How uncertainty in graphics stock affects the hardware world

The shortage of graphics cards, both from Nvidia and AMD, as well as from other companies in general, has been affecting companies and users for some months now, and it seems that it could last throughout 2021. Today we analyze the main causes of this lack of graphics cards, as well as its impact on the hardware world and the options available to deal with this problem

Reasons for the stock shortage

There are several factors that have caused this shortage of graphics cards, most of them already known to those interested in PC components. On the one hand, there is the issue of semiconductor manufacturing, which has been overwhelmed due to the large number of customers to be supplied by a few companies. The solution is to increase production, but it takes time to bring the entire infrastructure up to date.

In addition, the supply of graphics equipment was outstripped by demand by approximately 30% last year with the onset of the pandemic and the resulting sales of teleworking equipment. In addition, with so much demand, manufacturing materials are also becoming scarce and, therefore, the whole process from manufacture to sale has become much more expensive.

Resales on marketplaces and other platforms have skyrocketed and finding a new generation graphics card at a reasonable price is quite difficult nowadays. In fact, such has been the impact, that companies have bet on re-releasing models of their previous graphics cards, in order to cover at least part of the market demand

Recommendations if you need a graphics card

There are several options available if you need a graphics card for your PC, the first one would be to assume the extra cost if possible, because at the moment there is no stock available to restore the original prices. The second option would be to buy a previous generation graphics card, as many of you know, some models are quite good and still have a lot of life left in them. As for gaming, you should have no problem, but if you are one of those who have jumped on the Bitcoin mining bandwagon, it is very likely that a previous generation graphics card will not meet what you need for it

As a last option, we don't think there will be many cases, you can choose to buy a pre-assembled PC, or a laptop, depending on the use you are going to give it. This option would be the most expensive but, we understand that there will be users who need to completely renew their PC or laptop and, perhaps right now it may be cheaper and easier to buy a computer already assembled, even if it means giving up some components, for the moment

For those who were hoping to get a new generation graphics card, we recommend you to be patient because it is not the best time to invest in one of these models, not only because of the exorbitant prices, but also because there is a lot of resale and in some cases, even counterfeits. Hopefully, the wait will come to an end early next year