Getting into high-end PC gaming has never been particularly cheap but it's gotten even more expensive recently due to skyrocketing hardware prices. In late 2017 and early 2018, Nvidia's high-end GPUs such as the GTX 1080 or the 1080 Ti could be found on Amazon for upwards of $1,000.
Worse yet, RAM prices have nearly doubled in some cases.
There are several reasons for these price increases (which we've gone into detail about in recent editorials), but the cryptomining craze and ongoing RAM shortages have likely been two major contributors. The end to high RAM prices isn't in sight just yet, but video card prices could see a major drop in the near future.
DigiTimes reported on Wednesday that Taiwan-based graphics card makers are experiencing a 40 percent drop in shipment numbers, largely because cryptomining farm operators have cut their orders significantly. Some farms have even gone so far as to halt operations entirely.
Some well-known Taiwanese video card manufacturers who have been affected by this phenomenon include MSI, Gigabyte and TUL. DigiTimes believes the decreased demand from miners will force "makers and channel distributors" to slash prices to keep sales up.
As PCGamesN notes, GPU prices are already beginning to drop. For example, you can find numerous GeForce GTX 1080 cards from various manufacturers, including Gigabyte and MSI, on Amazon for roughly $640 to $670.
Unfortunately, it's tough to say whether or not these comparatively low GPU prices are here to stay.
Cryptocurrencies are volatile and their values tend to shift significantly in short periods of time. For the time being, this could be great news for PC gamers who have been holding off from upgrading due to the horrible pricing.