Nvidia Responds So AMD Can't Win: September GPU Pricing Update

While we haven't noticed significant price changes for this model, we anticipate a situation similar to the Radeon 7900 XT. The $450 MSRP might soon become unviable, and will need to drop closer to $400 for it to have a place in the market. For perspective, the 7900 XT debuted with a hefty $900 tag, only to be adjusted to $800 or less within a few months.

What has put the most pressure on the Radeon 7800 XT's value proposition is Nvidia's almost official price cut for the RTX 4070 down from $600 to $550. This isn't limited to a single model – multiple base model 4070s are now available at $550 from retailers like Newegg. Importantly, this revised pricing has been reflected in other regions as well, including Australia, the UK, and Germany – a consistency we haven't always observed when prices are cut in the US. It's certainly worth revisiting pricing in your locale, not only for the new 7800 XT but also for the RTX 4070.

This presents several interesting observations. First, it shows that Nvidia has a lot of room to promptly adjust prices in the face of genuine competition. The RTX 4070 was one of Nvidia's stronger current-gen releases, but the price was high relative to where a model with the 4070's performance should be positioned.

A second observation is that this price adjustment has largely killed the great value proposition of the Radeon 7800 XT and the reason why it was recommended in our review and others. The RTX 4070 shifts from being 20% pricier to only 10% more so. For the most part, the RTX 4070 remains the less performant product. In our 45-game benchmark, we found the 7800 XT to be roughly 8% faster on average for 4K rasterization and about 2% slower for 1440p ray tracing – with a general lead of about 5%. It's understandable that it would be a popular choice when the 4070 was 20% more costly.

However, with a slimmer 10% margin between the cards in many regions, the RTX 4070 has become a more compelling option. If you're intrigued by features like DLSS, including the better output quality of DLSS at resolutions like 1440p, the addition of Frame Generation support, or if you like to have better power efficiency, the RTX 4070 now has a stronger case for consideration. While the RTX 4070 is not the standout option, it's no longer the clearly inferior choice it was just a short while ago.

And this is what competition does to the market, and by that we mean actual competition, not AMD matching the price structure of Nvidia with new launches. The Radeon 7800 XT was a significant launch, providing better value than existing options, prompting Nvidia to react. Without this rivalry, we'd have overpriced GeForce models, unchanging offerings from Team Red, and less value for consumers. Therefore, rumors that AMD might not release high-end products for their upcoming RDNA 4 series are a tad disheartening.

It's also been amusing to witness the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB drop to $450 after Nvidia claimed adding an extra 8GB of memory was a costly endeavor, justifying a $100 price hike for the 16GB version. As most suspected, this rationale lacked substance. Evidently, Nvidia didn't need to mark up the 16GB model; they simply desired a higher price point. When consumers balked at the inflated cost, Nvidia was compelled to adjust, particularly with AMD launching the faster Radeon 7700 XT at a similar price.

Reviewing AMD's current generation reveals minimal variation. Both new GPUs debuted at their MSRP, with pricing for other models consistent with previous months. The Radeon 7900 XTX hovers around $950, the 7900 XT has been between $750 and $800 for the past half year, and the Radeon RX 7600 is $10 below its MSRP, which is nothing to get excited about.

Intel's Arc series, comparable to AMD GPUs, hasn't seen significant price shifts since last month. Intel presents the most affordable new 16GB GPU on the market with the  Arc A770 16GB at just $320, generally positioning their offerings at reasonable price points.

The RTX 3060 is also similarly priced to the RTX 4060, so you would likely opt for the newer Ada Lovelace model for similar reasons. The RTX 3050 at $225 is the most affordable Nvidia GPU. Its future replacement remains uncertain, but its current value is awful when compared to faster and less expensive Radeon models.

In the $300 to $400 range, prices have remained stable, though the Radeon 6750 XThas decreased to $330, providing good value in this bracket. The RX 6800 remains at $430, making it a preferable choice over the RX 7700 XT, considering its similar performance and efficiency, slightly lower cost, and an additional 4GB of VRAM.

The Radeon RX 6800 XT's value has also increased, now priced at $490, likely an effort to reduce inventory following the 7800 XT's debut.  

The used market does not present anything noteworthy this month, so we'll briefly address it. There haven't been significant shifts from August, and the introduction of new Radeon GPUs hasn't had a profound impact thus far. Prices are stable, which is positive, and there's a growing supply of Ampere models as consumers upgrade. Overall, if you were hoping for price changes in the used market this month, there haven't been any notable fluctuations.

The $500 tier has experienced the most fluctuation, primarily due to the launch of the Radeon RX 7800 XT and 7700 XT. The introduction of these new cards, coupled with generally slow sales, led Nvidia to reduce the price of the RTX 4070 to $550 and the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB to $450, in a move that's not official but certainly appears to be.