Radeon R9 290X Retail Prices Hit $900
by Ryan Smith on February 14, 2014 11:30 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- AMD
- Radeon
- Radeon 200
Though we keep track of video card pricing regularly on an internal basis, it’s not something we normally publish outside of our semi-regular buyer’s guides. More often than not video card pricing is slow to move (if it moves at all), as big price shifts come in concert with either scheduled price cuts or new product introductions. But in a process that has defied our expectations for more than a month now, even we can’t fail to notice what Radeon prices are quite literally up to.
In a sign of the daffy times we live in, Radeon R9 290X prices have hit $900 this week at Newegg. Every card, from the reference models to the water block model, is now at $899, with Newegg apparently doing brisk enough business to be sold out of more than half of their different 290X SKUs. This of course is some $350 over the 290X’s original launch price of $550, a 64% price bump. Meanwhile the Radeon R9 290 has been similarly affected, with 290 cards starting at $600, $200 (50%) over MSRP.
The culprit, as has been the case since the start, continues to be the strong demand for the cards from cryptocoin miners, who are willing to pay a premium for the cards in anticipation of still being able to turn a profit off of them in the long run. Interestingly this also comes right as Chinese New Year comes to a close. Chinese New Year doesn’t typically affect video card prices for cards that are already released and on shelves, but the lack of production for the roughly 2 week span certainly isn’t doing the 290X market any favors given the strong demand for the cards. In the meantime however this does mean that 290X cards are unfortunately priced out of the hands of gamers more than ever before; at $900, we’d be just $10 short of a GTX 780 Ti and a Core i5-4670K to go with it.
Finally, it’s interesting to note that this phenomena remains almost entirely limited to North America. Our own Ian Cutress quickly checked a couple of UK retailers, Scan.co.uk and Overclockers.co.uk, and found that both of them had 290 series cards in stock at pre-VAT prices that were only marginally above the North American MSRPs. A PowerColor R9 290 OC can be found for £275 (~$460 USD) and an XFX R9 290X for £334 (~$560 USD). The European market of course has its own idiosyncrasies, but ultimately it’s clear that UK pricing has gone largely unaffected by the forces that have driven up North American pricing, making this one of those rare occasions where hardware is more expensive in North America than in Europe, even after taxes.
| Radeon R9 290 Series Prices | ||||
| North America | UK (excluding VAT) | |||
| Radeon R9 290X | $899 | £334 (~$560 USD) | ||
| Radeon R9 290 | $599 | £275 (~$460 USD) | ||
Update (11:30 PM): It’s interesting just how greatly things can shift in only half a day. This morning 290X prices were $899 with Newegg having 5 models in stock. But as of late this evening prices have dropped rather quickly by $200, bringing them down to $699 (just $150 over MSRP). All the while however, Newegg’s selection has dwindled to just two models, showcasing just how high the demand for these cards is and how quickly buyers will snatch them up even when they’re still well over MSRP.
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Krysto - Sunday, February 16, 2014 - link
Wow, are you sure you spewed all the FUD you could muster about crypto-coins? Maybe there was some left. I don't think you said drugs and cryptocoins in the same sentence enough times.chizow - Tuesday, February 18, 2014 - link
Said drugs and cryptocoin once in the same sentence, but thanks for keeping track. Yes cryptocoins have legitimate uses, but the fact remains, it is popular for greymarket transactions and money laundering due to it's anonymous, unregulated, and decentralized nature.MrSmartyAss - Friday, February 14, 2014 - link
... while in the meantime Goldman $achs is cybercoin mining with their shiny new D-Wave Quantum computer.The Von Matrices - Friday, February 14, 2014 - link
Prices on NVidia cards have not changed. The only people who hurt from this are the die hard AMD fans who will not consider NVidia alternatives. I don't have empathy towards anyone who is brand loyal.Jeffrey Bosboom - Friday, February 14, 2014 - link
Put another way, "Prices on Nvidia cards have remained high." If AMD cards sold at MSRP, Nvidia might be compelled to lower its prices and/or introduce newer cards sooner, offering more value for money. Even if you don't care whether your card is red or green, without cryptocurrency-driven demand, gaming value for money would be better.philipma1957 - Friday, February 14, 2014 - link
so if you game. mine a few hours a day and get your money back. for the premium paid. I have 2x r 290's mining at 75c temp and hashing 1650kh. they earned . about 260 usd over the last 30 days. so they cost me 740 not 1000. add 60 for power and I spent 800 for the pair. they will earn out by apr 1st. just in time for the warmer weather.3DVagabond - Monday, February 17, 2014 - link
Yes, we are all paying more for this. Both nVidia and AMD cards are above what they would typically be if the market had evolved naturally. AMD is making out better as well. They are getting full price for their cards without rebates, bundles, wholesale discounts, etc...testbug00 - Friday, February 14, 2014 - link
Can we start talking about being smart and finding a deal (relatively speaking)?Newegg is basically leeching money out of people, meanwhile, a quick jump onto www.pcpartpicker.com, looking ta GPUs, visiting multiple sites and checking which are in stock can get you cards for under $750 last time I checked.
MrSpadge - Sunday, February 16, 2014 - link
I wonder what the heck we need all those *coin hashes for. What if the coin-farms exceed the number of needed hashes? Is there any safeguard built in not to excessively waste energy in such cases? Or what if we don't have enough hashing power.. can you not trade *coins then?To me this seems to be more of an "end in itself" rather than anything we should use our general-purpose number crunchers for. I'd rather have them do actual science, like folding proteins etc.
Krysto - Sunday, February 16, 2014 - link
If we can find an algorithm that can both fold protein and be safe enough for crypto-mining, perhaps. But we don't have one right now.