Following the cryptocurrency crash, the markets that were on a shortage of GPUs since a good two years are now flooded with graphics cards, just like the good ol’ days.
We even took a trip to India’s PC building hub, Nehru Place, and witnessed dealers and distributors aggressively pushing graphics card the way they did in the 2010s. Nostalgia much?
Just check out OLX and you’ll see a massive collection of GeForce RTX 3000 series card listings, mostly uploaded by miners. You can get an RTX 3090 for as low as ₹59,000. One listing shows an RTX 3090 Founders Edition for ₹38,000. Now we don’t know the legitimacy of these listings, but it is still worthy to note how the situation for GPU availability has flipped. Don’t forget that not too long ago, an RTX 3060 would have set you back a good ₹80,000.
For all we care, we’re happy about the crypto crash, even though we admit that we belong to the group that lost some money on our crypto investments. But hey, it’s a win for the PC gaming world, that is something we inherently care about much more. A gamer can now buy a graphics card at MRP, in some cases even lower. Imagine, even getting hands on a graphics card on its Maximum Retail Price seemed like a luxury or a far fetched dream for a gamer or a PC builder.
Crypto miners were willing to pay 2x – 3x of the MRP for the GPU during 2020 and 2021, because for them it was all about “investing.” What about the adolescent kid on the block who can’t wait to get his hands on the latest game? People like him have been suffering for too long and we’re just glad that those days have come to an end.
GTX 1060 continues to make a case
Let us just hope that the situation stays like this. If the crypto miners hijack the GPU supply again, all we can do is let out a “sigh” and settle with a GeForce GTX 1060, which surprisingly has managed to age pretty well if you’re gaming at 1080/1440p. You can still enjoy titles like The Witcher 3 on the GTX 1060 without discrimination, a game that just like the GPU has also aged really well into 2022.
So now the question comes to mind: “Should I buy an RTX 3000 series card like the RTX 3060, 3060 Ti, 3070, 3070 Ti, 3080 or even the 3090?”
Geforce RTX 3080 still worth it in August 2022?
To answer this question, one has to ask themselves whether they need a GPU right now, in this moment, or can they hold off their purchase for a couple of months. If you’re in the “need it now” category, then you have no choice, you have to buy a GPU and you have to buy it now. Looking to ace 1440p and 4k for a handful of months, maybe even a year or two, the RTX 3080 will have you covered. The RTX 3080 is our favourite card of this generation. It offers huge performance bumps compared to the RTX 2080, plus top-notch support for ray tracing. It is also much more efficient that its predecessors and competitors. We recommend either the Founders Edition or Zotac’s RTX 3080 chipset. The Founders Edition is more silent than the triple fan Zotac chipset though, however the Zotac can overclock, if you’ll ever be needing that.
On the contrary, if the RTX 3080 is what you are strictly considering, and you can afford holding off for a couple of months, then please do. Nvidia’s RTX 4000 (Ada Lovelace) series isn’t that far off, it might be launched as early as late-September this year. The upcoming RTX 4080 is touted to be 50% faster than the RTX 3080, and the RTX 4090, a whopping 100% faster than the RTX 3090. Take makes dropping some ₹70-80k on RTX 3080 quite questionable, even if the RTX 4080 is priced approximately ₹20k above the RTX 3080. Take these words with a pinch of salt though. History has taught us to never come to conclusions till the official announcements take place.
RTX 3060 Ti makes sense even today
Things change when you’re looking for a midrange graphics card though. The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a great card that will handle anything you throw at it, provided you don’t go over 1440p. It can still handle 4k though, and in some cases even give you 60 plus frames per second too. Just don’t expect using maxed out settings. at 1440p the RTX 3060 Ti will handle the latest games with ease, and then some. What makes the 3060 Ti an even more interesting proposition is that it won’t be replaced anytime till mid-2023, so genuinely it is a smart chipset to buy right now.
Amidst the gritty worldwide situation with the war and inflation and all (something us gamers are skilled as escaping), it’s great that we’re finally seeing GPUs being sold at their MRPs, but it is important to not get carried away. It took a while to reach this stage, but the new generation of chips are just round the corner so it is worth holding off. For now only that is. If you’re looking for something non-flagship though, this is a good time for you.
