It's only on rare occasions that we recommend waiting to upgrade your PC if you're currently in need of a performance boost. That's because there is always something newer, shinier, and most importantly, faster right around the corner. That is the situation we find ourselves in right now with regards to graphics cards, but should you really wait if there is a good deal to be had right now? That depends in part on whether big price drops are coming, as is currently rumored.
We can't say for certain how things will shake out. However, Digitimes claims to have heard from sources within the upstream supply chain that suppliers are planning to axe graphics card pricing to clear out existing inventories.
In theory, this makes sense for a couple of reasons. One is that we know Nvidia is prepping a new round of GPUs, which it is scheduled to talk about at the Hot Chips conference in August. It's entirely possible that Nvidia will announce or launch its next generation GeForce lineup before then, but even if not, they're coming.
The other reason is because cryptocurrency mining has cooled. Larger operations are still out there cranking out calculations, but in general it's less profitable to mine cryptocurrencies at the moment, pushing out medium and smaller size mining firms, and individuals looking to make an easy buck. This in turn as has weakened the demand for graphics cards.
The sources Digitimes spoke with expect to see an average price drop of around 20 percent. Assuming those price cuts translate to retail prices, there could be some tantalizing deals on the horizon.
Whether or not you should wait depends on how urgently you need to upgrade, and what kind of deals are to be had right now. If you can get by for the time being, it's probably worth holding off a few weeks to see if these price drops materialize. If you're in dire need of a faster GPU and come across a stellar deal, however, there's no shame in the pulling the trigger.
