After years of graphics card prices heading in the right direction, it looks like inflation is taking hold once again. Nvidia is reportedly increasing the cost of its entry-level GPU by around 10%, and it’s all because of supply constraints.
According to UDN, there are three targeted graphics cards, including GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, RTX 3050, and GTX 1650. It might seem surprising, given RTX 3050 stealth dropped just two months ago, but rumours suggest that Nvidia always intended to raise MSRP following a cheaper launch window.
Price increases will supposedly average around 10%, but the actual figure “depends on the sales strategy of each brand factory.” We could very easily see some models balloon even more. As a result, this could positively impact board partners such as Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI.
Some manufacturers are more optimistic than others. Asus remains reserved about its operating outlook, stating that the first half of 2024 will look much like Q4 2023. However, Gigabyte chairman Ye Peicheng believe that the worst has already passed for chip constraints. He’s probably not wrong if we’re including the Great Global Chip Shortage of 2020-23.
MSI is the most optimistic of the bunch, believing it’ll see double-digit growth across its components portfolio throughout the year. Of course, this includes the rumoured RTX 5090 release at the end of 2024, shortly followed by RTX 5080.
As for why, industry analysts point towards the decreasing supply of the affected GPUs. Particularly, the previous wave of RTX 4060 Ti market inventory is reportedly “exhausted.” The big focus on AI is partly to blame for dwindling stock. Customers are gobbling up as much stock as possible to feed servers. This is the primary reason that RTX 4090 prices skyrocketed.
Let’s just hope we don’t see any more graphics cards in the crosshairs. In the meantime, it might be worth grabbing one before costs fluctuate. I recommend RTX 4060 Ti from Amazon over the previous-gen alternatives.
