I built my PC a couple of years before the second crypto boom and am very thankful my $300 graphics card didn't cost $700 like it did during the peak of 2021-2022

I have some very good news to whoever may not be aware though:

Most Bitcoins have already been mined, and what little hasn't been mined could take hundreds of years to crack the algorithm for more rewards.

Because of this, most crypto mining during the most recent boom was in search of Ethereum, which, like Bitcoin, would provide a token as a reward for your computer's energy being used to crack a code. This method of retrieval is known as "proof of work" as the token exists to show proof of a job accomplished.

In the past year, Ethereum has entirely switched to a "proof of stake" model which means that the previous reward system is no longer in place, and the tokens are now used on a transactional basis. This also means that any cryptocurrency that runs on the Ethereum framework that was being mined in the past is no longer mineable, and Ether itself will become a deflationary asset, as there is now a fee attached to each transaction that will burn a small percentage of Ethereum simply for using it to complete a transaction. This means fewer coins in circulation, meaning investor value will be upheld (I think its all a scam but some people see value behind it) while no longer requiring GPU abuse to create, as they're no longer being created.

For gaming PCs, this means that there will be a flood of graphics cards hitting the market at far lower prices. This also means that if you buy a GPU second hand, there's a chance it was running at 100% capacity for who knows how long in a warehouse somewhere, weakening its lifespan heavily.

However, this does not mean that new graphics cards will get any cheaper, in fact, NVidia is ensuring that the opposite happens, by releasing their RTX 4000 series at the market prices we saw new cards go for at the peak of the crypto boom. They LOVE money and saw green at those scalper listings.

So, if you're looking for a new PC build that isn't the newest thing out there, your opportunity will be coming this year at a far better price than the previous couple of years. Just be very vigilant about where you source it from.

What are your thoughts on current graphics card prices? Are you starting to see the effects of the crypto crash and the new proof of stake model, or is it still too much? What do you think of the prices of the RTX 4090? Do you think you'll pick up a 2000 or 3000 series card this year?

My 1660ti is still going strong, but if I see a 2070ti or better for the magic $500 I'm hoping on, it will be mine.

I already have a 3080, so I won't be upgrading it anytime soon.
I bought it right before the crash and paid like $1400, and I want to say I saw it a few times in the 800-900 range since I bought it.

Personally, I feel like the prices are still too high. For example, for the new 4070ti, the MSRP is $800, which is on the higher end of expectations.
Even the 4090 at 1600 is, in my opinion, way too much after buying a 3080 at the price I did. Honestly, though, I don't think prices are ever going to go back down to the point where the average person or new PC builder can reasonably afford it without spending over half their budget on just the GPU.

I never had a chance to get one because of the prices. In 2020 I bought a brand new expensive camera and a capture card so that I could stream but I missed my chance at getting a new PC and graphics card and once that boat sailed, I didn't want to spend all the extra money on something that I might not even do all that much.

My thoughts on the current prices? Right now Nvidia's Rtx 4000 series and AMD's 7000 series gpus are overpriced (Not so much from AMD but still bad). Not only that, they have absolutely atrocious launches, RTX 4090 12VHPWR cables melting, now AMD Reference GPUs overheating likely due to a bad vapor chamber design. And should i include the RTX 4070ti is already being memory bandwidth limited in some games at 4k because of its small 192 bit bus width (same bit as 3060/3060ti)

I already have an RX 6800. I have no need to buy any gpu for awhile. I wouldn't even buy the latest GPUs regardless and suggest going for RTX 3000 or RX 6000 GPUs since they're prices way better for the performance you're getting.