This Could Be the Worst Time to Upgrade Your Graphics Card!

Graphics card prices increasing!

Were you planning on getting yourself a little present? Maybe a cheeky upgrade to your graphics card? You might want to consider the prices before proceeding, however, as significant increases in the cost of VGA RAM has seen graphics card prices rocket in the last month.

Given that we only reported 2 days ago that Vega prices were set to increase, this news isn’t any better I’m afraid.

Why is it the worst time to buy?

So far this month, the price of buying VGA RAM, used for graphics card memory, has rocketed by 30%. Ultimately speaking, that expensive might initially be held by the manufacturers, but that eventually comes down to you in the end price.

So why the increase? Well, the short answer is that it’s the old chestnut of supply and demand. The demand is outstripping how quickly manufacturers like Samsung can produce it.

Gaming on a budget?

Samsung, who produce 55% of VGA RAM have apparently sidelined a significant portion of their VGA RAM for the coming year for the server and handset market reports Digitimes.

This is therefore set to cause an already limited supply to dwindle a little bit more.

When will things get better?

Samsung is reportedly looking to boost their production going into the 4th quarter to make up for the coming shortfall. That will, however, take time. There is going to be a period of probably at least 6 months where supply is limited. This all boils down to bad news if you didn’t upgrade recently.

A factor that can’t be ignored either is the boost in demand for graphics cards based on the hype of Bitcoin mining.

There are signs that the 30% increase so far this month is set to increase. My advice would, therefore, be quite simple. If you are planning on that upgrade, get it now. Ironically, waiting is likely not going to be to your advantage.