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Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080

After spending the first part of the year stuck in the stratosphere, there'due south reason to recollect GPU prices could actually dip lower than normal in the back half of summer. The culprits? Dwindling demand for GPUs used in cryptocurrency, a potential overstock issue betwixt Nvidia and ane of its partners, and the potential launch of upcoming graphics cards from Nvidia.

Nosotros have to admit up front that the word "could" is in the title for a reason. Much of what we're discussing hither — including rumors that Nvidia had to take $300K of GPUs back due to an overstock issue — is supposition. At that place are, for example, rumors of an Nvidia launch at Gamescom in August, fifty-fifty though Nvidia's CEO has also told the public that the next-generation GPU launch wouldn't happen for quite some time. We've also heard rumors that the launch in August (if a launch is happening) might only focus on higher-end cards. Much would also depend on availability — manufacturers don't necessarily start clearing supplies of older cards until they know they've got enough new stock to replace them, fifty-fifty if the newer cards are the intended replacements for the older GPUs.

This could all exist good news for AMD fans besides. While Team Red isn't known to be planning any GPU launches for the balance of the twelvemonth, AMD's prices will functionally have to move if Nvidia actually launches new hardware. Exactly how far isn't clear — an initial GTX 1180 / 1170 launch could spur cost cuts to Vega 64 and 56 SEEAMAZON_ET_135 See Amazon ET commerce, while a GTX 1160 or 1150-equivalent would probable force Team Scarlet to retrench the RX 570 and 580 at lower price points. Whether the RX 560 survives this process at all is an open question at this indicate, though if Nvidia follows its usual pattern there'll be a gap of at least a few months between the launch of high-end solutions and the lower-finish cards that drop in after.

PascalSM

A Pascal Streaming Multiprocessor (SM).

The amend question is: Should you buy an old GPU when new cards could very well be on the way? And the answer to that is more than complicated than it might seem. Last time AMD and Nvidia did a refresh, they might have technically launched GPUs in May and late June, respectively, but those cards were yet incommunicable to notice at market place several months later. When because whether to buy a card on the marketplace today or a GPU that might launch in late Baronial or early on September, the first thing we recommend request is whether you feel differently almost that comparison when it comes to buying in July versus, say, Nov or December.

The 2nd issue to consider is how quickly you tend to need a new GPU in the first place. In that location's a relationship between how quickly performance improvements stack upwardly in hardware and how apace game engines movement to take reward of those improvements. The fact is, Pascal's debut in 2022 is the concluding fourth dimension we really saw the dial move. Now, unleashing a new next-generation Nvidia GPU is going to lift all boats — somewhen — but it also takes fourth dimension for any new card family to replace the old. The best way to gauge whether or non you'd be happy with a GPU you could buy today is to examine your own by buying habits: Are you the kind of customer that wants to stay on the bleeding edge, or are yous content with older cards?

If you lot know a GPU typically lasts you 3-v years and you've ever been happy with a midrange carte du jour without paying whatsoever particular attending to the specifics of release cycles, and then you're probably golden in this case as well. Proceed an eye on prices and if you lot run into a good deal that y'all know likely fits your ain personal use cycle, get for it.

Now read: Best Graphics Cards for Every Budget