If you’ve been shopping for a new AMD Radeon RX 480 recently, you may have noticed that the graphics card is frequently out of stock.
There has been an international shortage of the Polaris-powered graphics cards due to a number of reasons, from the introduction of new products to an increase in the value of select cryptocurrencies.
These factors have made it more difficult to find RX 400-series cards.
Consumers looking for a new AMD GPU can opt for a Radeon RX 500-series card instead, which features similar pricing and is in stock more often.
The main reasons as to why the 400-series cards are in short supply are detailed below.
Ethereum
Ethereum is a cryptocurrency, similar to Bitcoin, which can be mined with certain graphics cards.
AMD graphics cards are far more efficient than Nvidia GPUs at mining cryptocurrency and are a favourite among miners.
Following the spike in Ethereum prices over the last two months, there has been increased demand for AMD graphics cards for Ethereum mining rigs.
This has created GPU shortages, particularly with models well suited in terms of a price-to-performance basis for Ethereum mining.
Currently, popular graphics cards among Ethereum miners include the Radeon RX 480 and RX 470.
RX 480 pricing and end-of-life
The Radeon RX 480 is a popular graphics card worldwide, similar to the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060.
However, the Radeon RX 400-series was recently succeeded by the new Radeon RX 500-series – less than a year after their launch.
The Radeon RX 500-series is set to replace the older Polaris GPUs, meaning the RX 400-series cards are nearing the end of their life.
South African hardware retailer Wootware told MyBroadband that certain RX 400-series graphics cards might become cheaper as stock is cleared out, but supplies will continue to diminish.
As the RX 400-series is nearing the end of its life, Wootware said it does not expect any substantial price changes for the older generation of graphics cards.
This article first appeared on MyBroadband and is republished with permission.
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