Best Graphics Cards for Gaming: 618 Deals and Performance Prediction

Right now, the entire graphics card market is witnessing a downward trend in prices. The 5060ti in both its 8GB and 16GB variants has nearly returned to its original launch price. Occasionally, the 5070 also reverts to its initial pricing, while models like the 70ti and above still carry a premium of over $300.

Meanwhile, the 9070 and 9070xt series currently sport a markup of around $200. Looking ahead to the 618 sale, we can expect a modest price drop of $100 to $200. However, don’t anticipate anything dramatic—unscrupulous merchants are actively keeping prices inflated. When they can’t maintain the high prices any longer, they release some cards at lower rates.

For instance, the 4070, which was previously priced at $3800, now costs $4200 for the “S” variant, while the 4060ti is available for $2699. New releases won’t significantly shake up the market either. As soon as new cards hit the shelves, these same merchants step in to control prices, ensuring older stock doesn’t get stranded.

Consider this: if a 5060 were launched at $2499 with performance matching the 4060ti, how would they offload their existing inventory? At present, the graphics card market is firmly in the grip of monopolistic practices. You truly get what you pay for, and finding a genuinely cost-effective card is nearly impossible.

If such a card does surface, it’s quickly marked up by opportunistic sellers. And for those who fondly remember the days of squeezing every ounce of performance out of the 20 and 30 series, Old Huang (NVIDIA) now meticulously trims performance and memory allocations based on price tiers. AMD has adopted a similar strategy.

Those glory days of value-packed GPUs are unlikely to return anytime soon.