Should You Buy A Graphics Card Now Or Wait – 2022
The question “Should You Buy A Graphics Card Now” is popping up More and more in 2022.
The GPU shortage has been a problem for PC enthusiasts for the last couple of years. But the shortage situation has been getting better lately, and prices are going down. This last February GPU prices have dropped by an average of 11%, and it’s also a little easier to find graphics cards in the stock. So it’s obviously a great time to buy a GPU right? Well, maybe not.
Although it seems like the best time to buy a GPU is now, it might be wise to save that money a little bit longer.
I’m sure you’re tired of waiting…and trust me, we are too, but it could be worth the wait. All I ask is you hear me out for a moment!
Should You Buy A Graphics Card Now: Lower GPU Prices
Prices are dropping right now, and as the availability eases up, things are getting better. We’ve seen that in the first two months of the year, the prices went down by an average of 11%. There’s reason to believe that they’ll drop further this next month, and there are plenty of reasons for this.
There’s word going around that we could see a drastic drop in GPU prices this month too. And even a popular leaker known as Greymon55 mentioned this:
So if you’re looking to buy any of the current or last-gen GPU cards available, waiting a little more could make the difference. It is also worth noting that Nvidia confirmed that the shortage situation should be much better by the second half of 2022 during the 24th Annual Needham Growth Conference:
“…we are working with our supply chain partners to increase the availability of supply. And we feel better about our supply situation as we move into the second half of the calendar year ’22.”
Colette Kress, executive vice president and chief financial officer of NVIDIA
That is if you want any of the currently available graphics cards of course, and that leads to the next reason it could be wise to wait.
The Next-Gen Is Just Around The Corner
Prices are going down and the situation with the shortage is getting better. but the prices are also going down because the current gen of GPU available is getting older. It’s been nearly a couple of years since Nvidia and AMD launched their current gen of graphics cards after all.
We are expecting AMD to launch their new RX 7000 series around the second half of the year, but it could be somewhere around Q4 2022. After all, AMD even confirmed they are releasing their new Radeon RX 7000 series based on their RDNA 3 architecture.
But AMD isn’t alone in this, Nvidia usually launches a new series around September every two years. So that gives us a pretty good idea of when can we expect to see the new RTX 40-series somewhere around Q4 2022.
Not only this, but Intel is also coming up with their Intel Arc Alchemist dedicated GPU graphics card series. It could be a much-needed competitor to join the AMD-Nvidia rivalry. More high-quality contenders mean prices need to get more competitive. And who knows, maybe Intel will dethrone the current top GPUs on the market.
So, Should You Buy A Graphics Card Now Or Wait?
If you really need one then there’s no question, you just have no options. But, if your current GPU can hang in there for a little longer then you should definitely wait at least a couple of months. With the shortage easing out there should be more available cards to purchase and the prices will get lower than they are right now.
With the new Intel GPUs nearly hitting the market, prices could drastically drop too. Keep in mind we’re not telling you to buy the new generation of GPUs as soon as they release either. But once they release it will surely push the prices of the current Nvidia GPU RTX 30 series and AMD GPU RX 6000 down. Make no mistake, buying a current-gen GPU will get you covered for at least a couple of years, even after the next gen comes out.
It can be hard, but this time waiting and being patient could pay up big time.
