Declining cryptocurrency prices are making graphics cards affordable again

Enlarge / Data from PC Part Picker (credit: Timothy B. Lee, data from PC Part Picker)

About a year ago, graphics card prices started to go crazy. Then in early 2018, things got even crazier. The price of a Radeon RX 570-a mid-range graphics card popular for cryptocurrency mining-soared from under $200 in April 2017 to over $450 in February 2018. Over the same period, a high-end RX 580 soared from around $230 in April 2017 to as much as $540 in February 2018.

But since then, graphics-card prices have been falling steadily, according to data collected by PC Part Picker. An RX 570 fell to around $350 by the end of April. And you can now get one for a bit more than $300. An RX 580 now goes for around $330.

When I visited my local Best Buy back in January, the store was asking for $529.99 for a Radeon 580 with 8GB of memory-and the store didn't even have them in stock at that price. By late April, the same card was available from Best Buy's website for $419.99. Now, the same card is selling for $339.99.

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