witnessed recently in the US retail market with GPUs in many ways, with Nvidia’s high-end graphics cards showing the greatest levels of price erosion and, on the AMD front, the RX 6800 and 6800 XT being more stubborn in terms of maintaining higher retail prices. In the US, these are the only AMD GPUs that remain above the MSRP and have seen a smaller drop in China (13% and 15% below the MSRP), making them the toughest products in terms of current price drops (save for the flagship AMD 6950 XT, as mentioned).
So this data matches the US market in a number of ways, giving it more credibility, but what’s really interesting is the marked difference with this new pricing report: namely, that Nvidia’s prices are below the MSRP. in general in China.
In the US, prices for the RTX 3090 Ti and 3090, plus the 3080 Ti, have dropped below the MSRP, but other Nvidia Ampere GPUs have refused to do so and, in fact, are about 15% above the recommended price (and more as 30% with the RTX 3050).
So seeing that all Nvidia RTX 3000 models have dropped below the MSRP in China is a pretty telling indication that the same could happen in the US soon. Particularly considering all we’ve heard lately is how retailers will be struggling with a large overstock for Ampere, and this could be a serious problem for Nvidia to bring out RTX 4000 graphics cards too soon – as it will interfere with getting rid of those apparent warehouses full of RTX 3000 GPUs.
A whole series of unfortunate pressures have arisen in creating this situation for Nvidia, including the cryptocurrency crash and miners selling second-hand cards, interfering with retail sales, and the general economic climate and cost-of-living crisis, which means people are much less inclined to shell out for GPUs that are above the MSRP – and with good reason.
The pricing of graphics cards should never have gotten so out of control anyway – and this was, of course, a matter of supply failing to meet demand, a situation that now appears to be undergoing a complete reversal with graphics. from Nvidia cards.
Our recommendation is that you keep playing a waiting game if you’re considering buying a current-gen GPU, and especially an Nvidia card (which are still by far the most popular models). If price-cutting action in China is anything to go by – and we strongly suspect it is, given all the other rumors about the RTX 3000 overstock being a serious problem for Nvidia – then the actual price drops for Ampere graphics cards. are yet to happen in the US, Europe and elsewhere.
There’s certainly little to lose from the wait, as prices won’t increase for sure, and stock levels apparently won’t be close to depleting anytime soon either (for Nvidia, anyway).
