I of course agree there is not enough competition in the GPU and that we need more proper regulation (making drivers code public domain 5 years after release, opening up CUDA and NVlink), but I do think there is “hard floor” on budget GPUs.
This primarily due to inflation and some of the fixed costs inherent to delivering a GPU device to the market.
I remember back in 2004, my dad bought me 6600 GT for around $230. A great (nominal) price for what was then a solid mindranger. But that being said $230 in 2004 dollar is around $380 in modern 2024 dollars.
It also seems that with chips being so complicated these days, even a small die with limited memory/features, still has a lot of “fixed” costs around validation, packaging and so on.
The GPU market is definitely an oligopoly and lacks competition though.
Mostly in the budget to midrange GPU. Many people don’t have the money to make a decent rig, when GPU prices starts from $300.
I of course agree there is not enough competition in the GPU and that we need more proper regulation (making drivers code public domain 5 years after release, opening up CUDA and NVlink), but I do think there is “hard floor” on budget GPUs.
This primarily due to inflation and some of the fixed costs inherent to delivering a GPU device to the market.
I remember back in 2004, my dad bought me 6600 GT for around $230. A great (nominal) price for what was then a solid mindranger. But that being said $230 in 2004 dollar is around $380 in modern 2024 dollars.
It also seems that with chips being so complicated these days, even a small die with limited memory/features, still has a lot of “fixed” costs around validation, packaging and so on.
The GPU market is definitely an oligopoly and lacks competition though.