Nvidia Asks Retailers to Prioritize Gamers Over Cryptocurrency Miners
This year looks to be a continuation of 2017 for PC enthusiasts, as demand driven by cryptocurrency mining has priced graphics cards way out of their retail price range. With continuing demand threatening a shortage of GPUs, Nvidia has come out to ask retailers to put gamers first and crypto miners second.
With Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies reaching all-time highs in terms of dollar value last year, demand for crypto mining equipment has reached record levels as well. Most of these kits make use of several graphics cards, putting unprecedented pressure on market supply for GPUs since the latter half of 2017.
With January almost over, things have only become worse for small PC builders and enthusiast, as Polygon notes. Midrange and even high-end graphics cards from both Nvidia and AMD are now priced way beyond their retail price, but even this markup is not enough to keep supplies from dwindling.
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Faced with this situation, Nvidia has reportedly suggested to retailers that they give priority to gamers instead of miners when selling their GeForce video cards.
"Gamers come first for Nvidia," said Boris Böhles, Public Relations manager for Nvidia, as he spoke with German magazine ComputerBase.
"All activities around our GeForce products are for our core audience. We recommend our trading partners make arrangements to ensure that gamers' needs are still met in the current climate," he added.
Most of the GPUs used in these mining rigs are being used to mine Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies using similar technology. With rows of graphics cards needed to make up one of these rigs, high-end cards are being snapped up even at current, higher prices.
An Nvidia GTX 1070, for example, has a suggested retail price of $380. It has been selling for $450 or more since last year but is still usually out of stock for the usual retailers.
