In the current climate, getting hold of an AMD or Nvidia graphics card, especially a newer model, is almost impossible. Those that can get hold of it are having to pay hefty prices for the privilege as the tech world continues to struggle to meet consumer demand in the midst of a global shortage. It's difficult to know when the deficit will come to an end, but Nvidia's CEO believes things won't get better until maybe 2023. On the plus side, it seems there may be some good news as China initiates a ban that could see things improving.
According to a report, the Chinese government, along with The People's Bank of China, has placed a ban on cryptomining exchanges, which has been blamed for much of the global GPU shortages as bots and mining companies bought graphics cards in bulk, leaving barely any for other potential customers. With the ban being put in place, this could see hardware that's been used by miners come back into the market, which in turn may lower prices overall. The country originally imposed a dometic ban on crypto exchanges, but this latest development represents a total ban.
The possibility here is that as miners get rid of their own stock of GPUs, releasing them back into the market, availability will naturally go up as prices, hopefully, come down. If both of these things occur, more people will be able to get hold of newer Nvidia and AMD cards that can be used for gaming and general PC use. The news offers a glimmer of hope for those who have spent the best part of 2021 being unable to purchase components. However, people are being urged to take caution if they do decide to purchase one of these ex-mining cards and that they are wary about a product's condition.
Of course, the tech world may not be out of the woods just yet. With talk of graphics card availability set to worsen at some point, there is still a way to go before the market will be at a level in which consumers can purchase readily available Nvidia or AMD equipment at the original MSRP.
There's also an analysis which shows that chip shortages may even lead to an oversupply of graphics cards by 2023. The gist is that it's difficult to know exactly what's around the corner. Rumors from experts say one thing, while analysts are saying another. There may be a chance that this could go on for at least another year, but the recent ban in China on crypto definitely seems like a step in the right direction.
Source: PC GamesN, Financial Times (paywall)