If you are a gamer, you know the importance of a sound graphics card. It helps you render the games with more precision, and you will enjoy the game more if you have a high-end GPU that can keep up with the latest game graphics.
The problem is that graphics processing units are expensive, with decent options for about $1000. Even lower-tier graphics cards are getting more expensive so let us see why this is the case.
Why Are GPU Prices So High?
In 2018, there was a spike in the prices of both RAMs and GPUs, which brought a significant concern to most people who buy these parts for their PCs. The same thing is happening now, and it has a simple reason, supply, and demand.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are going crazy in a good way, and let me explain why that matters, although they are different topics. In a nutshell, mining cryptocurrencies takes a lot of processing power.
They require very complicated computational puzzles to be sold to confirm worldwide transactions.
There isn’t a centralized server that computes all the Bitcoin operations worldwide; the computation is done by people that choose to crypto-mine.
GPUs are a very popular and easy to access choice for crypto miners to mine Bitcoin, and they mine them in bulk.
It’s an investment; the more money you put in, the more processing power you have and the more you get out of it.
GPUs are specifically designed to do very complex computations virtually instantaneously; GPUs can execute more bid instructions in one clock than a CPU; thus, it’s a better choice for most crypto miners.
GPUs have logic units that can crunch through more calculations than a CPU; thus, miners want something that can crunch math fast. The more popular Bitcoin gets, people will purchase more GPUs, which will be more expensive.
The 2020 COVID 19 pandemic caused most manufacturers to cut down on processing since they had to let go of most of their staff. This change means that fewer GPUs are being manufactured on a global scale.
The production of GPUs and imports into the US from China are reduced due to trade issues between the US and China.
While this goes on, there is an increase in demand which allows manufacturers to increase the price of their products.
Production shortage and increased consumption aside, there is a concern about the material used in the GPUs.
The circuitry, motherboard, processors, fans, aluminum, and other materials used in GPUs are expensive, so the price of GPUs reflects it.
Even without the increased demand, a high-quality GPU would have many high-end products that increase the price.
While the current situation worsened the problem, it should ease up, and the prices will get better in a few months.
Conclusion
GPU prices are higher because of the reduced production when there was increased demand. More people are buying the ever scarce product; thus, the prices rise, but it will get better as the world recovers from the COVID 19 pandemic.
