[Opinión] The average price of dedicated graphics cards has doubled over the past three years, reaching a point in 2021-22 out of control. Manufacturing/distribution issues driven by the COVID pandemic have caused a worrying shortage of inventory, which, along with pressure from cryptomining, has sent prices soaring crazy heights.

In recent months, production has been normalizing and inventories have risen to almost cover all demand. And we are already seeing some “sales” and “offers” that are causing optimism in the medium term. But even with that, in my opinion, there is a clear reality: the prices of dedicated graphics cards they remain at a very high level that does not correspond to their true valuebut this prevents PC gamers from being able to get a GPU at a fair price.

Is NVIDIA the “culprit”?

The green giant leads the sales of dedicated graphics cards by a long way from AMD. We know this from data from analytics firms, as well as gaming sites like Steam, whose latest survey left devastating data: 82% of users used NVIDIA GPUs.

NVIDIA, like any market leader, goes “on its own” to achieve the highest possible revenue and profit. The company leaves very little room for manufacturers to license its chips to create personalized cards. According to Research by Jon Peddie, NVIDIA’s gross margins have grown to more than 60%, while its peers manage less than 10%. In short, manufacturers do not have the opportunity to lower prices, even if they wanted to.

NVIDIA has absolute control, partners and the market. It launches new models when and how it is interested and sets prices as it sees fit. This whole strategy is ultimately negative for consumers, but it is worth asking: is the situation in the graphics market the fault of the green giant’s success, or is it the result of the competition’s inability to keep up?

We need strong Intel in GPUS

AMD can’t stop NVIDIA. Whether it’s architecture, performance, features, partners, or marketing, there are few dedicated AMD graphics cards that compete well against NVIDIA’s catalog sales. It is clear that the market needs new competitors.

Intel is the world’s largest manufacturer of PC processors and also graphics chips (including integrated ones). It re-entered the GPU market, promising to bring graphics cards to the market with good performance and an affordable price. The Intel Arc A770 with 16GB of VRAM for just $349 at launch was a good performer. And that’s exactly what the vast majority of players and the entire industry needs.

Intel still has a lot of work to do. In hardware and also in drivers, added technologies and game optimization. But it’s in him, and the next generation of Arc Battlemage shows the way. They will be manufactured on modern 4nm process nodes and will have 64 Xe cores, doubling the current generation and thus the capacity to double the performance. And most importantly: at the same price.

If NVIDIA seems to be unbeatable in performance in the short term, Intel’s commitment to affordability should increase the general level of benefits and decrease the average price in the entry and middle ranges, the most interesting for consumers.