GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Sean Ruiz33 said:Does anyone know where I can pick up an RTX 3060 Ti at a decent price including shipping?

Not anywhere right now.

Sean Ruiz33 said:Does anyone know where I can pick up an RTX 3060 Ti at a decent price including shipping?

The current state of the GPU market,😵 or more accurately, the total drought paired with reasonable pricing, just doesn't exist right now. If we get lucky, maybe things will actually start looking up in 2022.😵

Listen, man... what should I actually pick up for mining then? ����

Sean Ruiz33 said:Man, seriously... what should I pick up for mining then? ����

Lol. Glad you finally remembered. 😬

CNET

Sean Ruiz33 said:Man, seriously... what am I supposed to mine with then? 🤦‍♂️

Maybe try snagging a smart fridge instead.

https://apnews.com/article/e98ad152f...208d5d19aaa4ca

wiredotter14 said:Maybe try picking up a smart fridge instead

https://apnews.com/article/e98ad152f...208d5d19aaa4ca

😂

Miners, you guys are probably gonna get buried alive pretty soon 😬

analogtiger19 said:Hope you miners all get buried in debt soon. 😬

Didn't you just pick up a new GPU yourself recently? 🤔

analogtiger19 said:Miners, I honestly hope you all get buried under your own hardware very soon. 😬

Everyone is just looking for a way to build some passive income, I suppose.

Sean Ruiz33 said:Gotta find some way to build that passive income...

Like a grandma passing out free cookies... at today's prices, the people buying right now aren't seeing any profit anytime soon.

fadedorca66 said:Didn't you just pick up a card recently? 🤔

I grabbed a GTX 1660 Super about a year or so ago because my RX 480 finally kicked the bucket. The whole goal was to jump to a next-gen 1440p ultra beast this winter so I could finally stop worrying about settings for a while...

Now I’m stuck in that classic "too little, too late" loop. When the cards were actually available, I didn't have the cash. Now that I've got the money, there's nothing worth buying. 😬

I don't get why AMD isn't just cranking out more Polaris 20 for miners. Using 14nm TSMC and GDDR5 should put way less pressure on them compared to the 7nm and GDDR6 mess. Look, Polaris 20 gets about half the hash rate of newer cards like the RTX 3060 Ti, which is perfectly fine. For a long time, AMD partners were moving those units for around $150-$200 a pop.
Besides, a ton of Polaris cards aren't going to be snapped up like they used to be since they aren't much of an upgrade anymore. Meanwhile, Big Navi and the RTX 3000 series will eventually flood the secondhand market once the bubble finally bursts.

Honestly, if you're looking for a new GPU today, you might as well just buy a pre-built PC. When you actually run the numbers, buying a complete system is often cheaper than trying to pick up a card by itself...

For instance, the cheapest RX 6900 XT you can find is $4.75, and this specific build featuring that card paired with a Ryzen 5 5800X goes for $6.25. It’s still overpriced, let’s be real, but it shows how much more sense these pre-configured setups make compared to building one from scratch 🤦 (you see even better deals with ready-to-go builds using an RTX 3060)

wiredotter14 said:I don't get why AMD doesn't just keep pumping out Polaris 20 for miners. Using 14nm TSMC and GDDR5 should put way less pressure on them compared to 7nm and GDDR6. Polaris 20 delivers about half the hash rate of these newer cards like the RTX 3060 Ti, which is perfectly fine. AMD (or rather, their partners) used to sell those cards for around $150-$200 for a long time.
Also, a massive pile of Polaris isn't going to be snatched up like it used to be because they aren't much of an upgrade anymore, whereas Big Navi and the RTX 3000 series will eventually flood the second-hand market once the bubble bursts.

Polaris and Vega were made by GlobalFoundries on 14nm, not TSMC...

But I see your point. That’s exactly why NVIDIA is moving toward making these "mining GPUs," which are basically Turing derivatives built on 12nm TSMC—and there isn't a shortage for that specific node.😁,
You can call them mining GPUs, but they'll actually be worse for mining than the Ampere gaming cards.😁

So, they aren't doing this out of the goodness of their hearts to "save the gamers"; they're just looking for any way to dump more GPUs onto the market while demand is still hot.

Timothy Kim60 said:Polaris and Vega were built by GlobalFoundries on 14nm, not TSMC...

Makes sense. That’s why NVIDIA is pivoting to these "mining GPUs"—basically just Turing derivatives built on TSMC's 12nm node. There isn't a massive rush for that specific node right now. 😁
You could argue these mining GPUs will actually perform worse for mining than the Ampere gaming cards. 😁

Bottom line: they aren't doing this out of the goodness of their hearts (to "save the gamers," or whatever), they're just finding ways to dump more silicon onto the market while demand is still peaking.

Yeah, my bad. GlobalFoundries.
Which makes it even more obvious. GlobalFoundries 14nm (or that weird quasi 14/12nm on the RX 590) isn't exactly in high demand.
It's clear nobody is doing this to be nice. Why wouldn't they just use an old process to squeeze out more cash?

Only time will tell, but there’s a decent chance they might start churning out more Polaris and Vega chips again. 😁

As it stands, AMD is still utilizing that GlobalFoundries node for the I/O die in their Ryzen, Threadripper, and EPYC lineups.

Yeah, all that IO talk is getting old, but I wouldn't call it a massive crisis just yet. It’s totally plausible that GlobalFoundries is repurposing that node for all sorts of other silicon—maybe automotive chips or something along those lines. Fingers crossed we see Polaris make a comeback.

We need to play the long game here. AMD’s priority should be dropping those mainstream RDNA 2 models—and I’m not talking about the upcoming RX 6700 XT, but rather the RX 6600 and potentially a 6500 if they even bother making one. Once that’s settled, they need to fast-track the next generation of both GPUs and Ryzen chips. Moving everything over to 5nm will free up enough 7nm capacity to crank out a massive volume of consoles and mainstream RDNA 2 GPUs. After that, they can just rebrand those new mainstream cards for another five years, much like how they handled Polaris 😁

I was thinking primarily about mining here. It makes more sense to burn through that 14/12nm capacity rather than wasting the 8/7nm stuff. Sure, the newer cards are more efficient, but when power consumption hits these insane peaks, efficiency isn't even the main issue. If $467 Polaris 20 were actually available at pre-hype prices, it would be a massive threat to the new cards in the mining scene. Honestly, manufacturers would probably love it too—once Polaris hits the used market, it stops being a threat to their new flagship models anyway.

Aaron Evans2 said:PNY GTX 1650 4 GB XLR8 gaming Overclocked

Can someone give me a quick rundown on this card? I guess I need a description or something.