Are GPU Prices Going Up Now? October GPU Pricing Update

Welcome back to our monthly GPU pricing update. There's bits of news to go through, a few odd GPU launches from AMD and some unfortunate price hikes to discuss. It's not all bad, there's been some positive price adjustments for some products, too.

Golden Rabbit Radeons

Let's kick off this update with a discussion on AMD's new Radeon RX 6750 GRE. Basically AMD has released two "new" – and let's use the word new quite loosely here – graphics cards under the same Radeon RX 6750 GRE name, with GRE meaning Golden Rabbit Edition.

The lower specced card is the 6750 GRE 10GB which is effectively a Radeon RX 6700: it packs 36 compute units with a game clock of 2189 MHz, along with 10GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus at 16 Gbps. 170W board power rating and a MSRP of $270. Same configuration as the RX 6700 across the board, just with a new name and price that more closely fits in with the rest of the GPU market two years later.

Then there's the 6750 GRE 12GB which isn't just a 12GB version of the 10GB model. It also features 40 compute units with a 2439 MHz game clock, meaning core GPU performance is higher. There's more memory bandwidth, too, as the memory interface is increased to 192-bit with the same 16 Gbps GDDR6 memory. Board power is 230W and we are seeing an MSRP of $290.

The naming convention used here is pretty misleading and confusing on a number of fronts. The use of "6750" branding implies that this card is on the level of the RX 6750 XT as opposed to the two "6700" level models. However, that is not the case. The 10GB 6750 GRE has fewer compute units than the 6750 XT, so it's absolutely not the same card, while the 12GB variant is also not a 6750 XT because it lacks the faster 18 Gbps memory of that GPU. Because these products are much closer to the 6700 series than the 6750 XT at best they should be called the RX 6700 GRE instead.

We are also seeing the terrible naming practice of labelling two distinctly different GPUs the same thing and throwing "10GB" and "12GB" at the end as if that's sufficient to describe the differences between these models.

The Radeon RX 6700 and RX 6700 XT are different products, that makes sense. Now these have been effectively renamed into the RX 6750 GRE 10GB and RX 6750 GRE 12GB which only serves to confuse buyers. The VRAM capacity is not the only difference, so they should have a clearer branding.

Like with the Radeon RX 7900 GRE that we reviewed a few months ago, the RX 6750 GRE series is primarily a launch for the Chinese DIY market as well as OEM and system integrators elsewhere. So while there is a listed MSRP, it's unlikely you will be able to just purchase one of these off the shelf outside of China. You'll probably have to buy an entire pre-built system with one inside, so they aren't really going to be available for $270 and $290.

Which is a shame, as the price tag for these products is quite attractive. Right now the RX 6700 XT is available for as low as $320, so the 6750 GRE 12GB would offer the same thing for $30 less. Similarly, you can pick up an RX 6700 for $280, so the new GRE variant would be a $10 discount. It's also puzzling that AMD would launch a second GPU at $270 within the same year, the first being the RX 7600; We know this is just a refresh of an older, last-gen model, but coming out with two $270 products is pretty bizarre.

The RX 6750 GRE 10GB is clearly better, it has more VRAM than the RX 7600 at 10GB vs 8GB, more memory bandwidth, and better overall performance if the RX 6700 is anything to go by.

Why is AMD launching refreshed RDNA 2 GPUs in 2023?

It's likely because they still have a lot of RDNA 2 silicon to sell, there doesn't appear to be any signs of Navi 22 based GPUs running out of stock, so a refreshed series at an even lower price is possibly one way to drum up interest and increase sales.

In our opinion, AMD would probably have been better off launching the 6750 GRE 10GB instead of the RX 7600 at $270 as a new product (maybe a 7600 XT) to a wider audience, and then releasing the RX 7600 at a lower price, but that would mess up their line-up and introduce a situation of having RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 in the same series at the same time.

Restrictions on Nvidia's AI GPUs, including the RTX 4090

Another key story this month concerns Nvidia's flagship GeForce RTX 4090 GPU. The Department of Commerce recently put export restrictions on several of Nvidia's graphics cards that can be used for AI workloads, at least those with significant amounts of horsepower to do so.

Alongside the RTX 4090, GPUs like the A100, A800 and H100 were put on the restricted list, with the restrictions applying to China and several other countries. This means that these GPUs can no longer be sold to these countries without jumping through significant hurdles.

Most of the affected models are server, data center and workstation cards that consumers don't really care about, but the inclusion of the GeForce RTX 4090 is bad news for gamers. The restrictions in selling 4090s to China and other regions has led to flow on effects around the world.

Immediately, the price of RTX 4090s in China went up significantly, encouraging suppliers and distributors with access to 4090s to export these to China for a big price bump – provided they can legally export them there, or find some alternate method to do so. This is a similar situation to when cryptocurrency miners were buying up all the GPUs at inflated prices: if there's a significant buyer in the market after a product at a much higher price, all the suppliers and distributors will want to service those buyers first rather than the general market.

With suppliers set to make bank selling RTX 4090s to China and other restricted regions, this affects the pricing for the cards in non-restricted countries like the US and Australia. We've been told that prices for RTX 4090s are expected to increase significantly in the next few months, and we're already seeing the effects of that at Newegg.

In the six months prior to October, it was pretty easy to purchase an RTX 4090 at its $1,600 MSRP. Now, just days after the restrictions were announced, the cheapest models sit at $1,700 with the majority of cards reaching for $1,800. And based on what we're hearing, that's a good price right now, and it'll only go up until the situation stabilizes.

We can't anticipate what sort of price point the RTX 4090 will hit in the coming months, but it won't be $1,600 . Luckily other GeForce GPUs and the entire Radeon line-up are affected by restrictions, but it could lead to increased demand for the tier-down models like the RTX 4080 and RX 7900 XTX which could consequently see smaller pricing implications.

New Graphics Cards: RTX 4000, Radeon 7000 and Intel Arc

Looking across the rest of the graphics card market there hasn't been many updates to the GeForce line-up. The RTX 4070, both RTX 4060 Tis and the RTX 4060 all continue to be available below their MSRPs, making them more attractive than at launch – in particular the RTX 4070 at $550.

This month we are seeing some price movement for the RTX 4070 Ti as well, coming down to $770 for the more affordable models. Since launch this card has been consistently priced at or above $800, making this the first time we are seeing the 4070 Ti below MSRP. In our opinion, it's still too expensive at this price point, but maybe we'll see further discounts during Black Friday.

AMD's Radeon RX 7000 series has been pretty consistent across the last few months. There has been a small amount of movement for the Radeon 7700 XT, dropping $10 for the cheapest models just a month after release. We still expect this card to hit $400 in the coming months as it just doesn't make any sense at $450. The Radeon 7600 is also now approaching a more sensible price, falling to $250 when we checked this month.

Intel Arc series is getting more attractive with each passing month.

Intel Arc series is getting more attractive with each passing month. The A770 and A750 both fell in price in October, with the entire line-up now sitting below $300.

The A770 16GB has dropped in price by 9% which is quite decent for the cheapest 16GB card you can get. Meanwhile, the Arc A580 has debuted at $180, but already fallen to $170 within just a few weeks, so Intel is very much keeping up with market trends and making adjustments where necessary.

GeForce RTX 3000 Pricing

If you want an older generation graphics card, several of them are still available brand new at Newegg and other retailers, which goes to show the level to which these models were overstocked during the cryptocurrency boom.

Supply for the GeForce RTX 3070 and 3070 Ti appears to be pretty close to running out, so we wouldn't expect to see these for much longer and even then, relative to the RTX 4060 Ti series at basically the same price, we're not sure why you'd bother. Prices for lower tier RTX 30 series models fell slightly, but nothing that is worth noting.

Radeon 6000 Series Pricing

Not much price movement for AMD either with their RDNA2 GPUs which still appear to be in plentiful supply. The product of most interest here is the Radeon RX 6800 which has dropped to $400, an outstanding deal if you're after a GPU around that price.

The product of most interest here is the Radeon RX 6800 which has dropped to $400, an outstanding deal.

It's slightly faster than the RX 7700 XT at a $40 lower price point, while also packing 16GB of memory versus 12GB. It was already a reasonable deal at $430, so that's one to be looking out for.

AMD also continues to offer very good value in the lower parts of the market with GPUs like the RX 6700 XT, RX 6600 XT and RX 6600, although pricing isn't much different to previous months.

Used Graphics Cards Prices

The second hand market for GPUs isn't exciting at the moment with little price movement, matching what we're seeing on the retail front. If you want a used Nvidia RTX 30 series card they are typically available at a ~30% discount relative to new models.

If you want an AMD Radeon GPU, expect a smaller discount, more in the 20% range, as the used Radeon market hasn't been as quick to respond to aggressive discounts. For example, with the sizable drop to Radeon 6800 pricing, the used market hasn't adjusted so you'll only get about a 13% discount buying used vs new for that model.

With that said, the Radeon RX 6600 is a great buy right now if you want a GPU upgrade but have less than $150 to spend – you can pick them up for $136 used, on average.

The GeForce RTX 20 series has perhaps seen the most changes, dropping by 8 percent on average this month after a much smaller pricing gain last month. There's been a slow increase to the volume of RTX 20 series sales as owners look to upgrade after 4 to 5 years.

The GTX 16 series has nothing to show in terms of lower pricing, similar to the Radeon RX 5000 series, where both have some solid choices if you want to spend less than $130.

Wrap Up

It'll be interesting to keep an eye on the graphics card market across the next month as we head into the usual holiday shopping season. With Black Friday sales just around the corner, we wouldn't bother buying a graphics card right now unless you see something at an especially good price or discount. Given sales for most GPUs have been lackluster this year, we expect we'll see some reasonable flash sales pushing GPU prices more into an "acceptable" price range during the holidays.

The only bigger cause for concern is pricing for the already expensive GeForce RTX 4090. If you wanted one of those, it's probably better to hit the buy button sooner rather than later. Everything else continues to be at or near the cheapest price we've seen this year, and there's still plenty of room for further price reductions as evidenced by the recent price drops for cards like the RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 Ti.

Shopping Shortcuts:

• AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on Amazon
• Intel Arc A580 on Amazon
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 on Amazon
• AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT on Amazon
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti on Amazon
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti on Amazon
• AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT on Amazon
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 on Amazon
• AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX on Amazon