2018-7-26 16:11 |
Last year’s cryptocurrency market rally was the best of times for the crypto community — countless investors became very wealthy because of the skyrocketing prices for most of these cryptocurrencies. However, those were miserable times for computer gamers as the sky-high prices of Bitcoin and other cryptos encouraged almost everyone to mine the tokens, which created a GPU shortage that pushed their prices to levels way above a gamer’s budget.
But the reverse is true today. These days, investors are not too happy with the depressed crypto prices. On the other hand, gamers are starting to get a breather as GPU prices seem to be falling down back to their previous pre-mining levels once more.
GPUs Affordable Once MoreArs Technica reported that the declining crypto prices are making GPU prices fall back to affordable levels. For instance, the mid-range card Radeon RX 570 — which soared to over $450 in February 2018 — was selling at around $350 by the end of April. The price is still a bit more expensive compared to its pre-crypto-mining price of just $200. If things continue as they currently are, GPU prices might still go even lower in the coming months ahead.
The downward trend in GPU prices is not an isolated case but seems to be happening across the board or, at least, to those GPU models commonly used by miners. For example, Nvidia’s high-end graphics card GeForce GTX 1080, which peaked at around $800 in February this year, now sells for only $600 — around the same price in back in early 2017.
The Decline of Crypto-Mining-Driven GPU DemandManufacturers have long anticipated this decline in mining-related GPU demand. One reason is the crackdown on crypto mining activities in some countries. Another more compelling reason is the depressed prices of cryptocurrencies, most of which are currently trading at a fraction of their previous all-time highs back in December 2017. The price of cryptos is a major factor in the viability of a mining operation — if the price dives too low, miners might even end up losing money as they still have to pay for power, human resources and equipment.
The decline in mining-related GPU sales, however, will only have a limited impact on the bottom line of AMD and Nvidia — two of the world’s largest GPU manufacturers. While they welcome the demand from the crypto industry, both firms revealed that 90 percent of their sales still came from the gaming sector.
Gamers Enjoy Affordable GPUs Once More, Thanks to Low Crypto Prices was originally found on [blokt] - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.
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