The market for graphics cards for general consumption has gone through a difficult stage, this does not support any discussion. The high demand derived from the mining of cryptocurrencies, together with the speculation of the resellers, gave rise to the worst crisis that we have experienced so far. I know that many of you will remember the crisis of 2016, and yes, it is true that it was also serious, but not as much as the one that started at the end of 2020. The situation was so bad that we even share this “survival” guide with you.
The reason is very simple, in this last crisis there was a time when it was literally impossible to buy a graphics card that was not as entry-level as the GeForce GT 710 and the like, as even the Radeon RX 550 and equivalent models were sold out. Subsequently, an attempt was made to alleviate the situation by relaunching the GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti, as well as other low-end or lower-middle-range models, but it was an ineffective measure due to the crazy price they reached.
Low-end, mid-low, and higher-end graphics cards tripled in price, and the situation didn’t change even when availability started to improve. Fortunately, in the last three months we have seen a positive evolution for the user thanks to a very marked trend towards price normalization, and now we know, thanks to the CEO of ASUS, that the interest in graphics cards as a tool to mine It’s disappearing.
Goodbye to the purchase of graphics cards to mine cryptocurrencies, but why, and what will it mean for the user?
That the CEO of ASUS has given this information makes it totally reliable, but what is behind it? To understand all its implications, it is necessary to elaborate a deep analysis, and that is precisely what I am going to share with you. The first thing to be clear about is that a loss of interest is not strictly equivalent to a drop in demand. When demand drops, interest in a product may continue to exist and a less serious situation arises than when said interest disappears.
If there is no interest in a product, it ceases to make sense, at least for the use to which it was directed by that public. In the case of graphics cards, we would be at the end of the purchase of said component to mine cryptocurrencies, and this could lead to absolute normalization, and perhaps imminent of prices. Should this happen, there may also be a flood of graphics cards on the second-hand market, with prices dropping to very appetizing levels and even below their recommended prices.
Looking more into the medium term, this should also have a positive impact on the price and availability of next generation graphics cards, the GeForce RTX 40 and the Radeon RX 7000, as long as the speculators do not do their thing. I don’t want to be optimistic, but the truth is that right now the feeling I have is quite positive in this regard. We must also remember that, in the end, the time will come when Ethereum cannot be mined with graphics cards, and that this will happen, in the best case, within a few months.
This all sounds great But why has this loss of interest occurred? The main reason has been the continued decline in the profitability of mining using graphics cards, followed by the proximity of that important change in Ethereum mining, and topped by the recent collapse of cryptocurrencies, a hit so huge that it has meant a loss 99% of its value. With all the cards on the table, I am quite convinced that we are facing a “no return” scenario, and this is a positive thing for the user.
