While new, high-end graphics cards have been hard to get for some time, that’s been changing recently. Supply has slowly been increasing, and as high school economics teaches us, the more of a product there is, the less it costs for consumers. PC hardware manufacturer Asus is already shifting its pricing according to that rule reports PC Gamer, meaning RTX 30 Series cards may finally be affordable.
In a series of statements to PC Gamer, Asus confirmed that it “is reducing MSRP aggressively.” Specifically, the company has “been dropping pricing across all SKUs” of graphics cards, meaning prices won’t just be dropping for Nvidia cards. Anyone who wants to get an Asus AMD card should also find lower prices, although it’s not clear when Asus’ reduced MSRPs will actually have an effect on what consumers see on store shelves. Currently, an Asus KO Nvidia’ GeForce RTX 3070 V2 OC is $900 on Amazon, which is inflated far past the price of an AIB model for the card. Nvidia lists Founders Edition RTX 3070 graphics cards at a $500 MSRP.
While there isn’t a clear change in pricing just yet, Asus’ confirmation that it is lowering the MSRPs for its graphics cards is a great sign. We could soon see other AIB graphics cards manufacturers–Zotac, EVGA, MSI, Gigabyte, etc.–reduce their prices too.
The question of whether or not this increased stock will hold up remains. Companies have done everything they can to fight supply shortages, with Nvidia not only bringing back old GPUs but also releasing new variants of 20 Series cards. However, if the chip shortages that limited the production of numerous electronics are coming to an end, consumers may see more than just graphics cards on store shelves. A flush supply of gaming consoles, namely Sony’s PlayStation 5, may follow right behind.
Source: Gamespot
