"Where Are My Graphics Cards?" - 3 Million Sold to Cryptocurrency Miners in 2017

[Raevenlord]

The title of this piece is both question and answer, though users that keep up with PC-related news knew the answer already. Jon Peddie Research, in a new report, pegs the number of total graphics cards sold to miners at a pretty respectable 3 million units (worth some $776 million). That's some 3 million gamers that could be enjoying video games on their PCs right now, or which would be able to enjoy them at a much lower price that they had to recently pay to have the privilege.

AMD has been the primary benefactor here - its GPU market share went up by 8.1%, while NVIDIA's dropped by 6% and Intel's by 1.9% (the fact that Intel's graphics processing units come embedded in the company's processors helps keep that number stable). As it is, attachment rates of GPUs to systems was over 100% at 136%, the result of miners buying more cards per system in an effort to maximize profits. Jon Peddie thinks that gaming will still be the key player to drive GPU sales, though "augmented by the demand from cryptocurrency miners." The firm also expects demand for GPUs to slacken, coeteris paribus, due to "increasing utilities costs and supply and demand forces that drive up AIB prices." However, for those looking for prices to drop before upgrading their system, the news aren't rosy: the article states that pricing will not drop in the foreseeable future, so owners of GPUs that can actually mine already are being encouraged to mine while not gaming, so as to try and offset the markups in the current GPU offerings.





Overall GPU shipments in the fourth quarter of 2017 actually decreased 1.5% from the previous quarter, though JPR said that was due to normal seasonal activity. But even with miners' help to drive sales, overall GPU market shipments declined 4.8 percent - the only actual positive trend in that market were the actual discrete desktop GPUs.



Some key highlights JPR calls attention to are as follows:

• AMD's overall unit shipments increased 8.08% quarter-to-quarter, Intel's total shipments decreased -1.98% from last quarter, and Nvidia's decreased -6.00%.
• The attach rate of GPUs (includes integrated and discrete GPUs) to PCs for the quarter was 134% which was down -10.06% from last quarter.
• Discrete GPUs were in 36.88% of PCs, which is down -2.67%.
• The overall PC market increased 5.93% quarter-to-quarter, and decreased -0.15% year-to-year.
• Desktop graphics add-in boards (AIBs) that use discrete GPUs decreased -4.62% from last quarter.
• Q4'17 saw no change in tablet shipments from last quarter.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[natr0n]

Dreaming of a 1060 6gb with decent memory to play with.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

If I could just get a damn Strix 1080Ti or a Strix 2080 when they release for actually close to MSRP.

 

[Aldain]

Dreaming of a 1060 6gb with decent memory to play with.

RX 580 is a better choice overall

 

[ShurikN]

RX 580 is a better choice overall

Which is also a card that is much harder to find. Aside from the $700+ ones

 

[TheMailMan78]

And the nail in the coffin for PC gaming just dropped. Thanks a lot you prick miners. I hope you bastards get regulated into oblivion.

 

[Sasqui]

And the nail in the coffin for PC gaming just dropped. Thanks a lot you prick miners. I hope you bastards get regulated into oblivion.

Crypto prices have taken a breather... there will be a time when people can't give away graphics cards, it's just a matter of when.

 

[Casecutter]

The worst is neither side really cares to move to their next iteration, until they have a process shrink and an opening in production wafer starts that can change their ROI, provide better hash/watt, and they see GDDR memory shortages clear.

Till then they'll keep supplying what they can. Probably helps AMD more than Nvidia, in that AMD can spend engineering time to shore up new designs in performance, perf/watt and drivers, all while clawing-out some market share.

Not to say Nvidia will be more than ready and waiting for when cryptocurrency mining has a "hick-up", and will intend to hit hard in courting the gaming market. They know (well both) there will be a avalanche of cheap/used equipment, and the newest generation stuff has to be really tempting to keep gamers from just grabbing a RX580 8Gb for $75 or GTX1070's for $125 even if they are well used.

 

[evernessince]

Block chain technology is great. Crypto currency though, I don't see the advantage to anyone but criminals. Great, no one can track your transactions. At the same time, that's also a very bad thing for anyone who isn't a criminal. No refunds, zero chargebacks, litteraly no guarantee at all. The reason paypal can protect your purchase is because they hold the sellers money in his account for up to 21 days or until you are happy. Crypto curreny? The guy gets the case the instant the blockchain verifies it and once that's done he can move it to any one of his other wallets. Once that's done, even if you were able to chargeback, his wallet would be empty and because you can't track where the money goes you are screwed.

 

[trog100]

Crypto prices have taken a breather... there will be a time when people can't give away graphics cards, it's just a matter of when.

mining profits for normal people.. (small miners) are certainly not enough to cover the current costs of the hardware needed to do it..

i already have the hardware so it keep mining with it and know exactly what it makes.. but no way on this planet would i buy into mining as things are today..

the current price of graphics cards for sure are not down to small miners buying them up.. they cant afford the current prices just like gamers cant...

trog

 

[dirtyferret]

GTX 1060 6gb is still $450 on Amazon. Can Nvidia do a paper launch on the GTX 270 & 280 yet still have them priced for double MSRP at online vendors at the same time? Let's find out in a few months.

 

[Casecutter]

have them priced for double MSRP at online vendors at the same time?

Pretty much the quandary when Vega released. Probably going to see any new products delayed as much as they can, then if they have to... include free games, vouchers for like G-Sync monitors and even rebates right up front with or without mining in the picture.

 

[Fx]

I'll just have to persevere then. I refuse to play >$800 for a top-tier graphics card. It's a good thing I am working with a 980ti though. SMFH.

 

[kuwlness]

GPUs = the new cell phones. Manufacturers know it. They can keep charging more, and people will keep paying more. Until the vicious cycle subsides (not likely in the next several years), expect the MSRP of the 2080ti to be $999. Just like iPhone X costs $1200 and Galaxy S9 will likely be $999.

What happened to technology getting cheaper over time? Is this due to the Reserve Banks around the world printing infinite amounts of fiat currency? We'll find out soon enough.

Best to pay up now and get a good card, because inflation isn't going away. Your precious dollars' purchasing power is getting weaker, while crypto currencies are getting stronger. Using those graphics cards to mine crypto is your best bet to beat inflation.

 

[sweet]

@R-T-B may know some answers

 

[yotano211]

And the nail in the coffin for PC gaming just dropped. Thanks a lot you prick miners. I hope you bastards get regulated into oblivion.

You mad bro, stop being such an mad angry gamer

 

[windwhirl]

I don't regret buying my RX 580 when I had the chance. It may have cost me around ARS 7000 / 400 USD (including taxes) last November, but now the RX 570 is even 30% more expensive and anything better than that is either out of stock or the price is so freaking high it touches the sky.

Damn mining craze...

Also, 3 million GPUs sold to miners, but how many were made in 2017? 3 million graphics cards sold sounds like a big number, but I don't have anything to compare it to...

 

[timta2]

"Overall GPU shipments in the fourth quarter of 2017 actually decreased 1.5% from the previous quarter"

Still waiting on that production increase, that the mining defenders said was coming...

 

[Manu_PT]

People are shifting to consoles already. Good luck trying to get all those console users back to PC in 5 years.

Sony is smart and announced Bloodborne and ratchet on ps plus for free. And also announced that from next month all the free games will be ps4 ones and no more ps3/vita.

This is something we can start noticing on steam triple a multiplatform games. Had to wait 12mim to get matched on tekken 7. PES didnt even find a player. F1 doesnt even have european servers with people to play without assists.

Gg miners. You did what no console ever could do. Congrats on killing pc gaming soon.

 

[trog100]

good gaming machines have never been cheap.. in fact PC gaming has never been a poor mans hobby...

if paying an extra couple of hundred dollars more for one this year as opposed to last year kills off PC gaming it was about ready to die anyway..

be real people please.. graphics cards are still available ether pay a relatively small amount extra or turn your bloody game settings down..

trog

 

[Basard]

ether pay a relatively small amount extra or turn your bloody game settings down..

trog

Relatively small?

 

[trinimoses]

silliness.... the 3 million cards sold only represent about 11% of the overall GPU sold for the period...

 

[flmatter]

Glad I got a gaming laptop. Although Massdrop seems to be offering combo deals on 1080/ti and mobo's on a regular basis.

 

[GorbazTheDragon]

So, assuming the average crypto card is run at around 100w power, there are of the order of 300 gigawatts of power that are being wasted mining...

Based on that alone, I think crypto should be banned.

 

[megamanxtreme]

So, assuming the average crypto card is run at around 100w power, there are of the order of 300 gigawatts of power that are being wasted mining...

Based on that alone, I think crypto should be banned.

I also remember doing a Bing Quiz and saw that Iceland needs more energy due to the mining craze happening, there. Not sure if mining is entirely to blame but it can be a cause to the problem.