The graphics card market is experiencing important changes both at the level of prices and assortment. In general, we’ve seen a significant increase in prices, which has mainly affected the premium mid-range and upper range, and we’ve also seen a significant absence in the lower mid-range.

The medium-low series consists of models such as GeForce RTX 4050which is only available in the notebook version, the GeForce RTX 3050 a Radeon RX 6500 XT and the Radeon RX 6400. NVIDIA hasn’t released a GeForce RTX 4050 for the desktop, and AMD hasn’t released a Radeon RX 7500 XT either, which means that the line is almost completely abandoned for the current generation.

Why did NVIDIA and AMD follow this strategy? The main reason is that both companies They have a lot of models from previous generations, and preferred to keep them as mid-low range options rather than introducing new solutions that could make it impossible to clear the stock GeForce RTX 3050 and Radeon RX 6500 XT, in particular.

On the other hand, it should also be taken into account that stock Radeon RX 6600 and GeForce RTX 3060 is still quite high and this further complicates the start of the recovery of lower-mid-range graphics cards. A desktop GeForce RTX 4050 would make the GeForce RTX 3060 completely pointless, and the same would happen to the Radeon RX 6600 if AMD released the Radeon RX 7500 XT.

What will happen to mid-range graphics cards

we have to distinguish between two markets, notebook and PC sector. In the first, low-mid-range graphics cards will continue to occupy an important position as a solution for creating economical gaming laptops. We have already seen this with the GeForce RTX 4050 for notebooks, a graphics card that is quite successful in this market.

In the PC market, it’s getting harder and harder for lower-mid-range graphics cards as generational transitions get slower and slower, and because they’re increasingly manufactured with more stock from the previous generation, meaning that a mid-range model in that generation Ultimately, it is kept in its current state as a low-mid range option.

I want to think that NVIDIA and AMD will release new graphics cards in this range in the next generations, but the truth is, I have a lot of doubts about it. GeForce RTX 5050 and Radeon RX 8500 XT could be a big hit if they get under 200 euros, but these You could step on them with GeForce RTX 4060 and Radeon RX 7600.

In many cases, the previous generation of the mid-range model can offer better performance than the new generation of the mid-range model, so this strategy It’s not all bad for consumers. We’ll see what happens with the GeForce RTX 50 and Radeon RX 8000, and if these new generations end up being the end of the low-mid refresh.