NVIDIA's latest flagship graphics processing units (GPUs) are dead ahead in April or May, but speculations are that the GPU manufacturer could charge higher than the usual manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) for each video card.
This means that the said upcoming GeForce GTX 2080 GPU could cost as much as $1,500, based on the fact that its predecessor, the GTX 1080, went from the release retail price of $599 to a whopping $1,000 average as of today in most stores. This price inflation was all thanks to the scarcity of supplies caused by cryptocurrency miners' bulk buying of GPUs for their mining PCs to maximize profits.
Now predictions are that the GTX 2080 might follow suit and have a price nearly triple that of its predecessor, depending on NVIDIA's business whims. Meanwhile, NVIDIA's current most powerful GPU, the GTX 1080 Ti, which is significantly faster than the GTX 1080, costs $1,200 but only had an initial price of $700 during release. There are also lots of predictions that the GTX 2080 would be twice as powerful as GTX 1080, meaning a regular price for it might abruptly make the GTX 1080 obsolete or even the GTX 1080 Ti for that matter.
It also made the PC community quite anxious to see how NVIDIA would handle the pricing for the GTX 2080, since putting it at a standard flagship MSRP of $600 or $700 would be quite questionable even given the fact that its previous generation card cost double or triple but are less powerful. Still, NVIDIA might opt to price its new flagship GPUs above $1,000 based on how much the cryptocurrency craze is affecting the GPU market.
Right now though, these are all just rumors and are best taken with a grain of salt. The rumored release of the GTX 2080 and consecutively lower-end GPUs is still a few months away and NVIDIA itself has refused to comment or reveal any information about the new generation of GPUs. Those in the market for a new GPU might want to hold their breath and wait, but on the bright side, the release of the GTX 2080 could drive the prices of the previous-generation GPUs back to normal.
